Animaniacs

Year: 1994
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: SNES, Genesis
Metacritic score: Not available
VGChartz sales to date: Unknown

WHAT MADE IT GREAT
Licensed games tend to get a bit of a bad rap, but there are plenty of great games that tie-in to existing film or television properties.  Capcom had a string of great NES games all based on Disney franchises and even the critically acclaimed Telltale Games' The Walking Dead is a licensed property.  Animaniacs makes for a particularly great tie-in game because the cartoon antics are a natural fit for video games and the show's subversive humor (subtle enough to sneak past censors) gave it appeal to a broad audience.  At its core the show was a parody of Hollywood production itself, frequently lampooning behind the scenes life at Warner Bros. studio and famous pop culture references (many at the expense of Executive Producer Steven Spielberg).  The show was heavily inspired by acts like The Marx Brothers and Looney Tunes and is therefore filled with the kind of zany humor and wacky violence that translates easily to video games.  Because the show is based around multiple animated shorts with their own characters, there is a large cast and variety of settings available to draw from.  That might explain why Konami decided to make this game twice.

You see, Konami released two entirely different versions of this game on both the SNES and the Sega Genesis.  It was fairly common to find differences between versions of the same game which could potentially be a disappointing surprise in the days before the internet.  Sometimes it was the result of censorship such as the edits made to the SNES version of Mortal Kombat and other times it was meant to take advantage of system-specific design architecture such as Mode 7 or Sega Virtua Processor.  Rarely would a game developer make the decision to produce two versions that were entirely unrelated in both design and story, but Animaniacs is proof that it did occasionally happen.  On the SNES the plot revolves around Pinky and the Brain stealing the script to Warner Bros. next great film in their latest attempt to try and take over the world.  You play as the Warner Brothers (and the Warner Sister) Yakko, Wakko and Dot through a series of platformer stages as you try to collect pages from the missing script.  You only play as one character at a time but the other two will follow your movements and you can switch between them at any time.  Unlike most platformers, the goal is to evade most enemies rather then defeat them so your move set is limited to jumping and dashing or using the other characters to form a ladder over obstacles.  Collecting film canisters plays the slot machine at the bottom of the screen which can randomly reward you with power ups, continues or character revives.  This is a must because a single hit from any enemy will kill you, meaning you've got a total of three hits before you need to burn a continue.  Between stages is an overworld where you can pick which stage to play next or try a bonus mission such as rescuing a fallen sibling from the water tower.  Each stage is broken into multiple different segments with varied gameplay throughout that mixes in elements like evading an enemy, on-rails chase scenes and boss fights.

Ralph will frequently chase you around and will lock you up in the water tower if he catches you, and your only options are to either dash out of his way or jump off his head to momentarily stun him (SNES)

The Sega version is noticeably different as soon as you fire it up and you're greeted with a cutscene showing the Warner Brothers (and Warner Sister) welcoming you to their game before breaking the fourth wall to argue with each other about the semantics of being an animated character.  This game's plot revolves around the Warner Brothers (and Warner Sister) deciding to open up a "hip pop-culture shop" that they appearantly have been always talking about (I must have missed those episodes).  To achieve this you'll need to explore the various sound stages around the studio lot to find four iconic props from famous films.  Like the SNES version, each stage is based around a different film genre such as sci-fi, horror or westerns and you switch between controlling each of the three Warner siblings.  In the Sega version, however, each sibling has a different special move needed to progress through different areas of the game.  Yakko uses a paddle ball to attack enemies, Wakko uses an oversized mallet to activate switches and Dot blows kisses which trigger certain characters to perform special actions.  You also have a health meter that is shared across all three characters so you can take multiple hits but when any one character dies they all dutifully follow their sibling into the abyss.  On the SNES this would send you to the continue screen, but the Sega version gives you both continues and extra lives which can be earned by collecting 100 star tokens.  The next most obvious difference is that you are restricted to a single horizontal plane like a true 2D side-scrolling platformer whereas the SNES game has depth allowing you to move closer or further in addition to left or right.  The only other notable difference is that the levels are timed, but the timer is pretty lenient so you will probably never really feel as if you're racing the clock.

