X-Men (arcade game)

Infobox VG
title= X-Men


caption= Sales flyer for the arcade game.
developer= Konami
publisher= Konami
released= 1992
genre= Beat 'em up
modes= Up to 6 simultaneously (4 and 2 player version were also made)
platforms= Arcade
input= 8-way joystick, 3 buttons
cabinet= Standard
arcade system= Custom hardware
cpu= 68000 (@ 16 MHz)
sound= Sound CPU: Z80 (@ 8 MHz) Sound Chips: YM2151 (@ 4 MHz), K054539 (@ 48 kHz)
display= Raster, 288 x 224 pixels (Horizontal), 2048 colors

"X-Men" is an arcade game produced by Konami in 1992. It is a side-scrolling beat 'em up based on the characters of the same name under license from Marvel Comics. The animation of the X-Men and the supervillains is based on the 1989 X-Men pilot episode titled "Pryde of the X-Men".

Main characters and mission objectives

The player chooses one of six X-Men: Cyclops, Colossus, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, or Dazzler. Their objective is to stop the villain Magneto from wreaking havoc on human civilization. They must fight through an army of hundreds of Sentinels and supervillains such as Pyro, Blob, Wendigo, Master Mold, The White Queen, Juggernaut, and Mystique, who was also a boss enemy in the game, although she simply took the form of Magneto and attacked players with punches and kicks. Later, Magneto kidnaps Professor X and Kitty Pryde, prompting the heroes to go on a rescue mission.

Features

Although "Final Fight" set the standardFact|date=November 2007 for scrolling fighters, "X-Men" contained several 'improvements' including the ability to hit fallen opponents to prevent them from getting back up (as first seen in the arcade game "Crime Fighters" by Konami (1989) and its sequels), as well as a character-specialized "mutant power," which could clear most of the screen of enemies (like the 'crowd control' attack in "Final Fight" achieved by hitting both the jump & attack buttons together). Those mutant powers can be stored like items (similar to "Golden Axe"'s magic powers), but if there are none stored the mutant power can still be used, but it slightly reduced the player's health.

Depending on the machine, the maximum number of simultaneous players varies from two to six. The six-player version used a multiple screen set up, similar to "The Ninja Warriors". [ [http://www.arcade-history.com/index.php?page=detail&id=3210 arcade-history.com] ]

Reception

The game is fondly remembered by those who played it for its fun, addictive gameplay and colorful graphics. However, it is also sometimes criticized for its wooden voice acting and often ungrammatical, engrish-like script, particularly from Magneto ("I am Magneto, Master of Magnet" and "Welcome to Die!"). The Japanese version of the game featured enemies that would drop health and Mutant Power refills upon their defeat. These enemies were absent from the American release of the game.

The line from The Blob which goes "Nothing Moves The Blob!" was popularly satirized on the popular website YTMND.

References

External links

* [http://marvel.com/videogames/X-Men_Games X-Men video games on Marvel.com]
*KLOV game|id=10496|name=X-Men
* [http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/all/greatestgames/p-47.html Gamespot - The Greatest Games of All-Time]
* [http://comics.ign.com/articles/595/595982p1.html The Best and Worst Comic Book Video Games]
* [http://db.gamefaqs.com/coinop/arcade/file/x_men_a.txt X-Men Walkthrough (Arcade Version)]
** [http://db.gamefaqs.com/coinop/arcade/file/x_men.txt X-Men (Arcade) FAQ By "White Mage"]
* [http://db.gamefaqs.com/coinop/arcade/file/x_men_characters.txt Character Guide version 1.02]