Vintage Gamers Rejoice! The classic arcade game you've been aching for is finally back and just as fun as you remember.
If not, you should spend your time on another review. But for those of you like me, in the small cult-like minority of vintage gamers, a true treasure was released this week on the Playstation Network. Konami's re-release of X-MEN ARCADE is not only just as fun as it was playing it on a machine, but it manages to capture the feeling of a gamin age long forgotten. The video arcade.
It should be stated that no particular bells or whistles were added to X-Men Arcade. The music and voice effects have been slightly restored, but the pixelated 32-bit graphics are shown in their full glory. Every frame skip, every lag and every vintage foible you could want is prevalent in X-Men, but for some reason these glitches only add to the charm of the game as a whole. The experience becomes something more than just a PSN game. It's kind of like being back at Chuck-E-Cheese on your birthday.
The character selection hasn't changed. Your six X-Men of choice are the Mighty Colossus, the Badass Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Cyclops, Storm and the obscure and ridiculous Dazzler. Aside from the last on the list, all the mutants are fun to play as. Each has a unique special attack designed to destroy all your enemies on the screen. You lose a little health for each use, so the strategy element is simple, but at least it's there.
To say that X-MEN ARCADE re-invents the genre of the arcade beat-em-up would be a ridiculous statement. But the true statement I can make, is that even though this game was originally released in 1992, it's still fun. I can play it with up to five of my friends and we all have fun. And for a game that's twenty years old, that's not bad at all.