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Retro-Review: X-Men: Reign of Apocalypse [GBA]

Developer: Digital Eclipse
Publisher: Activision
Released: September 26, 2001
Completed: March 28, 2020
Rated: E for Everyone

Remember Konami's awesome X-Men arcade game, the beat 'em up that allowed up to six players at once to team up with huge, colorful sprites, smooth animation, and some of the most famously bad voice acting ever?  At a glance, you might assume X-Men: Reign of Apocalypse to be a spiritual successor to that all-time classic.  It is also a beat 'em up with some pretty decent animation, and lots of recognizable characters from the storied comic book franchise.  That is, unfortunately, where the similarities end.

Reign of Apocalypse is dull, dull, dull.  What stings even worse is that it's such a missed opportunity.  There are only four playable characters - Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, and Rogue - and no unlockables despite numerous X-Men showing up as bosses.  I don't remember the story reason for it because the story is forgettable tripe, but Gambit, Nightcrawler, Cable, and Phoenix all make appearances, among others.  Not that additional characters would save the game from being a bore that can be beaten in under and hour, utilizing only the basic moves.

You could pretty much sleepwalk through this game.  Between the braindead enemies and the generous health refills, it's harder to die than to beat the whole thing in one sitting.  There are 12 stages total, but none of them are particularly lengthy.  You start off in the X-Mansion, and you'll visit the Canadian wilderness, fight on top of the Blackbird, infiltrate a sentinel base, stop over in the Savage Land as well as the mutant slave island Genosha, and even sightsee at landmarks like the Statue of Liberty and the Golden Gate Bridge.  Thing is, none of these locations are that impressive.  Between the short length of the levels, the grainy backgrounds, and the uninspired combat, it doesn't really matter where you're mashing the attack button.  To its credit, the sprite animation is pretty fluid and characters are instantly recognizable.

Between stages you can assign points to improve your character's attributes.  There's no distinct difference.  It feels like something that was shoehorned in, but is strictly cosmetic and doesn't actually do anything.  I suppose it may give you more health, but who needs it in a game this easy?

The audio doesn't fare much better than the graphics or gameplay.  There is one music track that plays through the entire game.  One.  It's a short loop, so you will get sick of it before the end of the first stage only to realize with increasing annoyance that it accompanies every stage.  There is also one generic voice sample that I can recall.  I wouldn't expect anything on the level of the X-Men arcade game, but why even bother with the one grunt at all at that point? 

At least it controls well enough, not that you'll need anything other than the attack button.  Each character has a mutant power and a meter to govern its usage, but there's really no reason to use it.  I am not exaggerating when I say the entire game can be beaten with the basic attack string.  I could forgive the grainy backgrounds or the single music track if the gameplay was fun.  At best, it works, but it is not entertaining.  You can play it, but why would you want to - let alone replay it with a different character?

It may be unfair to compare a Game Boy Advance game to an arcade game on much more powerful hardware, but gameplay is not dependent on hardware.  Of course the arcade game is going to look and sound better, but there's no reason this game should be this unfulfilling.  Digital Eclipse had a perfect blueprint to use, a great license, and completely squandered it with one of the most bland beat 'em ups I've ever played.  It's functional, but the first three letters of the word are as close to fun as it gets. 

X-Men: Reign of Apocalypse was played via the Game Boy Player on GameCube with no cheats.

Retro-Review: Final Fantasy Advance [Gameboy Advance]

Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Nintendo
Rated: E for Everyone
Released: 29 November 2004
Completed: 4 June 2017



Few games have had as big an impact as Final Fantasy.  Though it wasn't the first Japanese RPG to come to the west, it's arguably the most popular.  The series is still going strong today, with the critically acclaimed 15th installment coming out just last year, and a number of spin-offs and remakes having been released in the intervening years ranging from tactical combat, action games, and even massively multiplayer online RPGs.

The original Final Fantasy, released in the US several years after its Japanese debut, still holds a special place in my heart.  I remember spending an entire summer vacation to complete it.  Hours upon hours of grinding for experience points and gold to level my characters up for the tough battles ahead and afford the absurdly priced equipment and magic spells.  I recall being especially captivated by the game's monster sprites, making every encounter with a new one a memorable experience.  By the time it came out, Final Fantasy was already a pretty dated example of the genre, but it remains one of my favorite RPGs to this day.

