Matrimelee

The king of certain country wants to find a worthy successor for the throne and the ideal husband for his little daughter (or a beautiful and strong woman for his older son). So he holds a fighting tournament where the prize is the hand of the princess and the throne succession.

Power Instinct: Matrimelee is a sequel to the obscure and lesser known Power Instinct series. The characters of Matrimelee range from incredibly strange (including two hobbit-granny sprite clones & a furry) to the I've-seen-you-somewhere-before stereotypes (complete with a cut & paste ninja, a generic native American, and your basic karate guy). Several characters from Rage of The Dragons also make a cross-over to the game.

In Matrimelee, the staple super combo gauge is replaced with the "Stress Gauge". Unlike most combo gauges, the Street Gauge doesn't fill when players connect with attacks. Instead it fills when attacks are blocked and when damage is taken. This is to simulate the "stress" of not having your moves land, and/or the stress one may feel when punched in the face. When the Stress Gauge fills up, a super combo can be performed. Characters also become invulnerable to attacks and will also interrupt combos.

In some stages, a referee will be standing in the background. Players can actually call him into the foreground and use him to attack their enemies... either sending the ref flying into the opponent, or using him as a human shield for opponent's projectiles. A "Bloodline Battle" can also be initiated if two players taunt one after the other. When a Bloodline Battle begins, both characters move to the middle of the screen. Between them lowers a television screen which randomly shows different buttons (A,B,C,D). Which ever player hits the buttons first, their character will gain a free attack on the opponent.