X-Men Continue Dominance on Sega Genesis – Today in History – March 8th, 1993
Sega licensing the X-Men property was a big deal in 1993. Fans knew they were going to get a slightly edgier game than what would be allowed on the Nintendo platforms. While there is no blood, the Genesis X-Men did give gamers something no other game had the balls to do. A unique Easter Egg that no one wanted- one that was required to beat the game which kind of went against the whole Easter Egg idea.(html comment removed: more)
X-Men for the Sega Genesis doesn’t feature the full roster of characters, sadly. The characters we do get are the iconic Wolverine and Cyclops and perpetual sidekicks to the main group- Gambit and Nightcrawler. True sidekicks in this game include Jean Grey, Storm and even Rogue (pretty much the girls are relegated to the secondary “helper” status). Of course these helper characters are available at just the right time to save your bacon.
Sega really understood the intellectual property they licensed with X-Men. Rather than do a story that would have to fit in the comics cannon somehow (yeah right), or even worry about where Marvel was taking the characters- Sega went all SEGA on it. The events that you experience in X-Men are all contained within the Danger Room. Yeah, they are all imaginary. Fans know though, the holograms of the Danger Room are more than just digital reproductions- they can actually hurt you. That was a pretty cool idea. It left Sega to focus on the game rather than try to recreate a set from the comics, or try and do something current and chance being out of place at some point.
X-Men on the Genesis is not an easy game. Enemies are everywhere and cheap hits are just waiting for you. The characters are large and detailed which is great- you won’t confuse Cyclops for Nightcrawler here (looking at the LJN NES game right now).
Oh, that Easter Egg, for those that don’t know, to get to the final boss, you have to literally RESET your Genesis at a certain point. Yes, you read that right. The one thing that would cause you to lose your game and force you to restart in any other game is the only way to beat this one.
X-Men has not seen re-release on newer consoles for obvious reasons. That leaves fans to hit places like Ebay, Amazon
for a copy. Your purchase helps RGM and we hope it shows in the additional articles we put out.