Years later, long after the series' popularity exploded following it's seventh entry, Square decided to go back and remaster the original game, along with its then Japan-only sequel.  While we had a Final Fantasy II on the Super Nintendo in America, it was actually Final Fantasy IV in Japan.  The two proper sequels, both on the NES, never made it overseas.  The concept of remasters and remakes is very common today, but at the time Square was breaking new ground by updating the classic adventures. 

Originally released on the PlayStation, the remakes featured 16-bit style sprites, greatly enhanced music, CGI cutscenes, and minor gameplay tweaks that streamlined the experience, making it easier to level up and buy items without spending countless hours grinding.  The Gameboy Advance port retains these features, with the exception of the cutscenes, and further enhances the experience by adding four new high-level dungeons, a save-anywhere feature, and a more traditional magic points system.

These days Final Fantasy games are known for their sprawling stories, which makes the original seem quaint by comparison.  The remakes were retranslated from scratch, but the basic plot remains the same as the NES iteration - four prophesied warriors will arrive and save the land by restoring the power of four crystals, one for each of the core elements.  There's surprisingly little to it.  The characters are blank slates as opposed to the set personalities of later games, and the player can form a party of four from a handful of archetypal classes at the beginning of the game.

As a game, Final Fantasy is about as simplistic as RPGs get.  You'll wander the land, fight monsters, conquer dungeons and tougher bosses, and upgrade your equipment.  NPCs wandering around towns will give vague hints about what to do next, but the game is fairly straightforward for the most part.  The remakes have significantly reduced the difficulty of the original, allowing players to level up more quickly and making items much more affordable.  This shortens the overall play time, but it also keeps the game from feeling as repetitious and boring. 

In addition to these tweaks, the battles are generally easier because the computer will auto-target enemies.  In the original, if two or more warriors targeted the same enemy and managed to kill it off, the subsequent attacks would be wasted on thin air.  Now the computer will automatically switch your target, allowing you to clear your foes out quicker.  This is helpful, especially in crowded battles with five or more monsters, but it also reduces the need to strategize and plan effectively each round.

The lack of challenge in general could turn some players away.  The ability to save anywhere, anytime lessens the need for careful item management.  Bosses can potentially fall in a single round if your characters are over-leveled.  Gold (or Gil, as it's called) is rarely a factor, and by the end of the game I had maxed out the game's counter at 999,999 easily.  In my 15 hour playthrough, I never once saw a game over screen, and party members rarely fell in battle.  Even when they did, I always had plenty of life-restoring Phoenix Downs or the handy Life spell to get them back into the fight.  It's basically Final Fantasy: Easy Mode.

On the other hand, more modern gamers may appreciate the lack of forced grinding.  It certainly quickens the pace of the game, and keeps frustration to a minimum.  Modern Final Fantasies may be 40+ hour adventures because they have grand stories, but back in the day the original was 40+ hours because the game required you to spend at least half of that time fighting random battles ad nauseam just to be strong enough to fight more powerful monsters, and so on.

Having completed the original Final Fantasy in my youth, part of me missed the grind, but a bigger part of me was glad to experience the game with a fresh coat of paint and without the tedium.  The new sprites are very true to the originals, but more in line with those of the SNES Final Fantasy games.  Sure, they probably could have redone the whole game in 3D - at least on the PlayStation - but it would have lost much of its charm.  Instead it still feels distinctly retro, retaining all the awesome monster designs but with slightly more detail and color.  For those of you who love that sort of thing, like myself, the game also includes the bestiary from the PlayStation version.

The bigger upgrade here is definitely the music.  Even on the GBA, the iconic soundtrack of Final Fantasy sounds marvelous.  The instrumentation is superb, bringing the classic melodies to life in ways that are still instantly familiar.  I was thrilled to hear that Square didn't overdo it on the reverb effects that plagued so many SNES games as well, opting for clear, orchestral MIDI effects that sound fantastic through headphones or even decent speakers. 

Keep in mind that this GBA cart also contains the complete Final Fantasy II remastered, as well as a side quest that is opened up after both games have been completed.  That, combined with the remastered original, and additional dungeons not found in the PlayStation version, make this an excellent package for nostalgia-loving RPG fans.  The current going rate for a copy of the cart is around $12, so whether you're playing on a handheld, through the Gameboy Player (as I did), or a combination of both, that's a lot of bang for your buck. 

Strictly focusing on Final Fantasy Advance, even with the decreased difficulty, it's still a charming and fun adventure.  If you're just getting into the series or RPGs, it's a perfect gateway game, and if you've played the original to death, it's worth playing the remake to see and hear the upgrades. 

Final Fantasy Advance was completed on a Gameboy Player with no cheats.