MAZIN WARS
Original Release: Vic Tokai, 1993, Genesis
A MazinSaga-based beat-em-up that cobbles in Street Fighter boss battles, Mazin Wars is a very mixed bag and often frustrating
Mazin Wars (Genesis, Vic Tokai, 1993)
Where to Buy: Amazon
How to Emulate: coming soon!
Review by: C. M0use
Despite the enduring popularity of "giant robo" stuff in Japan, and the preponderance of beat-em-ups in the late 80s to mid-90s, you don't really see the two put together all that often. There were occasional tilts at it, though, such as Mazin Wars here. Based on the long-running Mazinger manga/anime series, you navigate beat-em-up levels at normie size then Make Your Monster Grow and fight a boss robot in a more Street Fighter style at the end of each.
The game's big gimmick is that the boss, who starts out in giant form, usually harasses you with their giant limbs in some way throughout the levels. For example the first guy tries to stomp you with his foot in level 1-1, and then you'll have to contend with his gropings to close level 1-3 before fighting him on equal footing. Vic Tokai basically ripped this gimmick off from Tecmo Knight/Wild Fang, but it was a lot less obnoxious there than it was here. It's hard to line up with the bosses' giant limbs properly to hit them, though they get generous hitboxes in smacking YOU for big damage, and some of the sequences take crackerjack timing with loss of a life if you get hit by them just a couple of times.
I was already tired of the game after the first boss and his grabby hands. Everything else about the game seems to have been shortchanged to focus on these visual effects, but they long ago ceased to be impressive. Watching video and seeing that a number of later bosses do pretty much the same routine really didn't inspire me with the will to go past Level 2. It's also one of those licensed titles that has virtually no in-game story, apparently expecting you to already be familiar with whatever manga or anime arc this is based on. The Street Fighter boss battles are doable, but kinda jank and seem cobbled in just because fighting games were all the rage at the time.
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