Mystical Fighter (video game)

Mystical Fighter
Mystical Fighter North American box art
Developer(s)	Dreamworks INC.
Publisher(s)	Taito
Platform(s)	Sega Genesis
Genre(s)	Beat 'em up
Mode(s)	Single-player cooperative multiplayer

Mystical Fighter is a beat 'em up game. This game is known in Japan as Maō Renjishi. Maō literally means demon king in Japanese.

The story, designs, and characters are based on Japanese mythology. Like in most scrolling fighters, the player (who controls a kabuki) can use combos, flips and swings to fight against tough opponents. There is also a time limit, usually about forty seconds, for the player to finish the stage. If the time reaches zero before the player passes the stage it results in a defeat. Similar to Golden Axe, the player can use a special magic power, but instead of bottles the player must manually pick up scrolls. The more scrolls the player has, the stronger the magic attack will be, however if the player chooses to use this attack all the scrolls will be consumed.

Gameplay

Despite the time limit, the player will spend most of the time mashing mainly the A and B button while fighting three to five opponents at a time. There are also hidden bonus stages that can be accessed if the player approaches certain doors or rooms. These bonus stages depend on which level they are located in and contain either magic scrolls, items to increase the character's health bar, weapons, or a combination. The boss fights are often easier than regular enemies. There are also traps and holes that both the player or the enemies could fall in if they are not careful. The traps and pits do not always hinder the player, and in fact can be beneficial if the player throws an enemy directly into the pit.