Michael
Mendheim was the brains behind Mutant League Football, a violent, super fun,
over the top football game for the Sega Genesis. It was remade for the PC,
PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Journalist and author Patrick
Hickey Jr. interviewed Mendheim for his Minds Behind the Games book
series. Here is that interview:
Michael Mendheim: I’ve always loved football and monsters. My favorite team is the
Chicago Bears also known as “the Monsters of the Midway” – Football and
monsters. That’s a game I wanted to play, only one problem. It didn’t exist, so
it had to be created.
Back in 1991, I pitched this idea to one of my
friends, Richard Robbins, who was a producer at Electronic Arts (he did the
Desert Strike series). He liked the idea and set up a meeting to pitch the game
to EA executives who made the product decisions. This included Trip Hawkins who
was the founder and CEO of the company at the time. I spent a few weeks
preparing a design and presentation, and then flew out to Redwood City. Trip
and a majority of the executives liked the idea, and the project was approved
with a modest budget.
Hickey Jr.: What
was development like?
Mendheim: Developing
the original game for the Sega
Genesis at Electronic Arts was a great experience with many ups and downs.
The original producer Richard Robbins, who championed the project, left the company
early in the game’s development. We had no producer. It was just me and about 6
other developers (artists and engineers) who were assigned to the project. We
worked without much oversite for about 9-12 months. At some point EA thought it
might be a good idea to put a seasoned producer on the project, and that was
Sam Nelson. He helped guide us across the finish line. Sam gave me a wealth of
knowledge on how to develop and produce games. It wasn’t always easy working
with him, but looking back, without him the game doesn’t ship.
Hickey Jr.: Any
hurdles or moments where you thought the game wasn’t going to come out?
Mendheim: We
were like salmon swimming up-stream the entire time. We had minimal support
initially, EA was going through major changes (Trip Hawkins had left the
company to start 3DO and there was serious restructuring going on). I worried
every day the game was going to get killed, but with everything going on, we
were lucky enough to fly under the radar for about 6 months. At some point
someone looked at the projects in development and said, what the hell is Mutant
League Football and who the hell is Michael Mendheim? I wasn’t an employee at
the company, but people who knew about the project also knew I was the guy
behind it. Lucky for us, by the time the big wigs reviewed the game it showed
enough fun factor and potential to survive. That’s when they brought Sam Nelson
on board.
Hickey Jr.: Some
argue that the game is more enjoyable than Madden 93 on the Sega, the game it uses
the engine of, how does that make you feel?
Mendheim: A
popular misconception is that we built the game on the John Madden Football
engine, which is incorrect. Our engineers built the Mutant League engine
themselves, although we did consult with some of the key people working on the
Madden games (Scott Orr and Richard Hilleman). Those early Madden Sega games
were fantastic. I don’t think Mutant League Football is in the same league with
them, but appreciate people’s love for the game. We did the best we could with
the resources we had.
Hickey Jr.: How
did you feel once it was released?
Mendheim: Relieved.
I had played the game so much that there was no objectivity left in me. The
game was fun to me, but it wasn’t clear if it was really fun or not. We had
semi-mixed reviews in the focus groups. Some people liked the game, others
didn’t. There was nothing like it in the market at the time, so it was one big
dice roll.
Hickey Jr.: What
was the initial reception like?
Mendheim: Someone
handed me a GamePro
magazine with the game review. I was afraid to read the review. Seriously, I
didn’t want to read it, but at the same time had to know and was relieved to
see GamePro liked the game and gave it a strong review. More reviews followed
and they were very good too. Then the game made the sales charts and ended up
in the #1 slot. People liked it. We had a hit game. All that hard work paid
off. It felt like a giant weight was lifted off of the team’s shoulders. EA
immediately put other mutant sports games into production. It was a really
great time.
Hickey Jr.: The
game produced a spin-off in Mutant League Hockey and a cartoon-
how do you feel that plays in the legacy of the game?
