X-Men: Next Dimension

"I like it. It's not perfect, but what is?"

This game is the continuation of the X-Men Mutant Academy series on the PSOne. These games involved characters from the X-Men comics series beating seven shades of hell out of each other for no apparent reason; but hey, it was fun. The concept of comic book games has always been good: using characters with superpowers should be great, but this series seemed to be the only one that came close to what a comic book game should be. After many disappointments, can this series survive the passage from one ageing console to the leading three?

GRAPHICS>8: Well. The games on the PSOne weren't the most cutting edge ever, but they kept a good standard up with slowdown only when it was an effect. Happily, the graphics have been vastly improved on the PSOne prequels, with plenty of polygons per character and good movement animation. However, these are not perfect - character's faces occasionally seem blocky and distorted (Wolverine in particular). However, the real beauty of the games graphics comes in the many interactive stages. Characters can be knocked seamlessly between levels and scenery can be incorporated into throws and attacks. While none of the graphical effects are exceptionally stunning, they are good-looking and functional: Phoenix's fire effects look realistic enough, while more comic-y effects like Cyclops' Optic blasts and Havok's Cosmic rays are colourful and polished.

SOUND>4: The worst area of the game, bar none. The backround music is quiet to the point of not being there at all and completely unremarkable when you do hear it. The voice clips are annoying - the game uses accomplished voice actors but they cannot do anything with their lines. An example would be Jennifer Hale (Eternal Darkness, Metal Gear Solid 2, Planescape: Torment etc. All well-played roles) as Rogue, doing the worst Southern accent ever; at best sounding like her other characters while at worst sounding as if she's choking on something. These soundbites are played during supers and throws and during the match itself - mutant powers or not, sometimes you want to gag the characters.

GAMEPLAY>7: This game makes to bold step of taking a 2D game into true 3D territory... and it *almost* works. The controls use the Gamecube's stick for flat movement (like sidestepping and forwards/backwards motion) while the D-Pad controls the Jump/crouch/backwards/forwards movement. It's a little frustrating, and can limit it's pick-up-and-playability. Once you've got round the controls, however, the range of characters presents an interesting challenge. each of the characters is unique and balanced, unlike MA2 where Wolverine could win ANY match. Previously weak characters like Phoenix have been improved and vice versa: my only problem is that Juggernaut is damn near impossible to block or counter. He's big, strong, quick and (helpfully) invulnerable to some forms of attack, making him this game's Wolverine. That said, any player with a little skill can be a fair fight with a newbie on Juggernaut. Use of arena objects could have been improved, as could the control system, but it's a fun, solid fighter to play.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/19/03, Updated 05/19/03