This classic Xmen arcade cabinet beat-me-up is still fun as you remember. It’s punch smashing at its finest as the character will get in there and tear up robotic henchmen. When Konami released the game circa 1992 they released a two and four-player machine (the six player one is the sought-after juggernaut so if you find one cherish it). You can choose from six players Xmen: Cyclops, Colossus, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Dazzler. It was an arcade game that only needed three buttons per player: “attack”, “jump”, and “mutant power”.
Across the Board
Playing as a kid I thought the characters are about the same with different tweeks to mutant powers All the characters do three stack hits to drop henchmen. No one character sucks but in my humble opinion you COULD rank the characters based on their ability to blow up henchmen.
Very Scientific Scoring System:
Simple three-point system from my own opinion of each character’s performance based on playing multiple levels with each character. I didn’t use a high-speed camera to record gameplay or reverse engineer the game’s coding to extract data about their skills. I noticed certain attributes after hours of gameplay. Below are three attributes. There are others like attack rate, walking speed, how much damage they each can really take, etc. that I’ll just chalk up to confirmation bias because I couldn’t perceive any discernible differences. Of course, it all could be confirmation bias but rankings are fun right?
Scoring System
1-Good: on par attribute
2-Better: at least noticeably higher performance than worst attribute
3-Best: noticeably rare performance (I usually run it back with this character and it repeat attribute)
Jump Kicks
There are two versions: when you press “jump” and “attack” simultaneously so your character leaps with an attack. The other is when you jump THEN press “attack” mid-air (good for leaping from a cluster of henchmen and dropping another before you land).
Brawling
Smashing that “attack” button. When doing so in a cluster different will bust out a slew of other random attacks (sweeps, back kicks, spin move, etc)
Mutant Power
Their special “mutant power” button attack. Sadly it costs three health points to use if you’ve already taken a bit of damage and one point if the health is full. But they can clear out a section if they hit (and cause you furious anger if you miss everybody and lose your health in vain).
Characters Ranked
6. Dazzler
Real Name: Allison Blaire
Mutant Power: Light Blast
Jump Kicks: 1
Brawl Style: 1
Mutant Power: 1
Total: 3
Her jumpkick is a standard backflip with a tight effective range – she isn’t dishing out kicks the majority of her leap. Light blast is basically an impact grenade that I really wished that she chucked once you hit the “mutant power” button. It seems to have a limited range and doesn’t even go halfway across the screen. Despite being ranked lowest she’s still fun to play with. But because of the slight delay in her mutant power I wouldn’t want to pick her to clear out henchmen.
5. Nightcrawler
Real Name: Kurt Wagner
Mutant Power: Teleportation
Jump Kicks: 1
Brawl Style: 2
Mutant power: 1 (maybe .5-.75)
Total: 4
His brawl style is more versatile in that it randomly includes a leg sweep/kick which averts laser blasts and upper attacks. His jump kick backflip seems to be only effective as he’s completing his flip – in other words, he leaps up, there’s a delay then an attack. Teleportation zig and zags back and forth (I tried using the directional pad to control it and it seems like I could but it’s most likely confirmation bias). This seems to be the least effective of the mutant powers. If you’re getting swarmed by henchmen it may not clear out all of the guys in your immediate area as you whiz around the level.
4. Cyclops
Real Name: Scott Summers
Mutant Power: Laser Beam
Jump Kicks: 1
Brawl Style: 1
Mutant Power: 2
Total: 4
His laser beam kills henchmen that are not on the same plane like most players but naturally it doesn’t affect characters behind him. I really like that it’s fast acting so it’s good to clear out a cluster. Side note: it’s a hoot to watch him kick downed henchmen street fight style.
3. Storm
Real Name: Ororo Munroe
Mutant Power: Lightning Tornado
Jump Kicks: 1
Brawl Style: 2
Mutant Power: 2
Total: 5
Her ground lightning shock for downed henchmen seems to be more effective than just a standard attack as fewer hits blow them up. The tornado goes forward and seems to be effective going forward then across planes getting more dangerous – it can kill a group of heavily armed henchman
2. Colossus
Real Name: Piotr “Peter” Rasputin
Mutant Power: Energy Spark
Jump Kicks: 3
Brawl Style: 1
Mutant Power: 3
Total: 7
His jump kick (pressing “attack” and “jump” simultaneously) is best of the litter and is effective throughout most of his leap. Jump THEN mid-air kick is effective towards the end of the jump. His mutant power is probably the most effective of all characters as it goes both forwards, backwards, and kills on multiple planes. He throws his arms back in awe of himself because he knows his power is best out of all the characters. You’ll see why he’s been a fan favorite to play.
1. Wolverine
Real Name: James Howlett aka Logan
Mutant Power: Adamantium Laser Blade
Jump Kicks: 3
Brawl Style: 3
Mutant Power: 1
Total: 7
Last but certainly not least #1 goes to arguably the most popular X-Man there is. It’s cliche to put him at this spot in a X-Men list but this game is about 75% smashing the “attack” button. Nobody clears out clusters quicker than Logan. (maybe I should do weighted brawling a bit more to be a tie breaker). In attack mode, after 3-4 hits he hits a spin move that hits people behind him instead of most characters that just take a beating so you either would have to leap out of there or use your mutant power. His jumpkick is a drop that is effectively most of his jump. His laser blade effectiveness is similar to Cyclops’s laser beam as it happens fast, effects multiple planes but is limited to only front facing henchmen.
This is just my take attempting to be somewhat subjective. Vintage properties get hotly debated as people have connections to characters. If you have another take on this I’d love for you to @ me.
Where To Get an Xmen Arcade Cabinet
You may be surprised to find you can still get in on this nostalgia if you’re willing to cough up the coin:
- Free – starting out with a budget friendly option – you can play the classic xmen arcade cabinet here.
- Ebay – you can still find the classic versions of the game there and classified sites for around a whopping $4,000+. Unless you really want play on a CRT screen with potentially crumbling plywood, this may not be the best vintage arcade option
- Arcade1up – makes a four player cabinet with the same characters. But at $750 (Update: around $500 on Amazon) a lot of potential buyers want to pay in the $400-$500 range. But does come with a stool with Cyclop’s face on it.
- Arcade Guys – you could be more but get way more bang for your buck by buying for Arcade Guys starting at around $1,100. They do custom artwork for your xmen arcade cabinet and set up with a system that sets you up with 17,000 games!