Retro Game of the Week 030: Joe & Mac (SNES)

So we are finally in march and the year is almost one forth complete, that means more retro game of the week entries right? Fuck yeah! This month I decided to spice things up by doing two entries every week to make up for missing weeks of 09.


This time around Joe & Mac came to my mind especially after I finally found a copy of it for a decent price, in fact I found two copies of the game but only picked one up in my last trip to the flea market. Isn't that pure kewlness? anyways, if you have played or haven't played this game, you can have mixed feelings on this one. Lets start with the good stuff, the music is amazing and the animation is great, this game came out during the cavemen fever where there were a lot of cavemen like games hmmm Chuck Rock and Prehistorik Man to name a few. They were fun and all you know but very similar in the end. Joe & Mac has a very interesting history with the later games as well, which I will mention very briefly. The game itself starts off great and very simple but gets a little complicated but not so complicated that it becomes unplayable. The best way to enjoy this game though, it's with a friend. The co-op is pure win as long as your friend doesn't suck in the game, and if he/she does well you can have a good laugh after tossing the controller at them.






The game feels incomplete at some points especially in the later levels where all you have to go is up a hill and the boss is there.....what great level design....that was sarcasm.. The bosses are also very predictable after a couple of tries at them so don't hesitate to just stare at them and see where their attacks go. You also have three weapons to help you out which come in handy at boss fights depending of course which boss you are going up against.






The game also has some secret places you can go into like save spots or secret levels but you will need to find a key and most of the time you will only find one key which will lead you to pick which door you want to unlock in the map, you can either pick a save spot or a secret level which probably has extra lives or food in it. It's all up to you! In the end, I recommend this game for everyone who has a friend and wants to play a decent cavemen game. You can finish this game within the hour so don't get your hopes up for a long game.


Did you know? Congo's Caper is most notably known as the sequel to Joe & Mac so that means Joe & Mac 2 is actually Joe & Mac 3? Hmmm interesting. I am going to track Congo's Caper myself which I did played back in the day. I must find more info of this! Until next time!