In my constant lamenting of the lack of actual competition for NFL football in the gaming world, I find myself on a never-ending hunt for it. I’ve played the Axis Football series and checked out the NFL Street Reborn mod (it’s incredible). I even reached for Speedball, even though it has nothing to do with the sport. I just wanted to feel something.
But there is one game I’ve always enjoyed revisiting over the years: Mutant League Football. And now, after a long wait, the sequel is finally coming out of Early Access this winter.
One of my favorite things about the Mutant Football League is the humor. The team names are perfect, and the plays on real-life players are almost all hilarious.
I spent the majority of my time with the first game on the Switch. So, my time may have been a little skewed by the hardware, but my only issue with the game was how slow it felt. Again, it could have just been a console issue, not the game itself.
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The Mutant Football League 2 gameplay footage does show a much faster game than what I was used to, and that’s really all I can ask for.
I don’t remember too much of my time playing the original game on the Sega Genesis, which is a shame, given how much I love reminiscing about retro games. But I do know that these modern versions have done a good job keeping the overall spirit of the original game alive.
If you aren’t familiar with the game, on its face, it’s a fairly straightforward football game. The tricks come in when you have to deal with the on-field hazards and special plays. You can do things like bribe the ref to look the other way—and your opponent can do the same. The back-and-forth shenanigans can result in you and your team going full Longest Yard and deciding that the ref needs to pay for picking sides.
You can also attack players post-play, NFL Blitz style. Additionally, every player has a health bar. Attack them enough, and you can kill them right then and there.
It’s an insane way to play football, but I love every second of it and can’t wait to get my hands on Mutant Football League 2 when it fully releases on December 10th, 2025.