X-Men is an arcade game produced by Konami in 1992. It is a side-scrolling fighting game based on the characters of the same name under license from Marvel Comics. The animation of the X-Men and the supervillains is based on the 1989 X-Men pilot episode titled Pryde of the X-Men.

The player chooses one of six X-Men: Cyclops, Colossus, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Dazzler. Their objective is to stop the villain Magneto from wreaking havoc on human civilization. They must fight through an army of hundreds of Sentinels and supervillains such as Pyro, The White Queen and Juggernaut--who strangely wields a bazooka in his boss fight. Mystique was also a boss enemy in the game, although she simply took the form of Magneto and attacked players with punches and kicks. Later, Magneto kidnaps Professor X and Kitty Pryde, prompting the heroes to go on a rescue mission.

Although Final Fight set the standard for scrolling fighters, X-Men created several innovations for the genre, including the ability to hit felled opponents to prevent them from getting back up, as well as a character-specialized "mutant power," which could clear the screen of enemies, but also reduced the player's health. The game is fondly remembered by those who played it for its fun, addictive gameplay and colorful graphics. However, it is also sometimes criticized for its wooden voice acting and often ungrammatical script, particularly from Magneto ("I am Magneto, Master of Magnet" and "Welcome to Die!"). The Japanese version of the game featured enemies that would drop health and Mutant Power refills upon their defeat. These enemies were absent from the American release of the game.

Depending on the machine, the maximum number of simultaneous players varies from two to six.

Note that this game is not to be confused with a later X-Men game, Children of the Atom (arcade game), which was released in arcades, on video game consoles, and on the PC.

Quotes

• "Go and save the city!"
• "Pyro will turn you to toast!"
• "Nothing moves the Blob!"
• "The White Queen welcomes you to die!"
• "Juggernaut will flatten you!"
• "X-men! Welcome... to die!"
• "I am Magneto, you are nothing!"
• "I am Magneto, Master of Magnet!"
• "Thank you X-Men! But Magneto is in another place." (a reference to Super Mario Bros.)
• "Magneto is over there!"
• "You are helpless against my power, X-Men!"
• "X-Chicken!"
• "Kill you!"
• "You are dead!"

External links

• KLOV entry for X-Men
• Digital Monkey Box Brings You...X-Men Arcade
• Gamespot - The Greatest Games of All-Time
• The Best and Worst Comic Book Video Games
• X-Men Walkthrough (Arcade Version)
  • X-Men (Arcade) FAQ By "White Mage"
• Character Guide version 1.02

1992 arcade games | Arcade games | Scrolling fighter games | X-Men games | Konami games | Computer and video games featuring cooperative gameplay