Welcome back to Co-op Classics, the column in which we look at unique cooperative games from yesteryear.
With the recent release of New Joe & Mac: Caveman Ninja for modern consoles and PC, it’s a perfect time to look at the first game in the series: Joe & Mac: Caveman Ninja. Originally developed for arcades by Data East in 1991, Joe & Mac would receive unique ports for Super NES, NES, and Game Boy, and decently arcade-accurate ports for Genesis and classic PC. In modern years, the game has been ported to Switch as Johnny Turbo’s Arcade: Joe & Mac, and to PlayStation and Steam as Retro Classix – Joe & Mac, as well as a few home arcade cabinets.
The game opens with the kidnapping of a group of cavewomen by evil cavemen. Joe and Mac, the green-haired and blue-haired good guys, immediately set out to rescue them. Our heroes start out in a lush field where they must battle across the back of a sleeping T-Rex. Thuggish cavemen and malicious dinosaurs attack from all sides; it's hectic. Once the two cave bros reach the tied-up maiden at the end of the first level, the T-Rex wakes up and a memorable boss battle ensues. The game doesn’t show that much of him on screen during the fight, but he’s still a huge, gorgeous boss beast – one of many.
The two heroes start out being able to throw axes horizontally or vertically, though they don’t go very far. Should an enemy come within melee range, Joe and Mac will strike with a club instead. Holding the attack button will charge up a larger projectile – a fun mechanic. Hold it too long, though, and the character gets winded for a moment. New projectile weapons can be found within dinosaur eggs, including fire, bones, boomerangs, stone wheels, and even shadow clones of the heroes themselves. This being an arcade game, players lose any acquired weapons when they die.
Level variety is one of Joe & Mac’s greatest strengths. Over the course of the game, the heroes will travel across plains, logs on a river, a jungle, a fiery volcano, an icy cave, and the inside of a downed dino, as well as climb gigantic trees and a mountain. The two crude dudes even get to ride on the heads of friendly plesiosaurs in an auto-scrolling, shoot ‘em up-style level! Some levels end with branching paths, so it will take multiple playthroughs to see everything. Not only does every environment just scream with color and parallax beauty, the bosses themselves are a treat. Some of the best beasts include a carnivorous plant, a river-dwelling Brachiosaur, a cave-inhabiting mammoth, and a skeletal dinosaur. I’d be hard pressed to think of a game from this era with more memorable monsters. After beating a boss, whichever player did the best gets a kiss from the rescued maiden – a cute touch that inspires a hint of competition.
Joe & Mac is not an easy arcade game, especially in the modern ports that lack difficulty settings. Enemies constantly threaten the heroes from land, sea, and air. On the one hand, the number of on-screen opponents was certainly impressive in its era. On the other, it can be annoying to deal with so many threats at once. What's more, the heroes have an Adventure Island-like life meter that constantly ticks down. If Joe and Mac don’t eat food periodically, they will actually keel over from hunger. Thankfully, the modern ports allow unlimited continues, but a more fairly balanced difficulty (like that of the Super NES version) would still be nice.
Playing with a local co-op partner makes things a little easier. Both players will still die a lot, but enemies go down quicker when faced with double the firepower. Joe & Mac also has a co-op mechanic in that players can jump on each other’s heads. Potentially, this could allow the top player to fire at higher enemies more easily. In practice, though, the head-hopping is more likely to lead to accidental deaths.
Arcade at Home
The modern console versions have been ported by two different companies. The PlayStation and Steam versions come from 612 Entertainment. In these versions, the game starts with a brief zoom through a 3D rendered arcade. Visual options are scarce, with players able to toggle the display of an arcade cabinet (with poorly-rendered sticks and buttons) and turn scanlines on or off. No matter what, the graphics will always have a slight blur due to the scaling or antialiasing used. The default button layout stinks, but it can be remapped. Save states and pausing are not supported. As for the Switch version from Golem Entertainment, it has better visual options (but no virtual cabinet), save states, and supports pausing. The button layout is the same crummy one as the other versions and can’t be remapped, so you’ll have to remap at the system level if it bothers you.
Players craving the true arcade experience can seek out the Arcade1Up Burger Time cabinet or the AtGames Legends Ultimate home arcade cabinet. Arcade1Up’s Burger Time cabinet was produced as a limited edition in 2020, so you’d have to find it on the second-hand market nowadays. It’s not the best-designed cabinet, though. The monitor is vertically-oriented for Burger Time, the marquee game, but it also includes two horizontally-oriented games: Joe & Mac and Bad Dudes. Thus, Joe & Mac’s display ends up quite tiny and letterboxed – not the ideal way to play. The AtGames Legends Ultimate doesn’t suffer from this issue, so it’s likely to deliver a superior experience (I don’t own it).
Other Versions
New Joe & Mac: Caveman Ninja
The Super NES and Sega Genesis versions of Joe & Mac also support local co-op. They both differ dramatically due to coming from different developers (Data East and Takara). The Super NES game gets a Super Mario World-style map, redesigned levels, and keys that unlock areas on the map. While it’s a larger and better-balanced game, it loses the ability to charge up attacks, and the default weapon doesn’t shoot projectiles, so it doesn’t actually play quite as well as the arcade game. Joe & Mac on Genesis is a more faithful arcade port, though perhaps a less memorable game as a result.
In addition to the arcade sequel, Joe & Mac Returns, and a console spin-off, Congo’s Caper, the franchise has continued with the recent release of New Joe & Mac: Caveman Ninja from Mr. Nutz Studio and Microids. New Joe & Mac launched in a rough state, lacking some promised features and unlimited continues. After an update or two, the game has been improved significantly with new modes and difficulty settings. The new, high-definition art style lacks some of the original game’s charm, but much of the fun still shines through. Read our full co-op review for more details!
Still Caveman Cool
Joe & Mac: Caveman Ninja is more of a cult hit than a mainstream one, but it still maintains a respectable following to this day. The mere concept of cavemen versus dinosaurs is attractive enough all on its own, but the game features amazing artistry, creative level design, and fun mechanics to boot. Battling against enormous pixel-art dinosaurs with a friend is a timeless joy that you don’t have to be a fossil to enjoy.
Retro Classix – Joe & Mac sells for $4.99 on PlayStation and $6.99 on Steam. Johnny Turbo’s Arcade: Joe & Mac costs on Switch. New Joe & Mac: Caveman Ninja sells for $29.99 on Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch, and $24.99 on Steam. Physical versions for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Switch go for $39.99.