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Bandai Namco Entertainment announced Kinnikuman Muscle Tag Match: Reiwa Revival Edition on October 1, 2026. It’s a premium, buy-it-once smartphone title priced at 1,000 yen (tax included, about US$7; converted at 153 yen = US$1), and pre-registration is already open.
The foundation is Kinnikuman Muscle Tag Match, the Famicom game released in 1985. You know the one — the game where Terryman was so absurdly strong that nobody could tell whether it was a bug or the design, and entire classrooms descended into chaos over it. Now it’s coming back as a “powered-up” version.
The roster runs 50 Chojin deep. There’s also two-player versus play over Bluetooth. And here’s the kicker: part of the roster gets decided by the results of the Chojin General Election 2026 — meaning readers get to move the lineup themselves.
I’m smack in the middle of the Famicom generation for this one, and I’m on the side that got reduced to tears by Warsman’s Bear Claws more times than I’d like to admit. When I saw this announcement, I’ll be honest, I just stopped for a second. Let’s go through it.
How much does Kinnikuman Muscle Tag Match: Reiwa Revival Edition cost? Price and release model
It’s a one-time purchase of 1,000 yen (tax included, about US$7). Not free-to-play with gacha — you pay once and everything is there.
That sounds minor. It isn’t. The original Famicom version was a game where two controllers meant you could beat on each other forever. Drop stamina meters or energy-refill timers into that and you change the character of the whole thing. Going premium was the right call.
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Title | Kinnikuman Muscle Tag Match: Reiwa Revival Edition |
| Publisher | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| Platform | Smartphones |
| Price | 1,000 yen (tax included, about US$7), one-time purchase |
| Roster | 50 Chojin total |
| Versus play | Two-player matches over Bluetooth |
| Based on | A powered-up version of the 1985 Famicom game Kinnikuman Muscle Tag Match |
Now the concern. A 1,000 yen (tax included, about US$7) one-and-done price is cheap, but how much of the original’s input feel survives a touchscreen is anyone’s guess. The joy of that game was inseparable from the stiffness of a D-pad and two hard plastic buttons. I’m holding my verdict until I’ve got hands on it.
When does Chojin General Election 2026 voting close? How the roster gets decided
Voting in the Chojin General Election 2026 runs from October 1 to October 12, 2026. The results determine part of the playable roster.
The selection rules have a twist. Everyone from 1st to 20th place gets in — and on top of that, 29th and 50th place also earn a slot. It isn’t a straight top-heavy sweep; specific rankings get plucked out on purpose.
- Voting runs October 1 to October 12, 2026
- 1st through 20th place get in
- 29th place gets in
- 50th place gets in
That “29th and 50th” wrinkle is genuinely fun, because it makes it viable to vote for a specific placement. If you’ve decided your favorite can’t crack the top 20, you can deliberately steer them toward 29th instead. The organizers have turned a popularity poll into something with actual strategy to it.
The window is tight. Twelve days and it’s over on October 12. If you’ve got a favorite, don’t put this off. I voted Warsman. I have a debt to settle with those Bear Claws.
What’s different from the Famicom version? Why 50 Chojin and Bluetooth matter
The headline changes are the roster swelling to 50 Chojin and the addition of two-player versus play over Bluetooth.
The Famicom version was a small, sharp cast. That’s precisely why the wild gaps in character power turned “who do you pick” into the real mind game, and why every household invented its own house rules banning the broken ones. Stretch that to 50 fighters and those dynamics absolutely shift. More options is great on its face, but there’s a real chance the savage, lopsided flavor of the original balance gets watered down.
The Bluetooth decision matters more than it looks. This isn’t online matchmaking — it’s connecting to somebody nearby and brawling. That is exactly how the original was played. Refusing to abandon the assumption that your opponent is sitting right next to you tells me the designers understand what this game actually is, doesn’t it?
When I told my skate buddies that Muscle Tag Match was coming back, only the guys in their forties lost their minds. That gap in reaction says everything about where this title sits.
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Kinnikuman Muscle Tag Match: Reiwa Revival Edition: everything we know
To recap: Kinnikuman Muscle Tag Match: Reiwa Revival Edition is a smartphone title announced by Bandai Namco Entertainment on October 1, 2026. It’s a one-time purchase of 1,000 yen (tax included, about US$7), and pre-registration is open now.
It’s a powered-up version of the 1985 Famicom game Kinnikuman Muscle Tag Match, with a roster of 50 Chojin and two-player versus play over Bluetooth. Part of that roster is decided by the Chojin General Election 2026, with voting open from October 1 to October 12, 2026. Places 1 through 20 make the cut, plus 29th and 50th (as of October 2026, per official announcements).
A 1,000 yen (tax included, about US$7) one-time purchase, local two-player over Bluetooth, and a roster that fans get to shape through an election. All three decisions respect how the original was actually played. There was an obvious path here that went free-to-play and made you roll gacha for Chojin, and passing on it deserves credit. On the other hand, blowing the roster up to 50 risks flattening the very mind games that grew out of that gloriously broken character balance. For better or worse, some of this can only be judged with a controller in hand.
Chojin General Election 2026 closes October 12. Nobody is pushing your favorite up the rankings but you.
Snicker Kitamura
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