Last month, RGM’s Carl Williams brought you the news of Mutant Football League, the long-awaited upcoming remake of the 1993 Sega Genesis classic Mutant League Football. Digital Dreams Entertainment LLC Creative Director/Lead Design Michael Mendheim, also the creator and lead designer of the original game, spoke to RGM’s Colby Primeaux about the game, it’s response at PAX Prime in Seattle last month and the future of the franchise.

Be sure to check out more artwork and screenshots from Mutant Football League at our sister site, Gravis Ludus.

Retro Gaming Magazine: It’s been 22 years since Mutant League Football was released and people have been clamoring for more ever since. Why have you decided to bring these monsters back to life and why now?

Michael Mendheim: Because we’re all bored. There’s only one football game and it comes out year after year and that’s all there is. It’s a great game but it’s a complicated game. There’s nothing new or different in this specific genre. Mutant Football League is a perfect diversion for players looking for something completely unique that’s easy and fun to play. This is football resurrected. We going to put some life back into football video games by adding death and dismemberment. The theme is the same, but the game we’re building is very different than the original Mutant League Football. It plays faster and is more intense. It’s a bit like NFL Blitz, but with monsters, chainsaws, deaths, and buckets of blood. However the humor and wit of the original remains intact. It’s our game’s soul. The game is being built on Unity for PC/Steam, Xbox One, and PS4.

RGM: Aside from the obvious technological advances made in the last two decades, what will be the biggest difference between MLF and MFL?

MM: The biggest change will be the visual presentation. The original was a 16-bit game with a top down view, passing windows, and 2D Sprites for characters. This game is in full 3D, with dynamic lighting, different sized characters, dismemberment, ragdoll physics, particle effects, and Dolby sound. There are no passing windows anymore. The entire visual presentation from the original game will be unique. We’re putting lot of love and passion into the visual effects because it’s what makes us unique from every other sports game.

First and foremost, we’re designing this game to be a fun multiplayer game. You can play this game online with up to four players cooperatively or competitively. You can also play multiplayer offline, locally in the living room with your friends, and that’s how it’s meant to played – sitting next to your friends on the couch, knocking down a few beers, and laughing when you explode apart their all-star quarterback with a brutal hit. The game will deliver fun, laughs, and complete outrageousness. It’s not uncommon for the ball to be turned over three or four times during a single play.

The big feature is full season mode, where players will be able to compete in a 13-game season, and deaths carry over from game to game (there will be an option to not have deaths carry over). And of course “Gridiron Karnage” which includes character dismemberment – players can lose arms, legs, and even their heads! So when the chainsaw comes out you better run fast. These are the features our community has asked for and these are the feature we’re going to deliver.

Our community is actively involved in the design direction of the game and we are doing everything in our power to deliver the game they want to play. Obviously we have to keep the scope of the game manageable so we can actually deliver it. We currently have only four dedicated full time people working on the game (including myself), but our credit list will be long because our community is so involved in the design of the game. They are helping us determine our features, teams, music, characters, weapons, fields… everything really. Without their help and support we wouldn’t be here.

RGM: One of the great things about the original game is that, despite the violent and outlandish aspects of the game, it was still really good football. Is the competitive level still as important this time around?

Exclusive to RGM Concept Art

MM: Yes, of course it is. The game has to be a really good football game at its core. This is critical. The AI has to be smart and use sound football logic when playing. We’re not there yet, obviously, but it’s something we’re working towards and every day the A.I. gets a little bit better. I’m very involved with the design of the AI logic and write all the algorithms for offensive and defensive strategies, what they do based on down and distance, score, time remaining, number of surviving players on the roster, etc. I can promise everyone that this game won’t cheat on you though, well that’s not quite right, you can bribe the ref and he will cheat on you, until you kill him, but what I mean is there won’t be suspicious turnovers in the game to keep things artificially close. If you have a lead because you are better you should be able to retain that lead providing you can keep your players alive.

The original game had a lot of gamers who enjoyed playing it, who otherwise despise sports games. They really don’t care about sound football logic or even the score because they play the game their own way. The score could be 55 to zero and it is of no concern to them whatsoever because they don’t care about score. They only care about decimating the other team so ruthlessly that by the time the final two-minute warning sounds in the 4th quarter they are a death or two from causing a forfeit. They play a resource management game, not football, and they have a lot of fun playing this way. Their strategy is to systemically kill the opposing team’s players, to the point that they can no longer field a team. So in addition to sound football logic, there are a lot of different aspects the A.I. must take into account such as fields with dangerous hazards like landmines and fire pits, players who carry weapons and of course referees who can be bribed.

