Tag Team Match: M.U.S.C.L.E.

Tag Team Match: M.U.S.C.L.E., known in Japan as is a fighting game developed by Tose and published by Bandai for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The Japanese edition is based on Yudetamago's manga and anime series Kinnikuman, but the North American edition was not due to the source material being not well-known outside Japan. Instead, the game was released as a tie-in with Mattel’s M.U.S.C.L.E. toy line, itself a rebranding of the Kinkeshi line of Kinnikuman toys.
It has eight playable characters, each with his own special move. The game was followed by a 1987 Japan-only sequel for the Family [Computer Disk System|Famicom Disk System] titled Kinnikuman: Kinniku-sei Ōi Sōdatsusen.

Gameplay

The game has two modes, one requiring the player to defeat a computer opponent while the other requires two players to fight against each other.
The A button jumps, and B punches or activates a special move after collecting an energy ball that is randomly thrown by the “trainer”.
Several moves can be done in the game, such as punch, jump, drop kick, shove, shove into ropes, flying body attack, lariat aka clothesline, and back drop aka suplex.
Although the game goes on endlessly, it officially has 255 rounds. After those rounds, the player enters round 0, on which the speed level resets and the time per round returns to 30:00.

Release

The game was released in Japan on November 8, 1985. It was released in North America in October 1986.
The Gold Edition of the Japanese version of the game has been a sought-after collector's item, and is considered the "Holy Grail" of the Famicom collection. In 2017, the Gold Edition of the Famicom version has been valued at ¥2,000,000.

Reception

The game sold 1.05 million units in Japan.
From a retrospective review, Christopher Baker of AllGame described both the graphics, sound effects and gameplay as "primitive, even for an early NES title".