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This week on play comics we ask ourselves what happens if you you can’t decide what you want to make a game about. Should you just give up? Should you really dig into your soul and decide what you’re super passionate about? Should you look and see if there’s any other related media coming out that you can tie this game into? Or should you act like you’re at the end of five different boxes of sugary cereal and justice dump the mall into a single bowl and see what happens?

There’s certainly one thing that I made my mind up about this one, and that’s how Perry Constantine from Superhero Cinephiles and Japan on Film needed to come by and help me make sure that I kept everything straight here. And it’s a good thing too because with more playable character than I want to count spread out across 7 consoles upon release and a few more as back catalogs were taken advantage of it would have been really easy to miss something here.

So was there an actual story for this game? Or was it just a giant excuse to squeeze in as many tidbits as they could so the other kids would think they’re cool? You’ll have to listen to find out!Continue Reading

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Listen up, mutation enthusiasts and multi-platform adventurers, because this week on Play Comics we’re strapping on our Kevlar suits and diving straight into the bewildering, beast-infested, cross-console chaos of X-Men: The Official Game! We’re talking about the 2006 game that launched on practically every system known to mankind (GBA, GameCube, Nintendo DS, PS2, Xbox, and Xbox 360. Seriously, did they forget a platform?), which based the story nominally on the third X-Men film from Fox. You know, the one that showed us what happens when Professor Xavier and Magneto finally decided to outsource their beef settlement to a video game developer.

This particular romp through Marvel’s merry mutant universe was brought to you by the folks who looked at a film featuring Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and Iceman and thought, “What if we made this game SLIGHTLY different on each platform?” It’s like they were challenged to see just how elastic the definition of ‘the same game’ could be, and frankly, the results are beautifully inconsistent. The story was co-written by Chris Claremont (yes, THAT Chris Claremont) and Zak Penn, and it featured voice acting from the actual film cast, which means you got Hugh Jackman’s growl in your living room, your handheld, and probably also your neighbors’ living rooms at 2 AM.

Joining us to make sense of this portable and stationary pandemonium is none other than Alex Zalben from Comic Book Club, a weekly live talk show about comics that’s been running since 2006, performed at every major comic convention you can think of, written up in the New York Times more than once, and hosted literally hundreds of guests with more swagger than most podcasts muster in a lifetime. Alex is a writer, editor, and podcaster who knows his way around both four-color storytelling and video game adaptations, making him the perfect guide to help us determine whether this cross-generational, cross-console adventure managed to capture what makes the X-Men actually work, or if it just made us wish we could teleport away from our screens.

So sync up your Danger Room protocols, pick your favorite handheld or home console, and get ready for an episode that’s guaranteed to be more chaotic than a Sentinel factory explosion and infinitely more confusing than trying to figure out why THIS game exists on THAT console!Continue Reading

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Attention, mutant enthusiasts and digital adventurers! Prepare yourselves for a journey into the pixelated past as we dive headfirst into the treacherous depths of Murderworld. This week, we’re joined by the indomitable Austin Auclair from PatientRock to tackle the notorious X-Men: Madness in Murderworld, a game that’s been haunting players’ nightmares since 1989.

Get ready to dust off your DOS disks, fire up your Amigas, and polish those Commodore 64s as we explore this side-scrolling saga that pits our favorite mutants against the diabolical duo of Magneto and Arcade. Will we uncover the secrets of the demagnetizer? Can we navigate the labyrinthine levels without losing our sanity? And most importantly, will we finally beat this infamously challenging game after decades of collective frustration?

Tune in as we dissect the good, the bad, and the downright maddening aspects of this classic X-Men adventure. With Austin’s expertise and our unwavering determination, we might just crack the code and rescue Professor X from his digital prison. So grab your favorite mutant power-boosting snack and join us for an episode that’s sure to be more electrifying than Storm’s lightning bolts and sharper than Wolverine’s claws!Continue Reading

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Snikt! Bub, it’s time to sharpen those adamantium claws and dive into the convoluted world of X2: Wolverine’s Revenge! This week on Play Comics we’re slashing our way through a game that’s as confusing as Wolverine’s own backstory.

Join us as we unravel the mysteries of this peculiar title that’s supposedly based on X2: X-Men United but seems to have more in common with a fever dream induced by too much Canadian beer. We’ll explore how this hack-and-slash adventure managed to claw its way onto the GameCube, PS2, Xbox, and even the tiny screen of the Game Boy Advance.

Joining us on this wild ride is none other than Matt Storm from the “Fun” and Games podcast. Together we’ll dissect this game faster than Wolverine’s healing factor, examining everything from Mark Hamill’s gravelly voice work to the inexplicable absence of Hugh Jackman’s luscious locks.

So grab your favorite yellow spandex, pour yourself a glass of maple syrup, and get ready to rage! This episode is about to go berserker!Continue Reading

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Brace yourselves comic connoisseurs and gaming geeks for an episode that will have you questioning reality itself! In this multiversal misadventure we delve into the depths of X-Men Next Dimension, a game that dared to challenge the boundaries of the comic book universe.

But wait, there’s more! We’ve got a special guest star joining us on this cosmic crusade – the one and only Lex W from the Wednesday Toast podcast! Prepare to be dazzled by his wit, charm, and encyclopedic knowledge of all things mutant-related.

