Developer: Almanic Publisher: Vik Tokai Release: 1993 Genre: Action
This is one I have been meaning to get to for a long time. As in decades. I know, I know, it is embarrassing. Mazin Saga looked incredibly cool in EGM all those years ago yet for some reason I never did get around to playing it despite its availability. What can I say, some titles slip through the cracks. After finally giving it its just due the game is just as interesting now as it was then. Like Dynamite Headdy it surprised me in more ways than one. Mazin Saga has its flaws but overall I enjoyed it and wish I played it sooner.
In 1999 the Biobeast Forces, led by Godkaiser Hell execute a swift series of attacks on humanity. The invasion is a success and they destroy much of the Earth in the process. The remnants of humanity live underground and one survivor, Dr. Koji Kabuto creates the Mazinger-Z, a suit of armor that will allow him to fight the biobeasts on equal terms.
Mazin Saga is based on the short manga of the same name from Go Nagai. The series ran less than a year but it is easy to see why it was licensed; as part of the Mazinger line it has more creative monsters and giant robots than it knows what to do with. But even more than that I am surprised it was released in the US fully intact. This is an oddball one like Clash at Daemonhead that someone was willing to take a chance on. While I do not think it was a commercial success we got a cool game out of the deal.
Mazin Saga is a hybrid beat em up and fighting game. During the stages you engage enemies in fisticuffs like your typical brawler. Mazin has a decent selection of moves to keep the gameplay from becoming stale. Aside from the standard combo attack there is the rapid “wall of steel” sword thrusts, the downward stab, and a few throws. While dashing you can also perform a few attacks, the most powerful being the spinning slash. Unlike most brawlers there are few power-ups; aside from health and invincibility you will only find extra points. Temporary weapons would have been appreciated but I guess the designers assumed you have a sword, they were unnecessary.
What I appreciate about Mazin Saga the most is its pace. Even though this is a beat em up it moves along briskly. Enemies do not have visible life bars but go down quickly. Even with five bio beasts attacking it never becomes a slog. It is similar to the TMNT arcade games in that regard. The levels are of medium length and divided in to multiple segments. It even mixes things up with a few high speed platforming segments. Unlike the Double Dragon games here it is solid as the controls are snappy and sensibly laid out. Unfortunately the brutal end game boss rush causes the game to lose momentum as it focuses on my least favorite part of the game. You have to take the good with the bad I guess.
Once you reach a boss Mazin Saga turns in to a one on one fighting game. Unfortunately this is the weakest aspect of the game and drags it down. First of all forget any ideas you have of Street Fighter. This is the most basic fighting game you can imagine. You have a two special moves and a block but that is it. Meanwhile the bosses can throw projectiles and have insanely long reach. The life bars are long and these encounters drag on longer than they should. The difficulty is also extremely high and unfortunately the game pushes this mode on you, especially toward the end. The entire affair is clumsy rather than exciting and I think Mazin Saga would be far better without it. It sure does look cool, I will give it that. Style will only get you so far however.
This is a tough one and the difficulty spike comes out of left field. About midway through the game enemies deal incredibly large amounts of damage and the more frustrating types like clay people become more common. You will only find health restoring items once or twice per stage and the game desperately needs more. The boss battles are extremely difficult but that is due to the limited mechanics. Before the final boss you run a gauntlet of every boss in the game which is brutal. With the limited continues you will not finish this one in an evening. I wish the balance were better; it has the potential to be special.
In Closing
It took longer than I would like but Mazin Saga is every bit the game I thought it would be. The production values are high and the beat em sections are solid and fast. The difficulty spike and lackluster fighting mode bring it down a bit but this is the definition of a hidden gem.
