It’s hard to call any version of these games “grounded,” but X-Men: Children of the Atom is certainly the most grounded and straightforward of this collection. A six-button fighting game, characters have more normals and fewer specials than in other versions, letting you focus on your movement, managing your meter, and selecting the Light, Medium, or Heavy versions of your limited special moves to express yourself.
This is also one of the few games in this collection that is 1v1, meaning you don’t have to manage your tag team partner’s health, assist calls, or anything like that. Just pick your character, get used to their moves, specials, and supers, and make the most of them. On the ‘Street Fighter’ to ‘wild 3v3 nonsense’ spectrum, Children Of the Atom is as close to Street Fighter as this collection gets.
Because of that, this is the best entry if you like your fighting games simple and straightforward. While quite a few special moves can be a bit wild (particularly Omega Red, with his screen-filling tentacles), it’s still probably the best entry in the series for the classic, grounded gameplay players have come to expect from Capcom titles like Street Fighter. There’s even an ‘auto-guard’ mode, which is perfect for beginners who want to ease into things. The music is also rocking, which is always a big plus.
Coolest Characters
The coolest character is obviously Iceman (You’re fired—Ed), but some of the others include: Omega Red, Sentinel, and Wolverine.
