Monster Maulers (Arcade) Playthrough - NintendoComplete

A playthrough of Konami's 1993 arcade fighting game Monster Maulers.

Played through as Kotetsu on the machine's default difficulty level.

Monster Maulers is a game that was released at the height of the worldwide versus-fighting game craze, and though it is a fighting game, it's quite different from the likes of Street Fighter II, Fatal Fury, or Mortal Kombat.

Many of the fights are one-on-one and special moves can be done with the classic Hadouken quarter-circle motion, but it is more of a "boss rush" style game than a versus-fighter. Think of it as sharing a genre with Red Earth, Alien Soldier, or Street Fighter 2010, and you're in the ballpark.

The centerpiece here is not the gameplay, though, however well executed it may be. So what carrot does Konami so temptingly dangle to draw you over to the Monster Maulers machine?

Superheroes and giant rubber-suited monsters, of course! Monster Maulers is an unabashed love letter to tokusatsu staples of the 70s and 80s, and Konami went all-out to get it right. The graphics are beautifully animated, the sound is cheesy and heroic, the monsters are nasty, and best of all: it has a full, vocal theme song sung by Shimon Masato, a super-famous singer (well, in Japan anyway) who did theme songs for many classic tokusatsu films and shows. (You can hear it at 12:22). The entire game looks and sounds exactly the way you'd expect it to, and it's awesome.

And if you'd to hear the full song on it's own, I've translated the whole thing into English and subtitled it - here you go!    • ♫FIGHT! DADANDARN (Monster Maulers Theme) ...  

There are also a couple of neat shout outs to other Konami IPs throughout - you fight the eyeball boss from Salamander, a Moai head and the dragons from Gradius, among others.

Like Blanka. And Dr. Zaius cosplaying as Sentinel. Seriously, what is this? Hahaha, it's so bizarre, and I love it.

The gameplay system works extremely well, and given the speed that it plays at, I'm glad that they didn't overcomplicate the controls. At your disposal are three base attacks (weak, medium, and strong), two special moves (requiring SF2-like inputs), and a multitude of throws. Everything chains together nicely into combos, and the game's flow is surprisingly smooth once you get into the rhythm of its timing. It's not an easy game at first, but as you learn the strategies for each fight, you'll find yourself more and more easily being able to finish it. A single credit clear is a reasonable challenge here - it'll take some effort, but it doesn't require inhuman reflexes or psychic ability - just a good sense pattern recognition.

Unfortunately, Monster Maulers was a giant commercial bust, both in America and Japan. Maybe it was doomed from the start because it wasn't patterned after Street Fighter II, but whatever the reason, it's a real shame. It's unconventional, but Monster Maulers is very well made in all respects, and it can proudly hold its (rubbery, deformed) head high while sitting alongside the likes of Metamorphic Force, Violent Storm, Gaiapolis, and Mystic Warriors.

So Konami, how about a home port in one of those fancy collections you've been releasing lately? The game is 26 years old - isn't it about time that you gave it some love?
_
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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