X-Men 2: Clone Wars (1995)
The ROMANOV Archive examines X-Men 2: Clone Wars (1995) for the Sega Genesis, a side-scrolling action platformer where the very first stage thrusts players into a frozen Siberian wasteland filled with tanks, drones, and oppressive steel.
This opening level draws heavily from Cold War imagery: blizzards, rusted factories, radioactive barrels, and hulking Soviet-style war machines scattered across the tundra. The effect is unmistakable—Russia as a hostile, industrial frontier where survival is harsh and machinery outlives its masters. Even the robotic enemies reinforce the stereotype of Russia as a land of automatons, cold and mechanical.
While the real Siberia is home to cities, culture, and modern industry, Clone Wars reduces it to snow, drones, and Soviet steel, making it one of the clearest examples of how 16-bit gaming translated Cold War stereotypes directly into level design.