Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

You begin with an exciting decision: choose two X-Men from a roster that includes Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Colossus, Iceman, and Nightcrawler. A second person can take the other hero, or the computer can join you, and that at least lets you experiment with team combinations. Ranged attacks from Storm, Iceman, and Cyclops are immediately more comfortable than having Wolverine, Nightcrawler, or Colossus walk right up to enemies for punches.

The problem is that the roster does not get enough room to feel special. Everyone moves, jumps, attacks, and absorbs a limited number of hits, but the differences mostly come down to shooting from afar or fighting up close. When a game bears the X-Men name, you want the team selection to change the texture of a mission. Here, it too often feels like choosing which tiny character sprite you will risk losing next.

Each stage asks you to locate and destroy a hidden command center, which is a frustrating fit for this kind of action game. The objective turns exploration into a hunt through dangerous areas without much sense of momentum. Temporary invincibility, health restoration, and time-stopping pickups can rescue a rough run, but the Magneto-symbol power-down that freezes your heroes can be especially irritating when the action is already crowded.

There is some old-school pressure in the way fallen heroes are replaced by another pair until the roster is exhausted. It gives your choices consequences and makes the practice stage a sensible first stop. Still, the limited durability and awkward search-based progression make defeat feel more draining than motivating. Two-player play can make the mess more tolerable, but it does not solve the basic stiffness of the mission design.

Graphics

The overhead battlefields are plain and cramped, with gray streets, cracked ground, rubble-packed borders, and small robot enemies scattered around the city. The muted scenery does little to make the future-city setting memorable, and the tiny X-Men sprites are hard to admire when they are sharing space with debris and enemy fire.

There are a few readable touches, including the bright hero colors and bursts of orange explosion against the drab ground. But the action looks rough and visually busy rather than comic-book exciting. You can follow where the characters are, yet little on the battlefield has the scale or personality that these heroes deserve.

Story

Professor Xavier sends the X-Men to stop Magneto and his henchmen, and that is the whole pitch. It is a perfectly usable comic-book excuse to put the team into danger, but the game does not build much drama around it.

Magneto’s command centers give each level a target, while robot armies and hostile locations provide the opposition. That structure keeps the goal understandable, but it never creates the feeling that you are moving through a larger conflict with Magneto.

The lack of character-specific flavor hurts most. Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, and the rest are famous for clashing personalities and distinct powers, yet the story gives them no meaningful spotlight. Fans may enjoy seeing the full team represented, but they will not find much of the X-Men’s usual energy here.

Overall Experience

The Uncanny X-Men starts with a strong piece of wish fulfillment, then squanders it. Picking a favorite mutant and bringing a partner sounds like the foundation for a satisfying NES action game. Instead, the repetitive fighting, fragile heroes, and hidden-target structure make the experience feel punishing without becoming compelling.

Its best moments come from simple cooperation: one player firing from a safer distance while the other presses forward, or a timely power-up pulling a team out of trouble. Those moments are too scattered to carry the full game. Even the ability to rotate through the roster after defeat feels more like a limited supply of retries than a reason to learn new tactics.

If you have a deep affection for awkward late-1980s superhero games, there is curiosity value in seeing this unusual take on the team. Everyone else should pass. The X-Men license promises colorful personalities, big powers, and escalating battles, while this game delivers a drab and often frustrating scavenger hunt with occasional action attached.

Retro Replay Score

2.9/10