Don't ask where he keeps that thing when he isn't using it

WHAT WENT WRONG
Two different games means two separate sets of problems.  Konami was able to ship two very stable, mostly bug-free games almost simultaneously which is quite impressive in itself, but it was harder to fine tune balance between two very different gameplay designs.  Playing each game is a very different experience and isn't easily comparable across the two platforms.  Each version was, in different ways, both better and worse then the other depending on which way you looked at it.  For instance, the SNES version had far better graphics but was also significantly more difficult.  This exemplifies the problem with tailoring different versions for different platforms: no matter what you're going to leave everyone at least partially dissatisfied.  In those days it was far less common for gamers to own multiple consoles and during the 16-bit wars there was no middle ground, you were either in the Sega camp or one of the Nintendo faithful.  The end result was heated playground battles over which version was superior.  In most of the fights, there was no clear winner and having two versions of a game to compare directly only served to highlight the shortcomings found in each one.  

The other danger to splitting your market is that sometimes the critics decide there is a clear winner, discouraging the supporters of that system from giving the game a try.  In the case of Animaniacs, most felt that the Sega Genesis version was superior largely because of how easy it was to die in the SNES version.  The platforming was challenging enough, but with a single hit proving fatal it made for a razer thin margin of error.  Eventually you would earn enough slot plays to rack up a sizeable number of continues or character revives, but early on it was pretty easy to see a game over screen before you even finished the first level.  In any event, the reviewers gave higher scores to the Genesis version but even those seem a bit low given how enjoyable the game is.  Once you stop worrying about whether the version you're playing is the best you realize just how fun this game is even if for those who weren't of a certain age when this show was still on the air.  

Helloooo Nurse!  Don't look at me that way Dot, that's just her name.    

WILL WE SEE IT AGAIN
Extremely doubtful.  The problem with reissuing a licensed game is that the developer and publisher never own the rights to the property.  That doesn't necessarily make it impossible, but it also means the project might be given to a totally new team.  Konami has already experienced this first hand when one of their classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade games was given an HD remake by a different studio, in the end that title had to be pulled from PSN and XBLA when that reissued license expired.  There have been a handful of other Animaniacs games made including a truly terrible Game Boy port of about 60% of the Sega version, the rest getting lopped off so it could fit on the cartridge.  For a property like Animaniacs, which has been off the air since 1999 and occasionally in syndicated reruns, it's pretty unlikely there's remotely enough demand to justify any further releases or remakes.  

Without a convenient double-feature HD remake, anyone looking to try this game is in the same position gamers faced in 1994 and must choose between the Sega or SNES version.  This is a tough call, both games have plenty to like about them and the passage of time hasn't made one shine any more then the other.  Personally I'm partial to the SNES version because of its brighter graphics and more numerous references to the show.  More of the cast make appearances in the SNES version and their character models are larger and more closely resemble the animation from the show, and even the writing does a better job of mimicking the shows unique subversive yet lightheartedly wacky sense of humor.  I'll admit to being biased on this because I had played the game on SNES first, but upon replaying both my preference still stands.  I feel the increased difficulty that earned the SNES version lower reviews actually gives it greater longevity and provides a challenging platformer that looks surprisingly well for its age.  That lasting appeal is an especially good trait to have in this case because it looks like it's game over for the Animaniacs.

