Long time readers of the site will know we absolutely love when more obscure console games are given a second chance to shine. The latest of these is the return of Joe and Mac: Caveman Ninja, or more precisely, the Super Nintendo Joe and Mac trilogy which contains the original game, Congo’s Caper and Lost in the Tropics. Sadly though, other variations of the game are not included.
For the uninitiated, the games are side scrolling platform
beat’em ups filled with dinosaurs and cavemen. Your character has a limited move
set of jumping and bashing and you can upgrade your basic weapon from a club to
a stone wheel, flame or a host of other prehistoric, themed weapons. Each level
ends with you taking on some kind of big dinosaur as well. The SNES version of
Joe and Mac also adds a map section to transition levels which is different from
the arcade and adds a couple of extra areas.
The graphics are big and bold and fit the game world well.
There’s a host of little touches, such as some dinosaurs crying when you bash
them, which add character and humour and the challenge is set just about right
to keep things interesting, while also letting you progress. The only real
issue, much like when the games were first released, is that the game gets a
little samey when played in anything other than small amounts of time. If you
have a second player to join you then things get a lot more fun of course. The
now standard quality of life issues such as saves and rewinds are also included.
In terms of extras there is a decent selection of artwork
and the original box art. You can go into the virtual gallery and ‘unbox’ the
games and look at the original manuals. Extras like this are a nice touch as it
adds character to the package and lets you see the original tone and other quirks
that the manuals had. It’s something that is always a very welcome addition.
The biggest and most obvious issue here is that there are so
many other versions and variations of Joe and Mac that could have been
included. The original arcade games are available elsewhere on the Switch eShop
but would have been great inclusions here. Especially the second game which
takes a much different approach. Away from those though the games were released
across NES, GB, Mega Drive and Amiga (to name a few), and all these have variations
and nuances. Perhaps we’ve been spoiled by other recent collections that have
really catalogued titles but as a result this release seems somewhat lacking.
Overall, the Joe and Mac collection is much like the games
themselves. It is a perfectly enjoyable and solid seven out of ten that will
make you smile but you’ll likely not stick with an extended period of time. We
would love to see other games added in the future, but even without this we
would encourage people who like retro games of the 16-bit era to try this out.
Overall 7/10