Mendheim: It
plays an important role concerning nostalgia and awareness, and influences some
of the design decisions we’ve made on the new game, but EA owns all rights to
the original Mutant League Football & Hockey game and the relevision show
is owned by Warner. So, all teams, characters, logos and audio/visual
components from that game or television series cannot be in our game. The game
we are making is very different than the original, it is going to look, sound,
and play different. This is a brand-new game after all. However, it’s very
important to us (and to our community) to maintain the key elements that made
people love the original. People liked the original games’ political
incorrectness, humor, sarcasm, and fun of obliterating your friend’s players.
These are all things we can and will keep intact from the original.
Hickey Jr.: Many
people prefer the hockey game to the football game but it was rushed. What
happened there?
Mendheim: Yes,
the game was rushed because EA had made the decision to kill the brand at that
point. The Mutant League franchise was not in-line with EA’s new focus of
developing and marketing sports games. Their goal was to be the “real sports”
company and create the finest sport simulations in the industry. MLF did not
fit into that strategy (it was the bastard child). Haha! EA made the right
choice, that’s for sure. Good for them. Bad for MLF. The Hockey game was still
about 12 to 14 months out from being released when the decision was made. They
told us if we could finish the game in six months they would ship it, if not it
would get killed. So, we rushed a 14-month schedule into 6 months and
managed to release it. They didn’t support it; hell, the cover art is a rough
comp. Shipping hockey was a very hard and difficult thing to do, especially
knowing that the brand was DOA. I know what Mutant League Hockey was supposed
to be and could have been, so I was always sad and disappointed with that
project.
Hickey Jr.: What
did you learn about yourself during the development of the game?
Mendheim: To
never give up…no matter how bad it gets.
Hickey Jr.: Why
do you think people still love the game so much?
Mendheim: There
are two main reasons why I think people have a special place in their hearts
for Mutant League Football.
1). The game made them care about their star players.
Seriously, we have people after 25 years who still remember player’s names from
the game. We made All-Star players very strong and important to winning, so if
a star player died it really hurt your chances of winning. Gamer’s took
protective care of their star players in a nurturing way. They benched them so
they could rest and regain health. They held them out of the game with a lead
to insure they would survive, etc. If a game can create an emotional bond
between a user and a character, it’s a magical thing. I think MLF did this in a
meaningful way. This is not an easy thing to do in a sports game.
2). The game made people laugh. When playing against
friends, you’re trying to kill their star players, while they are trying to
kill yours. There is laughing and gloating on one side and screaming and
yelling on the other side and this is going on, back and forth throughout the
entire game (and on almost every play). Killing a key all-star player could
turn around the game – so you’re never really out of competition. There’s
always the chance that you can create a forfeit and take home a win even though
the score may be 65 to 0. Then you add in all the unpredictability of gameplay,
the humor, sarcasm and it just creates a fun experience for everyone involved.
It reminds them of fun. Good times with friends.
Hickey Jr.: You’ve
gone on to play a role in other huge games the likes of Def Jam Icon, Army Men,
Battle Tanx and Fester’s Quest and more. Because of that, where
does Mutant League Football rest in your heart?
We’ve had hundreds of fans of the original game play
this new game at shows like PAX West and GenCon, and everyone who has played
has given us a big thumbs up. This is their game. So, if anyone reading
this wants to be part of this, just sign up to our MFL Fanatics Club on our website. Also, feel free to
like and contribute on our Facebook page. And, of
course you can follow us on Twitter: @MutantFootball.
Hickey Jr.: How
do you want the game to be remembered?
Mendheim: As
the videogame industry’s first action sports hybrid game… and that it made
people laugh.
Order a personalized copy of the book and the sequel,
The Minds Behind Adventure Games at his official site, PatrickHickeyJr.com and follow him on
Instagram at @PatrickHickeyJr.
