Review: X-Men: Reign of Apocalypse (GBA)

With X-Men the movie going great guns at the box-office last year the console world was ripe for a deluge of new games featuring everyone's favourite mutants. Unsurprisingly, many games that followed took the well-trodden road of the beat-em-up and just as unsurprising all were dire.

When Activision announced a scrolling fighter in the style of Final Fight, many hoped this would be the game that toppled the Capcom fighter from its middle of the road perch. With the coding talent of Digital Eclipse behind it (who had made the graphically awesome Rayman Advance) the game couldn't failÂ… Could it? If any license deserves a fantastic game it's the X-Men, apart from the superb Capcom fighters of the early 90's, many efforts have been pretty mediocre, never managing to make full convincing use of the various powers each individual possessed. This Gameboy Advance title is no different and is so far the most uninspiring title that the lycra-clad do-gooders have ever appeared in. From the initial cock-tease of 3 great brands (Marvel, Activision and Digital Eclipse), everything suddenly goes down hill quicker than Wolverine's regeneration ability.

Options are incredibly limited, apart from the multiplayer link-up however, which is pointless as you'll never find anyone admitting to owning this wretched title - there is nothing to keep you playing. Presentation throughout the game is done in a typical comic book style, with dialogue that could have come straight out of the arse of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, pointless, cliched lines are just an excuse to get you to the next poorly designed level. As the game is a scrolling fighter you would expect to find lots of action as you make your way through the various adversaries, unfortunately however this is not to be. Each level consists of 2-3 different henchmen who shamble about the screen like a bunch of hammered zombies stopping occasionally to punch you.

As your game progresses, your opponents become attracted to you like metal to Magneto and it becomes impossible to make it through a stage without losing large amounts of health (or even lives). Special moves can be selected by pressing both the A and B buttons, which providing the stodgy relay actually pulls it off, gives you a small amount of breathing space before the next high level onslaught. Visually most of the game is awful; the main characters have got some decent animation to them, with Wolverine in particular captured perfectly as he roams throughout the levels dispatching lethal justice with his claws. Rogue however comes off very poorly indeed, with a walk that can only be described as "Mincing", honestly, give her a mic. and some dodgy make-up and you could be mistaken for thinking that Julian Clarey had managed to find a way into your Advance. Backgrounds are generally dull, flat and unimpressive with none of the skill or wonder that was seen in the fantastic Rayman Advance.

Sound manages to pull itself from the gutter that the visuals wallow in by producing some funkish numbers that sound vaguely like the tunes from Streets of Rage. As good as the music may be however you will never get to hear all the game has to offer, as you'll be continuously turning off the machine once you've managed to battle your way through each tedious level. Spot effects do little to stretch the Advance's sound chip with dull effects and distorted speech. Ultimately this is yet another waste of a great license that should have never gotten past the play-test stage. You may be able to garner some fun out of this woefully inept game if you are a Masochist, otherwise stay well clear!

X-Men Reign of Apocalypse has no redeeming features whatsoever and even if you see it in a bargain bin at your local emporium (as this reviewer did) leave it to the festering death it deserves.

Rating: 2 / 10

Words by Darran Jones