Hee-Haw ::clank, clank:: Hee-Haw...

Hitting it early this week with a video game review and an odd little game it is. In the 80's, the video game field was dominated by a few main types of game: You had your action platformers (Super Mario Bros., Mega Man, Castlevania, Metroid, etc...), your top down adventure/puzzle games (Legend of Zelda, Bomberman, Final Fantasy, Fester's Quest, etc...), and your various sports simulators (Pole Position, Tecmo Bowl, Jordan vs. Bird: One on One, Excitebike, etc...). Granted, that is an over simplification of the field, but an appropriate one never the less. However, there were a handful of games to break this mold do something uniquely different (yeah, I said it...). One game in particular is a great love from my childhood (you too, tall guy...) and that game is the simply titled M.U.L.E...

M.U.L.E. is an economic strategy game with cooperative elements. The setting is that the players are settlers (aliens, humans, even robots...) on a distant planet and need to not only make a good settlement for yourself, but also increase the overall productivity and value of the entire colony. The game play goes as follows: you are granted a plot of land to which you will work for a resource of your choice (Mining for Smithore, Crystite for Crystite, Energy for Energy, and Farm for Food...); to do this, you purchase a M.U.L.E. (Multiple Use Labor Element) and outfit said M.U.L.E accordingly and place it in the plot. After this point, you can hunt the mountain wampus (???), assay the land for crystite levels, or go to the pub for gambling (this ends the turn...). The turns are timed so you must be quick to make sure you get everything done you need/want to. After this, the plots' resources are gathered and the players take part in the auction phase. Each resource is bartered for 'cash' from either the store or the players who are in need of a particular resource. Resources can also be bought from the store (if it has any to spare...). Lacking particular resources causes bad things to happen during game play (less time in a turn, higher M.U.L.E. prices, etc...). Finally, the leader board is displayed, showing the ranking order of each of the players. Scores are determined by land amount, total number of resources, and cash level. The turn then starts again. Over the course of the game, players can receive beneficial or detrimental messages that affect everybody or just an individual player (Pirate raid the store, M.U.L.E. goes crazy, solar flares, receive an inheritance, etc...). The total point level at the end of the last round determines how well your colony has done and how often supply ships will return to your colony with supplies...

I first experienced this game in the 90's after moving back to Maryland and befriending my buddy, Brian (that's two shout outs in one post, sir...). His dad had it and it was an excellent breath of fresh air after playing games like Super Mario and Tetris religiously. The strangest part of it, even at the tender age of 8 or 9, I really got into it (as did Brian and his siblings...). We got into this strange habit as the messages at the beginning of the turns scrolled across the screen (with dial-up buffering slowness, it seemed...), we would read the messages like a jerky robot. For some reason, even though there wasn't a lot of hilarity in that, that aspect of the game stuck with me almost more so than any other part of it (only slightly more so than the 'walking in place' glitch during the auction scenes...). I would even speculate that my love for complex and intricate board games can be traced to extensive playing of M.U.L.E. It was definitely my gateway game (suck it, Settlers of Catan...)...

The competition in M.U.L.E. is a much more cerebral challenge and requires a different skill set than what is required for platformers or puzzle games. In effect, this game played much more like a board game than a 'standard' video game. The level of resource management and economics within M.U.L.E. had not been seen before in a video game and, while the concept did not take off from here, the ability to effectively create a multiplayer game on the NES and that you could create a dynamic and interesting game in this era video games without the need for enemies flying at you, laser blasts, or power ups. While very easy to get into, M.U.L.E. is a layered, if not complex, 8-bit game whose influence can be seen in other games, video or otherwise down the line. It is the grand daddy to many games of its genre, even if they don't realize it (Will Wright even dedicated The Sims to its creator!)...

A last point: M.U.L.E has proven popular enough (even in cult-ish status...) that individuals have created their own clones of M.U.L.E. to varying success. My personal favorite: Planet M.U.L.E. It has excellent slick graphics and the people who created it really took the time to fine tune the details. I very much enjoy the modern remix of the M.U.L.E theme at the beginning (I do enjoy some techno...) and everything I have played with it, it is a perfect recreation of the mechanics and game play. If you are interested, please click here and give Planet M.U.L.E. a download. You won't be sorry (but your free time will...)...