X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse
| X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse | |
|---|---|
 North American cover art | |
| Developer(s) | Capcom |
| Publisher(s) | Capcom |
| Producer(s) | Tokuro Fujiwara |
| Composer(s) | Setsuo Yamamoto |
| Series | X-Men |
| Platform(s) | Super NES |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Action, platform, beat-'em-up |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Distribution | ROM cartridge |
X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse is a side-scrolling action game released by Capcom for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994. The game is based on the X-Men comic book franchise and is based on the early 1990s X-Men animated series. It was the second game Capcom released based on the franchise, the other being a fighting game titled X-Men: Children of the Atom, also released in 1994.
Characters
Heroes
- Beast - Possesses ape-like superhuman physical strength and agility.
- Cyclops - Produces powerful optic blasts from his eyes, forcing him to wear specialized visor at all times.
- Gambit - Has the ability to manipulate kinetic energy and is also skilled in card-throwing, hand-to-hand combat, and the use of a staff.
- Psylocke - The only X-Men woman in the game, Psylocke can use her telepathic powers to form a 'psychic blade' with her fists. She has the most techniques of all the playable characters.
- Wolverine - A gruff mutant possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities and adamantium claws. However, unlike some other X-Men games, Wolverine cannot heal himself automatically.
Villains
- Acolytes - Only appearing in the final level of the game, they can teleport around the room and fire homing energy at the player.
- Apocalypse - The supposed mastermind behind the events at Genosha.
- Brood - A race of insect-like, parasitic, extraterrestrial beings that possess wings, fanged teeth and a stinging tail. They have a hive mentality and mindlessly follow their queen.
- Brood Queen - The leader of the Brood and one of the bosses that the X-Men must face.
- Exodus - Magneto's guardian aboard the "Avalon." Exodus can teleport around the room and fire laser beams from his eyes. Exodus can also summon Acolytes to aid him in battle. When half of his health is gone, Exodus will retreat from the battle.
- Genoshan Magistrates - The common fodder enemies. Some are armed with weapons such as grenades, knives and guns.
- Juggernaut - Like Omega Red, he appears as a test simulation in the Danger Room once he is defeated.
- Magneto - The true mastermind behind all the events leading up to this point. Magneto resides in his personal space colony "Avalon" and uses the powers of magnetism to generate an electrical shield, attract and fire metal scraps, and fire paralyzing electromagnetic energy.
- Omega Red - He appears as a test simulation to test the X-Men's skills in the Danger Room.
- Sentinels - The other fodder-class enemies that the player must face. There are three boss battles involving the Sentinels: Wolverine fights a giant unfinished Sentinel that is still in the works, Psylocke fights a Sentinel on an elevator at the end of her stage, and Beast combats against three Sentinels in hand-to-hand combat.
- Tusk - A powerful mutant who has superhuman strength and the ability to create smaller duplicates of himself that do his bidding, named "Tuskettes".
- Tuskettes - The minions of Tusk. They attack by grabbing onto their victims to hold them in place while throwing bombs at them.
Plot
Charles Xavier sends five of his X-Men including Wolverine, Cylcops, Psylocke, Gambit and Beast to sabotage various operations and structures on the Genosha]] island complex to liberate mutants in captivity. Further investigation reveals Queen Brood and Tusk involved in this matter and headed by Apocalypse.
After defeating all evil forces on Genosha. Xavier finds out that Magneto intends to destroy Genosha from his space station Avalon. To prepare for the confrontation, Xavier tests the five X-Men in the Danger room to defeat holograms of Omega Red and Juggernaut. After passing the tests, the X-Men go their separate paths inside Avalon facing and defeating Exodus and then battling Magneto and thwarting his plans.
Gameplay
The player takes control of five X-Men who each have their own objectives on Genosha. Each of the X-Men have different moves and capabilities activated by certain control combinations. The player has a limited number of lives that count for all five X-Men and not one individually. The levels may be played in any order. At the end of each level, a boss must be battled and defeated. The next three levels are linear and require each boss level to be defeated. This is followed by two straightforward boss battles in the Danger Room. Finally only one of the X-Men can be selected, each one going through a different level, required to defeat Exodus midway, destroy the level boss and finally defeat Magneto in his battle stage.
Reception
| Reception | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||
Three of Electronic Gaming Monthly's four reviewers declared it to be by far the best video game based on the X-Men to date, citing the large levels and demanding difficulty.[3] Though they remarked that it "may become repetitive after a while", GamePro concluded that the game is "a solid hit." They particularly praised the graphics, the high difficulty, and the Street Fighter II stylistics.[5]
In a 2011 retrospective, GamePro listed the game's "strong soundtrack, unlimited powers and a focus on combat rather than platforming," as well as the fact that the levels can be beaten in any order, among its strong features, but criticised a "fairly limited" moveset of the characters.[6] According to a GameFan retrospective, "fans of the franchise and of the genre it represents here will be equally impressed with what is on offer." They specified the impressive visuals, tight gameplay, and perfectly balanced difficulty.[7]
In 2013, Nerdist included X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse among the top ten most iconic Marvel video games, calling it "extraordinary for its time, with beautiful visuals and far more accessible game play than its Sega Genesis counterpart."[8] That same year, this "pretty damn good" side-scrolling action game was also ranked as the 20th best Marvel video game by Geek Magazine.[9]
See also
- Apocalypse in other media
- Cyclops in other media
- Gambit in other media
- Magneto in other media
- Psylocke in other media
- Wolverine in other media
References
- ↑ "X-Men Apocalyspe for SNES". GameRankings. Retrieved 2013-07-10.
- ↑ Kanarick, Mark (2010-10-03). "X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse - Review". allgame. Retrieved 2013-12-18.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Review Crew: X-Men". Electronic Gaming Monthly (66) (EGM Media, LLC). January 1995. p. 38.
- ↑ "X-Men:Mutant Apocalyspe". Retrieved 2012-07-10.
- ↑ "X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse". GamePro (67) (IDG). February 1995. pp. 28–29.
- ↑ "The Good, the Bad, and the Juggernaut, Bitch: A Look at X-Men Games, page 6, Feature Story from GamePro". Web.archive.org. 2011-10-15. Retrieved 2013-12-18.
- ↑ Reive, Neil (June 16, 2011). "Best Bits: X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse". GameFan. Archived from the original on November 24, 2013.
- ↑ "Top Ten Most Iconic Marvel Video Games « Nerdist". Nerdist.com. 2013-11-08. Retrieved 2013-12-18.
- ↑ Jones, Elton (2013-10-22). "Marvel Comics' 25 Best Video Games - Geek Magazine". Geekexchange.com. Retrieved 2013-12-18.