X-Men: Children of the Atom (video game)

Gameplay screenshot of a fight between Psylocke and Iceman

X-Men follows the same fighting game controls and conventions Capcom previously established with the Street Fighter II games and the original Darkstalkers. The player can choose between one of six X-Men members or four of their enemies (for a total of ten selectable characters) and proceed to compete in a series of best-two-out-of-three one-on-one matches.

The player has an "X-Power" gauge (similar to the Super Combo gauge in Super Street Fighter II Turbo and the "Special" gauge in Darkstalkers) that builds as the player performs regular or special moves. X-Power gauge starts at Lv. 1 and reaches Lv. 2 when it becomes half-full and an Aura will begin to surround the player's character until it becomes full and reaches MAX level. Players can then perform an "X-Ability", which consumes a small portion of the X-Power gauge, or a "Hyper X", which consumes a greater portion of the same gauge. Breaking one's fall from a throw or performing a counter-throw will consume a portion of the X-Power gauge when performed.

Other features introduced in Children of the Atom include Super Jumps, the ability to roll away or towards an opponent after falling, the ability to determine the aim of a projectile move (such as Cyclops' optic blasts), and the ability to pursue an opponent after performing a throwing attack for additional attacks. After selecting a character, the player can choose between "manual" or "automatic" blocking. By selecting to automatically block attacks, some features will not be available during gameplay.

The single-player mode consists of six computer-controlled opponents and two non-playable boss characters. Unlike some games, the player cannot play against a clone of their own character. Akuma from Super Street Fighter II Turbo appears in the single-player mode as a secret opponent at the sixth match if the requirements are met.

The game is loosely based on the "Fatal Attractions" storyline. The main antagonist is Magneto, who plans to unleash an electromagnetic pulse on the Earth that will disrupt the magnetic fields and create havoc on the world's electrical systems ushering in a Dark Age for Earth's non-mutant population. With the promise of a mutant-run planet, the X-Men's most formidable foes join forces with Magneto.

The secret character Akuma (Gouki in Japan) is very similar to his Super Street Fighter II Turbo incarnation, including his character sprite, and is the only Street Fighter character to be in the game. His stage is the Danger Room. He is selectable via a code at the character select screen.

Capcom's contract with Marvel stipulated that Capcom include a character from the Street Fighter franchise in the game, so the developers included Akuma as a secret character.[2]

The home version of the game was originally a Sega Saturn exclusive. The Saturn version premiered at Capcom's August 1995 Summer Festival; this was a 50% complete version with only Cyclops, Wolverine, Psylocke, and Iceman playable.[3] According to Tatsuya Minami, Capcom's senior manager of the Product Planning and Design Section, the biggest difficulty with converting the game to the Saturn was the memory restrictions. All three of the leading game consoles of the time (Saturn, PlayStation, and 3DO) had only 2 megabytes of RAM, while the arcade version of X-Men: Children of the Atom used 32 megabytes for character data alone.[2] Because of this, a third of the animation frames had to be cut for the Saturn version.[4][5]

A PlayStation version was announced for a November 1996 release,[6] but Capcom had difficulty with the conversion and contracted the project out to Probe Entertainment, who also handled the PC version.[7] Probe also found converting the game to PlayStation to be a challenge, and the release date was pushed back all the way to the first quarter of 1998.[7]

The arcade version of X-Men: Children of the Atom was released in December 1994. The soundtrack CD X-Men Arcade Game Track (SRCL-3120) was released by Sony Records on March 24, 1995.[8]

The Sega Saturn port (T-1203G) was released by Capcom in Japan on November 22, 1995, and by Acclaim in North America and Europe a few months later. A Gamest Mook series guide book was published by Shinseisha on January 13, 1996.[8]

The home version of the game was originally a Saturn exclusive,[9] but versions for the PlayStation and MS-DOS were released in North America and Europe in 1997. These ports were also published by Acclaim.

