X-Men: The Arcade Game

If you're 30 years old or older and played this game at the arcades, I don't see why you would overlook this. In fact, I implore you not to.

The core gameplay is fast-paced and it controls like a dream. There isn't a lot to it, but what's here is a blast.

If you did frequent arcades in the early '90s and remember just how fun X-men Arcade was, though, this is a must-purchase.

It's ludicrously mindless, and yet button-mashing through hordes of robots and cheesy villains is simply a good time.

Your enjoyment of this title will vary depending on your nostalgic feelings towards the original arcade game and the beat-em-up genre overall.

Half of the appeal of X-Men: The Arcade Game is nostalgia, but the other half is still a genuinely fun experience. No, it's not as flashy or deep as any current-generation game, but there's still something to be said for taking control of Wolverine in his bright yellow spandex and mindlessly ripping through hordes of evil robot minions. If you're a solo player, you might want to pass, but if you regularly play with a group, especially a local one, then it's worth checking out.

So yeah, X-Men is a game with limited appeal to very particular niche, but it's something I'm personally extremely happy to have, and it's nearly identical to what I played in the Arcade.

Expensive but worth it for nostalgic thrills. [Issue#203, p.98]

Death comes frequently, but infinite continues completely erase the once-brutal challenge of the original arcade coin-op. [March 2011, p.77]

Beat-em-up, side-scrolling brawlers like this worked great when there was a fear of losing all the tokens you'd work so hard to buy with your allowance, but once that imminent threat is removed there's nothing but mindless button mashing and endless continues in your future.