Mutant Football League Review

Developed by: Digital Dreams Entertainment LLC

Published by: Digital Dreams

Release Date: Oct 30, 2018

Reviewed for Switch

The Madden series has dominated football games for over 20 years now; it’s tough to stand out in a shadow like that especially when you don’t have rights to any team currently playing in the NFL. Games have been made before trying to encapsulate a football-style game with no direct ties to the NFL, but they never seem to have much success well Mutant Football League has come back and plans on filling that NFL Street sized hole in your heart.

The days of a competitive sports game market are long gone it seems, everyone has their corner. 2K has Basketball, Sony San Diego has Baseball, and EA has Football, Soccer, and to some degree hockey. So making a dent in any sports gaming market can be tough, and it gets even tougher when you don’t have the rights to the league itself. That’s what makes Mutant Football League so impressive. It takes me back to a time in which arcade sports games was all there was. And instead of going the severe route MFL goes all in on campiness. Instead of the Cleveland Browns vs. Atlanta Falcons, it’s the Leaveland Burns vs. Deadlanta Vultures. And since there is no All-Pro Quarter Back Aaron Rodgers, he’s been replaced with Airbourne Dodgers

MFL looks impressive on the handheld switch, less so when you hook it up to a TV but still serviceable for what the game is trying to get across. Each field and arena has its traps and gimmicks that separate one another. Things like spikes or acid pits work like another layer of defenders trying to prevent your traversal down the field. The graphics themselves are somewhat simplistic, but each has their flair for what position they play. The care and attention put into the player’s abilities and teams are very apparent, and it was not something I was expecting. Gameplay is simplistic and works how you’d think it’s very plotting and forgiving but can be fun when things start to break down which happens often.

Play style is simple, and it works, I sometimes complain that Madden doesn’t have enough variety in its playbooks. Well, too much Variety might hurt this game you shouldn’t need to be Sean McVay to understand this game. You want to run right, then go. You want to pass deep, go ahead. And watch out if you go to risky your best players might end up dead. That’s right, your players can die, and you can’t resurrect them until the current game has ended.

Among the many other quirks in this game is Dirty Tricks. Things like Bribing or attacking the ref, fake punts, overpowering a single player for one play. Stuff like that can turn blowouts into competitive games in the snap of a finger not to mention the longer the field goal, the more points you get. But like most other sports games, MFL struggles when it comes to its play by play; In most cases, sports games have very vanilla sportscasters. Well, in this case, they’re vanilla and not very funny. Pretty early on in my playthrough, I would end up just muting them until the game ended. It’s that extra effort of trying to be funny that verges on cringe-worthy at times.

Everything from story modes to Destiny style overworlds have invaded today’s sports games, well this game is an exception it’s just a fun arcade-style football game set in the style of hell. No virtual currency, no longshots, no road to the show. Just a throwback football game with enough twists to keep things intresting.