Marvel's mutants are no strangers here to Retro Reboot. I've looked over some of their highs and lows from the 8-bit and 16-bit bit era of gaming (Arcade's Revenge may be a Spider-Man themed game, but it counts, and that game is cheeks), their appearance in Capcom fighting games, and some tough-as-nails action platformers. It's time to move the clock forward to the 2000's and reopen the door to X-Men Legends, a pretty entertaining action game coming from sixth generation.

Developed by Activision's Raven Software division (it was great when they weren't just told to work on only Call Of Duty), X-Men Legends was released in 2004 for the PS2, GameCube, and Xbox. It also saw a port on the Nokia N-Gage. The plot of the game is its own original story, and from what I know isn't adapted from any comics. The plot is mostly centered around Alison Crestmere (Magma), one of the New Mutants introduced in the early 80's. She's attempted to be abducted by Mystique and The Blob before Cyclops and Wolverine intervenes. The player is then given an introductory to the X-Mansion, where you can assemble your team, have Forge develop equipment, run a series of mini games, and spar in the Danger Room before continuing the story.

I feel Raven Software developed a game for consoles that rivals the appeal of the Diablo series, and it was pretty groundbreaking to see on consoles at the time. If wizards and dwarves aren't up one's alley, perhaps playing as some of their favorite mutants hits the tastes a little easier. You can select four out of 15 different heroes for a team (and Emma Frost), each with a different set of variables that can play a big difference in how you're aided in missions. This was raven's first game, so they certainly nailed the dungeon crawling aspect perfectly.

The gameplay is accessible and straightforward, but leads itself open to a respectable degree of strategy. You have four signature abilities that can be upgraded and powered up over time, altering their properties and making them better. The roster doesn't feel like a set lineup of characters that are reskinned, but share the same stats or skills (Colossus and Beast are powerhouses, but Colossus can shatter walls). The amount of planning when it comes to having a pretty large cast of playable characters while making them unique to their mutant powers is very well done. It's got a satisfying level of customization to shake up any monotony. And as a multiplayer co-op, it can be quite an experience, as up to four player can join in on the action.

Legends looks alright when the game is in action, the maps all look sharp and there's little in the way of screen clutter. I always was a fan of the HUD, this game has a very crisp display, and the information is easy to read. The X-Men uniforms seem mostly based on their "The New X-Men" designs. The cel-shading gives it a stronger comic book visual appeal, and it's not the first, or last time, I'll sing the praises of cel-shading, it's a timeless style that ages better than most. Some of the close-ups during story sequences don't hold up, however. Characters like Wolverine can look a bit like Frank West.

The PlayStation version looks pretty grainy and rough, while the Xbox port is capable of displaying a native 720p. The GameCube can as well, if you can find the component cables for it. They cost roughly $200US dollars the last I checked. 

X-Men Legends is a hell of a game that saw a sequel and the Marvel Alliance spinoff. Raven Software hit on a pretty successful formula that saw some of the better Marvel games released throughout the mid-2000's. It's got deep customization options, very good music, and all-star voice featuring Patrick Stewart, Steve Blum, and many familiar voices from the various X-Men cartoons from the era.  

Whether you want to run this game solo or with a group of pals, X-Men Legends is an extremely fun title that you can end up investing tons of hours into it.

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