Game:

X-Men (1993)

Duration: 3:25

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Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7IEN-HGlR45k6u7A2424ZUZ1UAssYkRd


Hey, there! This is a series that'll be featuring the Sega Genesis at 60 frames per second captured on the original system! Why? Well... have you ever watched an older game on YouTube and noticed the main character turn invisible when hit, or some other such nonsense? That's because some older games use some ridiculously high speed flicker effects to achieve those crazy hitflashes on bosses or that "ouch I'm hurt!" flicker! These are not displayed properly at 30 fps, but now that we're able to upload at 60 fps we can see all the special effects that older games would use! (They'll be smoother, too!)
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Who better to videogamify than the X-Men? They all have cool powers that can translate into game abilities really easily! They've got tons of baddies to battle, and lots of history to tap into for story! Well, here's a got at it for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive? How'd they do? Ehhhh....

It's ok! Sorta! Kinda! I mean, if you want to be apologetic and stuffs. One big issue a lot of people have with this one is that it is kinda "old-school hard". You'll die. And sometimes you won't even know how to not die where you died. And you have to keep playing over and over through trial and error to figure out how to overcome! This is mostly on the bosses. They do a very terrible job at giving you feedback, letting you know that your hits aren't working and the like. There's no "clank" or flash or anything. And the bosses have very few states in which you are allowed to hit them. Once you learn these, they aren't too bad! That's the biggest gripe, really.

Apart from that its a fairly standard "beat the enemies and reach the end of the level" affair. You can use your mutant abilities to help out with this. Gambit throws cards, Wolverine has his claws, Nightcrawler BAMFS, and Cyclops BZZAAAPS! Problem is you have a super limited amount of "energy" to use them. Kinda sucks. It's supposed to regenerate, but it takes a long time to happen. The only mutant that doesn't have a problem with this is Nightcrawler, 'cause he can "cheat" and not move while teleporting. This uses next to no energy and still destroys enemies around him. He can also hold in place to avoid attacks. Skill-abuse at its finest!

You can also call in other X-Men to help attack enemies on screen and the like. There's also Ice-Man who builds an ice bridge for you to run across. Swapping amongst X-Men is allowed, too, though you can only do so many times per level.

Oh! The game is also known for a really odd surprise near the end, too. Stick around and find out what I mean!

It also bears mentioning that I had many many practice attempts BEFORE this run.
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So, here's the title screen. It does some titular things, like naming the game. Maybe saying what team worked on it. Stuff like that. It also explains the story a bit. I also mess around and take a look at the bios of the four playable X-Men as well.

(It's not just you, by the way, I thought that the opening scroll-text was moving just a bit too jauntily, too.)
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Some additional notes for those technically inclined:

*NOTE* - This game is NOT 60 FPS for the most part. I captured it as such, anyway, to preserve what few instances it may have.

This was captured from an original Sega Genesis system via composite output along with stereo sound to get as authentic a recording as possible. The Genesis used is one of the "good" models with proper sound and video output. Genesis can also output an RGB signal which is clearer, but I vetoed the idea because it breaks the dithering effect (color blending and transparencies) as seen here:
http://retro-sanctuary.com/comparisons%20-%20differing.html
Also, the vast majority of people could not use the RGB signal even if they wanted to, so the experience they remember would be the composite signal as shown in this video.

There are a couple things to note about the quality of the video, however. Sega Genesis has a very dirty video signal that often "breaks" attempts to capture it with a capture device. The capture device I use is considered one of the most capable when it comes to older systems, but the Genesis' video signal still introduces some inconsistencies. These usually manifest where there are extremely thin lines in game, mostly the text, and in some other places as well. As a whole, it is more than manageable, but it is worth noting.

Also, the original sega genesis resolution is, in essence, 240p at 60 frames per second. To take advantage of YouTube's higher bitrate offerings and to enable 60 fps I need to upscale that resolution to 1080p. There is also a step of video deinterlacing before that to create crisp video. That is a significant amount of video processing to the image, so I want to note that here as well.