As we navigate through the Operation Zero Tolerance storyline, we’ll uncover the secrets behind this dimension-hopping extravaganza. From mind-bending plot twists to jaw-dropping gameplay mechanics, no stone will be left unturned in our quest for truth, justice, and the ultimate gaming experience.

So grab your controllers, strap on your adamantium seatbelts, and get ready for a wild ride through the annals of X-Men history. This episode is sure to leave you questioning your own reality – or at least wondering why you didn’t invest in a Cerebro helmet sooner.

Excelsior, true believers! The adventure awaits!Continue Reading

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You’ve got a giant sprawling set of lore with the X-Men. You’ve got a huge villain, in multiple ways, in Apocalypse. You’ve got the last regular episode of Play Comics for a while because I don’t know how to plan things, which is huge news. 

And of course you’ve got all of it on a Gameboy Advance screen. Listen in as Jessika and Mike  from Ten Cent Takes come on the show to help us take a look at this bite size taste of the mutant experience.Continue Reading

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Wolverine is everywhere and there’s nothing we can do about it because he’s popular and makes money for Marvel and why wouldn’t they keep using a character that’s popular partly because he’s used so much and always in front of consumer’s faces?

That’s what we explore this week with Didge from Geekset Podcast. Listen in as we discuss the prevalence of Wolverine and some surprising omissions from the villains in the Game Boy Color game Wolverine’s Rage.

Be sure to visit Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men to see how you can help support people effected by Florida’s recent passing of HB1557, commonly known as the “don’t say gay” bill.Continue Reading

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Time to get this one out of the way. This podcast exists because of X-Men. The most requested game for people to be a guest for are X-Men games. Specifically it’s this one. What some people would say is “the perfect X-Men game” and I’ve heard this from many many people.

Listen in as Zack Jenkins from ComicxXF comes to finally talk about the game that everyone has been waiting for. X-Men Legends 2.Continue Reading

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The early 2000s were an exciting time. X-Men had the start of a feature film franchise and I’m sure there isn’t anything that could go wrong with that at all is there….. But for real people were really starting to get the hang of this PlayStation thing. And this was right at the start of every movie having a game to go with it.

Listen in as Billy comes back to help take a look at this game that certainly isn’t a Capcom vs title, but is still nothing to sneeze at. Mostly because that’s a rude thing to do.

This Episode is brought to you in part by Pocus Hocus, a Kickstarter comic that takes a look at what happens when someone sells their soul to the devil and then decides that they want their soul back.

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X-Men. It’s the reason I started this podcast. It’s the comic series that people ask me about the most for coming on the show. And they just never disappoint because there are about a billion different reasons why people have gotten into them and why they love them. So what’s wrong with another look?

If you ask Kevin Newburn, nothing at all. Which is great because that would have made for a really awkward episode if he didn’t think that these mutants were worth another look.

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The world of comics and games, as evidenced by the existence of this podcast, have a decent amount of crossover. But a game where you introduce a whole new team to an already established universe? And have a tie in comic? That’s got to be pretty rare, right?

Listen in as Robert Secundus from Comics XF comes on the show to help take a look at Marvel Nemesis Rise of the Imperfects.Continue Reading

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Marvel vs Capcom. You knew this day was comping. An epic showdown between some of your favorite comic characters against some of your favorite video game characters. No reasons besides it’s cool. Do you really need one?

Listen in as John Horsley from Spoiler Country joins the show to talk about this wonderful gem of a game that we all owe so much to. And the PlayStation version that isn’t quite as good.Continue Reading

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X-Men is a weird universe anyway. You can fit in just about environment in. You can have just about any kind of character you want. Basically you can do whatever you want and it’ll make sense. There’s a reason why “Because X-Men” is a valid explanation for just about anything.

Then Mojo World just flips everything on it’s head. And here we have a wonderful Game Ge- oh who am I kidding it’s Game Gear. Listen in as Zack Jenkins from Battle of the Atom joins the show and we try not to throw up.Continue Reading

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We’re creeping up to the big boys here, this time stopping by Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter. And once again, we get a stripped down version on PlayStation that takes out tag team but at least this time gives you extra modes to make up for it. If that makes up for it is up to you.

Listen in as Justin Williams from SuperTangent joins the show to take a look at Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter and we try not to cry about the lack of Sega awesomeness in our childhoods. Continue Reading

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Alright, things are really starting to creep closer and closer to Marvel vs Capcom with a game that finally introduces the concept of Marvel characters fighting against people from a whole different universe. Plus a dose of Japan getting an amazing game that didn’t come out over here and there’s reason why and I’m not salty about that at all. Nope, not one bit.

Listen in as Chris Sims from The ISB comes to talk about X-Men vs Street Fighter and we geek out about X-Men and Street Fighter and fighting games in general.Continue Reading

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In the second of our Play Comics Origins series things are taking a different turn. Not only do we have a game that follows a comic story arc, it actually follows the comic story arc. What a concept!Listen in as Scott Niswander from NerdSync comes by to take a look at Marvel Super Heroes which takes inspiration from the Infinity Gauntlet story arc. Like for real, it actually follows the story. Kind of.Continue Reading

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It’s finally time to check out the Capcom Fighters, and what better place to start than at the beginning of that run? The X-Men have been a vital part of this show from the start and there’s really no better place to get things rolling here than with a look at a game based on the Fatal Attractions story arc.Well, based on might be a strong phrase. Listen in as Miles Stokes and Matt Hunter from Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men stop by to take a look at Children of the Atom and all of the history and lore behind it.Continue Reading