X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse Review

Anannya Sen’s Review

A side scrolling action game which features some popular characters from the X-men franchise against their greatest enemy! Snikt!

Those of you who know me (and I try and limit the numbers) may know that I used to be a large comic book fan and who can be a comic book fan without being a fan of the X-Men. The film was great, the arcade games were great (remember the Capcom Marvel and X-Men francises?) so how about the mobile game?

Well, thankfully it's just as great as well. Way back in the mists of arcade history there was a side scrolling cooperative X-Men action game. I played it while I was at school and loved it and this is in a similar vein.

You control two characters that you can switch between using the 0 button. Each character has their own strengths and weaknesses as well as individual combos. Some characters are mean and some are quick and unfortunately Wolverine is a bit pants (he doesn't do nearly enough damage, especially on the later levels).

You get to pick 2 out of 5 characters who are a mix between X-Men (Wolverine, Cyclops and Storm) and the Brotherhood (Magneto and Juggernaut who's in the new X-Men film supposedly). The character sprites are small but really well done and you can easily see who's supposed to be who (check out Wolverine's feral looking eyes). The bacgrounds and the rest of the game are in 2D but there is a lot of detail and the enemies all look very different. The intro page is great and the villains also really well rendered. The animation has a little slowdown on my phone but when it does run at full speed it looks great, especially all the different attacks you can do.

There's no intro when you load the game up but in the game there are sound effects which correspond to the characters, ie you hear the clang of metal for Wolverine and the fwooshing sound for Cyclops optic blast. Not really a wealth of sound here but there is some.

The controls are ok, but may take a little getting used to. The characters are moved around with the D or key pad and attack is with the main button or 5. Double tapping 4 or 6 will make you run left or right and this can be used to cross the screen, avoid attacks or even used as part of an attach. The 1 and 3 buttons will allow you to take your potions for HP and MP. There are a lot of combos you can learn but you do tend to remember these easily (ie tap 5,5,5,6) and the main combos are just from press the main button or 5 numerous times. Each character has mutant attacks as well and the really big ones use 9. It sounds like there is a lot but there really isn't.

Gameplay is excellent as you play two different characters who are better at different opponents. As you progress through the levels, the characters earn experience points which can be used to unlock moves. Additionaly you can collect money to spend on health potions or ones which restore your mutant points. Each level is side scrolling with many enemies on the screen at times and you often find yourself spending a while moving around the screen trying to avoid enemies and start your combos. Also, as you increase in levels you have to allocate your points to which combos you want to unlock so it's really your decision which is a great touch. If you like side scrolling action games, this is perfect for you.

The lastability is excellent as well because there are 3 save slots. In addition to this the game can be suspended and resumed and there are 5 characters to try out! The five levels differ a fair amount and they get pretty hard even on easy. There are three difficulty settings as well but the coolest thing about this game is the special attacks each character has and that you have to unlock. As you attack enemies you regain your mutant points so you can use you abilities but you'll find that the enemies on the later levels are a lot tougher. I'm working my way through level 4 but am definitely going to play it again and see how the other characters play.

If you like action games and you like games where you get to improve your character and unlock combos then this is a game you should really check out. And if you're an X-Men fan like me then that makes this game even more special.

Addendum: Just finished the game with Magneto (very useful to play as) and the game gives you some cheat codes for the console version which is pretty cool!