Growing up, I wasn't too into sports games, mostly because with a scant few exceptions, I was always at the receiving end of a savage virtual beating from either my brother, or the computer. Even back then, there wasn't a great deal of separation between each new version of Madden Football, at least nothing my mind could either recognize, or bring myself to care about. Each giant cartride with that little yellow piece of plastic looked the same to me inside and out. Until the Mutant League games came around.
Football or Hockey, the Mutant League games were a breath of fresh, undead air. Gameplay was familiar enough, as either game used the same engine EA used for its respective sports games, but with a lovely touch of brutality thrown in. Didn't like the ref? Kill him. Opposing team getting away with too many late hits? Blitz the hell out of 'em until their quarterback collapses in a pile of blood n' guts. Take out the second and third stringer, and the team had to forfeit. It was the one sports game I enjoyed as a kid, which is why I'm thrilled that a team is trying to bring it into the new age with Kickstarter.
The effort is being spearheaded by the original game's creator and lead designer, Michael Mendheim.
"It's the 20th anniversary of the original game, so this is an ideal time to release a new over-the-top football game featuring monsters and mutants for the many fans who have been clamoring for it," stated Mendheim. "The fans have kept their interest in this genre alive over the years and we want to reward them for their loyalty. We will be creating a new and very different game that pays homage to classic monster sports games and parodies the owners, the coaches, the sponsors and everything else that makes football such a great American sport."
With the trickiness of legality of rights and publishing and all that, the game is technically known as Mutant Football League, but it's the same spirit: "In addition to the brutal hits, we'll have electrocutions, chainsaws, and decapitations, and that's just the suff you're going to encounter on your way to the stadium bathroom," pitched Mendheim. Still, I hope that EA, the series original publisher, decides the titles aren't too similar, and decides to interfere.
The core team boasts impressive resumes, with staffers who've worked on various comics, television shows, and games:
- Michael Mendheim: Creator and lead designer of the original Mutant League series, writer of the hit Heavy Metal graphic novel, The Four Horsemen of the ApocalypseTM.
- Simon Bisley: Eisner Award winning artist (Lobo, ABC Warriors)
- Dave Devries: Creator of The Monster Engine, a popular children's art book, lecture, demonstration and gallery exhibition that explores the premise of what a child's drawing would look like if it were painted realistically.
- Dave Elliott: Comic writing legend (A1, Weirding Willows, Heavy Metal)
- Jay Lender: Writer and director of SpongeBob Squarepants and Phineas and Ferb
- Micah Wright: Writer of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Zombies.
- Robomodo Studios: Talent behind Tony Hawk series of games, Fight Night 3 and NBA Street.
The Mutant League games have been requested to be remade countless times over, so there's obviously a market for it now. Even when the series first began, it was successful enough to spawn its own line of toys, and even a cartoon show. Grisly stuff for a cartoon, but still entertaining. Still, even with a built in audience, the team has quite the funding goal to reach - a massive $750,000, an amount they'll have to raise by Oct 16.
Still, as the Ouya illustrated, it's definitely possible.