X-men I. Nightcrawler: Nightcrawler is by far the best. This is not a personal opinion: my favorite is actually Storm. However, from an objective point of view, Nightcrawler is number one. His jumping ability is very poor... his somersault jump doesn't go as high as either Cyclops or Gambit. That's OK, high jumps and obstructive in later stages of the game. Watch the cpu demos. Notice how Nightcrawler uses short BAMF bursts to take out annoying thugs? This is the idea. By using BAMF sparks, you can destroy virtually all your enemies with one shot, while using very little mutant power. Plus, the BAMF has good range, considering. LEARN TO DO THIS. A good way to start is to dive jump into enemies, as soon as you make contact, nuke them with a BAMF. Eventually, you'll learn to do sneaky things, like jumping up beneath enemies and catching them with the upper part of your BAMF, the same with enemies below. You can also use Nightcrawler to dodge shots. If someone shoots at you, BAMF long enough to let the shot pass through you. You're invincible! Plus, if they're close, you'll nuke them!!! This technique is also useful against bosses. Be sure NOT to press the control pad while you're doing this, or Nightcrawler will freak and teleport all over the place. You can also increase the range of the BAMF by pressing A and a direction, but be sure to release the pad before you release A or you'll waste alot of mutant power. There are also alot of obstructions (fire pillars, gas streams) that can be avoided in this fashion. Another useful technique that Nightcrawler possesses is his ability to "catch" himself in mid-air. This is useful in later stages. Ever have problems landing on moving or disappearing platforms? No problem! Just jump into the air and press and hold A to BAMF, and wait until the platform is beneath you! This is useful in the latter stages, where there are a lot of fatal pitfalls if you don't time it right... with Nightcrawler, you don't need to time it at all!!! Nightcrawler actually has the best jumping ability, in my opinion. His jump is the "longest". To see what I mean, at the peak of your jump, do the dive kick. The moment you release B, you fall out of the kick. This is useful for timing your lands precisely... if a small platform is far away, dive towards it, and the moment you're over it, release B. II. Cyclops: for beginners, the best X-man. Nightcrawler's vast array of techniques takes a little learning. You can use his optic blast to take pot shots at thugs and destroy them with one shot. You can also attack bosses from a distance, making him the best against them. Plus, it doesn't use up much power. His jumps have good range, but up close, he's poor. III. Wolverine: Sega tried very hard to make him the best X-man. He would tie for second place, but he takes a little getting used to. Frankly, the healing takes too long, the claws drain power too fast, and the beserker rage is useless. Unlike the others, his mutant power isn't a one shot deal... it takes about two hits to take thugs down. However, his spin slash is invincible, and good for taking out people above him. It drains alot of power... to save some, as soon as you hit, retract his claws... don't wait till he lands from the spin. He's good for stylish finishes. IV. Gambit: GamePro insists that he is the best X-man. I have no idea why. His range isn't THAT great, and his spin-slash is hard to employ. I use him to scout places out and as boss meat. His mutant power sucks... it drains alot more than Cyclops', plus it seems to require a longer period before restoring. The manual implies that they're heatseaking, but they're not. It's too easy to miss with them. His jump is pretty good, though. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Backup Team: Storm: She's useful against bosses and in certain stages. Arch-Angel: The strongest against bosses. Can take some out in one summon. Rogue: Good for taking out thugs that you can't quite reach, while saving the above's power for bosses. Ice-Man: Actually, I don't think people know how to use him. YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE STANDING TO CALL HIM. YOU CAN DO IT IN MID-AIR. Choose Cyclops. At the peak of his jump, press A. Ice-Man will make a bridge in mid-air!!! This is useful in later stages, like Mojo's future crunch. