Retro game review: Wolverine Adamantium Rage (Sega Genesis)

For the most part, video games based on comic books don't have the strongest track record. In recent years the trend has improved but in the 8 and 16 bit eras most of them were average at best and a dumpster fire at worst. I recently gave Wolverine Adamantium Rage on the Sega Genesis a spin to see how it fares.

_{^{Image source: Original photo by retro-room}}

_{^{Image source: User MegaManmodelT101 on YouTube}}

Wolverine Adamantium Rage is a side-scrolling action game that feels very similar to most other mid 90's action titles. After a brief introduction that uses some well done comic panels, you're thrown into the action. The lead up to this moment has been encouraging.

And it went downhill really damn fast.

Wolverine has a wide array of attacks and moves at his disposal, but the atrocious controls makes using them an exercise in frustration. I nearly died at the first enemy, which is a small floating robot drone. Most of my attacks were too low to hit it and jumping attacks are imprecise. I managed to figure out that his backhand attack (pressing up on the dpad for some reason) was able to hit it. As I learned the controls better, I discovered a spinning jump attack that would have been much better.

_{^{Image source: User MegaManmodelT101 on YouTube}}

The second enemy I came across was a scientist in a lab coat who throws something at me. No idea what it is -- a test tube? A science-ey dohickey? An Almond Joy™? No idea, maybe Logan has a nut allergy. Even taking down an anemic MIT graduate is a challenge for the mighty Wolverine. One of my big complaints in comic book games (Silver Surfer on the NES, Superman on the Genesis) is presenting powerful characters that can get killed by stuff that I could take out if I was confronted by it in the real world. Thankfully that rarely happens to me.

I managed to kill the pasty scientist who was guarding an elevator, which you had to activate by flipping a switch. This too was a frustration, since there was a long delay after hitting it. Several times I jumped off and hit it again to see it finally take off the second I jumped off the damn thing.

Three minutes in and I already hate this game.

_{^{Image source: User MegaManmodelT101 on YouTube}}

Everything about the gameplay is done poorly. Attacks are ineffective and hard to pull off. Enemies require far too many hits to kill. Jumping is horribly frustrating and seemed broken at times. Something as simple as climbing stairs was a pain in the ass. As I played, I learned a few new moves like rolling and pouncing, but they weren't much help. The game is just fundamentally flawed across the board in the gameplay department. What's worse is that this game features the dreaded "sidescrolling maze" that plagued the 16-bit generation, where you have to wander around a huge map with no rhyme or reason to the layout until you eventually find the exit.

In addition, there's a timer that ticks down and kills you if you run out of time. I wasn't aware of this timer until I was thrown into a cutscene where an evil little girl-robot (I assume) hugged Wolverine and self-detonated.

I struggled with this game a little longer before walking away. I never even reached the first boss. This game is just too frustrating and broken to find any enjoyment in.

One last thing i should mention is that it does get a tiny bit of credit for giving Wolverine an automatically replenishing health meter. This may be the first game to feature health regeneration, which is pretty common in many modern games. This aspect of Wolverine was used in the game nicely, though it takes a LOOOOOOOOONG time for it to actually refill any useful amount of health, so they even screwed up something they did 'right'.

_{^{Image source: User MegaManmodelT101 on YouTube}}

Visually, this game is pretty solid. Wolverine is rendered with large sprites that feature adequate animation. His classic bold yellow and blue costume comes through very nicely. Enemies are pretty good too and the stages feature a lot of detail. The comic-style cutscenes anchor the game to its comic book roots and are nicely drawn and even feature some animation to bring them to life.

Audio doesn't fare nearly as well. The game's intro features some heavy-metal inspired power guitar riffs that give the game an edgy feel, but the actual in-game music is annoying and extremely repetitive. Sound effects are basic, neither terrible or great. Just basic.

_{^{Image source: User MegaManmodelT101 on YouTube}}

See that there? That's how I felt playing this game. I've played some terrible games based on comic books, but this is the worst. While the game looks nice, playing it feels like work and is completely devoid of fun. The game gets my worst score to date, and half of that measly score is due to the graphics and integration of Logan's healing factor into the gameplay.

Avoid this game unless you want it purely as a display piece or as part of an X-Men/Wolverine collection. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna have to watch Logan again to erase this game from my memory.

Current value:

Loose: $10.56 | Complete: $25.00

Thanks for reading. As always, upvotes, resteems and comments are appreciated!

^{Cover Image Source: Marvel Database}