I sure hope so,  but they better get comfy in there cause it might be a long wait

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Ristar

Year: 1995
Developer: Sonic Team
Publisher: Sega
Platform: Sega Genesis, Game Gear (originally); later Virtual Console and also bundled in compilations for PSP, PS2, Xbox, GameCube, PC, PS3 and Xbox 360
Metacritic score: Not available
VGChartz sales to date: Unknown

WHAT MADE IT GREAT
For those of us born during a certain time, the 90's represented a coming of age in more ways then one.  For the video game industry, the 90's was when gaming transitioned from youthful fad to full-fledged entertainment industry juggernaut.  In 1982 at the height of the home console market just before the Great Crash of '83 the industry was pulling in around $4 billion annually, a number that would rise to over $20 billion globally in just ten years.  While there have always been multiple competitors in this market, it wasn't until the 1990's when we saw two companies so evenly matched.  By the end of the 16-bit era Nintendo would claim a slight victory in the Console Wars with 49 million Super Nintendos sold compared to Sega's 40 million Geneses (fun fact: the plural of genesis is geneses, you can look it up if you don't believe me).  It's fitting that the two generals of this conflict, Mario and Sonic, were both mascots from platformers because in many ways the 16-bit era was tailor made for the platforming genre.  The SNES and Genesis still had the same 2D rendering limitations as the previous generation, but modest increases in addressable memory space and processing power gave developers access to a greater palette of colors, sounds and sprites to craft worlds that possessed far more personality over their predecessors.   

If your first experience with video games was Pong, seeing this many colors onscreen at once could give you a stroke.  

This unique set of constraints favored games that were well-suited to 2D graphics and didn't require realistic graphics or gameplay to be enticing, so fans of platforming gameplay were absolutely spoiled for choice during the 1990's.  While many of the best selling platformers had gotten their start back on the NES (Mario, Mega Man, Metroid and Castlevania to name just a few examples) Sega was making headway with new properties of their own, of which the speedy blue hedgehog was undoubtedly the king.  But anyone who stuck too closely to Sonic did themselves a great disservice by missing out on titles such as Ristar.  The game stars an anthropomorphic star who is either the child of a Star Goddess or a "Legendary Hero" in the form of a shooting star, depending on whether you played the Japanese version or the English translation.  Your task is to save the Valdi galaxy by preventing the evil space pirate/19th century German imperialist Kaiser Greedy from enslaving the inhabited planets through mind-control.  The U.S. version also sees you rescuing your father/Legendary Hero/shooting star because somehow this makes the plot more...I'm not sure what exactly.  Maybe the Japanese thought we had a lot of daddy issues, but for whatever reason the plot was altered during the localization process.   

Apparently nobody notified Ristar of the change, because he maintains those arched eyebrows throughout the game

It's no surprise that the game borrows heavily from Sonic, especially since it was born from an early concept art in which Sonic was a rabbit, but Ristar set itself apart with a unique gameplay hook.  Ristar can run, jump and swim with the best of them but rather then rely on jumping, speed or a collection of weapons to defeat enemies and traverse levels, Ristar uses his extendable stretchy arms both to explore and fight.  Using the B button sends Ristar's arms shooting out in front of him, grabbing onto a handhold, switches, ledge, etc. will pull the rest of his body forward and releasing the button will make Ristar let go so his momentum can carry him.  Just like how stages in Sonic are designed to take advantage of speed, Ristar's stages are designed around swinging from place to place and the mechanic feels really enjoyable when you get into a rhythm.  The Star Hooks are especially fun to use as grabbing one sends Ristar swinging around at high speeds until you are ready to let go, at which point you rocket off like a shooting star.  Ristar is invulnerable while a shooting star and the player has some degree of control over charting his course, but mainly it's a matter of timing and gravity.  Each level has a hidden Star Hook that sends you to a bonus stage where you can earn special items by completing an obstacle course in a set amount of time.  Enemies can also be defeated by grabbing them and holding the button to pull Ristar into them for a high speed headbutt.  In this way, attacking enemies is just another means of traversing the levels allowing skilled players to swing themselves to the finish at a brisk pace, making the game popular for speedrun challenges.

Each stage ends with either a mini-boss or boss battle.  Battling the boss on Planet Undertow is made easier by not needing to breath since stars live in the vacuum of space.  Doesn't stop them from wearing sneakers, though.  

