X-Men

For the Sega Game Gear game, see X-Men (Game Gear).

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X-Men
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Western Technologies Inc.
Supporting companies: Sega of America (production)
Distributor: Tec Toy (BR)
Licensor: Marvel Entertainment Group
Sound driver: GEMS
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code US 1993-04 $54.9954.99 1057 US ▼ (Sega Channel) 199x SUBsub EU 1993 1057 EU ▼ (Sega Channel) 1996 SUBsub UK 1993-06 £39.9939.99 1057 GR 199x AU 199x FXME00SMC BR 199x 044210

X-Men is a side-scrolling action game for the Sega Mega Drive. It was followed by X-Men 2: Clone Wars.

Unusually, the game requires the use of the console's reset button in order to progress through a certain point in the game. This means the game is impossible to complete on systems (or emulators) lacking a soft reset, including the Sega Nomad.

Story

Magneto

The game takes place in the Danger Room, a training area for the X-Men inside the X-Mansion. A virus transmitted via satellite has infected the Danger Room, disabling control and safety limits. The X-Men must endure the unpredictable behavior of the Danger Room until the virus can be located and eliminated. Once the virus is eliminated, the X-Men discover that Magneto is behind the computer virus and the final zone involves a battle with him.

Gameplay

Danger Room

The game is an action platformer played as any of four X-Men characters. Characters walk with and and crouch with . They jump with . Most characters can perform a spin jump or a somersault by pressing again while in mid-air. Characters perform a "super high jump" by pressing twice very rapidly. Characters can jump off platforms with +. Some stages have background layers that are accessed with ; characters can move back into the foreground with +. Characters do a basic melee attack with . They also have special mutant abilities that are used with but which cost energy. Energy slowly regenerates when it is not being used.

The game uses the Danger Room as a hub. One of the four playable X-Men characters is selected initially, then the player can enter the first combat zone by moving the character to the upper-left of the room. The character can be switched during gameplay by pausing the game with  START  and selecting a different character, but the player can only switch characters a certain number of times depending on the zone. Zones are maze-like and often require collecting keys or destroying panels to unlock doors and progress, and they each involve one or more encounters with X-Men villains.

After a zone is completed, the player returns to the Danger Room. The player can change the character here by hitting the switch under the monitors (with +). The player can replenish the current character's health and energy by attacking orbs that fly around the Danger Room. Characters retain their health and energy in between zones. The player is automatically progressed to the next combat zone after a short duration, though this duration can be extended by destroying a machine in the top-right of the Danger Room.

In addition to the four playable X-Men, five other X-Men characters appear as part of the "backup team." These characters can be summoned during gameplay by pressing  START  and selecting one. They provide support such as attacking enemies or building a temporary platform. Assist characters can only be summoned one time, but the player can find tokens for each character throughout the game to gain additional summons.

Characters have a health bar that goes down when they take damage from enemies. If a character loses all health, the character is lost for the rest of the game and the player must restart the zone with a different character. The game ends if the player loses every character.

The game supports two-player simultaneous play, with each player controlling a different character. The game has three selectable difficulty levels (Amateur, Hero, and Superhero), but only the first three stages can be played on the lowest difficulty.

Characters

Playable

	Gambit
	Gambit attacks with a bō staff, which has greater reach than the melee attacks of the other characters. His mutant ability is throwing energy-charged cards with that seek enemies. He does a spin jump by pressing twice and a spinning slash attack by pressing twice followed by .
	Nightcrawler
	Nightcrawler can perform a diving kick with while in the air. His mutant ability is teleporting with . Enemies that touch the teleportation clouds are harmed. The teleportation can be aimed by pressing a direction on the D-Pad while pressing . Teleportation can be used to close distances on foes or to bypass barriers and find shortcuts or secrets. If it is not aimed, Nightcrawler teleports in and out in the same place, which does not cost any energy. He can somersault by pressing twice.
	Wolverine
	Wolverine attacks by punching. He can extend his claws with , which causes his attacks to do more damage but cost mutant ability energy. While his claws are extended, he can perform a lunging slash with while in the air or a spinning slash by pressing twice. His mutant ability is his passive health regeneration.
	Cyclops
	Cyclops attacks by punching. His mutant ability is shooting laser beams from his eyes with . He can shoot his eye-beam while crouching or jumping. He performs a spin jump by pressing twice. He can perform an optic blast spin attack, in which he shoots his eye-beams in several directions while spinning (similar to Joe Mushashi's spinning shuriken attack in Revenge of Shinobi), by pressing twice followed by . However, this maneuver costs significantly more energy than his usual eye-beam attack.

Helper

	Storm
	Storm attacks all enemies on screen with violent winds.
	Rogue
	Rogue appears and punches a single enemy.
	Archangel
	Archangel flies by three times, firing a hail of projectiles with each pass.
	Iceman
	Iceman builds a bridge that lasts for a limited amount of time.
	Jean Grey
	Jean Grey automatically appears to rescue characters who fall into bottomless pits. There is no limit to the number of times she can do this, though characters still lose some health from falling. In two-player games, she can be summoned to reunite the players by bringing the character who is farther ahead back to the other.

Items

	Yellow X
	Restores part of the current character's health.
	Blue X
	Restores part of the current character's mutant ability energy.
	Key
	Collect to open doors or deactivate devices.
	Orb
	Destroy to restore the current character's health and energy. Orbs appear in the Danger Room after completing a zone.

