X-Men Next Dimension blows both of the Mutant Academy games out the water
User Rating: 7.5 | X-Men: Next Dimension GC
Compared to the X-Men Mutant Academy games, X-Men Next Dimension is purely amazing. Certainly some things hold it back from being absolute perfection, like characters that are terrible in combat and a short story, but the game does so many things right. Each of the 24 playable characters (or 25 on the Xbox) display their trademark abilities, although some display them much better then others. Two characters in particular don't really display the awesome mutant talents at all. Those two, are Mystique and Forge. If you don't know what they're abilities are, let me explain. Mystique is a very powerful mutant shapeshifter, who can take the guise of anyone she could possibly want to. Man. Woman. Child. Anyone. Forge can create any type of machine with relative ease. But in the game, as in the Mutant Academy games, neither of them display their abilities. Both of them are reduced to shooting huge guns. And that's it. I understand both of their trademark abilities may not be useful in a fight, but it would still be cool to see them. Other characters that have immense power in the comics, such as Phoenix and Dark Phoenix, are presented as such. But some characters who also have almost limitless power, like Storm, are shown as weak and wimpy. The fighting mechanics are a bit sloppy, as epic fights as they appear in the comics, don't show up in the game. The fights are often slow and shunted, when they should be big and over the top. The game's very unique approach at open worlds is a much appreciated gem. In any fight you could start off somewhere and by the end, have traveled through multiple other locales. For instance, if you fight on the X-Mansion front lawn, you could knock your opponent down to the X-Jet hangar, from the opening basketball court, and continue the fight from there, as well as return back to the front lawn. Each character has four special moves, which you can access by acquiring a certain amount of hits, either on your opponent or just outright swinging. The game's story is also very impressive, something you don't see too often in a fighter. The story also derives from recent (at the time of release in 2002) comic storylines, which is also something you don't often see in comic book video games. In the games story, you take control of many of the games playable characters, and fight your way to the end. Throughout the story, you'll try to find and stop Bastion, a sentinel-human hybrid, who want to see mutant extinct. The story follows the comic story surround Zero Tolerance. Other stories including Cassandra Nova's attack on Genosha which led to million of mutant deaths is also referenced. Depending on who you choose to fight as, two very difference endings are available, which is also a very nice touch. It's odd to say that a fighting game's strong point is it's story, as most fighting games either don't have one, or one that is very weak. This game is something that will appeal to die-hard X-Fans, both for it's story that draws from then recent comic stories, and for the number of favorite playables.
