Time for another Xmen related review to keep the hype going for the new film! This one actually does deal with time travel, but I have to admit that I had not counted on that bonus. This collection brings 5 comics, 4 of which are the complete Magik series. Unfortunately, this was before Magik became the epic hero that she is today…(or was)
The first comic starts off in a pretty intense way as the X-Men are thrown into Limbo to save Magik. They had been having a pretty good day, but Magik seemed to go into a trance. Shadowcat quickly followed her, but they were both brought to Limbo. Once the other Xmen arrived, the battle for their lives began! The Xmen had to fight and keep on fighting Belasco and S’ym. Unfortunately, the two villains had homefield advantage and Belasco is basically immortal. Things do not go very well for the heroes and the ending is pretty tragic.
The final four comics of the collection are about Magik and the 7 years that were taken from her in during the ending of the first comic. She was brought back to Limbo and things went from bad to worse as she slowly started to turn to the dark side. The heroes were basically shattered and nobody would be coming to help. Magik would have to learn to channel her powerful abilities and defeat Belasco once and for all. An elderly Storm and a changed Shadowcat are her only allies in this cruel world.
Well, I have to say, you can hardly blame the Xmen for being so mad at their predicament. It really bites to be a mutant and the comics continue to prove it. If you’re not being destroyed for the 10th time or being hated by humanity, then you’re probably getting beaten up on by a villain. Unlike the Avengers and FF, most superheroes won’t be coming to your aid. For whatever reason, The Avengers, Spiderman, and Fantastic Four never seem to be in the area when the Xmen are in trouble. I’m sure that it’s just coincidence but it doesn’t make it any better for the mutants.
This collection will be pretty frustrating if you don’t like it when the villains get away with everything. As with Sword Art Online and any decent slasher film, it’s hard to really leave the collection on a happy note. Magik finds a way to get back to Earth and master her abilities, but it’s almost too late. She was forced to compromise her ideals and destroy both of her friends. Not a very bright outcome for her.
Things were pretty bad for the Xmen as well. All of them were either destroyed or corrupted to the dark side. The comic felt like the Mutant Massacre arc as the Xmen are completely overwhelmed and they know that they don’t stand a chance. Even Wolverine admits that he wouldn’t want to face off against S’ym again and he actually recommends that they retreat even if it means leaving the older Storm stranded and forced to face off with the villains on her own. It was a little uncharacteristic of him, but it shows how terrified Wolverine was. This was something that he had definitely not been expecting.
The comic also falls into one of the big holes. Animal violence! It’s been a while since I’ve had to deduct points for that, but this comic decided to go all the way. It’s always sad to see those innocent creatures go down for the count just because someone wants to prove a point. It was definitely not needed as we already understand that this is a very grim world. If only Cyclops had been around to help…alas, he is apparently having troubles of his own and he did not answer his communicator.
Magik is basically the main character of this series and she goes through a lot. You really feel bad for her since nobody is really there to help at times. She must learn how to make it in this world on her own and the odds are definitely not in her favor. The darkness does tempt her on several occasions, but temptation is something that everyone goes through. The important part is that she ultimately makes the right call and she doesn’t murder the villain when she gets the chance. That definitely wins her points in my book and she can be labeled as a true hero. She made mistakes as she lived through these adventures, but she is trying to correct them. I doubt that many other heroes would have been able to survive in her stead.
Wolverine is still one of the best Xmen in this collection. He may get intimidated at the end, but he definitely has a good reason. S’ym is completely out of his league and Wolverine knows that to fight would only be to die. I’m confident that he would have made the sacrifice needed if he could get the team out. That’s why I was conflicted about him deciding to go on without Storm, but she didn’t want to go with them and attempting to force her along would have only led them all to their doom. It’s rare to see Wolverine completely overpowered by an opponent, but it just showed how high the stakes were.
Colossus is also faced with defeat and even death as he faces S’ym. Due to the fact that they are traveling through time, there are two versions of each character that enter Limbo. The first team was eradicated for the most part and Colossus was personally destroyed by S’ym. The same thing nearly happens to the current version of him, but the timely intervention of Storm and Wolverine saves him. It’s pretty sad for Colossus because he was unable to help Magik, but he definitely gave it his all in the mission. At the end, he considers leaving the Xmen and nobody can really blame him.