But you'll likely want to take your time as you explore the Valdi system since each stage is filled with hidden treasure chests in addition to the previously mentioned bonus stages.  It's also worth slowing down to check out the great background art and design touches that gives each planet a unique feel to match it's environmental theme.  While the platforming tropes of water zones, ice zones, etc. is still firmly in place, the level designs still make the grabbing mechanic your primary focus for navigation and attack.  The designs themselves are lustrously colored and filled with interesting details, for instance on Planet Undertow the screen brightness gets darker as you dive deeper beneath the water.  But perhaps the most standout feature of the design is the soundtrack with it's infectiously happy beats and surprising variation.  It's like MGMT meets Skrillex all filtered through 16-bits of pure joy.  

Bonus chests can contain anything from points to extra lives and are scattered in various hard to reach places

WHAT WENT WRONG 
Timing is everything.  Ristar was one of the last new games to release for the Genesis before the launch of of the Sega Saturn in the North American market.  The Saturn had already arrived in Japan and it's famously botched U.S. launch was only two months away from becoming a reality when Ristar was released.  Sega's attention was completely fixed on their next console and Ristar received very little marketing.  If that wasn't bad enough, an electronics powerhouse waded into the Console War by rolling out a new platform of their own.  Sony's Playstation had already followed the Saturn into the Japanese market in December 1994, and it would arrive in the U.S. in September '95.  The 16-bit era had ended, all hail the 32-bit reign!

...Moving on...

It's too bad everyone's attention was elsewhere, because Ristar was a really awesome game.  It was everything you expected from a classic Sonic game but with a whole new gameplay twist.  Game Informer gave it an 8.25 in it's original review and a more recent IGN review of the Virtual Console port is a testament to the game's sustained appeal.  With the Playstation's rise came new genre's based on first- or third-person perspectives along with true sports simulators like Madden NFL 97, the first in the series by current developer Tiburon.  After a decade of dominance the platforming genre was beginning to decline, and Ristar stands as a paragon of what developers had learned over the years.  In that way it was both derivative of them as some critics have pointed out, but also the ultimate refinement of those mechanics and principles.  

WILL WE SEE IT AGAIN
Despite starring in only this single outing, that determined little luminous sphere of plasma has grown in popularity over the years.  The game was re-issued in collections of Sonic games for GameCube and PS2, and was more recently brought to Steam and Virtual Console on it's own or bundled on PSN and Xbox Live in the form of Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection.  Ristar has also made two cameo's in the Sonic & Sega All-Star Racing series but never as a playable character.  He's become such a cult icon that homebrew sequel have even sprung up based around the original gameplay.  

Maybe we'll see a true sequel come from Sega, at the very least the cameos prove they remember the game exists.  Bionic Commando, which uses a similar platforming mechanic, has tried to refresh itself to mixed success but perhaps Ristar can make a more comfortable move to 3D platforming like Mario Galaxy accomplished.  If you want to play Ristar on the go, you'd better have a working Game Gear and a truck load of batteries because it's not available on 3DS or PS Vita.  While some Sonic games have made it to mobile Ristar is not one of them.  A touchscreen version may be difficult since your finger would always be obscuring the exact place you're moving to, but using a digital button pad might work.  We may never get another Ristar game, and it's possible the platforming genre will never be what it once was, but for a very short window of time Ristar gave fans of the genre one last fleeting moment of greatness.

Do we dare to wish upon this star?  Picture credit

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General Chaos

Year: 1994
Developer: Game Refuge Inc
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Platform: Sega Genesis
Metacritic score: Not available
VGChartz sales to date: Unknown

WHAT MADE IT GREAT
When trying to find the origins of the multiplayer online battle arena genre, more commonly know by its acronym MOBA, most people will probably point to the Warcraft III mod Defense of the Ancients, also lovingly abbreviated as DotA.  Some in-the-know gamers might actually think of the Starcraft custom map Aeon of Strife, which was actually the inspiration for DotA.  But I doubt anyone would consider the 1994 Genesis classic General Chaos, a game that as far as I can tell was the first to combine elements from real-time strategy and action games with a fixed isometric point of view (if I'm wrong, let me know in the comments).    Anyone who does remember this game will recall a fun game with a goofy sense of humor that served up one of the best multiplayer experiences the Genesis had to offer.

