Mutant Night

In Mutant Night, released in December 1987 by UPL, two players cooperate to battle through a series of increasingly challenging stages teeming with bizarre creatures. This side-scrolling shooter tasks players with maneuvering their characters across the screen using an eight-way joystick and firing at approaching mutants. The game’s design incorporates vibrant pixel graphics and a color palette of 768 shades, creating a visually striking experience on its horizontal 256x192 resolution display. The gameplay unfolds in acts, each presenting unique environmental hazards and enemy patterns. Among the diverse bestiary, observant players might notice a familiar silhouette – an appearance resembling the characters from Bubble Bobble can be found within one of the game's later stages. The soundtrack is driven by two Yamaha YM2203 sound chips alongside Zilog Z80 processors for both main game and audio functions. Designed by Tsutomu Fuzisawa, Mutant Night provides a frantic and engaging cooperative experience built around skillful movement and precise shooting. A PlayStation 4 port of the original arcade game was released in February 2017 under the “Arcade Archives” label.