Mutant League Football

The Good
Mutant League Football is one of those storied games of yore - one that is well-remembered and considered by some to be a classic.

The whole concept is cool. An ultra-violent monster football league, with players (and refs!) that don't make it through the entire game in one piece? Awesome. Some of the players are modeled and named after great NFL players of the time (like "Bones Jackson" and "Reggie Fright"). Victory can be achieved through scoring more points than your opponent, but it can also be achieved by destroying all of the opposing team's players.

That's about where the good stuff ends.

The Bad
Some things are best left to nostalgia. Mutant League's play control is not very tight. Oftentimes, it seems like you are not really in control. The control simply is not responsive.

On-field action is also not very good. Against the computer, it is child's play to dominate the competition. All one really has to do is be slightly competent. Despite that, the football play is really awkward. There's really no "making plays". You simply can't control things well enough to, say, make quick cut-backs to use your blockers. Rather, you run to the outside, and you either get caught before turning the corner, or you don't.

Passing is similarly unintuitive. You don't actually see the pass routes unfold. Instead, you get little windows that show each receiver. You can see if someone's immediately covering them, but you can't tell if your pass is going to be thrown into traffic or not. It's also impossible to tell if a receiver is 15 yards downfield, or 15 feet. If you pay close attention to the play call, you can have an idea of where they will be, but it's still not ideal.

Audio is pretty sparse. Outside of the occasional "great hit!", there's not much to hear.

The Bottom Line
Mutant League Football is the subject of many tales of the Genesis heyday, but it is not a great game. The play control is shoddy, and the gameplay is flawed (partially as a result of the former). The cool idea basically goes to waste on a poor execution. The flaws may have been more tolerable in years gone by, but while some games hold up very well today, Mutant League Football does not.