X-Men

Review

by Christopher Michael Baker

X-Men is one of those action games that will have you in front of your television for hours saying, "I know I'll get it next time." Not only are there the typical "make the right jump at the right time" and "kill anything that moves" aspects to the action, but there's also a little bit of a puzzle to each level that gives the game some brains. You have to find the right switch to hit in order to progress in each level, which can be tricky.

Any fan of the comic or TV show will love being able to fill the shoes of Wolverine, Gambit,Cyclops and Nightcrawler. But the real thrill for me was getting to use the X-Men that make "guest appearances" to help defeat the enemies. For example, Rogue will fly right through an enemy and Storm will call upon her elemental control powers to wash up evil-doers.

Though it is a good game overall, X-Men does have its faults. The main problem lies in its incredible difficulty. It's pretty much smooth sailing till you get to Apocalypse, but after that third level, you'll need quite a bit of luck. Another problem I had with it was the fact that you were limited in your use of the characters' mutant abilities. This just doesn't make sense. You never see Cyclops in the comics saying, "I've fired too many optic blasts, so I'll have to rest my mutant power for a while." Wolverine never complains, "Having these adamantium claws unsheathed is killing me! I'll have to put them away for a bit."

Any fan of the X-Men will most likely be a fan of this game. They'll just probably wish they had adamantium claws of their own to drive through their TV screens in frustration.