While not as good as it could have been, "X-Men: Reign of Apocalypse" is still a fun brawler for the GBA.
STORY:
On their way home from the Mojoverse, the X-Men accidentally slip into a portal that transports them into a twisted alternate universe, where Apocalypse rules and has taken complete control of the world and other X-Men as well. So Wolverine, Rogue, Cyclops, and Storm must fight their way through hordes of Apocalypse's armies and fellow mutants. Not a great story, but that's not the most important part of the game.
GRAPHICS: 8.1/ 10
Wow!!!! Once you start the game, you'll probably be at least fairly impressed by the smooth animations, detailed backgrounds, and overall fluidity of the game's visuals. Wolverine looks fierce and ready to tear up enemies, the Sentinels look huge, and the fearsome Apocalypse looks hulking and absolutely evil. The backgrounds look like they're straight from the comic books, although the playing fields are very basic and repetitious. There are a few flaws in the game's visuals, however. When a character gets knocked down, the animation looks jerky and forced, and some backgrounds have an annoying tile-like look to them. These are pretty minor mistakes, but they still affect the gameplay.
SOUND: 5.6/ 10
The sound is a bit of a drag. While some sound effects are pretty cool (Wolverine's claws tearing through foes), some are pretty lame (Cyclops's punches have a spongy sound effect), and almost EVERY baddie has the same stupid death scream. The only alternate screams heard are from the playable characters, the female bosses, and Apocalypse. Also, the music isn't the best. Only 4 tracks of music are used throughout the game, aside from the theme song. Couldn't they at least have thrown in a boss theme????
GAMEPLAY: 6.9
It's a beat-em-up. What else is there to say? While the genre is very common today, "Reign" puts in a couple of features to make the game enjoyable. First off, below your health meter is a "Mutant Power" bar. After beating up enough baddies, you can press "L" activate your mutant power, and you will unleash a devastating attack, each attack unique to your mutant. Also, after each stage, you are given a chance to increase your mutant's vitality, strength, or speed of filling up your mutant power bar. This adds a bit of variety to the game. One problem I had with the gameplay is its repitition. Overall, the game has an OK variety in enemies, but if you go by level, each stage only has 2 or 3 different types of goons to thwack. Also, Cyclops doesn't have a fighting combo, he just punches over and over!! Lameness. At least each mutant has his/ her own fighting style and strengths and weaknesses.
CONTROLS: 7.5
The controls are good, for the most part. They have fair response and you can do jump attacks, as well as quick/ fierce attacks. Sometimes, though, it's hard to get a combo down because you have to do some serious button-mashing to execute one. This gets boring after awhile, but this is what beat-em-ups are pretty much built on.
CONCLUSION:
Overall, I'd say the game does a good job despite its flaws. If you are a fan of beat-em-ups, the X-Men, or both, I'd suggest you pick this one up. You can probably find it cheap on Ebay or at your local game store. It's fun to play when you're bored. Have fun!
SCORE: 6.5