Mucha Lucha! Mascaritas of the Lost Code
A side-scrolling beat 'em up based on the cartoon.
Mucha Lucha! Mascaritas of the Lost Code is a 2003 beat 'em up for the Game Boy Advance, based on the animated television series of the same name. It follows Rikochet, Buena Girl, and The Flea as they recover a stolen tome for their school. The game was critically panned for its repetitive gameplay and lack of challenge.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Digital Eclipse
- Publisher
- Ubisoft
- Platforms
- Game Boy Advance
- Released
- November 18, 2003 (NA)
- Genre
- Beat 'em up
- Modes
- Single-player
- Director
- Mike Mika
- Producer
- William Baffy
- Ashley Bushore
- Marc Fish
- Eric Bram
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay and premise
The player controls Rikochet, Buena Girl, or The Flea in a side-scrolling beat 'em up to recover the stolen Code of Masked Wrestling tome for the International School of Lucha. Only Rikochet is initially playable; the other two are unlocked later. Controls include punch, kick, throw, and jump, with jump attacks performed by combining jump with punch or kick. Each character has a special move that clears all on-screen enemies. The game has four episodes with 16 short levels, where progress requires clearing waves of enemies. Hidden areas offer extra enemies or power-ups, and performance is graded with a letter based on factors like defeating all enemies and time.
Development and release
Digital Eclipse developed the game, with Ubisoft's North American branch publishing it. Producers included William Baffy, Ashley Bushore, Marc Fish, and Eric Bram, with Mike Mika as creative director. Mark Fitt was lead programmer, assisted by Alex Amsel, and Mari Sakai served as designer. Art direction was by Boyd Burggrabe and Andy Crawshaw, with a team including Stoo Cambridge, Krzysztof Grudzinski, and Peter Overstreet. Sonia Di Gennaro and Alan Moult handled animation. Music was composed by Anthony Putson and Allister Brimble, who also created sound effects. Erin Bradley wrote the story and dialogue. The game was announced in August 2003 and released exclusively in North America on November 18, 2003.
Reception
The game received generally unfavorable reviews. Critics found it a disappointment, even for fans of the cartoon, with some saying it fails to capture the show's charm. It was called a rush-job and irresponsibly bad, lacking replay value, depth, or innovation. Reviewers expressed frustration that the developers did not make a wrestling-focused game. Gameplay was universally panned as repetitive, simplistic, and monotonous, devolving into button-mashing with no need for strategy. Enemies require 20–25 hits to defeat, artificially padding the roughly two-hour length. Despite claims of 15 moves per character, there was little incentive to use them. Special moves clear screens but are unnecessary due to enemies' lack of aggression. Poor collision detection and unresponsive feedback made combat feel unrewarding. The visuals were the most praised aspect, with the cel-shaded, cartoony art style effectively mirroring the show's aesthetic, and characters resembling their cartoon counterparts. The game runs smoothly without slowdown. However, environments were criticized as bland, bare, and repetitive, with poor animation quality and a low-budget appearance. Audio received near-universal criticism, with music described as tinny and repetitive, minimal sound effects, and looping Latin-infused tracks that became grating. A "Mucha Lucha!" sample was noted as a minor inclusion.
More in Ubisoft Games of the 2000s
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced