X-Men: Children of the Atom (Japan 941219) - MAME machine

Capcom CPS-II cart. published 30 years ago:

X-Men - Children of the Atom © 1994 Capcom Company, Limited.

X-Men: Children of the Atom is a one-on-one fighting game based around the Marvel comics characters. Released around the time of the mid-1990s X-Men animated series of the same name, the game's plot is based on the "Fatal Attractions" story arc from the comics as players control one of the X-Men or their enemies in their fight against the villain Magneto.

Players 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 bouts, before battling Juggernaut and then Magneto himself.

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 Level 1 and reaches Level 2 when it becomes half-full, at which point 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 also consume a portion of the X-Power gauge when performed.

Other features introduced in this game 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 additional 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.

TECHNICAL
Runs on the "CP System II" hardware.
Green Board [Japan]

Players: Up to 2.
Control: 8-way joystick per player.
Buttons: 6 per player.
→ [1] LP (Jab), [2] MP (Short), [3] HP (Fierce)
→ [4] LK (Strong), [5] MK (Forward), [6] HK (Roundhouse)

TRIVIA
X-Men COTA was released in December 1994 in the Japanese arcades. It was known there as the 8th video game released for the CPS2 hardware.

Known export releases:
"X-Men - Children of the Atom [Blue Board]"
"X-Men - Children of the Atom [Grey Board]"
"X-Men - Children of the Atom [Orange Board]"

A special 'Rent' version is known to exists as "X-Men - Children of the Atom [Yellow Board]".

It is the first fighting game produced by Capcom using characters under license from Marvel Comics, widely praised for its faithfulness in capturing the spirit of its namesake comics, by using colorful animation and voice actors (see Staff section for more information) from the 'X-Men' animated series.

All characters are coming from Marvel comic books (except Akuma):
Akuma ('Gouki' in Japan) - "Super Street Fighter II Turbo" (Super Street Fighter II X - Grand Master Challenge" in Japan)
Colossus (aka Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputin) - Giant-Size X-Men #1
Cyclops (aka Scott Summers) - X-Men #1
Juggernaut (aka Cain Marko) - X-Men #12
Iceman (aka Robert 'Bobby' Drake) - Uncanny X-Men #1
Magneto (aka Erik 'Magnus' Lehnsherr) - X-Men #1
Omega Red (aka Arkady Rossovich) - X-Men #4
Psylocke (aka Elizabeth 'Betsy' Braddock) - New Mutants Annual #2
Sentinel - Uncanny X-Men #14
Silver Samurai (aka Kenichiro Harada) - Daredevil #111
Spiral (aka Rita Ricochet) - Longshot #1
Storm (aka Ororo Munroe) - Giant Size X-Men #1
Wolverine (aka James 'Logan' Howlett) - Incredible Hulk #180

Unlike previous incarnations of X-Men video games, X-Men - Children of the Atom also allowed players to helm popular X-Men villains, such as Omega Red; the mutant hunting android Sentinel; Spiral, lackey of Mojo; and Silver Samurai. Also, because this game was released around the same time as "Super Street Fighter II Turbo", programmers also included Akuma (see Tips And Tricks section for more information).

The game, along with SSFII Turbo, is considered as one of the first fighting games to popularize the now often-used ideas of 'Super Jumps', 'Super Combos', and 'Tech. Hit', which meant that an attempted grab or throw had been negated by the opponent. Furthermore, the game was the precursor to the Capcom 'Vs. series', with elements and characters from this game having been combined with "Street Fighter Alpha - Warriors' Dreams" to create "X-Men vs. Street Fighter".

Sony Records released a limited-edition soundtrack album (X-Men Arcade Game Track - SRCL-3120) on March 24, 1995.

UPDATES
Green Board revisions:

REVISION 1:

• Software version: 1.00.
• Build date: 941208

REVISION 2:

• Software version: 2.00.
• Build date: 941217

REVISION 3:

• Software version: 2.10.
• Build date: 941219

REVISION 4:

• Software version: 3.00
• Build date: 950105

TIPS AND TRICKS

• Play as Akuma (Player 1): Highlight Spiral and wait 3 seconds, then move without stopping through: Silver Samurai, Psylocke, Colossus, Iceman, Colossus, Cyclops, Wolverine, Omega Red and stop on Silver Samurai. Wait 3 seconds there and press and hold: LK+HP+HK.
• Play as Akuma (Player 2): Highlight Storm and wait 3 seconds, then move without stopping through: Cyclops, Colossus, Iceman, the Sentinel, Omega Red, Wolverine, Psylocke, Silver Samurai and stop on Spiral. Wait 3 seconds there, then press and hold: LK+HP+HK.
• Play as Juggernaut (Player 1 and 2): Input Akuma code, then after the battle press Up/Left TWICE and you should see Juggernaut's face.
• Play against Akuma: You must use 'manual block' and win every match without continuing. Defeat your opponents two rounds in a row (don't lose a round), having 'first attack' on each round. You must also win the final round of each battle with your Hyper-X.
• Continue Attacking: Press Start immediately after winning the match to continue hitting the defeated character.

STAFF
Game Planners: Akira Nishitani (Nin), Noritaka Funamizu (Poo), Hiratou K-Suke (X68K), Kiyo, Fuji, Tomita Otouto
Programmers: Aoi-Tokimeki, Tarabar Hori (Tarabar - Black), K. Nishi-Man, Sailor-Ponkichi, O.G.T. -Iron Liver, Mo Suzuki-Memorial, Min-T3, Hard. Yas (-466P+K-), Kaw. Hiroshima
Object Designers: Satoru Yamashita, Ino, Kuriotoko, Yue, Minobe Hiroaki (Minobe), M. Nakatani, Ari, Eripyon. N, Miwazo, M. Sato, Kamonchashi Sato, Kazuko Kawanaka Pyo!, Dway Nishimura, Igami, Youjiro, Sagat, Ta, Jun Matsumura (26), Hitoshi Nishio (Vip. T2), G. Kamina, Ushi, H. Yoshino, Eiji, Naoki Fukuda, H.S, Manish, Shinya Kitamura
Scroll Designers: Fukumoyan, Yamapuu, May, Devil Ohnishi, Kazu, Akiko. O, Hiroko. N, Iwai, Kisabon, RK
Music Composers: Takayuki Iwai (Anarchy Takapon), Syun Nishigaki, Hideki Okugawa (Hideki Ok), Isao Abe (Oyaji)
Sound Designers: Hiroaki Kondo (X68K), Toshio Kajino

• Voice Actors:

Psylocke, Storm, Spiral: Catherine Disher
Cyclops: Norman Spencer
Wolverine: Cathal J. Dodd
Beast: George Buza
Colossus, Iceman, Sentinel: Dan Hennessey
Silver Samurai: Yasushi Ikeda (Ike-Bomb)
Omega Red: Len Doncheff
Juggernaut: Rick Bennett
Magneto: Lorne Kennedy

Special Thanks: Alex Jimenez, Eric Luther, Phillip Reed, Mark Ericsson, Dana Morshed, Mike Thomas, John Conroy, Paul T. Takaki, Kumino Asakura, Takuya Shiraiwa (Mr. Shiraiwa)

PORTS

• CONSOLES:

[JP] Sega Saturn (nov.22, 1995) "X-Men - Children of the Atom [Model T-1203G]"

CONTRIBUTE
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