X2: Wolverine's Revenge
2026-05-08
Yesterday, I gave "X2: Wolverine's Revenge" a shot. It's loosely based on the movie but focused on Wolverine; I've seen it in 2003, so I don't remember it that much. There was PC/console game of the same title, but it was fully 3D and all. This one here is a 2D hack'n'slach side-scroller. Pixel art is really good here. I added it to favourites, to return to it later. The funny thing is that back then I wouldn't walk next to it, but now, it's a perfect product to play.
A bit similar case to "Cuttthroat Island" not being novel enough back in 1995, which doesn't matter now. If the game itself is solid, it's no longer compared to others.
It struck me when someone said that "Doom 64" aged better than "GoldenEye 007," which was more modern at the time. It means that some titles could be revived now with success.
2026-05-09
An interesting solution: when you release Wolverine's claws, your character becomes stronger in fight, and if he slashes enough times, he goes into the berserk mode that makes him even more powerful. The caveat? With claws out, you don't self-regenerate, and in berserk mode, you cannot hide the claws. So, plan wisely. Though, the first two levels were not that difficult; but I went for the easy mode, because why not.
I got the level 3, which is timed. I hate timed levels. Well, maybe not exactly timed, but you have to follow Sabretooth, and it's easy to fall behind. Skill issue, of course, but I prefer to set pacing myself.
Though, it's funny: you cannot alert him, which means you have to keep the distance; I suppose that for practical reasons, however, you need to literally run into Sabretooth to trigger that.
2026-06-11
I beat level 3. It reminded me of old days of platforming, where you'd have to learn the order of obstacles and paths to take to succeed. Luckily, the level was not too long. I suspect that if the game was from the 1990s and not for handheld, it would be longer and generally much less forgiving. But, it's not Mega Man, it's a movie-tied cash grab.
After that, I was back to the usual hack'n'slash, which, I have to admit, is very satisfying. It's not like there are a lot of attacks than can be used, but still, fighting here activates something primordial in my brain.
As the game progresses, new skills are added to our arsenal. It would make for a wonderful Metroidvania, but alas, it's a very linear side-scroller. While it's true that when we're about to get a new skill, we end up in an area that requires that skill to get out -- something very "Metroid"-like -- the subsequent level just include the aforementioned skill to be there. Compared to other games, "X2" is a small-time adventure.
So far, I learned to climb the walls, slide (something needed for one type of obstacle, but I cannot reproduce it, and every time, I smash random buttons until I achieve that), as well as follow a scent.
I like the sprite job, but I can't shake the feeling that the creators pre-rendered characters and then converted them to sprites. Something quite common in the mid-1990s, e.g., SNES's Donkey Kong or "Doom 64." But also used by modern games sometimes, like in "Dead Cells" or "Prodeus." The pixels here are big, so it's not that off-putting, and it translates to smoother animation, as those were likely skeleton-based.
The game might be tied to "X2," the movie, but the cut-scenes use hand-drawn pictures with comic-based design; for instance, Mystique has a white robe, like her canonic look, not the Rebecca Romijn-Stamos's generally naked variant. I'm fine either way.
After cold and snowy forests of the initial levels, followed up by the insides of a military complex, we had a nice Japanese-themed segment. The music is so and so, but after playing for 20 minutes, I caught myself humming the boss theme. Now, in act 6 or 7, I am in the Xavier's school, which is under attack.
And speaking of bosses, Pyro gave me headaches, but generally, they're easy-peasy, though this might be attributed to the easy difficulty level.