RGM: You recently showed the game at PAX Prime. What was the response from those who saw it?

MM: I want to personally thank all the fans who came out to see and play the product. I also want to thank Chad Nimmo, a core fan who also handles our social media. He flew out on his dime to help me run the booth. The support of the fans (and there were many) meant the world to us. PAX Prime was very enlightening. You have to understand we are a very small indie developer. We don’t have a lot of money or resources (we’re currently self-funding this game). It has been a really hard road for us, an uphill battle the entire way. We had a very small booth at PAX with a 32” monitor, a speaker, and one Alienware laptop to show the game (that’s all we had because every penny we have is going into the development of the game). We were surrounded by other booths with walls of 120” monitors and lavish displays. When I was setting up, it was rather humiliating.

On day one the fans of the original game showed up. They sat down and played and when they experienced their first death, their jaws dropped and they let out a huge laugh. You have to understand the reason we went to PAX was to show our community and the press that the game exists. It is in development. No smoke and mirrors. Here it is, sit down, and play. Our goal was to watch people play and get their feedback. Our game is in mid-development. We’re still about six months from alpha so we showed the game with all its bugs and warts and believe me at this stage of development, the game has a lot of bugs and warts, some of them cringe worthy. Regardless of that, we received a big thumbs up from the core fan base. They found the game relatively easy to play and thought the controls felt good. They said, the overall visual quality was strong and the general direction of the game was on the mark. They also let us know what wasn’t working and contributed a wealth of new ideas. We also had a lot of press stop by for live interviews, needless to say, we had a very crowded booth.

On the last two days, the magic happened. The younger kids started checking out the indie projects. Most of those gamers spend the first few days checking out the big marquee games and then slowly make their way up to the indie booths. They saw the mayhem taking place on our display and stopped. These are gamers from ages 13 to 24 who have never even heard of the original game. They wanted to learn about the game and play it. As with our core fan base, they thought the controls were strong and had fun playing it. They were laughing and screaming and thought it was all very cool. I had a number of YouTubers tell me it was one of the most original games they saw at the show and when we get closer to alpha they will be covering it. At one point on the last day, we had two kids around 13 years old playing. We don’t have multiplayer yet, so they were playing against the AI, passing the controller (one kid was playing offense and the other defense). They were laughing and screaming. When they finished the game they wanted to play another game and I had to personally take the controller out of his hand so someone else who was waiting in line could play. At that moment, it occurred to me that a new generation of MFL players is no longer a hope, but can be a reality.

The response we received at PAX Prime restored my faith and confidence in the project and confirmed that we were on the right track. We’re going to go to more shows. The feedback we received is priceless and we’re still early enough in development where that player feedback can actually be implemented into the game.

RGM: Any chance of an update to Mutant League Hockey or any other Mutant League sports?

MM: I always answer this question the same way. We need to completely focus our energy, passion, and dedication on only one thing – making this football game great. If we can do that than the rest of the pieces will fall into place.

RGM: Is there a tentative release date?

MM: It will be done when it’s done. We get only one chance at this and we have to do it right. Feels like we are still a year out with our current team size, but we’ve been actively looking for publisher or investment funding so we can grow our team and complete the game sooner. We’ve come very close to signing a deal, but in the end it didn’t materialize because it would’ve hurt the potential of the brand in the long term. We’ll keep fighting though, and if we really need financial help we can always do another Kickstarter. This time we’ll have a game to show and it will be on the platforms gamers want.

RGM: Is there anything else you’d like to say about the project that readers need to know?

MM: I would like to thank our community for all their support and help. Thank you!!!

The MFL community is helping us design the game they want to play. If this game sounds interesting to you, come be a part of it. You can join the MFL Fanatics Club at our website: www.MutantFootballLeague.com, or follow us on social media (investors like Facebook Likes):

Facebook – www.facebook.com/MutantFootballLeague

YouTube – www.youtube.com/c/mutantfootballleague

Twitter – @MutantFootball

Instagram – www.instagram.com/mutantfootball

Pinterest – www.pinterest.com/mutantfootball/

Colby Primeaux

While some might consider him young for the retro genre, Colby Primeaux has been playing video games since he was old enough to pick up a controller and eagerly seeks out games from before his time to study and appreciate. Primeaux is a sportswriter from Houston, TX.