The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang

The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang
North American box art
DeveloperRed Company
Publishers
DirectorKazuhiko Inoue
ProducersMasato Toyoshima
Masaki Kobayashi
ProgrammersYuuichi Ochiai
Daisuke Morishima
ComposerHisashi Matsushita
PlatformSuper Nintendo Entertainment System
Release
  • JP: March 19, 1993
  • NA: June 1994
GenreAction RPG
ModeSingle-player

The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang (Japanese: 超魔界大戦！どらぼっちゃん, Hepburn: Chō Makai Taisen! Dorabotchan; lit. "Super Demon-world War! Little Dorabo") is an action role-playing video game developed by Red Company for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released by Naxat Soft in Japan and by Bullet-Proof Software in North America. The game is the sequel to the TurboGrafx-16 game Makai Prince Dorabotchan, which was only released in Japan. The characters also appeared in the Japanese Super Naxat Open golf game for Super Famicom.

Plot

The game follows the adventures of a young vampire, the title character Spike McFang, who is set to battle with the evil zombie general Von Hesler, who attempts to invade his parents' and his friend Camelia's kingdoms.

Gameplay

The game plays from a top-down perspective; the player encounters several enemies in the game and by defeating them, can gain experience points and increase his level. Spike's main weapons are his cape, that attacks in a short range (though Spike can extend its range at the risk of dizzying himself for a short time) and his hat, which can be thrown like a boomerang. He is also able to utilize magical cards with a wide variety of special effects, including, but not limited to:

  • Invisibility
  • Summoning angels and bats
  • Turning all foes into small, furry animals
  • Grabbing a balloon and floating to safety
  • Elemental Attacks
  • Powered up partner
  • Recovering Health

Regional differences

The American release of The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang was slightly altered in relation to the original. The enemies have higher defense and after Spike gains a level, his health does not get replenished. As a result, the game was more challenging than its Japanese counterpart. The shopkeeper, Dowson, was originally a blonde girl. In the American version, this was changed to a mummified creature.[1]

Reception

Electronic Gaming Monthly's Mike Weigand complimented the game's scale while but said that the persepctive of the game took a while to get used too, particularly the jumping mechanics.[3] Nintendo Power praised the game for its "good graphics" and "entertaining story" while noting that the "adventure tends to take a predetermined path" and that the text scrolls too slowly and that control is frustrating in certain situations.[15] GamePro's Lawrence Neves gave the game a negative review, saying that the simplistic and routine gameplay and storyline make it strictly for beginning gamers. They also criticized the cute tone of the visuals, commenting, "The pleasing graphics are clean and well drawn. On the other hand, so is Barney, and no one wants to see an RPG with him in it."[16]

In 1996, Super Play ranked the game 96th on their Top 100 SNES Games of All Time. They praised the game's originality and the playing card theme gameplay.[17]

References

  1. ^ https://tcrf.net/The_Twisted_Tales_of_Spike_McFang#Regional_Differences
  2. ^ Ahmet, Deniz (October 1994). "Review: Spike McFang". Computer and Video Games. No. 155. EMAP. p. 83.
  3. ^ a b Semrad, Ed; Carpenter, Danyon; Manuel, Al; Sushi-X; Weigand, Mike (June 1994). "Review Crew - Major Mike's Game Roundup: Spike McFang". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Vol. 7, no. 6. Sendai Publishing. p. 33. Retrieved November 19, 2025 – via Video Game History Foundation.
  4. ^ "New Games Cross Review: どらぼっちゃん 超魔界大戦". Famitsu (in Japanese). No. 223. ASCII Corporation. March 26, 1993. p. 37.
  5. ^ VanDerSchaegen, Ross; Anderson, Paul; Petzoldt, Rick (July–August 1994). "Super NES Reviews: The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang". Game Informer. No. 17. Sunrise Publications. pp. 28–29.
  6. ^ Ward, Trent; Slate, Chris (June 1994). "Review: The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang". Game Players. Vol. 7, no. 6. GP Publications. pp. 44–45.
  7. ^ "Review: Spike McFang". Nintendo Magazine System. No. 24. EMAP. September 1994. p. 80.
  8. ^ DeMario, Andrew (August 31, 2000). "RPGFan Reviews - The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang". RPGFan. GameFan. Archived from the original on September 13, 2001. Retrieved November 19, 2025. (Transcription Archived 2023-03-19 at the Wayback Machine).
  9. ^ Brookes, Jason (August 1993). "Import Review: Dracula Kid". Super Play. No. 10. Future Publishing. p. 68.
  10. ^ Mott, Tony (October 1994). "Import Review: The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang". Super Play. No. 24. Future Publishing. pp. 46–47.
  11. ^ Ceccola, Russ (June 1994). "Cartridge: The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang". Electronic Games. Vol. 2, no. 9. Decker Publications. p. 62.
  12. ^ Rosenthal, Marshal M. (September 1994). "Game Reviews: The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang". Flux. No. 1. Harris Publications. p. 80.
  13. ^ Butt, Ryan; Pullin, Keith (October 1994). "Super NES Review: Spike McFang". Super Gamer. No. 7. Paragon Publishing. p. 74.
  14. ^ Nakamura, Eric (July 1994). "Reviews: The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang". VideoGames - The Ultimate Gaming Magazine. No. 66. Larry Flynt Publications. p. 66.
  15. ^ "The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang; Now Playing: The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang". Nintendo Power. Vol. 61. Nintendo of America. June 1994. pp. 30–34, 102, 107.
  16. ^ Neves, Lawrence (July 1994). "Role-Player's Realm: The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang". GamePro. No. 60. IDG. p. 122.
  17. ^ "The Super Play All-time top 100 SNES games". Super Play. No. 42. Future Publishing. April 1996. pp. 28–41.
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