When I write a review for a Game Boy game I try to churn out a minimum of five
hundred words. The problem is some games can be summed up quite adequately in one or two
words. Theres really no point in listing the faults of the game or trying to search
out any possible merits it might posses. You just want to write that one word, give it a
rating and get on with your life. But seeing as I have four hundred and eighteen words
left to go, I cant tip my hand to that word just yet. I suppose you could skip down
to the bottom of the page to find out that word, but that would take away all of the
suspense.The game is X-Men:
Reign of Apocalypse for the Game Boy Advance. Flying back to earth, the X-Men pass through
an inter-dimensional rift and end up on a parallel earth where their arch nemesis
Apocalypse now rules. The game follows the Double Dragon style of gameplay. You pick one
of a handful of X-Men and walk from left to right punching, kicking and blasting away a
horde of bad guys. Thats it. Theres nothing else to it. Sometimes you have bad
guys come at you from the left and sometimes the right. The bosses at the end of each
level tend to be so easy that theyre laughable.
This is one of the few games that Ive played while talking
to my wife where she (two hundred and fifty wordsIm half way there)
didnt notice any lapses in the conversation. The game takes that little
concentration. It is that boring (If I ever hope to hit five hundred words Id better
start using more adverbs and adjectives). Let me loudly repeat to you, the game gets
terribly boring very very quickly.
This is not a bad looking game. The graphics are fairly colorful and detailed,
but theyre nothing to write home about. The controls are fairly responsive, but the
only reason that you would want to use the B button or the L and R buttons is because your
scarred by excessive wear on the A button. Theres really little incentive for using
varied attacks other than to see your little X-Man do something marginally different.
The game supports a two player, two cartridge link mode for either versus or
co-op play. (Only one hundred more words to goI may actually make it.) If you
suggest to a friend to get this game so that you can play together, youre not much
of a friend.