Genesis vs SNES Part 3: X-Men

In this penultimate edition of Genesis vs. SNES, I’ll be comparing titles in the much beloved X-Men franchise. This particular comic book property was pretty huge in the early 90s mostly thanks to the success of the 1992 animated series. In fact, without that particular cartoon, these two games may have never existed at all. However, in this feature, there can be only one, so it’s time to figure out which system had the better X-Men game.

Development

The Genesis entry, simply titled X-Men, was published by Sega and developed by Western Technologies Inc to be released in 1993. The game featured the standard beat-em-up formula with 4 playable characters as well as 4 additional assist characters from the pantheon of X-Men. The Super Nintendo game, X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse, developed and published by Capcom was released in 1994. Both games received fair amounts of praise upon their release and are still remembered fondly to this day.

X-Men Mutant Apocalypse had some cool bosses.

What’s the Difference?

X-Men for the Genesis featured 4 playable characters in Wolverine, Gambit, Nightcrawler, and Cyclops as well as 4 additional assist characters in Storm, Iceman, Rogue, and Archangel that the player could call in to help when needed. Every character has an ability tied to a meter (i.e. Gambit’s cards, Wolverine’s claws) that must recharge before the player can continue using the ability. The majority of the game takes place in the Danger Room where the player is transported to the game’s different stages. The locations are varied with multiple layers the player can interact with as well as numerous puzzles.

Call in characters were important to beating bosses in the Genesis title.

X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse, on the other hand, features Wolverine, Cyclops, Beast, Psylocke, and Gambit. Each of these characters can be easily swapped out at the beginning of each stage or when the player dies. The game features a different opening stage for each character, giving the player a nice intro to everyone’s personalities. The game also features a few Street Fighter-like special moves for each character allowing for a broad move set that incorporates each character’s mutant abilities.

Special moves for Mutant Apocalypse in action.

Which is Better?

While both games haven’t aged particularly well, X-Men Mutant Apocalypse’s approach to the characters' abilities is a more fun way to play with them. From a gameplay perspective, it makes sense to limit each character’s powers like the Genesis game does; after all, if Wolverine could just tear through all the enemies, it would make the game too easy. However, allowing the player to simply fight more difficult foes in the way that Mutant Apocalypse does in a more straightforward way is a better approach to player empowerment.

Mutant Apocalypse wasn't too concerned with complexity.

However, it isn't just in the freer use of mutant abilities that Mutant Apocalypse outmatches the Genesis title. The music in the Genesis game is nearly unbearable, featuring tinny and loud music that roughly approximates some of the animated show’s themes and adds some original music that sounds best if the TV is muted. Additionally, Mutant Apocalypse features boss battles that are memorable without being nearly impossible. The Genesis title’s boss fights are one of the major drawbacks to the game. Older games tend to be more difficult, but X-Men for the Genesis is often downright unfair.

The Genesis title does feature some more complex level design, but it often results in the player retreading old ground to find a hidden switch that appears to be a part of the scenery rather than something to interact with. There are some clever fourth wall breaking moments in the Genesis title as well (i.e. the player must actually reset the console in order to proceed), but these aren’t enough to save its unforgiving platforming or its nearly impossible boss battles.

Powers were fun to use in the Genesis game, but they were a little too limited.

The Verdict

X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse is a much more straightforward action game with few frills, but that makes it a much more enjoyable game than X-Men for the Sega Genesis. The Genesis title’s unforgiving difficulty and its limiting use of mutant abilities make it a less fun experience even if the developers were pretty creative in some of its puzzles and bosses.