X-Men: Mutant Academy is simply fantastic entertainment for X-Fans, whether you've come into the X-Universe from the blockbuster movie or the comicbooks. An explosive one-on-one beat-'em-up featuring excellent 3D graphics, spectacular mutant powers and some Matrix-style touches, Mutant Academy is one of the best fighting games since Tekken 3.
There are ten mutants - Cyclops, Storm, Jean Grey, Wolverine, the Beast, Gambit, Mystique, Sabretooth, Toad and Magneto. They all have quite a bit to say throughout the action (Wolverine's "Come get some!" is great), and they can wear either their comicbook costume or their movie costume, regardless of whether they actually appeared in the movie or not. Wolverine can even wear his 1980's brown and orange after a while. Their personalities and powers are perfectly recreated, from Gambit's arrogant card-flicking to the Beast's intelligent criticism of violence. Professor X is even in there, to train you into becoming a pro. The action is much like Street Fighter, using many of the same controls to perform moves, and with no sidestep option. There are a huge range of special moves, which get ever more spectacular, and even the non-special moves look great. There are a ton of extras to unlock to keeo you playing, including two new costumes for every character, two short movies for every character, plus a stack of artwork and movie pictures.
Overall, non-fans will enjoy this excellent beat-'em-up, but fans will absolute love it. The best game based on a Marvel comic so far, and that includes the 2000 Spider-Man game. What are you waiting for, bub?
