X-Men: Children of the Atom (Arcade)

X-Men: Children of the Atom
Developer: Capcom Publisher: Capcom Platform: Arcade (CPS-2) Released internationally: December 1994 This game has unused graphics. This game has unused text. This game has debugging material. This game has regional differences. This game has revisional differences. This game has a notes page

This page is rather stubbly and could use some expansion. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue this article?

X-Men: Children of the Atom is a fighting game starring everyone's favorite mutants and their enemies, plus a hidden, playable master warrior that opened the floodgates for a crossover series.

Debug Menu

A debug menu is accessible by setting FFEAEB to E5 and entering the test menu.

Option	Function
HIT EDITOR	A character editor. Make sure to disable character cheats, or the game will lock up with Wolverine's name on the screen. Controls: 1P Start - Selects between Character Move and Hit Editor modes. 2P Start - Selects the background color. Some background color causes another character to appear. LP - Select character or effect (use joystick. To select Akuma, set the character in the debug menu as the last effect, then set FF4051 to 18; his name will appear as nine question marks). MP - Animates. HP - Animates, but faster (effective mostly on Psylocke and Akuma). LK - Select flip. MK - Adjusts position (use joystick). HK - Resets to the first frame.
PARTS EDITOR	Edits hitboxes. Use EDIT to select a character (you cannot select Akuma), Save to save changes, and Exit to leave. The Save and Exit confirmations are in Japanese only.
TSUKAMI EDITOR	Shows throw movements. (You will hear Wolverine's grunt when you enter this menu) Controls: 2P Start - Change background color. Joypad Left/Right - Change animation. 1P LP - Change character (you cannot select Akuma. Choosing Wolverine or Sentinel will play one of their grunts). 1P MP - Animate. 1P HP - Animate (faster). 1P LK - Flip. 1P MK - Move. 1P HK - Play grunt. 2P LP - Same as 1P LP. 2P MP - Change priority. 2P HP - Animate the victim (always Wolverine). 2P LK - Flip the victim.
GAMEMAP TEST	Allows you to view backgrounds used in the endings. Use 1P LP to change the background (space with either Avalon, villains' escape pod, a flying Sentinel, or the Blackbird in it, or an unused screen of a painting with the X-Men team minus Colossus, or a forest as used in Wolverine's and Psylocke's ending) and the 1P arrow keys to move the background.
ENDING OBJECT TEST	Views objects used in the ending. Change objects with the joypad and animate with MP (one frame) or HP (all frame), and reset to the first frame with HK. You can also move the object by holding MP.
MESSAGE TEST	Allows you to see messages (win quotes, endings, etc.). Select region/language (Japan, United States/English, Spanish, Italy) and message type (win, ending, or continue). Akuma's lines exist only in English and Japanese. In Italian and Spanish, win messages 60 and after that are omitted, with the quote 5F consisting only of ellipses. His ending line ("I am the master warrior!") was left untranslated. Furthermore, viewing the continue messages in Italian or Spanish will cause the game to crash to attract mode since they were not translated to these languages.
SCR PRI TEST	A scroll test (stage viewer). The weak attack buttons correspond to S1 scroll, the middle ones to the S2 scroll, and the fierce ones to the S3 scroll. By default, Colossus' stage is displayed. Press 1P Start to change modes. In SCROLLMOVE-TEST mode, hold the kick button(s) while moving the joypad to move the objects. In CHANGE-PRIORITY mode, use the joypad to select the scroll/object (S1, S2, S3, or OB), and use the 1P LP to select it, then press 1P LP again to select the new priority. In SCROLL-ON/OFF mode, use the punch buttons to show or hide the scrolls.
SCR BLK TEST	A scroll block test used to view objects for a stage. You will be asked to select a scroll before starting. By default, Colossus' scroll blocks are displayed. Use the 1P joypad to move the currently selected object. Press 1P LP or 1P MP to select an object. Press 1P HP to select toggle the scroll marker. Press 1P LK to speed up the movement of the cursor. Press 2P Start to return the object to its original position.
SENSEI	Tests various attack information for every character. Select a character, then press 1P LP. This will take a few seconds. It's possible that "Test Data" in this mode corresponds to Akuma.
EXIT	Exactly what it says on the tin.

