PrinceWatercress plays X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse - Part 4 of 8

We face off against Apocalypse to free all the mutants, but after we win, a new threat emerges...

Apocalypse

Password: Gambit, Beast, Gambit, Wolverine, Cyclops, Gambit, Magneto, Apocalypse

Apocalypse is instantly warned of the X-Men's intrusion into the prison as what comes off as one of the best WWE entrance themes that never was plays in the background in a two- or three-second loop. Apocalypse is not pleased, but he is ready to take down any and all insurrections nonetheless. Despite clearly being an island nation north of Madagascar with an anti-mutant sentiment (I'm not making that part up), they put a mutant in charge of keeping mutant prisoners from escaping. This is Apocalypse we're talking about, though, and he can alter the molecules of his body at will to adapt to anything that's going on...so I'm not exactly ready to question this logic.

At the beginning of this level, you'll be outrunning a huge flow of lava while destroying walls that block your path. Beast can walk on the ceiling and use his punch to power through the doors in seconds, but Wolverine can walk under them and get to the other side provided you're fast enough...and have some balls.

There is an X Plate after the second wall, but since there are five of them in this level and there's no reward for collecting any more than three, there's not really much point in getting it. You have a lava flow to worry about.

However, if you're playing as Wolverine, you can not only climb up to it and skip some of the level, but you can also outrun the closing walls before they can get to you. (Thanks Norrin Radd II Turbo)

When you make it to the end, you'll see some platforms that take you to the cells. Before you go to the top, look around to find an easy to reach but also easy to miss X plate.

When you get past the lava flow and make it up the platforms, you have a choice of going left or right.  Go left first, as you'll find the third X Plate there. You'll have to fight some tough Genoshan Magistrates before you can leave this dead end, but it's worth it because this one is easy to get but also easy to miss.

You'll soon be chased by lava again, and this time it'll be rushing up from below...and it's pretty fast. There is a fourth X Plate to the left of the first ramp, as well as a fifth one that is in place sight when going past the small platforms with the grenadiers. The latter is obviously easier to get.

The boss is Apocalypse. He has three attacks: a long-range fireball throw, a close-range spike body attack that punctures anyone near him, and a mid-range drill attack that has some speed to it. If he does the spike attack, perform a dashing attack as jumping in at him will just knock you back. In-between attacks and after taking a bit of damage, he teleports in and out of the screen and pops up on either the left or right sides of the screen. Your best bet is to use some medium- or long-range attacks, such as Wolverine's dashing attack and Hyper Berserker, Wolverine's optic blast or Gambit's card throwing abilities.

Danger Room - Omega Red

Password: Beast, Wolverine, Cyclops, Wolverine, Psylocke, Gambit, Xavier, Wolverine

When you beat Apocalypse, the mutants will be freed and the Genoshan government will hold a dialogue regarding their treatment of mutants. Before you can rest on your laurels, Magneto will butt in on communications and threaten to destroy the entire island of Genosha! As Professor Xavier tries to pinpoint where Magneto is, you'll be preparing with Danger Room simulations.

Your first match will be against a hologram of Omega Red. As you fight him, the background will pixelize and de-pixelize, changing into other areas from the beginning of the game. Omega Red will attack with his wrist tentacles and will do various attacks with it: swinging one up and down in an attempt to smack you at close range, shooting it through the floor and tagging you in the foot, and launching one directly at you. He moves in and out of the room by grabbing onto the ceiling with a tentacle, moving up and dropping down in one of three locations, making it easy for him to get the jump on you. There are two platforms that you can stand on, but don't rely on them too much as he can stop in mid-climb and tag you with the other wrist tentacle if he catches you up there.

Your best bet is to hit him with some long range attacks. Amazingly, Psylocke works well too. If you can't use the Psychic Knife on him in time, using the Flying Knee (accidentally or otherwise) works well too as it does quite a bit of damage with one strike, making it more efficient than the Neck Breaker. But the best strategy is to play as Cyclops, wait for him to get close, and hit him with the sliding kick. It knocks him down every time, and stops all of Omega Red's attacks cold.

Omega Red takes a lot of punishment, but he will eventually go down.

Danger Room - Juggernaut

Password: Xavier, Beast, Wolverine, Cyclops, Psylock, Magneto, Xavier, Xavier

You'll then take on Juggernaut. This one takes up just one screen and gives you even more revolving backdrops to fight against. Interestingly, the Harbor base mission has it's own ground and takes place in the early morning rather than at night.

Anyway, you want to avoid Juggernaut's run and uppercut. He also has a grab attack that comes out of nowhere and can be best avoided by hitting him as much as possible before he's stunned, giving you just enough time to jump away. You want to wait for him to stand still - and not block - then hit him with a fast standing combo. When he's stunned, jump away as he will more than likely grab or uppercut you if you just stay there.

If you have any projectile attacks, use them. Like Omega Red, he takes a lot of damage before he falls.

For this one, I use Gambit. I stay on the platforms and hit him with crouching attacks, and switch platforms when he rushes forward with the running uppercut. I keep doing that until he dies. Sometimes I can get one crouching attack on him after the uppercut and knock him back; other times he eats the first one without flinching and knock him back after a second one. Either way, I keep at it until the Juggernaut simulation is defeated.