Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge is a platform action video game originally released for the Super Nintendo in 1992 by LJN. It was later released for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive under the Flying Edge brand.
Spider-Man and The X-Men were pretty big comics superhero characters during the early 1990s among kids. So every video game that features them tends to sell well even if the product is not very good.
The Story
Spider-Man and his X-Men allies need your assistance to escape from evil tech genius Arcade's amusement park - battling traps, nasty creatures, and deadly cyborg replicas of super-villains like Carnage and Juggernaut! Will Spidey and his mutant pals mean all is over for Arcade? That depends on your skill!
The Graphics and Sound
Graphics-wise, it is good for its time. Every character looks like they should, and the levels, though simple in design, have well-detailed textures in both the foreground and background.
As for sound, the effects are a bit loud and powerful, as they should be in a superhero game. The music is not that memorable, however. And there are no more than about five or six tracks in the game. It is certainly not ear-shattering, so there are no issues with the music. It is only average.
The Gameplay
The game is a vertical and horizontal 2D side-scrolling action platformer. You go through each level using your set of superhero powers collecting points, health boosts, extra lives, and destroying enemies as you go. In the first level, you play as Spider-Man. After seeing the X-Man Gambit get captured by Arcade's machines, you go and prepare for an assault on Arcade's stronghold. So the game begins, with a tutorial level controlling Spider-Man to open a door into the fortress. Then the adventure really begins.
Once you go past the tutorial level, you get to pick from 5 characters in any order. Spider-Man or either of the X-Men. Each character has unique moves and abilities. Each character has their own unique set of levels to progress through to make use of each one's ability. What's great about it is that at the middle and/or end of each level, you will go into a boss fight against a super-villain from the comics.
There are also more than a few times the game can be frustrating in the form of instant death, be it falling into a deep pit by way of a misjudged jump or hitting an unnoticed mine while in a tram cart.
Besides this issue, the gameplay is good and you will find yourself playing it always in an attempt to gain skillful control of your favorite character. Be warned. This game has a hard difficulty challenge level. Between figuring out the best route through each level, you will practically re-learn the entire game several times for each character. The game also gives you a small number of lives for the length of time it takes to complete. And the instant death issue doesn't help much either. You will find yourself always searching out for extra lives, and occasionally find yourself dying in the process.
My Verdict
Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge on the Sega Genesis is a good superhero adventure game. The unique levels, characters and their special abilities, and the super-villains all come together to make a nice adventure that is damn playable. Indeed, there are a few issues that may turn off the casual gaming crowd, but if you take the time to learn the game, you will find just what you wanted. A great superhero game.
Play it on the marvelous Sega Genesis/Mega Drive or play it on a good emulator.
Let's keep on gaming in the free world!