(Discovery: Abystus)

Unused Ending Texts

To do: Does the Japanese version actually have references to Colossus joining Magneto? Proper pictures of the dialogues.

Any language, Ending Message, Message ID 0: NOW MAKING X-MEN COMING SOON! CAPCOM - a typical location test leftover that would be found in later games. This message is said by Wolverine, uses the full-width font used for English text in the Japanese version, and has a broken frame.

Any language except Japanese, Ending Message, Message IDs 8E-90, 98-9A: (all of the following are said by Colossus)

ID	English	Spanish	Italian
8E	Join Magneto. Refuse Magneto.	(empty)	(empty)
8F	I have lost too many of my loved ones to Xavier's failed	He perdido a muchos amigos pr el sueňo de Xavier.	Ho perso molti amici per il sogno di Xavier.
90	dream. I will try yours.	Probaré contigo.	Combatterõ adesso per il tuo.
98	I chose to follow Magneto because I cannot forgive the	Seguiré a Magneto porque no perdonaré a los asesinos de	Volevo seguire Mag-neto, perchẽ gil umani hanno
99	humans for killing mother and father. But...	mis padres. Pero...	ammazzato I miei genitori.
9A	Did I truly make the right choice?	¿He tomado la decisión correcta?	Perõ, ho preso la giusta decisione?

These are all references to Colossus' stint as a member of Magneto's Acolytes in the comics' Fatal Attractions storyline (that one where Wolverine gets his adamantium ripped by Magneto), where the game is loosely based upon. An empty box also exists in the Japanese language, ending message, ID 98, while Colossus' options to join or reject Magneto can be found in ID C.

ID	Japanese	Other Language ID
C	マグニートーに従う マグニートーをこばむ	8E

Unused Ending Graphics

Both Hit Editor and Ending Object Test reveal the sprite of Colossus painting a picture (including an appropriate hat for this task) of the playable X-Men with Professor Xavier in place of Colossus (found in Gamemap Test). This may have been related to Colossus' scrapped multiple ending choices above.

Unused Palettes for Bosses

Juggernaut	Magneto

Juggernaut and Magneto actually have unused alternate palettes for mirror matches, which can only be selected by choosing both the first and second players' characters as either Juggernaut or Magneto. The difference is quite mild, only in the brightness of the colors.

Regional Differences

The Japanese version adds a Capcom logo and a silhouette of Ryu in front of a purple globe between the Q-Sound logo and attract mode sequence. This logo would later appear for all regions in the next Marvel/Capcom fighting games that ran on the CPS-2 board.

Revisional Differences

To do: Rip the female Acolyte sprite?

In version 1.00 (revision 941208):

• It's not possible to speed up the results screen at the end of every round as it is in further versions.
• The special ending that is shown if the player completes the game without using a continue hasn't been added, but the song that plays in it is present in the sound test.
• When Magneto walks, his fists would be always covered in animated blue energy. This detail was scrapped in subsequent revisions.
• Magneto does not have his infamous difficulty yet. Noticeably, his EM Pulse only shoots one stream of energy.
• A fifth, female Acolyte (Anne-Marie Cortez) appears in everyone's endings; she restrains Magneto by grabbing his crotch. Her sprites were left unused in newer versions.

• The music used in the ending is different: when the Acolytes fall down, it plays track 0017, followed by track 0018 when the character leaves Magneto. All other versions use the more appropriate track 0002 during the Avalon scene, and when it explodes, it goes silent.
• Just after Avalon explodes in everyone's ending, there is a short scene which shows the character returning to Earth. The text box for this scene is placed at the top of the screen. In all other versions, it is placed at the bottom instead.
• There is only one dinosaur in the Savage Land, Wolverine's stage.
• There doesn't seem to be any way to access Akuma yet.
• It is possible to stun the opponent and gain super meter energy during the "beating the dead character" sequence (hit start when a round ends).
• The bookkeeping feature (Game Data in test menu) does not work properly—the coin, service credit, and free play counters all report 967295 and the average operating time is always one second. This also happens in version 2.00.

(Source: Rage Quitter 87, scoobydude51 (MAME Testers, Game Data bug))