Designed by the same guys responsible for the arcade classics Rampage and Arch Rivals (as previously mentioned, the forerunner to NBA Jam), General Chaos pits the forces of Moronica, led by the titular General, against General Havoc's Vicerian army.  During the briefing before each battle you'll select from preset dossiers of soldiers, each varying in class composition.  There are five different classes on tap: machine gunners, rocket launchers, grenade chuckers, flame throwers and dynamite tossers.  You can also opt for a two-man commando unit which is a little easier to coordinate but you'll be at a numerical disadvantage since I've only ever seen the AI choose a 5-man squad.  The goal of each battle is simple: take the objective by eliminating the opposing force.  There are also various bonuses and power-ups scattered around each map which are definitely worth moving out of cover to collect.  

Boot camp offers a quick tutorial on the game's controls and mechanics, a good idea considering how different the gameplay was from anything else on consoles at the time.

You control all 5 soldiers in your platoon by selecting each one and using the cursor to move them into position around the map.  You can move them as one big group or position specific classes in different spots, but when you give the command to fire each unit will target the nearest enemy and open fire at once.  If two units gets close enough, it will trigger a cartoon style dustcloud brawl which will occasionally result in one-on-one melee fights.  If a unit goes down, there's a brief window to call in a medic that can return him to the fight but this ability is limited by the number of medical corps officers you have in reserves.  But explosives have an advantage with a chance the enemy will be instantly skeleton-ized resulting in immediate death.  Plus, the grenadier looks a lot like Chuck Norris so that's gotta count for something, right?     

With 5 different characters to control it was important to pay attention to the positioning of each unit.  Grenade and dynamite throwers could lob their projectiles from behind cover, but would be quickly cut down if moved into the open.

While the single player campaign was an enjoyable, if quick, romp the real fun was in multiplayer.  Both co-op and competitive modes were available and there were even options for up to four players for the 10 or so people who owned a Sega Multitap.  In co-op each player takes control of a two man commando unit of their choosing and proceeds to tackle the same campaign in single player.  This mode makes controlling each unit much simpler and a well-coordinated team can easily flank the enemy, provide cover or pickup the collectible bonuses.  The AI difficulty also scales up against two players so you'll need to work together to overcome the computer's numerical advantage.  Versus mode, on the other hand, can be insanely challenging against another human-controlled team.  In this mode, each player picks one general and proceeds to face off with either 5-man squads or 2-man commando units.  Picking the right group is critical because a skilled opponent can exploit any weaknesses much better then the limited mid-90's AI was capable of.  Random negative events like weapon jams or the aforementioned instant deaths help create a sense of, well, chaos that can swing the battle but overall the player more skilled at positioning their units will end up on top.

In co-op a coordinated team can overcome a superior force.  With their ranged units drawing fire while in cover at the bottom of the screen, the incredibly lethal flamethrower and launcher units can move in and wipe out the enemy.

WHAT WENT WRONG

Consoles have never been a very welcoming home to RTS games, and even one as heavily streamlined as General Chaos failed to find a wide audience.  Back when EA was still Electronic Arts, they were more willing to take risks on games that fell well outside the norm.  Sometimes this paid off such as with classics like M.U.L.E., Populous and Wing Commander, but inevitably there were bound to be a few duds in the mix.  Back when games were developed on shoestring budgets and could be published without taking on too much risk this wasn't a problem.  But in today's environment a sales flop can spell bankruptcy, so I fear we'll be seeing fewer games from big publishers that step outside the comfort zone such as EA's under-appreciated Mirror's Edge.  

So it was probably inevitable that General Chaos wouldn't find mass-market appeal, and it's likely Electronic Arts wasn't too upset by that [UPDATE: It wasn't completely ignored, it was EA's second-best selling original Sega Title the year it was released. Thanks to Game Refuge Inc. CEO Brian Colin for setting the record straight].  I can't recall seeing any ads for it and was unable to find any original reviews.  The game's notoriety as an overlooked Genesis classic and outstanding multiplayer experience seems to have grown louder over the years thanks to the echo-chamber effect of the internet, but replaying the game proves it's not just a matter of nostalgia.  I guess you could say General Chaos was always intended to occupy the "value" space, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing in the days when many purchases came from browsing the bargain bins.  Before the budget gulf between AAA-titles and shovelware was measured in millions of dollars it was possible to find games from smaller developers that were every bit as great as the heavy hitters released by Nintendo, Sega, Konami, Midway or Acclaim. 

