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The Earth looks exciting from space.
Monster Maulers (originally Kyukyoku Sentai Dadandarn) is a fairly unique fighting game created by Konami in 1993 where a team of sentai-esque warriors are sent to face monsters around the world before confronting the villains who unleashed them in the first-place.

While Monster Maulers mostly consists of a set of one-on-duels like in most fighting games (or two-on-one in two-player mode), the enemy characters cannot be selected, and there is no 2-player versus mode. As such, it's often regarded as a Beat 'em Up, or a cross between the two genres.


Monster Maulers provides the following tropes:

  • Attack of the Monster Appendage: The Blue Dragon, where the player fights its head without the rest of its body exposed.
  • Brain Monster: Brainy, like the name states, is a giant brain boss, who floats around while using its nerve as tentacles. Its sole remaining facial feature is a giant eye, making it an Oculothorax.
  • Calling Your Attacks: Commonly done with the game's special moves.
  • Chicken Walker: Ducker during his battle pilots one of these to attack the players.
  • Combination Attack: By standing next to one another while initiating a special move, 2 players can perform a united, enhanced special attack.
  • Co-Op Multiplayer: 2 players can team up to take on the bosses. Interestingly, despite basically being a fighting game, there's no 2-player versus mode.
  • Dub Name Change: The Chinese elemental-themed demon boss had his name changed from Furaiki to Diablo.
  • Expy: The Happy Droppers are basically as close as possible to the Doronbo Gang without going into Lawyer-Friendly Cameo levels of blatant.
  • Market-Based Title: The game's original Japanese name was Kyukyoku Sentai Dadandarn.
  • Man-Eating Plant: Spider Wort from the jungle stage is a massive flytrap-esque flower swinging on a vine who can unfold its petals to release smaller versions of itself to attack the player. Every now and then, it will also lash out its tongue to grab the player into it's maw in an attempt to swallow them.
  • Mecha-Mooks: Before facing Docker, you'll need to face a small legion of robotic soldiers. They're not very durable, however, going down in two hits. There are several smaller robots in a later stage before the Robo-Ape boss.
  • Navel-Deep Neckline: Anne dons a red top that not just bares her cleavage, it extends back her midriff.
  • Noblewoman's Laugh: The Doronjo-esque final boss likes to give off one of these now and then.
  • Oni: Diablo from resembles the classic horned oni, and has the ability to sic electrical attacks on the players.
  • Sexy Backless Outfit: Anne dresses in a top that leaves the entire back of her upper body bare.
  • Shout-Out: Several enemies from the Gradius and Salamander series appear as enemies, or at least enemies designed to resemble them. Like the Brain Golem, or the Moai statue boss.
  • Stripperiffic: The Japanese hero Kotetsu wears a rather bizarre outfit that consists of a combination of a thong, loincloth & girdle, shoulder pads, upper arm and lower leg guards and nothing else.
  • "Super Sentai" Stance: The characters all have win poses that seem quite sentai-inspired, but it's especially noticeable at the end of the game where they all pose together.

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