The Japanese release of the Saturn version allows players to play as the Juggernaut in the two-player Versus Mode via a cheat code. Capcom said that this was left in by mistake, hence why the ability to play as Juggernaut was not included in the North American or European releases,[10] or in the later PlayStation version. The PC version allows players to play as either the Juggernaut or Magneto.

In 2019, the game was announced as one of the titles to be included in the Marvel Arcade1Up arcade cabinet.[11]

X-Men: Children of the Atom was very well received in the arcades and on the Sega Saturn. However, the PC version's reception was mixed and the reviews of the PlayStation version were especially poor.

In Japan, Game Machine listed X-Men: Children of the Atom on their February 15, 1995 issue as being the fifth most-successful arcade game of the year.[24] Covering the arcade version, a reviewer for Next Generation highly praised the selection of characters, the interface, the new special move mechanics, the animations, and the voice overs. He nonetheless concluded that, "Extras aside though, this is still just a meat and potatoes fighting game, no better or worse than several others currently in the arcades."[18]

Scary Larry of GamePro said the game was "converted perfectly" to the Saturn and applauded the accessible controls, fast gameplay, colorful graphics, and lack of slowdown.[25] Sega Saturn Magazine declared the Saturn version "arcade perfect" aside from a few barely noticeable missing animation frames, and called the game itself "the first time comic book superheroes have been successfully translated to game format." They especially praised the well-balanced and distinctive characters and the combo system.[23] A reviewer for Next Generation bemoaned the 2D fighting game genre as done to death, but admitted that X-Men: Children of the Atom manages to be highly appealing in spite of this. He complimented the smooth animation, brightly colored graphics, and balance of character strengths and weaknesses, and acknowledged that "Character recognition of the X-Men adds to the experience".[19] Maximum focused praise on the accuracy of the conversion, saying that it was graphically almost identical to the arcade version and loyally recreated the gameplay. They also praised the home-only features, especially the survival mode,[22] and gave it their "Maximum Game of the Month" award.[26]

GameSpot's review of the PC version opened by calling it "an admirable and near-exact conversion of Capcom's 1995 arcade hit" which "proves that the PC is indeed a viable platform for fighting games", but went on to criticize that it does not run as fast or at as high a resolution as the arcade version, and lacks the ability to chain combos.[16]

Next Generation reviewed the PlayStation version of the game, rating it two stars out of five, and stated that "Overall, if you crave 2D fighting fare, you can do worse than this game, but you can also do much better. What X-Men: Children of the Atom mostly proves is that companies should learn to stop projects before they spiral past the time when they're relevant."[20]

According to a retrospective review by GameFan, the game "displayed some of the most chaotic and over-the-top action found in a fighter at the time (...) achieving much success and praise across arcade rooms." The Saturn home version achieved "an experience that was nearly 1:1 in comparison to the CPS-2 behemoth." The PlayStation port "suffered from missing frames, slowdown and lengthy load times" due to the platform's limited RAM and its architecture restrictions in regards to 2D games, but was called "an admirable attempt" nevertheless.[27] In 2011, GamePro retrospectively listed "terrific voice-acting (using some of the same voices from the series), and a real dedication to the characters from the lore" among its strong features, noting that "many of the sprites and movesets would be utilized in the many, many Capcom fighting games that would feature the X-Men," and adding that "some character imbalances and a small character roster are about the only thing you can knock it for, even today."[28]

In 2012, GamesRadar included it among the little-known classic fighting games that deserve HD remakes, adding that "Capcom set the precedent with this lavish-looking fighter, cramming in the fan service, captivating graphics, and frantic gameplay that the Versus series is now known for, but in the one-on-one variety."[29] In 2013, Nerdist included it among the top ten most iconic Marvel video games, calling it "a strike of gold, given how it's paved the way for the fighting games following it. [Children of the Atom] introduced features such as the dynamic combo system, air combos, and destructible multi-leveled fighting environments. (...) It also helped that this game had the best soundtrack out of any Marvel-licensed game ever conceived."[30] Children of the Atom placed 17th on the 2013 list of best Marvel video games by Geek Magazine.[31]

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