X-Men: Children Of The Atom

X-MEN: CHILDREN OF THE ATOM
Capcom/Akklaim
Sega Saturn
Fighting
-- by Charles McCarter

This is the reason I bought a Sega Saturn all those months ago. I had listened to the propaganda from both camps. The Saturn is better at this. The Playstation excels at that. But what it all came down to for me was what was available. I had a couple of games on the PSX that I wanted, but I had just as many for the Saturn. Then the Saturn version of X-MEN came out, with the PSX one nowhere in sight, so I made my decision.

The game takes twelve of everyone's manic mutants (actually 9 mutants, a hunter-killer robot, a magically armored giant, and a magical woman from another dimension) and throws them together to fight. Being well acquainted with the arcade version, I was skeptical at first, but the game immediately impressed me. The graphics are bright and clean, and the characters are big. The sound is good, and the music is above average. True, there are a few frames missing here and there, but the people who have time to look for them are obviously playing it on 'easy'.

X-MEN works on the modified Capcom STREET FIGHTER engine, which means it plays like any SF game with a few additions. The first of which is super jumps, which is very useful for getting out of corners. Also, now characters can fight extensively on the air; this includes blocking, combos and special moves. And the one additional item that I really find useful in this game is the dash, which is accomplished by tapping the d-pad twice in the desired direction; this is essential for getting in and out quickly. In fact, when I play STREET FIGHTER ALPHA, I find myself tapping 'dash' out of habit, and of course, nothing happens.

The characters themselves are legend to anyone who's ever read the comic books. And, it's fun to pick your favorite and beat the stuffing out of people you don't like. I must admit that destroying Cyclops is one of my guilty pleasures. On the side of good are the X-Men: Storm, Cyclops, Psylocke, Wolverine, Colossus, and Iceman. Villains include Omega Red, the Silver Samurai, the robot Sentinel, Spiral, and the bosses Juggernaut and Magneto.

Each character has normal moves, X-abilities, and a Hyper-X. Performing the X-moves (such as Storm's typhoon or Psylocke's psi-flash) charge the X-meter; when it is full, you can pull off a Hyper-X. Be warned, though, that Hyper-Xs are definitely not the key to winning this game as, while some of them are very pretty, they don't do very much damage or are easy to block or otherwise avoid.

While the gameplay is easy, winning is definitely not. I'm not nearly as good at SF ALPHA as I am at X-MEN, and yet, I had much less difficulty beating Bison than Magneto. Magneto as a boss is painful, and you'd best learn to block, jump, duck, and dodge if you're going to stand a chance against the Master of Magnetism (and cheap moves).

The Saturn version has an arcade mode for 1 or 2 players, a versus mode, and a 'survival mode,' where you fight each opponent in one round. If you win, you go on and some (not all) of your lost life is restored. If you lose, game over.

This game has gone on to spawn two sequels now, MARVEL SUPER HEROS and the brand-new X-MEN VS. STREET FIGHTER. If you don't own it and you like Capcom fighters and/or the X-Men, you really should. Even if you don't, give this game a shot. It's explosive fun.

Rating: *** ½