Mazin Saga: Mutant Fighter is a unique Beat’em Up/Fighting game hybrid. It does a better job of being a Beat’em UP, but the Fighting game stages are interesting. The game turns into Power Rangers for a minute as your character grows to fight the boss. It also reminds me of Jet Jaguar for some reason.
This is based on a few things. There is a manga for MazinSaga, and it is tied into the Mazinger Z series. I’m not well versed in any of that, so don’t expect an in-depth analysis.
The video game is a lot of fun, and it looks great! While I don’t like the fighting game stages, they’re unique and help the game stand out. It also gives a reason for the bosses to be as big as they are.
TLDR: A Great Hybrid of a Beat’em Up and Fighting Game.
Narrative
Before getting into the game’s story, I want to go over the Manga. I think that story is better than the game. It is also very different from the game.
In the Manga, the main character destroys the earth when he puts on the Z helmet. The story then takes place on Mars, where the main character fights against various threats, including Godkaiser Hell, the best name for a bad guy!
In the game, Godkaiser Hell is still here, but he has already destroyed everything, and humanity is hiding underground. This all takes place on Earth in the year 1999. This was a common trope for video games in the 80s and 90s. Pop culture was obsessed with the world ending in 1999, even before the whole Y2K thing.
The story is good enough to set up the events of the game. It doesn’t need to be there, especially since the source material wasn’t that prevalent in the US at the time. It is a fun story, but it isn’t all that important to enjoy the game.
Gameplay
This is a multi-genre game. While most of the stages are Beat’em Ups, there are some Fighting Game stages where the second part of boss fights occurs. The Beat’em Up games are great, but the Fighting Game stages are rough.
Most of the game is a standard Beat’em Up. There are six stages, and each ends in a boss fight. This is about right for a Beat’em Up from this time. It is short by today’s standards, but in the 90s, it is what you would expect.
There are a few power-ups in the game. Some are useful, and others are a waste. Here is a breakdown of the power-ups:
- The Life Chakra restores your health
- An invincibility item
- And a 1Up
- Gold Dust gives you 1000 points
- Crystal gives you 5000 points
The Gold Dust and Crystal are odd additions to the game. You get awarded an extra life at 100,000, 300,000, and 700,000 points. However, the Gold Dust and Crystal could’ve been replaced with something else.
You have a special attack that drains a portion of your health when used. This is where you could’ve done something different with the Gold Dust and Crystal. Have those fill a meter that controls your special, or replace them with an item that is your special attack. I just hate the idea of losing life to use a special attack.
There is a jumping spin attack. So, there are a few attacks you can use. I would’ve liked to have something other than the standard lose life to do a special attack.
The game slowly adds new enemies while phasing out the older ones. It reminds me of how the TMNT Beat’em Ups are structured. New enemies are drip-fed to the player as the game ramps up in difficulty.
The biggest drawback to this game is that it is single-player only. Unlike other single-player Beat’em Ups, this one makes sense. The Fighting Game stages wouldn’t make much sense if you had two player-controlled characters on the screen.
Overall, I like the gameplay a lot. This is a solid Beat’em Up that controls great and looks terrific. The fighting stages look great, but I wouldn’t say I like the controls that much.
Visuals
This game looks very good! I have no issues with the way the game looks, except for a few foreground obstructions. They are always annoying.
The character sprites all look great for the time. During the Fighting game stages, the characters are well-detailed. The stages, backgrounds, and characters all look great!
The basic enemies aren’t anything special, but they do look unique to the game. Their sprites look good, and you can tell what they do by the weapons they’re carrying. As the game goes on, the enemies get much cooler looking.
The boss characters are fantastic! On the Beat’em Up stages, they look huge, and they get incorporated into the stages in unique ways. However, this does create some odd moments.
The fighting game stages look great. However, I wondered why your character can’t be a giant the whole time. I know this would eliminate the Beat’em Up stages, but this was where I thought when I saw this.
Overall, the graphics are great! It is one of the better-looking Beat’em Ups on the Genesis. I think I like the look of the Streets of Rage games and the Captain America game more, but this is very good. The only thing I don’t like as much would have to be the foreground obstructions.
8/10. Mazin Saga is a great Beat’em Up game despite being combined with a genre I don’t like. The Fighting game stages aren’t as good. They look great, but the gameplay on those stages isn’t very good.
Pros
- Great Graphics
- Good Gameplay on the Beat’em Up stages
- Great Boss Fights
Cons
- Single-player only
- Rough controls in the Fighting Game stages
- No selectable characters
Conclusion
This was a fun game to discover. It has been sitting in my collection for a while, and I don’t remember playing it until I decided to write about Beat’em Ups on the Genesis. What I found was a wonderful game and a rabbit hole of other media to explore.
I don’t remember anyone talking about this game when I was a kid. Even when I was collecting games in the 90s, I never came across it. I wish I had played it sooner.
Mazin Saga isn’t my favorite Beat’em Up on the Genesis, but it is relatively close. I would put this game up with the Golden Axe and Streets of Rage series. It is a great game, but the lack of a two-player mode is holding this game back.