Because of a rise of anti-mutant activity in Genosha, Professor Xavier uses Cerebro to scan the island nation and discovers Apocalypse's presence there. Genosha's government is apparently using Apocalypse to bring their mutant population under control. However, Xavier suspects Apocalypse to follow his own plans and sends five X-Men, Cyclops, Wolverine, Psylocke, Beast and Gambit, to investigate. X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse combines the gameplay of a side-scrolling brawler like Final Fight with elements of a platformer, that is, players have to fight various enemies and survive the occasional jumping-puzzle. Most levels also feature mid- and end-bosses in form of robots, monsters or known Super-Villains. Each character has unique abilities and special moves: Cyclops uses his Optic Blast to attack enemies from a distance, Wolverine can climb walls, Psylocke is very agile and the best jumper of the team, Beast can cling to the ceiling while Gambit throws explosive cards at his enemies. Special moves are quite similar to those found in Street Fighter II (Wolverine has a Dragon-Punch-style attack and Gambit's Double Kick is virtually identical to M. Bison's Scissors Kick), and require similar button combinations. While most stages are unique for each character, some can be played with any of the X-Men. Progress is saved via password.
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The Island of Genosha has captured and enslaved mutants via the commands of its dictator Apocalypse. Professor Xavier sends Wolverine, Cyclops, Psylocke, Gambit and Beast to put a stop to this.
Of course this won’t be an easy task. Because it’s a Capcom game on the SNES, a company that tend to either make their games not too difficult (Aladdin or Disney’s Magical Quest) or have it be pretty brutal until you learn the game (Mega Man X). X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse definitely falls into the latter.
Initially, rather than choose your favourite X-men out of the bunch and go through all stages, you instead get a specific stage with each character. Some are easier than others (Cyclops and Psylocke’s are likely the ones where you will meet the most difficulty). Once this is done, you continue through more stages where this time, you can select whichever X-Men you decide.
Gameplay is a 2D beat ‘em up with platform sections. The gameplay is solid but a caveat is that X-Men abilities are done in a Street Fighter-like manner; Want to unleash Cyclops blast beam? I hope you can do a hadouken input! Its not all complicated but it might throw some people off who expect a simpler control scheme for moves. That said, it does make each character stand out and everything else is standard.
This means that some stages (and bosses) are going to be easier with certain characters, so its the trial-and-error. And for most of your time spent on X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse will be finding this out the hard way.
The reason for its difficulty is that even normal mooks can deplete a good chunk of your energy via swarm tactics, early game can see cheap enemies introduced depending on who you picked, and if you lose a life, its back to the start of the stage. Yup, no checkpoints. Did you get punched to your doom while escaping a crumbling roof? Restart! Did you die to the boss? Restart! And if ONE of your X-Men loses all their lives (in the first half of the game)? GAME OVER! And while the game uses a password system, you don’t get your first one till you beat the first five stages. Another factor is that health pick-ups are sparse and you have to go out of your way to get an extra life.
Oddly, the second half of the game is easier though is still no cakewalk and has the usual BS.
It comes down to basically a game where you need to memorize everything to beat a stage with at least minimal mistakes. Because just one bad turn and you’re starting a level again. There is an initial frustration of cheap deaths but there is a satisfaction of suddenly things clicking and you find the optimal way to get through a level or beat a boss. There is a training mode but that only allows you to do the first five stages.
When it comes to presentation, X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse does the job. Visuals are very nice. Bright, large it feels like an X-Men game. And while some may prefer the gritty visuals that the Mega Drive game did, it hard not to feel its distinctive. Stage design is a slight let down, though Wolverine’s stage is pretty nifty in that you use his claws to climb certain parts of the stage and Beast’s showcases his ceiling-clinging ability (which is needed unless you want to lose lives quickly). Audio is less satisfactory as the music is like a weaker version of Mega Man X games, a little catchy but not memorable.
X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse doesn’t quite reach greatness as the difficulty spikes, cheap hits and deaths, with a presentation that could be stronger. But its still a good game that offers a challenge and a feeling of satisfaction once beaten. Well worth a go.
Rating: 7/10
It's certainly not perfect, or even something you'd call a hidden gem, or whatever. The back half feels weirdly tacked on and bad, and some of the bosses are garbage. But for a licensed game in the mid-90s you can do a lottttttttttt worse.
Also: Psylocke.