Storm has it pretty rough and her adventure may have been as bad as Magik’s. She was unable to escape with the others and she was forced to become Belasco’s minion. She learned the dark magic powers, but they also allowed her to call back the Xmen and help Magik. Naturally, this also meant that we got two versions of Storm. The other version did her best as well, but she got a much smaller role.
Nightcrawler is also with the gang and he does pretty well as he takes on his other form. The other Nightcrawler was turned to the darkness and after their fight…only one would stand. The evil Nightcrawler is pretty fierce and he plays a pretty large role in this arc. In the end, Shadowcat and Magik have to team up against him.
Shadowcat is the third Xmen to have a very difficult time. The original Shadowcat managed to escape to Earth, but the other one wasn’t so lucky and she was changed into a cat creature. She is very adept as using a sword, but Belasco is basically limitless in his own domain and he has absolute control over the situation. Things don’t go well for Shadowcat and her ending is pretty tragic.
Belasco is the main villain of the collection and his powers are very impressive. This is the type of villain that you would expect to fight Dr Strange and not the Xmen. Dr Strange would likely crush Belasco, but the Xmen are not well equipped to deal with sorcery at the moment. Adding to this the fact that Belasco is on his hometurf and the Xmen are completely out of their league. Belasco basically toys with the heroes for the majority of the series and everyone is basically powerless to stop him. He’s the type of villain that you quickly dislike and you really wish that someone powerful would show up to take him down.
S’ym works for Belasco and his physical power is incredible. He proved to be vastly superior to Colossus in super strength and he was powerful enough to rip off Wolverine’s adamantium claw. He really makes things tough on the Xmen in the first comic and he continues to return and make everyone struggle. I definitely didn’t expect to see such a powerful enemy in this collection and it just goes to show why it’s tough to be an Xman.
The art is very good for the collection and it’ll definitely remind you of the good ole days for Marvel. It’s basically at the borderline before “old” art and the newer looks that we get. It really feels like the 90’s Xmen show in its appearance and that’s to be expected. Things get very grim during the second half of the comic, but the art is still pretty cheerful. You would think that this wouldn’t be a good thing, but it makes you really focus on the dialogue.
One other negative would be the fanservice. It’s not extreme and this isn’t a very recent comic so they are careful to keep it safe. That being said, there’s really no reason for it and Storm just likes to become one with nature for no real reason. It’s really just there to be there and that’s always going to shave off some enjoyment.
Overall, this is definitely not an Xmen comic that I would recommend. It is great to see Magik defy the darkness and it makes for a good moral, but the journey was just too much. The first comic was pretty dark as well, but the action helped to balance it out and they escaped with a relatively happy ending. It was scary for the heroes, but in more of a horror way. Unfortunately, whatever bits of the ending that could be called happy are basically destroyed by the miniseries at the end. Belasco essentially wins as he murdered quite a few of the heroes and broke several others. Magik will never be the same after her experience in Limbo and the heroes never really found out about what happened to her. It’s easy to see how she became so messed up in the recent comics. The comic is just pretty dark and depressing by the end and you really hope that Magik quits the Xmen and joins the Avengers. Aside from that, the animal violence and fanservice don’t really help matters. If you want an epic Xmen comic, check out the X-Sanction miniseries. That one was pretty epic!
Overall 4/10
Dead or Alive is a fighting series that I’ve heard a lot about, but I’ve never gotten to play any of the games. Unfortunately, most of them have lost their original fighting purpose or have become a little too graphic. Luckily, this one fit the bill and the game is definitely a fun one that I would recommend.
Each of the characters get their own mini story mode so I’ll briefly discuss each of them except for Bayman since he never got to appear in Story Mode. All I can say is that he doesn’t seem very impressive from his moveset. Ein is one of the big characters of the game as everyone keeps calling him Hayate. Is that really his name!? Ein is having trouble with his memories so he can’t really be sure. He seems like a pretty good character and one could be tricked into thinking that he was the main character!
Leon is a military person and he’s not one of the better characters. He’s all right I suppose, but a little bland at this point. We don’t really get to learn that much about him and his story wasn’t very interesting. Helena has one of the deeper stories as her mother is defeated by an unknown assassin. Helena goes on a quest to find this person and it’s definitely a lot more epic than most of the other stories. Helena is one of the better characters alongside Hayate.
