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Up All Night: Ex-Mutants

Posted by John Constantine

Mmm, yes. Licensed games. One of the true go-to places for trashy goodness, especially during the halcyon days of 8 and 16-bit. You never had to look farther than whatever movie was coming out to get an idea of just how many shitty platformers would be released in any given month. I’m not even talking big name action stuff. I’m talking about Home Improvement. Cool World. Bebe’s Kids. Comic book games, however, have always been more of a tributary of the licensed-game shitriver as opposed to part of its central flow; the overwhelming majority of them are terrible but there are many that are perfectly playable, fun games. One of the Genesis’ most visually stunning games was 1993’s X-Men, a prime example of a license put to good use.



1992’s Ex-Mutants, today’s dollop of joy here on Up All Night, is the exact opposite. It’s an awful license – if you too were fooled by the clever name, Ex-Mutants was a mid-‘80s rip off of the X-Men – used to make a bad platforming action game.



Doesn’t look that bad, does it? Try controlling it. This video doesn’t give a proper sampling of later levels, like jungle level or slime level, but it’s one of only two videos I could find of the game online. As you can tell, it’s fondly remembered by many. Then again, the only reason anyone might remember it is if they saved their allowance for a few weeks and then bought from Toys ‘R Us’ bargain bin, subsequently playing it for hours trying to convince yourself it was really good.

Damn Ex-Mutants

Previously on Up All Night

Nightmare Creatures
Bad Dudes
P.N. 03

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    John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

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