First impressions: 'X-Men Arcade'

In the early '90s, the arcade beat-'em-up called X-Men was hard to miss. Taking up the space of two (maybe even three) cabinets, this action title took a Double Dragon gameplay style, added Marvel's mutant superheroes and crammed six joysticks together for the most impressive cooperative arcade title at the time.

Now, players get the chance to roll with the X-Men without worrying whether you have enough elbow room. Konami released X-Men Arcade, a version of the classic for Xbox Live and PlayStation Network.

After finishing the game and dabbling a bit online, the transition is pretty good but a bit mixed.

The game features nemesis Magneto, who has kidnapped X-Men leader Professor X and Kitty Pryde. Players choose between one of six X-Men -- Cyclops, Colossus, Dazzler, Nightcrawler, Storm and Wolverine -- and fight their way through a myriad of villains to rescue their comrades.

As mentioned earlier, X-Men Arcade plays like Double Dragon and other beat-'em-ups of its kind. Players have an attack and jump button, as well as access to their mutant abilities. Nightcrawler, for example, quickly teleports and strikes down foes, while Storm unleashes a giant tornado flinging enemies into the air.

X-Men Arcade is a straightforward port of the original game, so don't expect major changes. The big addition is online cooperative play featuring four or six players at once. Matches were seamless, allowing players to jump in or drop out at any time without disruption. The six-player adventures, while chaotic, were a lot of fun.

However, because this is a simple re-release from the arcade to consoles, there are a couple shortcomings. Since players can always continue after losing their lives without the need for quarters, they can zip through to the end in a couple hours. Even as players elevate to the expert difficulty, they will have fewer lives but unlimited chances to continue.

If you're a really big fan of the classic X-Men title, then it's likely worth the $10 despite how quickly players can finish.

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