Mazin Saga / Mazin Wars

Here's a game I only knew about after browsing game FAQs. I was unaware that I was somewhat familiar with the Manga which Mazin Saga was based upon. In the late 70's and Early 80's, various animes were licensed with often trimmed down story lines for countries outside of Japan with re dubbed voices. One of which was broadcast on a local UHF channel in the mid 80's as Tranzor Z.  

Before that, Boston station 25 had run 2 weekly series entitled Starblazers, ( Space Battleship Yamato ), and Force Five. This was a showcase of five different shows that were shown once a week. Danguard Ace on Mondays, Starvengers on Tuesday, Space Keteers on Wednesday, Grandizer on Thursdays, and Gai King on Friday. Very few stations across the U.S. picked these series up. As far as I know, Only New England and Virginia area's ran them. Tranzor Z was an earlier series, but ran later in New England. Oddly enough, Tranzor Z and Grandizer were part of the same storyline but you'd never know it as a kid watching these after American censors and translations butchered up the story lines good and proper.

      Mazin Saga: Mutant Fighter, as it was titled in Japan and the U.S. or Mazin Wars in Europe is a side scrolling beat 'em up with a 2D fighting twist. The story takes place in 1999, ( as so many games from that time period predicted the end of mankind )  where the Earth is apparently turned into a toxic wasteland by weapons used  by the Bio-Beast Force led by Kaiser Hell....Okay sure, I'll buy that.

  You fight your way rightward for five stages around the world against a very good selection of enemies, all with unique attacks and characteristics from wielding swords, throwing grenades, lasers, flame throwers to giant insects. As Mazinger you have at your disposal a sword and a variety of attacks to dispatch your mutant foes from simple sword slashes, to jumping kicks, rapid blade swings, dashes, and mid air 360 sword spins. Also at your disposal is a special move that is very effective at clearing away nearby enemies, however it drains away a portion of your life bar. 

    Power ups are far and few between. There are a large and small health restore, invincibility, 1 ups, and a jewel and gold that do nothing other than add points to your score. You can change the difficulty from 3 settings but the hardest will begin to test your patience.

      Control is responsive and hit detection is some of the best for the 16 bit machine. The graphics are well done as well with amazingly detailed sprites. The first couple of minutes in, it's obvious care was put into this title. Most licensed games are not that fortunate. Backgrounds and settings are well done and sound effects are on par with what the game is trying to put across. The only gripe one may have is the music, as for what it tries for, a drum heavy anthemic atmosphere, they sound distorted. Minor gripe at best though.

    The Beat 'em Up sections are fun, but fairly short. Each are broken up into 3 sections that nicely vary so one stage isn't the same backgrounds for the entire stage. Some sections require more running and making platform jumps but these sections aren't too difficult and help to vary up the experience. After those you have a smaller Boss battle that leads into the 2D fighting aspect of the game, the true Boss for that level. This is why there is no co op mode and this is also where the game falls apart for most people.

     The first thing you'll notice about the Boss round, is how gorgeous and fluid the sprites are. As I mentioned earlier, care was obviously put into this cart. There's not too many games on the Genesis /  Mega Drive that can boast this. It looks so good for the system, it might take your head out of the game for a few brief moments.

The fluids graphics in these sections may feel as if they've drained away at the game play as here controls become a little stiff. Your battery of moves are few compared to the scrolling stages and all enemies have a longer attack range and projectile weapons while you are only given your sword and the ability to block. These battles can become frustrating until you develop a strategy for each boss, but nothing that should make you throw the game pad across the room.

One you've completed all five stages, you then have to complete a Boss Run, facing off against all five bosses again one after another in a row until you've finally reached the end of the game. To keep some of the repetitive nature away from the Boss Run, newer backgrounds are used and is a nice touch.

Fans of Mazinger will want to check this out just for it's namesake, however fans of beat 'em ups should find Mazin Saga feeds their appetite even if it does lack any 2 player co op action. The 2D fighting action without a doubt could have used a bit more polish but it's far from being broken or the games' downfall that some other reviewers claim it to be. If this game were solely a beat 'em up or 2D fighter trying to stand on it's own, then this would be a forgettable title. Seeing that it does a competent job of combining a few elements alongside some very impressive graphics and a cool license, Mazin Saga carries more to it than an idle curiosity.