Tag Team Match: M.U.S.C.L.E. (NES) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
218A playthrough of Bandai's 1986 NES game, Tag Team Match: M.U.S.C.L.E.
The game has no ending, and begins to loop after all eight opponents have been fought across four matches. I played through three loops in this video using Ashura Man (the Ashura statue guy with two faces) and Ramen Man (the guy with the Fu Manchu mustache).
Tag Team Match: M.U.S.C.L.E. was quite an early release for the NES. It's actually a retooling of a Famicom game based on the Kinnikuman manga - the same franchise that the Gamecube game Ultimate Muscle was based on. The slight facelift that the game received for America took on a new license - that of the M.U.S.C.L.E. action figure line (anyone remember those fleshy colored wrestler action figures?).
The game itself is as simple as things get, but the simplicity is what makes it so fun to play with friends. There is a jump button and an attack button - that's it - and the moves play out based on where you are in relation to your opponent, allowing for some basic grapples, whips, and the all important super-move if you collect the flashing ball that flies across the screen.
I love the look of the game. It's incredibly primitive, but it's so stylized that you can help but appreciate some of these designs. The characters are also pretty hilarious - so many stereotypes are abused here. The three different ring types also change up the appearance - the standard ring, the ice rink, and the "electrified" ring all look quite distinct from one another - even if the "electricity" is nothing more than a seizure-inducing strobe of yellow and brown.
This is not something to play if you want complexity - but it does make for a good half-hour of messing about with a buddy. I always had fun with it!
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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