X-MEN: REIGN OF APOCALYPSE (GBA)


Formulaic but fun beat-em-up action

By MARTIN KINGSLEY

Hot on the heels of Final Fight One comes a side-scrolling beat-em-up featuring your favourite spandex-wearing superheroes.

The storyline starts with the X-Men coming back from an extra-dimensional mission, when they are sucked into a parallel universe where Apocalypse, the robotic megalomaniac, rules supreme and former friends are enemies focussed on the X-Men's utter destruction. As either Rogue, Storm, Cyclops or Wolverine, you must fight your way to the Warp Gate and escape this alternate reality.

The game comprises of 12 levels, including Xavier's Mansion, the Golden Gate Bridge and various other well-known locations. You fight your way through each level, facing a steadily increasing number of enemies, a few mid-level bosses and one large end of level boss, usually a famous character such as Magneto or Cable.

The enemies seem to be almost carbon-copies of each other, with a palette change each level and maybe an extra projectile or attack thrown in for a bit of variety.

After you defeat the end of level boss, you are allowed to update your statistics, eg. more health, more damage per attack and so forth. Which brings us to the controls. Quite simple, with two basic attacks, 2 throw attacks and 1 special attack per character, dishing out the hurt is clean, simple fun.

The graphics, while not revolutionary, do their job admirably, with fluid character animations and well-drawn backgrounds. The music is made up of new-age techno, which suits the subject matter, although it does become repetitive quite quickly.

It all boils down to this: X-Men: RoA is for people who enjoy side scrolling fighting games, with simple controls, near mindless action and solid gameplay. You don't even have to be an X-Men fan to enjoy it, but if you are, you will probably enjoy it that little bit more.

ORIGINALITY 65%
SOUND/GRAPHICS 75%
PLAYABILITY 80%
ADDICTION 75%
ENJOYMENT 75%