Play Joy Mech Fight (Japan) Online

Game Overview

Joy Mech Fight is this weird little gem from Nintendo’s late Famicom days—a full-on fighting game crammed onto an 8-bit system. You’d think it’d feel clunky, but they actually pulled it off. The controls are simplified (no quarter-circle motions here), so you’re mostly tapping two buttons and directional inputs, but somehow it works. There’s a ridiculous roster of 36 robots, though half of them are locked at first, which is annoying.

What’s wild is how much they squeezed out of the Famicom. The sprites are surprisingly detailed, and the animations don’t chug like you’d expect. It’s no Street Fighter II, but for a console that was ancient by 1993, it’s impressive. The arcade mode’s decently long, and the versus mode is chaotic fun if you’ve got a friend willing to mash buttons with you.

Fun fact: Sukapon, the round little guy on the cover, almost made it into Smash Bros. once. Shame he didn’t—this game deserves more love than it got. If you’re into retro fighters, it’s a neat time capsule of Nintendo trying something totally different.