Each character's special abilities are called by using complex key presses. Some of the moves take X-Power, or XP, to pull off. XP comes back with time, but for some characters (such as Cyclops), running out of XP means being completely vulnerable. This makes it especially frustrating during battles, since even in the very beginning of the Story mode, there are multitudes of enemies swarming in on land and in the air.

The game contains two modes of play -- Story and Fight. Story mode takes the player though a basic storyline where the X-Men must save the world, blah blah blah. The story results in players fighting lots of creatures and some end-level bosses. Fight mode skips right to the boss fights, as players must combat a series of enemies in one-on-one combat.

Neither mode is terribly exciting, nor will it make gamers jump for joy. It's possible that the game could have been redeemed had it supported the Game Link cable for some multiplayer fighting, but it's unlikely that even that would have saved it.

The graphics are simply average, as the sprites for the different characters move jerkily around the screen. The backgrounds in the different environments aren't all bad, but they're not terribly great, either. Overall, the look of the game is simply mediocre.

Bottom Line: Ultimately, there's not much to say in this game's favor. While it's certainly not the worst game to come out on the Game Boy Color, it's far from the best.