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Levels: Stage One: Do the flys irritate you? Just choose Nightcrawler, and as they approach, BAMF, and they'll fly into you and nuke themselves. Quite fun. If you do fight Juggernaut, call the back-up team. You'll get them all back anyway. The jumping leopardmen can be annoying... just take the devil-man, and BAMF. When they pounce, they'll nuke themselves. Ditto for the Sauron look-alikes. VS. Zaldane: I rarely waste my time with this wench. Sometimes, just for fun, I chase after her and beat her up... when I get bored, I call the back-up team. She's invulnerable when she's projecting a field over her head, so beating her just requires a little time and patience, especially since she jumps around so much. She vulnerable the moment she throws a bolt, so you have to time it to hit her then. A good way is to take Nightcrawler, hover BAMFed near by, and when she shoots, nail her. Stage Two: Shir-Ar... do you keep falling off the shuttle when it accelerates? No problem with Nightcrawler... just BAMF until it deccelerates. If you're playing two-player, be sure to catch your partner in it. I usually choose Nightcrawler or Cyclops... the latter is a little easier, as he can take out all the sentries with little or no problem. VS. Deathbird: From best to worst--Nightcrawler, Cyclops, Gambit, Wolverine. I usually use Cyclops. I feel kinda cheap when I just hold BAMF and watch Deathbird dive into it time and time again. She's vulnerable when she lands, so BAMF the moment before she lands, and UMBAMF when she jumps. When playing Cyclops or Gambit, peg her as she lands with your mutant power. Note that I will often rate Gambit higher against bosses, because he can peg them from a distance... but Wolverine overall is MUCH better. Stage Three: Lighthouse-- The yellow X of which you speak is only visible with glasses on. Try getting there with some on. Don't waste time fighting the ghosts or Juggernaut... just take Nightcrawler and teleport right until you reach the shaft. To avoid the wisps (when you don't have glasses) either jump them, or, if you're Nightcrawler, BAMF until they float away. VS. Sabretooth: don't waste your time. Call you backup. However, if you want a fancy finish, choose Wolverine. Sabretooth is vulnerable when he's crouching. This means you cannot hurt him when he is one ground floor. If you don't know what I'm talking about, get on one of the top platforms. Sabretooth will run beneath you. Jump off the platform. He'll jump onto it. You'll be on the ground. He'll crouch before pounicing... punish him! If you're Wolverine, do the above with your claws extended, and the moment you hit the ground, wait a split second before doing a spin slash. Retract your claws after you hit. Awesome! You're in the position to repeat this until Sabretooth is hamburger meat! VS. Apocalypse: the guy can be tough. There's a hard way, and an easy way. First, the hard way. From best to worst: Cyclops, Gambit, Nightcrawler, Wolverine. He's vulnerable when he's small. He is small a) after punching you, and b) he's big, and he calls down the blue cascade. YOU CANNOT JUMP OVER HIM. He'll charge you and attempt to punch you. If he does, don't panic, strike back with your mutant power. The idea, though, is to lure him into using the cascade so that he'll shrink. Jump towards him, then away. The timing is difficult. Close enough to induce the field, yet away in time not to get hit. He'll shrink and you peg him. If he corners you, it's important to walk past him while he's fazed. This is easiest with Cyclops and Gambit because they are bigger... you don't have to jump as close before he calls down the field. I usually use Cyclops. The easy way. Nightcrawler. As Apocalypse approaches you, simply press and hold A to BAMF. He'll punch the BAMF, shrink, then suffer damage. Move away. Repeat. If he corners you, walk past him while he's fazed. I feel kinda cheap just winning with one button, though... Stage 4: Ahab's world-- Nightcrawler and Wolvering are the best for going through here. Cyclops and Gambit are too big... in certain places, their heads keep hitting the ceiling, sending them plunging into pits. Do those little planes annoy you? Simply take Nightcrawler, jump in front of the blue portal, and BAMF until you nuke them all. Use his faze technique to dodge the automated guns and waste them. Go through force fields with his teleport. There's a chasm in the middle that you need Ice-man to cross, so don't waste him. If you're having trouble with the rising platforms, just use Nightcrawler's suspension technique. Against the monsters: take the german mutant and BAMF in front of the glass until they're dead. Storm is fun to use in places where there's alot of glass. She'll crack every one and waste the monster inside. Plus, she'll destroy any fuse boxes that you can't see. Right before Ahab, there is a horizontal field with a disappearing platform above it. The fuse box is in the ceiling... to destroy it, call Arch-Angel or Storm. Or take Nightcrawler and teleport through the wall. Don't worry about using your back-up... they're useless against Ahab. VS. Ahab: from best to worst: Cyclops, Gambit, Wolverine. Nightcrawler is a little arbitrary. This annoying chap likes throwing harpoons at you while teleporting in and out. Cyclops is