Oh boy, the X-Men arcade game is a special one for me. I am a huge fan of brawling titles like Final Fight, Streets of Rage, Double Dragon and many others.  When Street Fighter II came out in the arcades, I was still pumping quarters into Final Fight and other scrolling fighters just enjoying my little world of mayhem.  One of the titles that ate nearly as many quarters as Final Fight is the subject of this review. I got to thinking, what is my favorite X-Men title so far?

X-Men arcade game is a quarter muncher

Around the time the X-Men arcade game was released, licensed titles usually meant junk or crap. The X-Men arcade game by Konami was a testament to quality.  Being an arcade title, X-Men was a quarter eater right up there with the best of them. Everything was designed to eat up your life bar and cause you to have to put in another quarter.  NO ONE is going to one quarter this title, just not going to happen.

The X-Men arcade game offered 6 characters to choose from

The X-Men arcade game offered 6 mutants to guide through taking out Magneto and his evil henchmen. Cyclops, Wolverine (fan favorite), Colossus, Storm, Nightcrawler and Dazzler (yes, she was a member for a VERY short period).  My gripe with the game is, why Dazzler!?!  Out of all of the other characters that have been X-Men in the past, why her?  Why not, um, Beast, Rogue (personal favorite) or Ice Man or any one of many others?  Not sure of the reasoning behind Dazzler being included.  Out of the available characters, I liked playing Cyclops more.

Cool arcades had the 6 player model

Most arcades stocked the regular, one screen, four player model. Higher class arcades stocked the full on, two screen, 6 player model (someone gets stuck with Dazzler, unfortunately).  One player has a very slight, if broke, chance of seeing the later levels. Six players can really advance with team work and plenty of quarters.

Enemies are not as varied as they could have been. You are taking on Magneto and the Sentinel robots. Did Magneto take over production or something as hinted at in later levels? The only characters that really change from level to level are the bosses. At least in the Savage Lands levels, there are different enemies mixed in.

Tying into the comics

Using some comic style cut scenes to tell the story helps bridge the gap between game and original content. That is a nice touch.  Other than that there isn’t much story here. Just pick a mutant, kick butt and defeat Magneto before he completes whatever nefarious plan he is cooking this time.  Don’t laugh, that is how we liked it back then – as much action as possible, as little story as possible. We didn’t need novels based around our games to understand them and we didn’t care what they were thinking. We just played.

X-Men Arcade Game by Konami
Platform: Arcade- 4 or 6 player units available
Genre: Scrolling brawler/Mutant mayhem indeed
Rating: No rating system at time of release (the HD  re-release earned an E for Everyone)
Score: 85/100
Available: Now in more discerning arcade collections
Ongoing Franchise: No

Catch up on all things X-Men on eBay.

Carl Williams

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