The Joe & Mac Retro Collection by Red Art Games is a respectful digital or physical tome of three Cave Man Ninja games: Joe & Mac, the single-player-only Congo’s Caper, and Joe & Mac 2: Lost in the Tropics. This compilation honors its source material by wrapping the entire experience in a custom caveman-themed UI while adding worthwhile extras.
To summarize, the Joe & Mac games hold up well, especially when played in co-op. The first game is a friendly run-and-gun-style romp with some big boss battles. Congo’s Caper is challenging and faster-paced but has its moments. And Joe & Mac 2 is another quality co-op game with unexpected light RPG elements. While I personally didn’t own these games upon their console release, I rented them as a kid and recall enjoying them. Regardless, they still offer entertainment today, and the Japanese versions are also included.
Red Art Games put forth the effort to package all these games into an impressive and appreciated collection. From the design of the main menu, screen borders, jukebox, and even the virtual box scans, just about all the materials a fan could want are here (minus the arcade edition). All the expected emulation features are included too, including save states and rewind functionality. The UI contains bones, dinosaurs, giant meat sticks, and more. It fully leans into its source material with great charm. In other words, they did their homework and understood the assignment, scoring an “A” on the test.
Here’s the thing, though: the Joe & Mac Retro Collection is good, it is fun, and it holds up well. However, all three of these games are currently available through the SNES app included with Nintendo Switch Online ($20/year) and feature the same emulator functionality found in Nintendo’s service. If you have Nintendo Switch Online, do you need this collection? That depends on the level of your fandom and the size of your wallet.
SCORE: 8/10
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
X/Twitter: @ZackGaz
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