They might not be modeled after celebrity likenesses, but that doesn't mean they weren't a fun batch of characters. Seriously though, that one dude totally looks like Chuck Norris.

WHAT IF IT RELEASED TODAY  

This is one game that could really work well on mobile platforms.  Using the cursor to position troops was better implemented then in a lot of more recent RTS ports to console, but still no replacement for a mouse.  Being able to select and move troops with a few quick taps would be a far superior control scheme.  The brevity of the overall campaign and how it's broken down into isolated battles is a natural fit for the kinds of experiences people want in mobile games.  It's true you'd lose the fun that comes from playing side by side on the same couch, but being able to play co-op or competitive matches online would certainly make up for that.  You could even get the chance to experience 4-player support without needing a rare system add-on that was only supported by a handful of titles.  The points system, which was only ever used in the post-battle performance reviews, would lend themselves to an integrated leaderboard system with minimal adjustments.

Game Refuge Inc. is still around today, and they even seem to have shifted focus to the mobile/casual space.  With less then a dozen employees, they may not have the resources available to port this classic to iOS/Android.  But their website also claims they are trying to ramp up capabilities so if you're a programmer looking to break into gaming maybe send in your resume and then get to work on this Genesis classic.  Or if you lack coding skills just bomb their Facebook page until it gets made.  Either way, this is one under appreciated gem that deserves a second chance.

War.  War never changes.  But gaming does, so let's bring back General Chaos on  mobile platforms so we can get back to hilariously simplifying violent conflict.

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Mutant League Hockey

Year: 1994

Developer: EA
Publisher: EA

Platform: Sega Genesis

Metacritic score: None available

VGChartz sales to date: Unknown

WHAT MADE IT GREAT

The 90's was a golden age of extreme "sports" games, with Midway's 1993 release of NBA Jam (an update of their lesser known title Arch Rivals) standing as a pinnacle of the genre.  The formula was simple: take the engine for a "serious" sports title and repackage it with over the top action and visual style, then crank it up to ludicrous speed.  In this noble spirit, EA released their own edgier takes on sports, with Mutant League Hockey being the second and final entry in the series.  

In about 10 seconds less than half these guys will still be standing

Built upon the mechanics of EA's own excellently crafted NLH '94, MLH lets players take to the ice as skeletons, trolls and robots in order to brutally maim and murder each other in hilarious ways.  Oh, and also win league championship by occasionally taking a break from fighting the various teams in order to score goals on them.  There are two conferences, Toxic and Maniac, each with 10 teams of various quality based loosely on actual NHL franchises (such as Chicago Black Hearts or Detroit Dead Things) and an additional 3 all-star teams.  While most of the rules from Hockey carry over, there are some notably fun exceptions.  

Fighting is still technically a penalty, but it's also a major aspect of the game.  On a controller that had just 3 main buttons, one of them was dedicated entirely to attacking the opposing players.  Crowds tossed weapons for you to pick up, letting you "check" a player by clubbing him with a hammer or running him through with a chainsaw.  Pick on a player too much, and you'll go into a fight mini-game that doesn't end until one player is out cold.  Both players still get sent to the box, but the loser gets added time on his penalty (a rule I wish would make it into the NHL).  Trick plays can be pulled off with hilarious results, such as rigging the puck to explode, planting land mines, bribing the ref (or just killing him), and replacing your goalie with a giant demon head to free up a 6th attacker.  

