X-Men return to Academy
Jose Cuellar
Scene Video Game Reviewer
The X-Men have done it again. After a summer blockbuster movie, The X-Men haved followed that success with a new video game, "X-Men: Mutant Academy". One is used to seeing the X-Men in games like "Marvel Vs. Capcom" in which characters of the Marvel Universe fight it out in teams of three against other teams in the Marvel universe and even some that appear in Capcom games.
No one can forget the only pure X-Men fighting game "X-Men: Children of the Atom". Few of us will remember the one arcade game in which you and your five closest friends could play at the same time against Magneto and his minion as one of the X-Men. Although it was cool to watch the game in two screens, "X-Men: Mutant Academy" brings the feel of the arcade into your PlayStation and for this reviewer, a 13-inch television.
"X-Men: Mutant Academy" gives you the option of playing as one of the X-Men or even as one of the villains from the X-Men movie. One can choose between Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, Jean Grey (as The Phoenix), Sabertooth, Toad, Mystique and even the Master of Magnetism, a.k.a. Magneto.
Keeping true to the movie, the programmers at Paradox even included the movie costumes. Two more X-Men, not in the movie but extremely popular, were added to the cast, everyone's favorite Cajun, Gambit and the incredibly hairy and smart beast, the Beast.
Professor X, Charles Xavier to all non-X-Men fans, stays in the background and acts as your trainer. They all have their individual powers at full strength and the combos, when executed, offers plenty of eye candy for X-Men fans.
When you start the game, you get the choice between several modes. One-on-one combat is found in the arcade mode. Academy mode takes you to the basement of Professor X's mansion and under the supervision of Professor X and Cerebro, you learn all the moves for your favorite character. Keeping with the school environment, you even get a grade. Survival mode is a real challenge and should only be picked once you are a seasoned fighter or until the tip of your thumbs can withstand a direct flame.
Cerebro Mode is one of the best additions to any type of game. It contains full motion videos (FMVs) of each X-Men once they finished their training in academy mode. It also features the trailer for the X-Men movie and some drawings from the comic books. The trailer is the only one that is unlocked, the rest have to be unlocked after hours and hours of play. I am still working on that.
The FMVs are not the best but are a great addition to the game. The voices of the characters are right out of the X-Men cartoon. My only problem with the game was control. I spent hours in the academy mode with my favorite X-Man (card throwing Gambit) and even when I could do his super moves (one called the 52 card draw, my personal favorite) it was hard to recreate the combination when I was fighting it out in the arcade mode.
I spent most of the time using simple combinations to win. At one point I got so desperate that I began playing like my little sister. I threw down my controller to the floor and began pressing every button at random. It was then that I finally got Gambit's super move to work. Good grief!
Control aside, I really liked this game. I am also a big fan of the graphics that were developed for the game. All the characters are in 3D and the backdrops, even though they are in 2D, are right out of the comic. X-Men know-it-alls will really like Storm's New York sewer backdrop, Phoenix's moon base and Gambit's deck, deep in bayou country.
While I did enjoy the game and would recommend it to everyone, I wish that it were easier to control. Overall, this game will give fighting game fans, and X-Men fans, hours and hours of optic blasting enjoyment.
All Scene Stories for Wednesday, August 30, 2000
