X-Men Arcade is coming to modern consoles with rollback netcode

Limited Run Games is releasing the MARVEL MaXimum Collection on March 27 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam. The compilation bundles several 8-bit and 16-bit Marvel titles from the arcade and home console eras. It also adds six-player online multiplayer with rollback netcode to Konami's 1992 X-Men arcade game.

Playing the six-player version of X-Men in an actual arcade usually required finding a dual-screen cabinet the size of a minivan. Now you can just boot it up on a Switch. The collection runs on Limited Run's proprietary Carbon Engine. It packs in a total of seven distinct titles, though many of these include multiple platform versions.

What is in the box

Konami released the original X-Men arcade cabinet in 1992, loosely basing it on the 1989 animated pilot X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men. Players could choose from Cyclops, Colossus, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, or Dazzler to fight through hordes of Sentinels. The bizarre English translation remains the most memorable part of the game. Magneto literally greets the team by yelling "Welcome to die!"

The package leans heavily into the beat-'em-up genre. Software Creations' Maximum Carnage and Separation Anxiety both make an appearance. These two games originally launched on the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis in 1994 and 1995. They remain notorious for their difficulty spikes and red physical cartridges.

Maximum Carnage sold heavily when it launched. LJN published the game during the height of the comic book crossover of the same name. It allowed players to switch between Spider-Man and Venom to fight through New York City. The comedy rock band Green Jellÿ actually composed the soundtrack. The sequel, Separation Anxiety, followed a similar formula but added two-player cooperative play.

The package also includes Captain America and the Avengers. Data East originally released this as an arcade game in 1991 before porting it to the NES and Genesis. The collection rounds out the action with Spider-Man: The Video Game and Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge.

Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge plays completely differently. The punishing action platformer forces you to clear distinct levels designed for Spider-Man, Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, and Gambit. You have to beat all of their stages to reach the villain Arcade. Most kids who rented this from Blockbuster never made it past the first Wolverine level.

Then there is Silver Surfer for the NES. This 1990 shoot-'em-up has two main claims to fame: a fantastic soundtrack by Tim Follin and an absurd difficulty level. The game kills you if your character's surfboard touches a wall.

Modern updates and museum features

The collection adds several modern quality-of-life updates. Players get save states and an in-game rewind function. That rewind tool will likely be the only way most people ever see the ending of Silver Surfer.

Limited Run also built a dedicated Museum mode. This section contains high-resolution scans of original box art, instruction manuals, and vintage comic book advertisements. There is also a music player to listen to the original chiptune soundtracks.

Konami's X-Men arcade game was previously ported to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 back in 2010. That digital release vanished from digital storefronts in 2013 after licensing agreements expired. Fans have had to rely on emulation or tracking down original arcade hardware to play it ever since.

Getting these licensed games back on digital storefronts rarely happens. Marvel and Konami actually working together to untangle the rights for a 1992 arcade game gives me hope for other trapped licensed titles. Maybe someone will finally figure out how to rescue the Aliens arcade game next.