Mutant Fighter

Overview

Mutant Fighter (known in Japan as Death Brade, also known as Mutant Fighters: Death Brade) is a 2D sword-and-sorcery belt-scrolling fighting game developed and released by Data East for arcades in 1991.

Combining mechanics from both fighting and wrestling games, Mutant Fighter includes a variety of fantasy-themed monsters (including werewolves, minotaurs, and wingless dragons) to fight using various professional wrestling moves (including grapples, suplexes, elbow smashes, and Irish whips). It is one of the earliest fighting games to include the concept of a "super meter", which allows the player to perform a powerful spectacular attack known as the "Super Throw".

The game later received ports to the Sharp X68000 (on October 1992, released by SPS), FM Towns (on December 1992, released by KID), and the Super Famicom (on July 26, 1993, released by I'Max). While the X68000 and FMT ports are arcade-accurate, the SFC version had to be downgraded in several areas.

Characters

The original arcade game included 8 playable characters and 4 unplayable opponents. In the main game, players first fight three opponents in any order (Werewolf, Minotaur, Beast), then another set of three opponents in any order (Golem, Hydra, Dragon), then the three boss characters in this order: Doppelganger, Demon, Arch-Mage. If players are playing as an opponent character, that character will be replaced with one of the three human characters (Fighter, Amazoness, or Hercules).

The SFC version cut down the character roster to 6 playable characters and 2 unplayable opponents, while changing the format to four fights against a random playable character, then the two boss characters in this order: Doppelganger and Arch-Mage.

In the Japanese version (other than the SFC version), the game shows each character's name along with their race/class in their stats.

• Fighter / Michael - A human warrior with fighting prowess, serving as the human trio's "all-rounder" character.

• Amazoness / Cindy - A human warrior sacrificing strength for quick speed, serving as the human trio's "nimble" character.

• Hercules / Pon - A human warrior sacrificing speed for brute strength, serving as the human trio's "powerful" character.

• Werewolf / Boggy - A speedy werewolf with deadly claw attacks. Removed in the SNES version.

• Minotaur / Shankar - A minotaur with strong charging attacks.

• Golem / Bodca - A durable stone golem who is resistant to basic melee attacks. Removed in the SFC version.

• Beast / Flea - A reptilian beast with powerful jumping attacks.

• Dragon / Joseph - A wingless dragon with a breath attack. Removed in the SFC version.

• Hydra / Charry - Unplayable opponent. A multi-headed hydra with very strong grapple attacks. Removed in the SFC version.

• Doppelganger / Behoroi - Unplayable sub-boss and "mirror match" opponent. A shapeshifting creature that transforms into his opponent.

• Demon / Pazuzu - Unplayable sub-boss. A powerful demon with both speed and strength. In-game lifebar shows him as Pazuzu. Removed in the SFC version.

• Archmage / Cronus - Unplayable final boss. A spellcaster who cannot perform physical attacks (including Super Throws), instead using his magic to deal a variety of damaging moves from a distance.