Original X-Men Arcade

Does the latest arcade release for Xbox Live Arcade live up to the hype?  In a word, yes.

As a child of the 80's, I grew up in arcades.  While Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct, and Tekken were all favorites of mine, games like X-Men Arcade were the first to successfully dabble in the realm of multiplayer.  Thanks to the quality of the game, the sheer fun level, X-Men was easily one of the most memorable arcade games ever made.

When word came that the arcade game would be getting a port to both PSN and Xbox Arcade, fans of the game were both thrilled and nervous.  With so much riding on just one title, there seemed to be an awful lot that Marvel could botch.  Thankfully, that's not the case here.

The Story -

While X-Men Arcade might be a giant success, sadly, that isn't due to its story.  The threat is typical for the X-Men, Magneto is up to no-good and the mutants must use their special skills and fighting abilities to defeat the evil super-villain and his unending supply of Sentinals.  A few liberties were taken with the characters, namely that one X-men would be capable of defeating Sentinals (they are supposed to be giant, mutant hunting robots not so easily defeated without an epic battle). 

But, the story (or lack thereof) really doesn't ruin the gameplay whatsoever.  Though you might find the details lacking, the real motivation here is to push buttons, beat up villains, and clear your way through each and every level until you catch Magneto and show him just what your mutant powers can do.

Gameplay -

There are only three buttons at use here, so gameplay structure is pretty straightforward.  The right thumbstick allows you to move your X-Men up or down, forward or backward on the screen.  You also have an attack button, a jump button, and a 'mutant power' button. 

Players begin the game by choosing which of six X-Men they want to be (Dazzler, Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Colossus.  From there, the game dumps you into level after level, where each progression brings you more and more villains.  The screen pauses until all villains in that area are defeated, where you eventually work your way to the boss of the level.

With the buttons being so straightforward, there is very little room for creativity.  You are either punching, jumping, or dazzling the screen with a fantastic display of your character's mutant skill.  The mutant skills will do much more damage to your enemies, though you're ability to use these skills is limited. 

Graphics -

With the X-Men Arcade game releasing back in 1992, it should go without saying that the graphics are quite dated here.  But what is nice is the way in which the game has been upgraded for its new release. 

While playing a 1-4 player game offline, the game is displayed in a solid, non-widescreen view.  This slightly limits what you can see on screen, but doesn't change the game whatsoever.  When playing a 1-6 player game online, the screen expands to a widescreen setting to allow better view of all the players involved.  I found this particular difference between the two ways of playing to be fantastic, as Marvel's presentation of the two modes is near perfect.

The graphics looked great on my 1080p screen, though admittedly I did have to strain my eyes slightly during certain segments.  The dated look and the edgy feel to the images were just a bit much at times.

The mutant abilities look marvelous on the screen and are quite entertaining to perform if not just on their appearance.  Visually, the aggression of the abilities and the beautiful display (Nightcrawler's specifically, which lights with colors as he teleports all over the screen).

Overall -

I can't recommend the purchase of X-Men Arcade enough.  For just $10, the pure joy and thrill of running up against classic Marvel villains while piloting your favorite X-Men character can't be matched.  The presentation, the gameplay, and the sheer fun of the game simply can't be matched for that price.

The work Marvel has done in releasing this classic game should be a shining example to all other companies out there.  If you're planning on rereleasing a classic, take note of X-Men Arcade.   This is how you earn customers. 

Not only is the pricepoint just right for the title, but the work that was done with slightly updating the graphics, adding a genius user interface, and incorporating online play makes the purchase completely worthwhile.

The game won't take you long to beat, especially with your unlimited continues.  In the arcades, the game was meant to suck in all of your hard earned quarters while providing you a thrilling, fun game to play with friends.  In the arcades, you could spend $30 and possibly not even beat the first four levels.  But at home, with no consequence for dying, there's only about an hour or so of real gameplay here.

But what matters with a game like this is not the length, nor the graphics quality, but the level of fun you extract from it.  And in that regard, X-Men Arcade is simply priceless.