This product is like new. At NexWave Games, like new means:
Additionally, all discs at NexWave Games are carefully inspected and assessed for quality. When discs arrive, we do not accept any that are so badly damaged that they are unlikely to work. We only accept discs with light scratches at most. Discs with scratches are then treated in our professional disc repair machine. By warming the disc and polishing it with soft brushes, these machines can remove a very thin layer from the disc. This removes the layer containing surface scratches and improves the disc’s readability. This ensures the disc works properly, even on consoles with ageing lasers that have difficulty reading games! Great news for the player.
X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 for PlayStation 1
X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 for PlayStation 1 is a fighting game in which Marvel's mutants use their powers in one-on-one duels. You choose characters including Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm or Nightcrawler and learn their individual attacks, throws and special techniques. The characters are rendered in three dimensions, while you follow your opponent from a side view. A good attack starts with choosing your distance and recognising an opening. A quickly delivered blow can become the start of a longer string of hits.
Aerial combat gives you extra possibilities. With an appropriate attack you launch your opponent, then follow up with punches, kicks or a special technique. Different super meters build towards stronger attacks, so you weigh up striking immediately or waiting for a heavier attack. You also have a limited number of Move Counters per fight to answer an incoming attack. In Academy, Professor X guides you through lessons on each character's moves, from the basics to longer combinations.
Arcade lets you defeat a series of opponents alone and unlock secrets. In Survival you try to win as many fights as possible with one life. Locally, two people compete using two controllers in Versus. A PlayStation memory card stores your game data; place it in slot 1. Cerebro lets you view unlocked material. You can therefore alternate between focused training, a series of computer opponents and duels in which a second player tries to break through your practised combinations.
Region and language
Our PlayStation 1 games are PAL editions and come with a Dutch or English box, unless stated otherwise. By default, you receive the version for the European market. We note it in the product details if the region is different or the box is in another language. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
Manual
The manual is missing from this copy of X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 for PlayStation 1. That is why the product title says “No Manual”. You receive the game in its box, without the instruction booklet. This makes the contents clear before you order.
The original printed manual usually contains at least English and often around six European languages. The languages vary by edition; Dutch is not always included. This information describes the original booklet and does not mean that it comes with this copy. A copy with a manual is offered separately when available.
The history of X-Men: Mutant Academy 2
Activision released X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 for PlayStation in 2001. Paradox Development created the sequel to 2000's X-Men: Mutant Academy. The first game appeared around the same time as the first major X-Men cinema film and placed the heroes in direct duels. The sequel retained that fighting foundation and expanded the selection with mutants such as Rogue and Nightcrawler, allowing different powers and moves to find a place within the same structure.
One important addition was aerial combat. The original manual describes launching an opponent and following up with a string of hits or a special attack. This gave the existing system of punches, kicks and super attacks more opportunities to connect sequences. Academy remained the place to learn each character's techniques. The sequel builds on the original battles in this way: you connect attacks on the ground with hits in the air and learn where a special technique can extend the sequence.
The game appeared when PlayStation 2 was already on the market, but remained a release for the original PlayStation. That distinction matters: the later X-Men: Next Dimension is a different game from a subsequent console period. Capcom's two-dimensional X-Men games also form a separate series. Mutant Academy 2 instead shows how Activision and Paradox further developed Marvel's characters within their own polygonal fighting game, with training assignments, unlockable material and local duels as recurring elements.
Similar games for PlayStation 1
X-Men: Mutant Academy for PlayStation 1 is the direct predecessor. Both games combine polygonal Marvel characters with one-on-one battles and lessons in which you practise their techniques. Mutant Academy 2 expands that foundation with extra fighters and a developed system for aerial combinations. If you know the first game, the structure of a duel will be familiar, but you must learn again which attacks launch an opponent and how to connect several follow-up hits without wasting your opportunity.
X-Men vs. Street Fighter for PlayStation 1 also places Marvel mutants in a fighting game. Its drawn characters, Capcom attacks and exaggerated jumps give it a different appearance and pace. Mutant Academy 2 uses polygonal fighters and its own combination of super meters, Move Counters and character-specific lessons. The shared heroes make both series recognisable, but a familiar move or input from one game will not automatically work the same way in the other.
Tekken 3 for PlayStation 1 shares the emphasis on character knowledge, local duels and linking attacks. There, battles largely revolve around physical techniques, throws and punishing mistakes at close range. Mutant Academy 2 brings energy beams, supernatural powers and separate super meters into the same fight for an opening. Academy also makes training part of the structure: you receive lessons for a chosen mutant before applying those techniques under pressure against an opponent.
Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha for PlayStation 1 uses polygonal characters within a recognisable side-view fighting game, just as Mutant Academy 2 does. In both you must know special attacks and spend accumulated attacking power at the right moment. Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha shapes this around the techniques and rhythm of its own series. Mutant Academy 2 distinguishes itself with Marvel powers, Professor X's lessons and the ability to keep attacking a launched opponent through aerial combinations.
Dragon Ball Final Bout for PlayStation 1 likewise pits familiar characters with special powers against one another. You can deliberately take to the air and gather Ki for energy attacks. Mutant Academy 2 mainly makes aerial combat part of an attack sequence: first launch, then follow with hits and a special technique. Final Bout also has Build Up for lasting character development. In Mutant Academy 2, progress centres more on your own technique, unlocked content and mastering each mutant.
