Mazin Saga: Mutant Fighter (Genesis) Playthrough
794A playthrough of Vic Tokai's 1993 license-based beat 'em up/fighting game for the Sega Genesis, Mazin Saga: Mutant Fighter.
Played through on the normal difficulty level.
Mazin Saga: Mutant Fighter is based on the manga MazinSaga by Go Nagai (the legend behind Mazinger and Cutie Honey) which was a spin-off of the Mazinger-Z series.
In the far flung future of 1999, alien invaders led by Godkaiser Hell have obliterated human civilization. Professor Koji, a brilliant scientist that survived the attack, has developed a suit of "bio-armor" to fight back. He puts his son Koji into the suit, and Koji becomes humanity's last hope: the Mazinger-Z.
Mazin Saga is part belt-scrolling brawler, part one-on-one versus fighter. In each of the first five stages, you strut your armor-plated rear-end around destroyed cityscapes as you lay waste to hordes of invading minions. The gameplay is similar in style to games like Streets of Rage and Golden Axe, and between your combos, jump attacks, and dash maneuvers, you have a wide range of attacks at your disposal. The combat is smooth, the controls are easy, and the bizarre variety of monsters make these stages a real joy to play.
When you reach a boss, the game switches to its versus-fighting mode, and the Mazinger-Z grows to mammoth proportions so that it may engage the enemy toe-to-toe a la Street Fighter II. Unfortunately, this mode falls well short of the high expectations set by the brawling portions. There are no special moves or combos, the action plays out at a snail's pace, the controls are cumbersome, and you're virtually required to cheese the ultra-cheap AI to win. Even worse is that the entire sixth stage is a boss rush that comprises about a quarter of the game's overall play time.
If you look into who made the game, this split might make a bit more sense. There was a lot of high-power talent involved in its production, but the majority of the game's development was handled by Almanic. Before Mazin Saga, Almanic worked on Enix's EVO games and Treco's Fighting Masters, and they would later go on to create the 32X fighter Cosmic Carnage. Mazin Saga's 1v1 fighting mechanics feel like a half-way point between Fighting Masters and Cosmic Carnage.
And it's a damn shame that the game's design is so uneven, because Mazin Saga has a lot going for it. The graphics are outstanding - the animation is silky smooth, the characters and backgrounds sport an impressive amount of detail, and there are some striking uses of color. Just check out stage 5-3's dramatic sunset at 33:00! The sound is good, too. The drum and voice samples are distorted and scratchy, but the tunes themselves are catchy and energetic.
If not for the boss battles, Mazin Saga would be one of the best beat 'em ups on the Genesis, and if not for the beat 'em up sections, Mazin Saga would be one of the worst fighting games on the Genesis. If it looks interesting to you, I'd suggest trying it out - just don't build your hopes up too much.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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