Combat zones

	The Savage Land
	The player can switch characters up to three times in this zone. The bosses are Juggernaut and Zaladane.
	Shi'ar Empire
	The player can switch characters up to three times in this zone. The boss is Deathbird.
	Excalibur's Lighthouse
	The player can switch characters twice in this zone. The bosses are Sabretooth, Juggernaut, and Apocalypse.
	Ahab's Future World
	The player can switch characters twice in this zone. The boss is Ahab.
	Mojo's Crunch
	The player can switch characters once in this zone. The boss is Mojo. A timer appears as Mojo's face on the left side of the screen; the zone must be completed before time runs out. At the end of the zone, after defeating Mojo, the screen locks and the character becomes stuck. Professor X appears in the Danger Room before this stage and provides a hint on how to complete this section: the player must attack a screen of the Danger Room to destroy it and then "reset" the computer that controls the Danger Room by pressing the  RESET  button on the Mega Drive in order to progress.
	Asteroid M
	The player can switch characters up to three times in this zone. The boss is Magneto.

Production credits

• Developed By: Western Technologies Inc
• Producer: E. Ettore Annunziata
• Art Design: Bruce Straley, Steven Ross
• Art: Mira Ross, Eric Iwasaki
• Music and Sound Effects: Fletcher Beasley
• Programming, Design: Jeff Fort
• Programming: John Bojorquez, Ray Frericks, Alan Wise
• Marketing: Scott Steinberg
• Special Thanks: Jay Smith, JFD and EWF
• Additional Input: Sam Kjellman, RK
• Lead Tester: Vy Nong
• Testers: Steve Patterson, Joe Cain, Tony Lynch, Jason Kuo, Eric Rawlins, Jeff Todd, Siegie Stangenberg, Dermot Lyons, Bill Person, Casey Grimm, Vince Nason

Source:

In-game credits

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• Producer: E. Ettore Annunziata
• Programming: Jeff Fort, Ray Fredricks, John Bojorquez, Allan Wise
• Art: Burce Stanley, Mira Ross, Steven Ross
• Sound and Music: Fletcher Beasley
• Design: Bruce Straley, Jeff Fort, Steven Ross, Mira Ross
• Marketing: Scott Steinberg
• Lead Test: Vy Nong, Steve Patterson, Joe Cain
• Test: Tony Lynch, Jason Kuo, Erik Wahlberg, Harry Chavez, Eric Rawlins, Keith Higashihara, Greg Becksted, Vince Nason, Dianna Myers, Dave Forster, Casey Grimm, Bill Person, Joe Van, Greg Fleming, Dermot Lyons, John Russell, Jill Schwartz, Chris Sinclair, Siegie Stangenberg, Ben Szymkowiak, Conan Tigard, Jeff Todd
• Manual: Carol Ann Hanshaw, Vy Nong
• Special Thanks: Sam Kjellman, Jay Smith, Steve Apour, Gloria Birulin

Source:

US manual

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• Cover artwork: Phil Winslade

Source:

Uncredited

Magazine articles

Main article: X-Men/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

File:XMen MD US TVAdvert 1.mp4

US TV advert

File:XMen MD US TVAdvert 1.mp4

File:XMen MD US TVAdvert (Short Version).mp4

US TV advert

File:XMen MD US TVAdvert (Short Version).mp4

Print advert in GamePro (US) #46: "May 1993" (1993-xx-xx)
also published in:

• VideoGames & Computer Entertainment (US) #53: "June 1993" (1993-0x-xx)
• Sega Visions (US) #15: "October/November 1993" (1993-xx-xx)

Print advert in Mega Sega (ES) #1: "xxxx 1993" (1993-xx-xx)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 60 Æskan (IS) 92 Alaab Alcomputtar (SA) 82 Aktueller Software Markt (DE) 17 Consoles + (FR) 78 Cool Gamer (RU) 70 Computer & Video Games (UK) 72 Digitiser (UK) PAL 70 Digitiser (UK) 84 Electric Brain (UK) 65 Electronic Games (1992-1995) (US) NTSC-U 85 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 68 Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU) 60 Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 2 (RU) 80 Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK) 88 Freak (IL) 84 GameFan (US) 86 Game Power (IT) PAL 85 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 95 Gamers (DE) 60 GamesMaster (UK) PAL 73 Game Informer (US) NTSC-U 88 Joypad (FR) PAL 85 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL 91 Mega (UK) PAL 85 Mega Action (UK) NTSC-U 80 Mega Force (FR) 92 Mega Fun (DE) PAL 60 MegaTech (UK) PAL 82 Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL 88 Player One (FR) 80 Power Up! (UK) 82 ProGames (BR) 100 Power Unlimited (NL) 82 Sega Power (UK) PAL 81 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 78 Sega Zone (UK) PAL 87 Sega Force Mega (UK) NTSC-U 82 Sega Force (SE) 78 Sonic the Comic (UK) PAL 70 Supergame (BR) NTSC-U 77 Tricks 16 bit (RU) 70 Video Games (DE) PAL 42

	77
Based on 43 reviews

X-Men

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, US (Special Edition)
Cover
Cart Manual Poster

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart Manual PCB

Mega Drive, GR (Zegetron)
Cart

Mega Drive, AU
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, BR
Cover

Technical information

Main article: X-Men/Technical information.