X-Men the Arcade Game Review (X360, PS3)

Full Disclosure: I had a few experiences with the original arcade cabinet in my youth, but nothing too extensive. I was excited when this was announced and I was looking forward to playing it.

Story: The arcade games of old never made story as important as in today's gaming world, a fact that X-Men Arcade delivers with aplomb. The basic premise is that Magneto is on the war path and it is up to six superheroes to stop him. Along the way you will encounter various villains, friends will be kidnapped, and you may or may not defeat the bad guy. That sums up the story in its entirety. Location changes seem cheap and are purely a device for different scenarios, offering no actual credence to the plot itself.

Gameplay: The gameplay has not aged well. Attacks, jumping, and your super power are all mapped individually to one button. This makes for repetitive button mashing and very little strategy, if any. The super moves for each character vary only slightly, each one killing almost everything on screen at once. The consequence for using your super power is the lowering of your health, but once you die you simply respawn with the ability to use your super powers almost to the point where you feel rewarded for dying. There is no block move, allowing enemies to hit you while you're stuck in the middle of an animation.

Graphics: The look of the game retains its classic arcade feel. Character models seem to be only slightly improved, allowing the game to be pixilated purposely. There are moments where this does make the game feel dated, but it mostly just gives the game the nostalgic feel it's going for. Backgrounds pop out nicely, and while the reason for the scenery may be a little out there regarding its haphazard story, it doesn't change the fact that having varied environments are welcome.

Audio: The sound is ripped straight from the arcade cabinet. Any improvements or changes are unnoticeable, characters still spout bad one-liners, and almost all characters sound exactly the same when dying or being hit. The music in the game retains it's 16 bit sound, and while it is neither good nor bad, it doesn't offer any real enhancement to the game.

Replayability: Considering the game can be beaten in under 20 minutes, it's surprising that there's no incentive to play again. There is an alternative Japanese arcade cabinet, but the only difference is the text during cutscenes. There are six different characters, so if you were looking to get the most bang for your buck you could play throughout the game using each, but only the most hardcore would venture forth to do so. The game does support four to six player local co-op (depending on which console you own) and up to six players online, but with so little content multiple playthroughs are not warranted.

Pros:

• Six player co-op
• Campy dialouge

Cons:

• Repetitive gameplay
• Bad story
• Bland visuals

Senior Editor: Raymond Segal

5/10 Okay

($5) Half Price