probably the best. However, you can choose Nightcrawler to get a feel for the timing... BAMF when Ahab appears to let the harpoons pass through you. However, with Cyclops, wait where there's a platform above you. Don't panic when Ahab appears, he often misses. When he appears on the same plane as you, peg him before he throws. Then he gets PISSED... the next time he appears, he'll throw a laser that does ALOT of damage. The key to dodging it is anticipating when he'll reappear... jump up onto the platform above you and wait one or two seconds before jumping down. If you were too early, jump back up and he'll appear and miss. Once he does, he'll resume throwing harpoons. Stage 5: Mojo's Crunch-- Cyclops and Gambit. Nightcrawler's suspension and faze techniques are useful for platforms and fire columns, but he has a hard time against the thugs, who can attack from a distance. Watch out for the exploding boob tubes. Use Cyclops and Gambit's missiles to take out the black robots and shooting TVs. Use the Ice-man technique I described earlier to walk over the gas streams. At the end... when you destroy the computer, be sure to reset your Genesis. Seriously. VS. Mojo-- is invincible while he's laughing... which is whenever you hit his belly. Storm is the best back-up... she automatically pegs him. Arch-Angel's first volley often induces laughter, which makes the rest of his attack useless. From best to worst... Cyclops, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Gambit. Lure Mojo close to or beneath one of the platforms. He'll make a TV fire a purple disc at you. To dodge it, as soon as he draws close to the platform, jump as high you can and land BEHIND him... the shot will miss and he'll crawl away, back first. Be sure you're ducking. If you're Cyclops, peg him at your leisure (Mojo is vulnerable at the base of his spine). With any other, you have to be quick before he walks away. Gambit's cards always miss for some strange reason... Stage 6: Asteroid M-- Nightcrawler all the way. The thugs are really tough here... they dodge Cyclop's optic blasts too easily. If they hit you with their force-field, don't panic. SIT STILL. THE MORE YOU MOVE, THE MORE IT HURTS. If you don't think you can get the thug, call Rogue to get 'em. If there are alot, call Arch-Angel or Storm. It's OK, your back-up is shy of useless against Magneto. A frontal confrontation with the guards is highly undesirable... this is where Nighcrawler comes in. Find ways to drop in from directly above and below to BAMF them so they can't employ their weapons. If you must fight them directly, use the dive jump to make contact, then nuke. NEVER WALK UP TO THEM. In one part, you'll face dropping platforms while spike rockets follow you. They cause alot of pain. If you don't have Nightcrawler, kiss your butt goodbye. If you do have him, go across. Take you time. If the rockets get close, BAMF long enough to let them pass through. Be sure to BAMF ABOVE a platform, otherwise when you UNBAMF, you'll have nothing beneath you. At one point, you'll have the choice of three passages. Down each of them is an automated weapons(s). They do alot of damage. If you have Nightcrawler, teleport past them. The bottom passage is the easiest, there's only one weapon. There's a guard waiting on the other side, so be careful. If you're Cyclops, you can shoot up and take it out. Be quick, though, and watch out for that guard, or he'll show up and take pot shots. VS. Magneto-- hoo boy. He'll open up throwing meteorites. They're hard to dodge. He's totally invincible while doing this, so don't waste your time attacking him. If you have Nightcrawler, BAMF through them. After four or five, Magneto will start chasing you. The fellow is only vulnerable the moment before throwing sustained blasts from any of the top three platforms. This is my strategy--I usually use Cyclops, Wolverine, or Nightcrawler--Wolvi for a stylish finish. Go to the right platform. Jump up and down like a beach ball. This is so that Magneto will gain altitude. Jump right to the floor. Magneto will settle and charge a blast to hit you. PEG HIM! THEY GIVE YOU ABOUT TWO FULL SECONDS! This is easiest with those three, because they have mutant powers that can strike above them. Then walk to the left platform, jump onto it, and DUCK. If you've timed it correctly, Magneto will go to the center platform and throw out a sustained blast. If you're ducking, he'll miss. If not... *grimace*. Once he does miss, jump up and down like a beach ball and jump off when he draws close. When he settles, strike! Repeat until he's dead. If you want to start from the left, just reverse these instructions. Hope this helps. Good luck!!! By the way... I don't own the game... I rented it *grin*. Don't worry, I used the cheat code to get a feel for the game before mastering it normally.