The high-paced combat of Capcom's Vs games has been cover here on the Retro Reboot with my review of Marvel vs Capcom: Clash Of Super Heroes. But before the Street Fighter characters developed a huge chip on their shoulder and picked a fight with anyone who looked at them funny, it's time to take a look back at the entry in Capcom's long and highly revered catalog of fighting games where I believe the origins are rooted, starting with the first tournament fighter featuring Marvel's mutants.

Developed and released by Capcom for arcades in 1994, X-Men: Children of the Atom uses their CP-System 2 engine that's powered games like Super Street Fighter II, Alien vs Predator, and Darkstalkers. The X-Men franchise is no stranger to video games, more than several have been featured here from the NES, SNES, and Genesis libraries, it was only a matter of time before the heroes and villains of Marvel would take a run at a fighting game. Fueled by some successful comic book stories and a cartoon series that was spearheading the FOX animation line-up (FOX Animation beats the ass of the Disney Afternoon any day of the week. Come at me), delved into a rich partnership with Capcom.

There's ten selectable characters to choose from. Storm, Cyclops, Wolverine, IceMan, Colossus, and Psylocke represent Xavier's team. The villains present are Omega Red, Silver Samurai, Spiral, and a Sentinel, with Juggernaut and Magneto serving as the boss characters. Akuma is playable, via a code input at the character select screen. Each of the fighters boast fantastic sprites, a great deal of animation, and detail that perfectly capture their likeness from the cartoon and comics around the time, as it was based loosely on an X-Men story from that period, Fatal Attractions. 

When it comes to gameplay, Children of the Atom follows the same philosophy of Super Street Fighter II Turbo. You got your three punches and three kicks, and a Super meter that builds as you take and dish out damage. One of the key differences, and one that would be a staple of the Vs line is the more simplistic inputs for Super Moves. Typically, just a single quarter-circle motion forward and x3 punches or kicks. Children of the Atom punches some holes into the theory that fighting games need to be heavily complex in order to be enjoyable, as the gameplay depth is approachable enough to be pick-up-and-play for a newcomer into the genre, and substantial for a seasoned veteran to find it fun. 

Traits like throw teching and the new chain combo format would carry on into the Street Fighter Alpha series and be further enriched, X-Men: Children of the Atom introduced the super jump, which expands the over-the-top elements that would also become synonymous with the Capcom Vs series and adds a new take on how to approach your opponent. Now, if you are more familiar with MvC2 and want to rewind the clock a little bit and visit this one for the first time, it does move at a significantly different speed. The windows for combos are a touch more fidgety and a little slower. Honestly, going back and playing Psylocke, who's one of my MvC mains, it's like playing a different character and I can't go full ham with her. I'd almost say the key to this game is whiff punishing and getting hard knockdowns, tallying some OTG damage. Critical Arts (yeah, they're "Hyper X" moves, but I can't help it, they've been CA's to me for 20+ years) deal a decent amount of damage, and you build meter pretty fast, but hits on counter eat a lot of health.

The A.I., when set to a moderate level, doesn't fight a dummy. Other than Magneto, who just spams the s**t outta his projectiles, the CPU will mix up a decent amount of baits, feints, and anti-airs. I respect this, it doesn't feel like I'm fighting against a generic set of sequences. And while I do enjoy the MvC games, it's hard-pressed for me how much I missed having a medium punch and forward kick. So while the hyper fighting is still in its infancy with Children of the Atom, that doesn't make it any less fun to indulge. I'm an older guy, so by all means, slow it down.

Talking again about the visuals, Children of the Atom's stages were multi-tiered screens, being between three and four screens high to accommodate the super jumping and the grounds and floors you can crash through. I love it, really selling the idea that you're playing as gods among men duking it out with reckless abandon while the debris dusts up around you in wake of your combat! That's another thing about the advancement of the Vs series, and I mentioned this in my Marvel vs Capcom review, it becomes quickly apparent how chopped up those games are when it comes to animation frames to see how detailed the sprites are in Atom. I know, that's a gripe, but each character moves at almost a different speed, as the smaller roster places a greater emphasis on making the characters feel a little unique. I digress.

Then there's the inclusion of Gouki. Yes, badass Akuma, showing that even if you throw him in a game with metahumans, anyone can get these hands. Lifted directly from Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Akuma's entire moveset is at you disposal. he's a little stubby and has some slow recovery, but hits like a truck. To select him as player one, put your cursor on "Spiral", then move your pointer to the following characters in order: Silver Samurai, Psylocke, Colossus, Iceman, Colossus, Cyclops, Wolverine, Omega Red, Silver Samurai. Then wait 1 second and press Weak Kick + Fierce Punch + Fierce Kick.

For player 2, put the cursor on Storm, then move your pointer to the following characters in order: Cyclops, Colossus, Iceman, Sentinel (turn left to go to this character), Omega Red, Wolverine, Psylocke, Silver Samurai, Spiral. Then wait 1 second and press Weak Kick + Fierce Punch + Fierce Kick.

I love thinking that Akuma kicked off these fights by showing up during a fight against Megneto and the Acolytes, smacking Scott Summers upside the head, and teleporting away. Oh, now the Vs series is on!

The Saturn version of Children of the Atom is the optimal way to play this game. Because of the Saturn's architecture, its ports of 2D fighters were arcade perfect. The PlayStation port lacks the horsepower to be a true conversion, and the sprites are missing frames, the colors look very washed over, and the load times are absolutely horrendous. 

Capcom would follow up with Marvel Super Heroes, which speeds up the action and tightens the combo fluidity, building upon what Children of the Atom establishes. It still ranks as a solid tier fighter.