X-Men: Children of the Atom is an arcade game that was produced by Capcom and released on the CP System II arcade hardware in 1994 in Japan and in 1995 in North America and Europe.

Based on the X-Men comic book, it is the first fighting game produced by Capcom using characters under license from Marvel Comics. Released around the time of the mid-1990s X-Men animated series, the game features voice actors from the series reprising their roles. The game’s plot is based on the “Fatal Attractions” story from the comics – players control one of the X-Men or their enemies in their fight against the villain Magneto. They face each of the other characters in the game in best of three one-on-one fighting matches, before battling Juggernaut and Magneto.

The gameplay has much in common with Capcom’s previous fighting games, Super Street Fighter II Turbo and Darkstalkers. Children of the Atom adds a combo system that features long combos that can even be performed in mid-air. Also featured in the game are various tactical maneuvers, including the ability for characters to roll. Children of the Atom introduced multi-tiered fighting environments in which the ground would crumble and characters would fall into lower parts of the level. These concepts and the fast pace of the game would provide the basis for Capcom’s Marvel vs. Capcom series, which started with the game’s successor X-Men vs. Street Fighter.

Ports of the game were released for Sega Saturn, PlayStation and personal computer. Of these, the PlayStation version was not as well received as the other versions, suffering from slowdown and missing frames of animation.

Gameplay

X-Men follows the same fighting game controls and conventions Capcom previously established with the Street Fighter II games and the original Darkstalkers. The player can choose between one of six X-Men members or four of their enemies (for a total of ten selectable characters) and proceed to compete in a series of best-two-out-of-three one-on-one matches.

The player has an “X-Power” gauge (similar to the Super Combo gauge in Super Street Fighter II Turbo and the “Special” gauge in Darkstalkers) that builds as the player performs regular or special moves. X-Power gauge starts at Lv. 1 and reaches Lv. 2 when it becomes half-full and an Aura will begin to surround the player’s character until it becomes full and reaches MAX level. Players can then perform an “X-Ability”, which consumes a small portion of the X-Power gauge, or a “Hyper X”, which consumes a greater portion of the same gauge. Breaking one’s fall from a throw or performing a counter-throw will consume a portion of the X-Power gauge when performed.

Other features introduced in Children of the Atom include Super Jumps, the ability to roll away or towards an opponent after falling, the ability to determine the aim of a projectile move (such as Cyclops’ optic blasts), and the ability to pursue an opponent after performing a throwing attack for follow-up attacks. After selecting a character, the player can choose between “manual” or “automatic” blocking. By selecting to automatically block attacks, some features will not be available during gameplay.

The single-player mode consists of six computer-controlled opponents and two non-playable boss characters. Unlike some games, the player cannot play against a clone of their own character. Akuma from Super Street Fighter II Turbo appears in the single-player mode as a secret opponent at the sixth match if the requirements are met.

Plot

X-Men: Children of the Atom is loosely based on the “Fatal Attractions” storyline. The main antagonist is Magneto, who plans to unleash an electromagnetic pulse on the Earth that will disrupt the magnetic fields and create havoc on the world’s electrical systems ushering in a Dark Age for Earth’s non-mutant population. With the promise of a mutant-run planet, the X-Men’s most formidable foes join forces with Magneto.

Characters