''Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge'' is a

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

released for the

Super NES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Europe and Oceania a ...

in 1992 by

LJN LJN Toys Ltd. was an American toy company and video game publisher founded by Jack Friedman in 1967. MCA Inc. acquired the company in 1985, and sold to Acclaim Entertainment in 1990. The toy division of the company was closed by Acclaim and a m ...

. It was released for the Genesis and

Game Gear The is an 8-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth-generation handheld game console released by Sega on October 6, 1990 in Japan, in April 1991 throughout North America and Europe, and in 1992 in Australia. The Game Gear primarily ...

(under the Flying Edge brand) as well as the

Game Boy The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...

. The game features

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

characters

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...

and the

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 (September 1963). Although initial ...

as they battle their captor, the villainous Arcade to escape his death trap, Murderworld.

Gameplay

The player must successfully complete each Marvel hero's two "events" in order to get to control Spider-Man in a final battle with Arcade and escape. While any character's first event can be selected at the player's will, the second event is not playable until the completion of the first. All the heroes have the same

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s, meaning if one hero loses a life, the others do as well.

Plot

While swinging his web throughout the city, Spider-Man notices the disappearances of X-Men

Cyclops In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; , ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguished. In Hesiod's ''Th ...

Storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstor ...

, and

Wolverine The wolverine ( , ; ''Gulo gulo''), also called the carcajou or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species, member of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscular carnivore and a solitary animal. The w ...

; he then notices a tube from a garbage truck sucking up Gambit, and after figuring out it's Arcade, swings his web to the truck. He tracks Arcade down to an abandoned building, which is the location of the first stage; the player portrays Spider-Man de-activating "Security Eyes" in a set order (as indicated by the Spider-Sense) to enter. Inside, Spider-Man and the X-Men are placed in the deadly games of Murderworld, a simulated program designed by Arcade to torture and kill his victims.

Development and release

''Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge'' was released in 1992 for multiple platforms, including the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) and the Sega Genesis. The development of the game was influenced by the popularity of the ''X-Men'' animated series, which was airing at the time, and LJN's desire to capitalize on the success of previous Spider-Man and X-Men games.

Reception

Reviewing the Game Boy version, ''

GamePro ''GamePro'' was an American multiplatform video game magazine media company that published online and print content covering the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software. The magazine featured content on various video ...

'' commented the graphics are good but the controls are frustratingly imprecise and complained of the fact that players must re-solve the tedious level 1 maze every time they start the game. They gave the Game Gear version a negative review as well, saying it retains the problems of the Game Boy version. ''

Electronic Gaming Monthly ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews. History The magazine was fou ...

'' gave the Game Gear version a 6 out of 10, praising the ability to play as multiple different characters but criticizing the difficulty as overly high. Brett Alan Weiss of AllGame criticized the Game Gear version for "awkward" controls, particularly of Spider-Man and its weak portrayals of the superheroes. Super Gamer reviewed the SNES Version and gave an overall score of 75% stating: "A whole host of superheroes make this attractive for any comics fan. Gameplay is varied and tough, graphics impressive and sound brilliant".

Notes

References

External links

* {{X-Men media 1992 video games Cajuns in video games Cancelled Master System games Game Boy games Game Gear games LJN games Platformers Sega Genesis games Single-player video games Software Creations games Super Nintendo Entertainment System games Superhero crossover video games Unexpected Development games Video games based on Spider-Man Video games based on X-Men Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video games featuring female protagonists Video games scored by Tim Follin Video games set in Africa Video games set in New York City