Xmen v. Street Fighter

SYSTEM: Sega Saturn
DEVELOPER: Capcom
PRODUCER: Capcom
PRICE: N/A
RATED: Kids to Adults

After looking at Marvel Super Heroes, I found little reason to try out the arcade version of Xmen v. Street Fighter months later. In fact...once the game appeared, I vowed never to play it again. Well, a year and a half later, the game which I labeled as pure blashphemy from above has given me a change of heart. Was it the graphics, the routine combos inflicting massive energy loss? Or perhaps that I finally realized how great of a game I was missing? Actually, it's safe to say that it was a combintion of all three, and I've couldn't have changed my disposition at a better time. For those of you who have never played the series, Xmen vs. Street Fighter is composed of 8 Xmen characters battling against 9 of the World Warriors; but in addition, allows you to team the two set groups together for a unlimited selection of team battles. Unlike the previous Capcom engines, Xmen vs. SF plays like a hyrbrid Xmen/Marvel Super Heroes...which isn't a bad combination.

The gameplay revolves around choosing any combination of Xmen/Street Fighter characters. There is only one round, a first for any fighting game in the arcades, which calls for a great use of skill (although most newbies to the fighting engine rarely would use that technique) to win the bout. The controls have been accelerated for the Street Fighter characters in addition to giving them the ability to use air moves, and special air juggles in order to compete with their super rivals. This brings up a lot of enjoyment to the game and a good measure of replay value. The graphics in this game are alot sharper than say Marvel Super Heroes for example. Furthermore, with all of the action going on...there's also lots of animation...enter Capcom's 4meg cartridge which comes packaged with the game. Once this cart is popped in...prepare for absolute arcade perfection (really!) This game has virtually no loading time and the controls, graphics, and characters are all there. Plus, once you beat the game, you are presented with new options to choose two extra colors for your characters and even increase the speed!!!

At the present time, I haven't discovered any codes yet for the game, but I hear that Birdie or Apocolypse is playable in the game. (I am really not sure, considering that it was a unstable source.) In any event...Capcom has done it again, by giving us yet another great game to throw our dollars at. I am certainly glad that I've awakened to discover just how great of a game Xmen vs. Street Fighter really is. Now let's hope that when Street Fighter 3:2nd Impact comes out (yeah, I don't want the first version)...that it looks, plays, and sounds exactly like the arcade just as this excellent title has accomplished with little sweat to wave at.

Update: The Xcessive Gamer site has codes for this Great game! See the Sega Saturn section of our codes link. (From homepage)

RATINGS
GRAPHICS 10
SOUND 10
INNOVATION 8
CONTROL 10
REPLAY VALUE 9
OVERALL 9.5

Note: This review, and photos were taken from "GameNet Magazine".
Used with Permission. All rights reserved.