Mutant Football League: Dynasty Edition

Overall, it just feels like there are a lot of missed opportunities in Mutant Football League: Dynasty Edition. The gameplay certainly works, but there's really nothing all that spectacular about it. The violence is there, but it just feels tame even in comparison to a bloodless 20-year-old competitor. The game modes are all genre-standard, but there's really nothing to separate it from a normal sports game. The aesthetics are cool, but there really aren't any differences between players and races apart from cosmetics. It's punny, but not really all that funny. It's a game that's ultimately dragged down by too many buts to really stand out and make a name for itself.

It's a crying shame - not to mention an almost unbelievable situation - that Mutant Football League: Dynasty Edition is currently the only American football game on Switch; Nintendo fans certainly deserve much, much better. Due to the annoying 'dirty tricks' system and unpredictable field changes, the experience leads to many cheap situations which, while mixing things up, don't make the game fun to play. It has the over-the-top aggression of its spiritual forerunner - 1993's Mutant League Football - and a sizable amount of content, but it's simply not an enjoyable experience after a few games, even when a second person is involved. As a result, you'll quickly give up and wish you had a proper gridiron experience to play on your Switch. If you loved the Mega Drive original and crave an American Football game more than anything else in the world then you may extract some pleasure from this release, but everyone else should avoid like an incoming linebacker.

Mutant Football League: Dynasty Edition is a respectable spiritual successor to a legendary game.

An Average Sports Title with a Twist

Despite the game’s crude commentary, it can be an enjoyable experience, and there is a lot to enjoy from the game’s terrific presentation. Those who dread skill being undermined by luck may find the game a tad bit frustrating, however.

Mutant Football League: Dynasty Edition brings with it some small improvements over the base game by including a mode that adds increased longevity over its standard Season, but fails in the beginning to be engaging due to the lack of balance between the player's starting footballers against the rest of the league's teams.

Mutant Football League isn't your ordinary game of football.  Player deaths, field hazards, and dirty tricks make this a unique game from others that take place on the gridiron.  If you're not a fan of the Dirty Tricks mechanic or are okay with your team being preset instead of drated, then you might not enjoy Dynasty Mode as much, but with Exhibition, Season, and Playoff modes playable without them or several other options, Mutant Football League is still an entertaining game on its own.

It's clear Dynasty should be and even still is the best way to play Mutant Football League, but it's a patch or two away from being what fans would really want it to be. Currently, it's a great idea dragged down by poor implementation.

Mutant Football League is a fun game loaded with action, over the top, ass-kicking, football. Though limited on features the Dynasty Edition adds some great replay if the game interests you at all. The niche of gamers MFL is aimed at should have a lot of fun while sports game fans may enjoy the depth of playbook and such, it may be too much to play.

With this garden variety of irreverent zaniness under its belt, Mutant Football League offers a tantalizing alternative for football fans that are tired of Madden or fans of arcade titles looking for some quick action. Mutant Football League sticks an irreverent spike into football's vanilla veins; it gives the sport's tired metagame a much desired shot in the arm. While I doubt those that are genuinely uninterested in football will enjoy Mutant Football League, players with a passing interest in the sport will most certainly find something to enjoy.