Mystical Fighter
From Sega Retro
| |||||||||||||||
| Mystical Fighter | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| System(s): Sega Mega Drive | |||||||||||||||
| Publisher: DreamWorks (US), Taito (JP) | |||||||||||||||
| Developer: KID | |||||||||||||||
| Genre: Action[1] | |||||||||||||||
| Number of players: 1-2 | |||||||||||||||
|
Mystical Fighter, known in Japan as Maou Renjishi (魔王連獅子), is a 1991 Sega Mega Drive beat-'em-up by KID. During development, the North American version was known as Kabuki.
Contents
Story
Near the end of the Edo period, a group of people seeking to dominate the world of Kabuki mastered the forbidden Dark Kabuki arts and challenged the Kabuki leaders. The Kabuki leaders joined together and fought back, but their efforts were in vain. As they were about to succumb to the Dark Kabuki, the Kabuki leaders journeyed to Mount Fuji to break the sacred seal and release the legendary Mystical Fighters, the White Lion and Red Lion brothers. The brothers succeeded in punishing the Dark Kabuki bosses one after another until they had cornered the Dark Kabuki Lord, but he placed a magical curse on them and sealed them away in a cursed scroll. The Mystical Fighters must escape from the underworld and defeat the Dark Kabuki Lord.
Gameplay
The game is a belt-scrolling beat-'em-up set in Edo Japan. It can be played by one player alone or by two players simultaneously. Players control the kabuki-themed Mystical Fighters, the White Lion (player one) and the Red Lion (player two), and fight enemies such as ninjas, samurai, sumo wrestlers, and zombies as they try to escape the underworld and challenge the Dark Kabuki Lord. The second player can join at any time by pressing START on a second control pad.
The Mystical Fighters move in any direction on the ground plane using the D-Pad. They can roll along the ground by pressing 
or 
and continuing to hold the direction. They attack with punches by pressing 
and jump (by somersaulting) by pressing 
. They can attack while in midair for a jump kick or while rolling for a sliding kick. Walking up to an enemy automatically grab and lifts the enemy, then the enemy can be thrown by pressing . Jumping before throwing the enemy slams the enemy into the ground. Or the Mystical Fighter can grab the enemy for a spin throw by pressing when near the enemy. This causes the Mystical Fighter to spin the enemy around in a circle, which can knock down other enemies. The Mystical Fighter can move in any direction using the D-Pad while doing this and throw the enemy by pressing . This drains energy from the enemy but also from the Mystical Fighter slowly. Enemies can be thrown into pits to defeat them instantly.
Magical scrolls can be collected, which can then be used to perform a magic ability by pressing 
. Up to five scrolls can be held at once, and the magic ability performed depends on the number of scrolls that the player possesses (and always uses all of the scrolls available, so there is no means to perform a lower-level ability to save scrolls for later).
Each Mystical Fighter has an energy gauge that is depleted as he takes damage from foes. The energy gauge can be replenished and extended from collecting sushi items. Enemies also have energy gauges. A character is defeated and loses a life if he loses all of his energy, falls off the stage, or the time limit runs out, but he is revived in place if the player has extra lives left. The characters are momentarily invulnerable after being knocked down or revived. The game ends if the player runs out of lives but can be continued three times per player. Extra lives are awarded at 80,000 points, then every 120,000 points after that. There are two difficulty levels (Normal and Hard), and the player can set the number of starting lives (between 1 and 5). Completing the game on Hard unlocks an additional Expert difficulty level ("Yea Right!" in the Japanese version). The final stage can only be played on Hard and Expert.
Magical abilities
Magical abilities pause gameplay when cast and damage all the enemies on the screen. They can be performed by pressing after acquiring the requisite number of scrolls.
| Gong | |
|---|---|
| Drops a giant gong and strikes it. Costs 1 scroll. | |
| Lightning | |
| Calls down three lightning strikes. Costs 2 scrolls. | |
| Earthquake | |
| Causes an earthquake that shakes the screen. Costs 3 scrolls. | |
| Snowstorm | |
| Conjures a blizzard. Costs 4 scrolls. | |
| Ghost Warrior | |
| Summons the wind god Fuujin. Costs 5 scrolls. |
Items
Items are picked up by pressing while standing near one.
