Joe & Mac Tatakae Genshijin - Fighting Cavemen


Although Bonk predates Hoe & Mac by more than a year, they both share some obvious common ground. They're both cartoonish takes on the prehistoric era that has your heroes fighting against dinosaurs through jungles, waterfalls, volcanos and the like. There are even very similar segments where you jump into the mouth of a dinosaur and fighting through its expansive innards. Despite these similarities, they primarily differentiate itself due their respective histories - Bonk was developed for home consoles, so it focuses more on expansive levels and platforming, whereas Joe & Mac where born in the arcades, with a  focus on straightforward action.

By default, your characters toss axes, either vertically or horizontally, which travel on a short arc which don't get much distance. Whenever you get close to an enemy, you'll also use your club to whack them. You can also charge up your attacks by holding down the attack button, which will toss a larger, more powerful versions of your main weapon. There are also several different types of weapons, including stone wheels, flint (to make fire) and shadowy doppelgangers that charge forward and attack, probably the only real "ninja"-like thing about the whole game. You can also do a super, somersault leap by holding Up and Jump. Despite how many weapons there are, they seem particularly ineffectual against bosses, although that may have more to do with the dodgy hit detection. Joe & Mac's life meters are long, but they count down slowly over time, similar to Adventure Island. Getting hit will drop it by several bars, but the copious of mounts of food - including meat and, strangely enough, sushi - will replenish it bit by hit. Getting killed also sends you back to a checkpoint, unless you're playing in two player mode, although the levels are quite short anyway. Many of them end up with a split path, allowing you to choose the next stage. Some stages also have you riding through the rivers on an aquatic dinosaur. The end of the game takes you inside the belly of a giant prehistoric monster, and there are three different endings, depending on the path you choose after the final boss.

On the surface, the SNES version looks just like the arcade version, with nearly identical graphics but it's actually quite different. All of the stages have been reworked and expanded in length, and there's a map screen which connects all of the levels. You can also occasionally find hidden keys, which will unlock gates on the map and yield bonus goodies. Don't confuse this for Super Mario World though - despite the longer levels, the game is still quite short and linear.

This definitely makes for a fuller game, but some very important fundamentals have been changed too, and not always for the better. You no longer lose health as time goes by, and instead of a long life bar, you get five hearts, which deplete by halves. When you're killed, you're also resurrected on the same spot. Your default weapon is just the plain club with no projectiles, making you significantly weaker without power-ups. Furthermore, many of the enemies take multiple hits, whereas they would only take a single hit in the other versions. Some power-ups, like the tabasco sauce and body double attack, are missing, as is the ability to charge up weapons, and you can no longer get flattened into a pancake. You can, however, roll by double tapping in either direction.  Other differences include the lack of the dinosaur riding areas, a different final boss, and only a single ending. In addition to the standard two player mode, there's also a "Super Game" which lets the players stand on each others heads, allowing both to reach items that would otherwise be out of reach.

The controls and framerate also seem a bit sluggish, at least compared to the arcade and Genesis versions. All the additional content means this is probably the best rendition of Joe & Mac, but the choppiness does detract a bit.



Compared to the SNES port, the Genesis version is more of a straight rendition of the arcade game. The graphics suffer a bit due to the 64-color palette, but it still looks pretty good. You no longer lose health over time, either. 

The NES port is drastically scaled back, with tiny sprites and completely redesign levels. There are five stages total, each divided into two sub-areas, each puncutuated by a boss battle. Some of these are new to this version, although they aren't anything special - the first mini-boss is a small dinosaur, while the main boss is giant dinosaur like the rest of the versions. Although the level designs are based off the arcade version, they're also longer and quite a bit different. The first stage is nothing but a long, straight plain. The graphics overall are pretty bad, despite some very impressive parallax scrolling in certain areas. The controls are pretty crappy, most of the power-ups are missing, and it doesn't even have a two player mode, rendering this version mostly garbage.

The Gameboy port is based off the arcade version, again, although the levels are slightly reworked and expanded. Like the NES version, its controls are pretty bad and it's missing power-ups, so it's of little worth.

The computer versions are surprisingly decent. The Amiga version is limited to 32 colors, while the IBM PC version uses full 256-color graphics that are very accurate to the arcade. Both play very well, too, and are quite accurate, despite the downgraded sound, in both cases. The IBM PC port is probably the best home version overall, at least outside of the console ports.

