Homebrew developer hotrodx is back with a new version of their Sega Saturn recreation of X-Men, the 1992 Konami arcade brawler, and it adds a new playable character, Nightcrawler, as well as a new stage, new boss and new enemies.
Version 0.3 is being distributed via a Mega.nz link in a YouTube video uploaded Tuesday. It’s a ZIP file that contains bin and cue files — easily droppable onto an SD card to play on real hardware via optical drive emulator or to burn to a disc for those using a PseudoSaturn Kai cartridge — as well as a changelog.
The changelog lists everything new in this version:
- Added NightCrawler as playable character
- Added third stage (Island M)
- Added second boss (Wendigo)
- Added enemy type mutant lizard
- Added enemy type cryptid
- Implemented fist projectiles for Sentinels
- Implemented doors where enemies can spawn from
- Implemented sound effects prioritization
- Fixed issue with CD music not playing
- Replaced placeholder sound effects
- Optimizations to CPU load
- Implemented background shake
- Tweaks to enemy behavior
- Tweaks to player movement speed
- Tweaks to hitboxes
- Tweaks to Storm’s hitting down animations
- Tweaks to general hitting down range
- Smaller enemy health in first stage
- Pause game
This is the first update since March when three-player co-op and playable character Storm were added to the game.
Hotrodx uploaded their first iteration of X-Men in January when it consisted of just one level and two playable characters, Cyclops and Wolverine.
At the time, they said this isn’t a port but rather an attempt to recreate Konami’s hit arcade game. “No source code from the original game was involved, so a lot of guesswork and approximations were implemented,” hotrodx said. “It’s also very buggy.”
They’re likely making the game with Jo Engine considering Jo Engine’s creator, Johannes Fetz, is listed under the game’s special thanks.
The game itself credits several people with helping hotrodx — jin315, AFruitaday!, Superjustinbros and George S ripped images; Magma Dragoon, Dcat and sc00pj0hn ripped audio; Riza and Uge are testers; and there’s a special thanks to Nobuhiro Fujii, Johannes Fetz, Javidx9 and Erwin Esteban.
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