Scoring on the Demon Head causes it to explode Michael Bay-style

Because it shared an engine with NHL '94, it was entirely possible to rely on astute defending, tight passing and smart line changes to win.  The right way to play, however, was to crank the damage level to maximum and set about killing each and every player on the opposing team until they were forced to forfeit.  Each slain opponent would remain where they fell as an obstacle and any holes blasted in the ice could be used for a one-hit kill by checking opponents into the watery abyss below. The ice was restored during each period break when some sort of large slug would smooth out the ice and devour all the litter (read: corpses) cluttering the place up.  

Players who fell through thin ice were immediately eaten by a shark, because logic is not as awesome as sharks

WHAT WENT WRONG

Low visibility in the marketplace.  You'll notice EA stuck to football and hockey, and there's good reason for that.  Midway's NBA Jam was a runaway success and came to define the genre.  EA knew directly competing with that would be unwise, but they could still cash in on it's popularity by tapping into that same formula and applying it to their own sports properties.  They opted to emphasize violence and gore rather then mimic NBA Jam's mix of real licenses with over the top (but family friendly) wackiness.  This helped them to stand out, but also meant they couldn't rely on the name recognition and built-in fan bases of real world leagues and players.  The marketing campaign was was subsequently smaller, amounting mainly to a few ads in gaming magazines.

They did have some pretty sweet spreads though

Contemporary reviews were somewhat mixed with Game Informer scoring it an 8.75 while EGM gave it an average of 6.25 primarily for failing to innovate on it's predecessor while actually decreasing the number of mutant varieties from 5 to 3.  But more of the same must have been enough for most, as many comparisons rank MLH as be the superior title thanks to the slick mechanics of it's NHL '94 engine.  The gameplay was undeniably fun and made for a hockey game even non-sports fans could enjoy.  The possibility of instant death, unpredictable goals and non-stop fighting also made this a particularly good multiplayer game.  Balance issues across some of the teams could lead to that fighting spilling over onto the couch, but hey, this is hockey after all.

Though hard sales data is difficult to come by for this and prior console generations, it's safe to say sales were modest.  A short-lived cartoon series based on the property was spawned, but oddly it didn't premier until a few months after MLH hit stores.  The show failed to generate any interest in the game, but did manage to survive into a second season.  While Mutant League Football evidently sold well enough to justify the sequel, MLH represents the swan song of the short lived series.  Either that or EA decided it had milked this cow dry and didn't think it was worth the effort bringing it to the next console generation.  

WHAT IF IT RELEASED TODAY

I'm not sure Mutant League Hockey would do any better in today's market.  The popularity of wacky sports titles has significantly declined since the NBA Jam and NFL Blitz heydays.  Sure, both those titles are still around in various forms and EA themselves even have their "Street" series of titles.  But players today expect authentic licenses, full featured league and career modes, photorealistic graphics and deep control mechanics.  Even sports that are extreme by nature have trended towards realism with former mainstays like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater being supplanted by the down to Earth Skate series.

Still, a lot of gamers hold this game in high esteem.  The community review aggregator at IGN gives it an 8.6 and it can be found on a number of "best of" lists for both Genesis games and hockey games.  The gameplay does hold up surprisingly well today, the hockey mechanics are simplistic but still fluid and blowing up a goalie with a well placed trick puck never gets old.  But I think it takes a certain amount of nostalgia for the original to appreciate the style and emphasis on pure fun over any sense of athletic competition.  This isn't the type of game in which you create a player and guide him from rookie to MVP, hell any created player could end up dead five minutes into his first game.  

The fighting mini-game was certainly pretty to look at, a good thing since most of the game was spent fighting.

When you think about it, this game really lends itself to the kind of casual pick-up and play that's best suited to mobile gaming.  If EA ever were to revive this brand, that would be the most sensible way to do it.  That being said, I've yet to play a mobile sports game that had even halfway decent controls.  I can imagine breaking your phone in half after the third time you commit suicide by accidentally skating into a hole in the ice.   But with little name recognition and only niche appeal, Mutant League Hockey stands to remain a relic of the 16-bit era.

Have you played this game?  Is there a game you remember being great but no one seems to have heard of it? Sound off below in the comments!

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