| Crate | |
|---|---|
| Items are sometimes found in crates, which must be attacked to break them open. | |
| Sushi | |
| Restores lost energy, which can extend the energy gauge if the Mystical Fighter is already near full energy. Energy gauge extensions are not permanent, as the Mystical Fighter starts with the standard amount of energy whenever reviving or starting a new stage. | |
| Scroll | |
| Collects a scroll that can be used to perform a magical ability. Up to 5 scrolls can be held by a player at a time. The magical ability performed depends on how many scrolls the Mystical Fighter is holding. | |
| Fan | |
| Equips a folding fan that can be thrown like a boomerang. It can be retrieved again by timing a punch to catch it when it returns. | |
| Jitte | |
| Equips a jitte that extends the range of the Mystical Fighter's punches. |
Stages
| Stage 1 | |
|---|---|
| Stage 2 | |
| Stage 3 | |
| Stage 4 | |
| Stage 5 | |
| Stage 6 | |
| This stage is only playable on the Hard and Expert difficulty levels. Players must fight most of the bosses in the game again. |
Versions
Localised names
| Language | Localised Name | English Translation |
|---|---|---|
| English (US) | Mystical Fighter | Mystical Fighter |
| Japanese | 魔王連獅子 | Maou Renjishi |
Production credits
Japanese version
- Director: Hosoda Kuniharu
- Graphic Designer: Makio Kataoka, Ikechan, Ichiro Kanno, Masataka Fukunishi, No More Katoh, Hirokazu Hiraiwa
- Game Designer: Wao Iwao, M Kataoka, Hosoda Kuniharu, Yu Jeu
- Sound: Kaneda
- Debug: Kimura, Kiso, Saitho, Kusunoki, Matsuda, Oohhara, Kanno
- Special Thanks: Hisayoshi Ichikawa, Shintaro, Kido, Zenchan, S Usui, Tensai Inochan, G Baba, Genchan, H Terumi, Samejima, Hatano, Y Horikoshi
- Programmer: Ueki
US version
- Director: Hosoda Kuniharu
- Graphic Designer: Makio Kataoka, Ikechan, Ichiro Kanno, Masataka Fukunishi, No More Katoh, Hirokazu Hiraiwa
- Game Designer: Wao Iwao, M Kataoka, Hosoda Kuniharu, Yu Jeu
- Sound: Kaneda
- Special Thanks: Hisayoshi Ichikawa, Zenchan, S Usui, Tensai Inochan, G Baba, H Terumi, Y Horikoshi, Mark Tsuji, Mr Shimauchi
- Programmer: Ueki
Magazine articles
- Main article: Mystical Fighter/Magazine articles.
Promotional material
- Main article: Mystical Fighter/Promotional material.
Physical scans
| Sega Retro Average | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
 |
67 |
|---|---|
| Based on 24 reviews | |
| Mega Drive, JP |
|---|
 Cover
|
  Cart  Manual |
| Mega Drive, US |
|---|
 Cover
|
 Cart  Manual |
Technical information
- Main article: Mystical Fighter/Technical information.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://sega.jp/history/hard/megadrive/software_l.html (Wayback Machine: 2020-07-02 23:21)
- ↑ GamePro, "April 1992" (US; 1992-xx-xx), page 24
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 GamePro, "June 1992" (US; 1992-xx-xx), page 22
- ↑ File:Maou Renjishi MD credits.pdf
- ↑ File:Mystical Fighter MD credits.pdf
- ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 155
- ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 149
- ↑ Ação Games, "Abril 1992" (BR; 1992-04-xx), page 34
- ↑ Aktueller Software Markt, "Februar 1992" (DE; 1992-01-10), page 130
- ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "November 1991" (JP; 1991-10-08), page 37
- ↑ Consoles +, "Novembre 1991" (FR; 1991-11-07), page 66
- ↑ Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 131
- ↑ Famitsu, "1991-11-01" (JP; 1991-10-18), page 39
- ↑ Games-X, "7th-13th November 1991" (UK; 1991-11-07), page 36
- ↑ Game Zone, "January 1992" (UK; 1991-12-18), page 59
- ↑ Hippon Super, "December 1991" (JP; 1991-11-05), page 89
- ↑ Joypad, "Décembre 1991" (FR; 1991-11-19), page 76
- ↑ Joystick, "Décembre 1991" (FR; 1991-1x-xx), page 158
- ↑ Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "November 1992" (UK; 1992-xx-xx), page 78
- ↑ Mega Drive Fan, "January 1992" (JP; 1991-12-07), page 101
- ↑ Mega, "January 1993" (UK; 1992-12-17), page 54
- ↑ Micro News, "Décembre 1991" (FR; 1991-1x-xx), page 205
- ↑ Sega Power, "February 1993" (UK; 1993-01-07), page 48
- ↑ Sega Pro, "December 1991" (UK; 1991-11-21), page 65
- ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 66
- ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 86
- ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 100
- ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 176
| Mystical Fighter | |
|---|---|
|
Main page | Comparisons | Maps | Hidden content | Magazine articles | Reception | Promotional material | Region coding | Technical information | Bootlegs | |
