Review: X-Men III: The Official Game
Score: 57
Like so many other games reviewed here, X-Men III promises much and ultimately fails to deliver. Incidentally, there was never an X-Men I or II - it's just that this game is loosely tied into the third movie in the series.
The opening cut scenes, text, occasional video clips and music are impressive, as is the realisation that (shock horror) the Nintendo DS Lite's touch-screen's used properly in this game. Cleverly combining the D-pad and stylus in order to handle both character movement, target selection and object control, there's (in principle) a lot to do here.
The game plays in isometric form (top down and from the side) and you can cycle between playing Magneto (throws objects around), Wolverine (slashes his enemies), Iceman (throws ice balls) and Nightcrawler (teleports around fast). Only the first of these characters is that much fun, as attacking enemies with the others is simply a matter of tapping on them on the touch-screen and er... waiting.
Your characters can die through booby traps or through combat, but if you're any good with games in general you'll find yourself progressing fairly swiftly through X-Men III and I can't honestly say that it's value for money.
Average in-game graphics, not enough characters and variation and too-easy opponents all go to make X-Men III disappointing, considering the possibilities the film franchise offered.