Mutant League Football was a 1993 title originally released on the Sega Genesis. Designed using the Madden ’93 engine, the game pitted teams of aliens, skeletons, super humans, robots, and trolls against each other in a perfectly normal game of football. Well, if normal football included toxic waste, landmines, and accidental referee deaths.
The game developed a cult following over the years and was re-released for the PSP in 2006 as part of EA Replay. For a while, it seemed like the game had run its course. Then in 2013, a Kickstarter launched for Mutant Football League, a remake of the classic designed by the original lead developer Michael Mendheim. It flopped, coming nowhere near its original target goal.
Mendheim and his team at Digital Dreams Entertainment went back to the drawing board, and after four years, they returned to Kickstarter with new specs and new promises. In February of last year they launched their new Kickstarter, and this time, it worked.
Calling itself the “spiritual successor to the retro classic Mutant League Football,” the Kickstarter raised $138,000, surpassing its modest $60,000 goal. The game launched for PC in October, boasting updated graphics, more polished gameplay, and a host of new player name puns updated to reflect the current stars in American football.
Now Mendheim has announced an official release date to bring mutant football back to its home on console. On January 19, Mutant Football League will release for Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
If that wasn’t exciting enough, a free update will launch shortly after, adding a new game mode. The new mode will allow players to take control of a single team over multiple seasons, allowing them to build the team up from the lowest ranking to league champions. This new Dynasty mode will let players customize their team, letting the CPU dole out experience points and rewards, or diving into their roster to do it themselves.
It has been a long journey to bring this game back to its small but dedicated fanbase. Mendheim isn’t slowing down there, and he has plans to keep working to make it the best possible game he can. Interested players who can’t stand to wait a couple weeks can check out Mutant Football League now on Steam.