Leifang reminds me of Xiaoyu from Tekken. They’re both pretty similar and Leifang is a decent character. As with Leon, she doesn’t really get that much development, but at least she’s a tough fighter. Her fighting style is quick and that’s always a good thing. Bass Armstrong is another character and despite the epic name, he’s the worst character! He’s really proud of how epic his daughter has become, but he can get a little too intense and he brings shame to the name. He’s a really slow fighter and the game could have definitely kicked him out!
Ryu Hayabusa is epic as always. He seems to be one of the only professionals in the game and he definitely proves his skills. His fighting style is nice and complex and he’s definitely a cut above the rest. As with Ayane, he’s a skilled ninja. Ayane is possibly more sinister than I had thought as they hint that she is basically a villain in this game. She seems like a good villain, but it’ll be interesting to see whether she is guilty or not.
Kasumi is known as the main character for the series and she’s decently cool. I mostly know her from the Dead Fantasy series, but that’s really enough to tell that she is an excellent fighter. She naturally gets one of the biggest plot twists of the game! We’ve also got an American in the game who calls himself Zack. Zack isn’t that great, but he does have an epic line. “Check yourself before you wreck yourself!” is his catchphrase as he tosses a mirror at his opponent. That was probably the best line in the game and it earns him some epicness points.
Jann Lee probably has the least development from all of the characters. I really have no idea what he’s doing here, but if he’s having fun…then that’s the important thing. He basically represents the average joe and he’s a decent fighter. He’s pretty cool, but I don’t have much to base that off from for now. We’ve also got Tina Armstrong. She has a heavy accent, but there’s not really much else to say about her. She seems like a decent character as well and she gets to enter a fashion show, but her storyline didn’t have much of a plot. Gen Fu is the final big character, but he’s basically the generic old person that’s actually really powerful. We’ve seen guys like him appear in fighting games so many times that it’s scary. His ending is actually one of the darkest and most intense ones.
The ultimate villain in the game is known as Tengu. Everything is apparently his delusion and he makes sure to say this every time you fight him. He seems to have some mind manipulation powers through his dancing. I can’t say that he’s a very good character and he’s pretty full of himself despite his unimpressive abilities. As far as final bosses go, Dead or Alive can definitely do better!
The actual gameplay for Dead or Alive feels pretty unique. It’s very fast paced and the movement makes you feel like you’re back at the arcade. You’ll definitely be trying some button mashing at first, but learning the combos can make all the difference. The critical element in this game’s style is the countering system. It’s pretty critical and it makes you double think all of your attacks. Each of them can easily turn against you. Your health bar can go down very quickly so this is the type of game that makes you want to have a lot of rematches. One thing that I can definitely say for it is that the game definitely has replay value.
The graphics are pretty good and this is definitely one of the better looking PS2 games. You really get to appreciate the animation when you blow up an object. The stages are pretty interactable so you can throw someone off a building and then follow them to the next stage. The stages themselves were really fun and that helped the overall experience. The soundtrack is pretty generic. I can’t really say that there are any exceptional tunes to be heard in this game. Still, the songs aren’t bad…I just don’t remember any of them.
A negative would be the fact that story mode and vs mode are pretty much the only things to do. The game could have earned an 8 if it had just added a few more characters or a longer story mode. Still, this is a fighting game so I wouldn’t expect much more. There are under 15 characters so you really need to hope that you like one of the available ones. That shouldn’t be a problem as they all have pretty different move sets. I became comfortable with most of them, but I’m not a fan of any of the slow characters. It’s unfortunate that this game series became distracted by spinoffs and stopped making good games. Hopefully we could get a nice DOA fighting game for the PS4 at some point.
Overall, this was a pretty fun fighting game despite the empty cover. There may not be a lot of extras and the characters are limited, but it succeeds as a fighting game thanks to the incredible gameplay. That’s the important part and the fact that it has a story mode for everyone is pretty good. It’s deeper than the average Arcade Mode and the stage selection is pretty fun. Dead or Alive can easily hold its own against the big fighting series like Tekken or Street Fighter and it would likely be a household name if all of its games were this good. I definitely recommend this game to all fighting game fans and it won’t disappoint you.
Overall 7/10
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