X-Men (arcade game)

X-Men is an arcade game produced by Konami in 1992. It is a side-scrolling fighting game based on the characters of the same name under license from Marvel Comics.

The player chooses one of six X-Men: Cyclops, Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Storm, and 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, The White Queen and Juggernaut. Later, Magneto kidnaps Professor X and Kitty Pryde, prompting the heroes to go on a rescue mission.

Although Final Fight set the standard for scrolling fighters, X-Men created several innovations for the genre, including the ability to hit felled opponents to prevent them from getting back up, as well as a character-specialized "mutant power," which could clear the screen of enemies, but also reduced the player's health. 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 script ("I am Magneto, Master of Magnet").

Depending on the machine, the maximum number of simultaneous players varies from two, to four, to six.

Note that this game is not to be confused with a later X-Men game, X-Men: Children of the Atom, which was released in arcades, on video game consoles, and on the PC.

External links

• KLOV entry for X-Men