Congo's Caper

Wait, this doesn't look much like a Joe & Mac game. It technically isn't - but the Japanese title is Tatakae Genshijin 2, officially making it a sequel. Outside of its similar premise and an occasional shared asset or two, it really is almost a completely different game. It forsakes the standard linear levels of the arcade game with larger, multi-directional scrolling stages that feel more like a console game. The nature of the level designs are totally different, concentrating more on platforming. Even the graphical style is worlds apart, as it seems like this one is aimed more at younger kids, with a cutesier art style and complete lack of cave babes. The only holdovers include some similar themes, like exploring the innards of dinosaurs, and the ability to super jump.

Instead of Joe & Mac, here you play as a caveman named Congo, apparently the duo's ancestor. He's kind of an evolutionary missing link, as he still has a tail. Whenever you get hit, you devolve into a monkey, and the next hit will kill you. Scattered around the stage are red gems - if you're a monkey, it'll upgrade back to a human, but if you're already human and collect three of them, you'll active a more powerful form. There aren't any projectile weapons, forcing you to rely on your dumpy little club. Each world is filled with yellow gems, which, naturally, will give you an extra life when you collect a hundred of them. The two player simultaneous mode is missing, forcing you to trade controllers if you want to play with another person. The game is divided into six worlds, each with four levels. Once you complete the first world, you can tackle the next four worlds in any order, before moving to the final stage. Overall, Congo's Caper isn't a bad game by any stretch, but it ends up feeling like a competant and remarkably average SNES platformer, which were a dime a dozen on the system.




Joe & Mac Returns

Never mind the questionable grammar of the title - Joe & Mac Returns once again strays further from its side-scroller to a single screen platformer a la Bubble Bobble. Your main weapon is still a club, which also fires a small stream of fire along the ground. This won't kill enemies, but will stun them, allowing you to grab and stuff them in your bag. You can then roll the bag like a rock, which in turn can kill other enemies. The more enemies you jam into your sack, the larger it'll be, and the more foes it can take out at once. 
Nearly all of the stages have a tied up woman, who will toss out bonus items when rescued, but will push you across the screen in disdain if you hit her. Some stages also have enemy generators, which will pump out foes until you chuck some enemies at it. At the end of each stage, you'll also treated to a vaguely sexist cinema of Joe and/or Mac getting into hijinks with the ladies. Each stage ends with the obligatory boss fight, and later levels include evil versions of Joe & Mac, along with other Data East characters like Karnov (from Karnov, obviously) and Mizoguchi (from Fighter's History). Some of the levels get a bit weird too, like when you fight aliens and robots on the moon.



Joe & Mac 2: Lost in the Tropics

The third console Joe & Mac game feels like it's based off Congo's Caper, although this time it's much closer to its roots, offering similar visuals and the return of two player simultaneous gameplay. By default Joe and Mac are limited to their short range clubs, although they're more useful than Congo's little stick. Through power-ups they can upgrade to spiked clubs and hammers, which also throw out little projectile waves. Additionally, after you eat something, you can spit out the remnants - for instance, when you grab some meat, you can shoot a few bones, or breath fire if you eat a hot pepper, or take a drink of water and spit it out. There are also occasionally dinosaurs you can ride, which feels just a bit too close to Adventure Island 2. Instead of gems, the levels are now littered with stone wheels, which act as currency.

After the first stage, you have free roam of an overhead island map, which acts as a fancy stage select. In between levels, you can visit a village and spend any collected cash to regain health or build up Joe & Mac's home.  It's not a particularly long game, but you can also get passwords here. These adverture elements are nice, but they feel way too underutilized. All in all, it's a pretty decent game, one that feels most like a true evolution of the first game instead of all of the different tangents of its other sequels.

While this game is known as Joe & Mac 2 in North America, apparently Europe decided to count Congo's Caper as a sequel, so they named it Joe & Mac 3 in that territory instead. You can find a picture of Congo in one of the huts, solidifying their link. The Japanese subtitle, Shuyaku wa Yappari Joe & Mac, means something like "As Expected, The Lead Roles are Joe & Mac". "Lost in the Tropics" is a strange subtitle for the English releases, considering only one stage takes place in a tropical environment.