Why was there such a lack of good X-Men games back in the day? If you ever played the NES X-Men game you will know what I'm talking about. Sure there were maybe a couple, like the arcade game, but you couldn’t play that one at home. In my opinion X-Men 2 Clone Wars was the first good X-Men game. It was released on the Sega Genesis in1995.
The games plot focuses around an alien race called the Phalanx who come to earth to assimilate the population. I believe this was the same story arc that was happening in the comics at the time.
Unlike other games as soon as you power on the Genesis it drops you right into the game with a random character. I always remember this being so weird. No character select, just here’s your character get going. Once you beat the first level you finally get to choose a character. The character choices are: Beast, Gambit, Cyclops, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Psylocke, and later on you get to play as Magneto. This is a great cast of characters all of which are some of my favorites.
The gameplay is quite simple. It is a side scrolling platformer like many games of the time. What makes this game really fun is the different characters. Of course, everyone has their own unique powers. For example Nightcrawler has his teleport ability which can actually help you get to ledges; he can also climb on walls just like he should be able to. The one trick is that you mutant power is linked to your life. So, when your life is full your mutant power is more powerful. Gambit for example will throw three cards when his life is full as opposed to just one card when it is lower. This is a good idea on paper, but when you play most the time you won’t have full health so your power is usually weaker than it could be. Other than that the gameplay and controls are solid, so dying falls on the player and not the cheapness of the game. The music is pretty good as well. It has a very techno feel to it. I think it goes quite nicely with the game.
My favorite thing about this game is that you can play it co-op. It’s a lot of fun running around with a friend berserker clawing and bamping enemies. Overall this isn’t the best game in the world, but it is a good X-Men game. You can pick it up for about $15. If you still own a Genesis check it out, Bub.
Now let's remember one of the best cartoons of the 90's.