1993 · Electronic Arts · American football · Post-apocalyptic

Mutant Speed Demons

Sega exclusive

Anything can happen when the most awesome mutants battle to prove who rules the galactic gridiron. 16 vicious teams of aliens, robots, trolls, skeletons and super-humans. Set the "Death Index" from Rough, all the way up to Annihilation. Call wild plays or nasty audibles - when the QB throws a bomb, it's the real thing!

Released: 10 September 1993
Platforms: Sega Genesis
Genres: American football Post-apocalyptic Sports
Developers: Electronic Arts
Publishers: Electronic Arts
Modes: Multiplayer Single-player
Perspective: Bird view / Isometric
Themes: Science fiction Comedy
Country: United States
Languages: English
Composers: Brian L. Schmidt

About

Mutant League Football is a video game that was originally released in 1993 for the Sega Genesis. The game was designed using the John Madden Football '93 engine, and features a different take on gridiron football, where it resembles a war as much as a sporting competition.

A year later, the same team applied similar concepts to the sport of ice hockey to create Mutant League Hockey. An animated TV series based around the games, Mutant League, aired from July 1994 to February 1996, while a spiritual successor, Mutant Football League was released in 2017.

Keywords

aliens
soccer
football
post-apocalyptic
murder
robots
apocalypse
undead
mutants
tournament
trolls
skeletons

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The game deviates from usual football simulations in several ways. It most notably takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where radiation has caused the human race to mutate and the dead to rise from the grave. The instruction manual states that the exact causes of the upheaval have been lost or corrupted, due to (among many things) the chaos of an alien invasion, spin control, a sloppy filing system set up by a temp, and what appears to be barbecue sauce.

Landmines, fire pits, and other hazards (such as areas being open to empty space) litter the field, which can be made of rock, ice, or even toxic waste or rubber. Players can lose health or die during the run of play which will cause them to fumble. Teams have special Nasty Audibles, which are dirty, violent tricks such as exploding balls, invisibility, electric shocks, jet packs, or tackling the other quarterback with the intent to kill. All of this can result in large gains and/or horrific casualties. Killing enough players causes an opposing team to forfeit.

Legacy

This game was followed by a spin-off titled Mutant League Hockey. A basketball game, Mutant League Basketball, was in development, but was never released. These games were also used as the basis for an animated series called Mutant League, which aired from 1994 to 1996. Another spin-off, Mutant Speed Demons, was planned, but never released. However, a non-working prototype was found in 2009.

The game inspired a one-off series in the British children's comic Sonic the Comic. The story, entitled "Bring Me the Head of Coach Brikka", was written by Steve White and Brian Williamson, with art by Williamson and Anthony Williams, and ran for six parts in 1994.