JOE & MAC:
Game Type: Side-Scrolling Action Platformer
Release Date: 1991
Developer: Data East
-Another game I discovered at the latest Edmonton Comic Expo,
Joe & Mac is part of the suprisingly-large sub-genre of "Caveman-Themed Platform Games". There's some
Flintstones ones, the
Bonk series that was the focus of the Turbo-Grafx-16, and even
Chuck Rock. I dunno what it is about cavemen that makes developers go "Hey, this would make the PERFECT platform game!", but there it is.
-The first
Joe & Mac game came out for the arcades in 1991, and was adapted to the Super NES, NES, Sega Genesis, Game Boy and some side-systems as well, many of which altered endings or made "choose your own level" additions. Joe has green hair, and Mac blue, and they fight through levels using a variety of weapons, all in order to rescue some damsels that were kidnapped by a rival tribe. You lose health over a period of time, and in some versions, the characters are capable of damaging each other in co-op play.
-The series wasn't overly well-received, getting 70%-ish reviews (criticizing the controls and how generic the game seemed), but earned enough to receive some sequels. The American game
Congo's Caper received a
Mario 2-like revamp as a sequel to
Joe & Mac, using a new protagonist, and a true sequel called
Lost in the Tropics came out in 1994. In that one, you may court and marry one of the girls seen in the game, and then father a child. That one actually got to #61 on IGN's list of Top 100 SNES games, which surprises me. An additional arcade game came out, but this one features a Puzzle Gaming concept instead of anything action-related.
-From what I can see, these games are your bog-standard Action Platformers, with clunkily-moving characters with poor designs (hang-lipped guys with giant heads), though at least you get a variety of weapons based off of breaking eggs (ripping off
Mario Bros. pretty thoroughly there). The bosses are at least somewhat well-designed, being quite large and cartoony for the early SNES- the T-Rex (mostly the head visible), Mammoth and others look very good. Extended-limb stuff like the Plesiosaur & Sauropod Bosses look awful, however- they simply animate circles for the long necks' movements.
JOE & MAC
Role: The Heroes, Cool Dudes, Cavemen
PL 7 (79)
STRENGTH 2
STAMINA 4
AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10
DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE -1
AWARENESS 0
PRESENCE 3
Skills:
Athletics 7 (+9)
Expertise (Caveman) 8 (+7)
Perception 5 (+5)
Advantages:
Equipment 1 (Club +2), Ranged Attack 8
Powers:
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]
Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Club +10 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Boomerangs/Stone Wheels +10 (+4 Ranged Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +5
Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +5
Complications:
Enemy (Mr. Dark)
Total: Abilities: 48 / Skills: 20--10 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 1 / Defenses: 12 (79)
-Joe & Mac are plain, ordinary Platformer Heroes, with some good leaping and unarmed fighting abilities. They have Clubs as their baseline weapon, but can break open eggs to gain stuff like Boomerangs (Homing Blast), etc.