Playing the old X-Men coin-op with five other people always felt like a victory in its own right — a triumph over the four-player cap everyone was used to. To its credit, this Live Arcade port gives you that same giddiness when you start a five- or six-person game. As you bash your way through legions of robots and lizard men (and the occasional supervillain, like Pyro, Blob, and Magneto), you’ll marvel — and chuckle — at just how many heroes, flunkies, and pixelated mutant powers can clutter the screen.

Numbers aside, though, the game’s old-style simplicity is both charming and, well, kinda boring. Some barely smoothed visuals are the only real upgrade here, so what you get is pretty much the original arcade game. It’s a comic-book fan’s delight using Cyclops’ optic blasts or Nightcrawler’s teleport attacks (which are more streamy than “bamf”-y), but the three-button fighting — attack, jump, mutant power — offers little variety. You’ll enjoy your first 30-minute run-through, but we doubt you’ll go for a second: this game’s strictly one-and-done. At its $10 price, it’s worth buying; just know, it’s no X-Men legend.

On Xbox Live Arcade

+ Six-player arcade action still feels novel.

+ Geek out with old-school heroes (Dazzler), villains (Nimrod), and locations (Asteroid M).

- Short game with little replayability; barely upgraded port.

? Why are Wendigo and Juggernaut so skinny? They’re usually bulky baddies.

6.5