After the Sega Genesis was put to rest videogames based on Marvel's X-Men made a sharp left turn onto Suck Boulevard until Raven Software swooped in and saved the franchise with its very enjoyable X-Men Legends. Not only is it a good representation of the series (and pays homage to the source material) but it's also a quality four-player beat-em-up, the likes of which have become increasingly difficult to find in a world full of lame ducks. It's been a smash hit success, so it goes without saying (though I certain will) that Raven and publisher Activision are hard at work on the sequel, titled, X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse, a game that not only includes that extremely satisfying four-player combat, but will probably best its predecessor in every conceivable way.

The X-Men, as I'm sure most of you are aware, are a bunch of mutant do-gooders that have saved the Earth from doom on numerous occasions. Comprised of such popular characters as Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm, and Nightcrawler, among others, each of them has his or her own set of special powers that make them unique, so Wolverine slashes things apart with his Adamantium claws and Storm conjures up...well...storms. They're quite an interesting bunch, but on the other hand, so are their sworn enemies, the Brotherhood of evil mutants, made up of such faces as Toad, Juggernaut, and Magneto. In the first X-Men Legends game our uncanny heroes battle the Brotherhood across the entire Earth. However, and this just sucks for the X-Men, a power greater than everyone has arisen and is threatening to annihilate the planet. The Egyptian-born Apocalypse has decided to make our home his official stomping ground, and since his potentially dangerous weekend plans greatly affect both the X-Men and the Brotherhood's chances of survival (which happens to be a zero chance), both sides must join together to combat this menace, and thus a shaky alliance is formed, but as the game's story plays out, we'll all discover whether the X-Men trust their new compatriots, and whether the Brotherhood will in fact turn on their enemy at some point after Apocalypse is defeated, providing that he actually can be.

The merging of these two factions is what gives this sequel its appeal. I was concerned that Raven wouldn't be able to keep things from becoming stale, but as soon as I saw the game and learned the details I was happy to be proved wrong. You'll still pick up to four characters to take into battle and you can upgrade their stats on the fly (during combat) as well as switch between them with a simple button press (or play with three other people), but now the character list is much more diverse, as if it couldn't get any more diverse to begin with. Not only will you be able to play as the likes of Wolverine, Cyclops, and Storm, but also Magneto, Juggernaut, Toad, and possibly Sabertooth, and what's especially cool is the ability to complete all of the missions with other players. There are also ten superpowers per character designed to make each mutant unique. Now that the Brotherhood is at your disposal, you can merge powers with the X-Men to unleash some truly awesome combos. Also, unlike in the last game, where you had to go alllllllll the way back to the beginning of a level to return to headquarters, you just instantly go there, allowing you to test new character combinations whenever you like.

In addition to the impressive roster, you'll explore levels that are actually much larger and more open than the original's such as the island of Genosha and the thick jungle of The Savage Lands. There are also over 100 different types of enemies that you'll do battle against, such as Scarabs in Egypt, Madripoor priests in the Madripoor Temple, Apocalypse's Four Horsemen, Lady Deathstrike, and other assorted henchmen.

All of these new features are pretty sweet but it's the multiplayer that's this game's most exciting aspect. Yes, you'll be able to team up with up to three people offline, but this time you can also hop onto Xbox Live or the PS2 and PC online networks and cooperatively play Rise of Apocalypse with people from around the world, or beat them up. The game will feature six-player Skirmish modes where you can destroy one another to see who is the more powerful mutant or work together to vanquish enemies.

The online component is what really sets X-Men Legends II apart from its prequel, and while the rest of it looks to be more of the same (the graphics don't appear to be greatly improved), another quality four-player beat-em-up is definitely not a bad thing. Once again, the X-Men are going to make another holiday impact when Rise of Apocalypse is released this fall.