I love Joe & Mac. At this point I’ve reviewed the game across numerous platforms and yet I’m not tired of it. It reminds me of a simpler time, when caveman platformers were actually a thing. I barely got to play this in the arcade so the home ports were my outlet. I really like this version of the game but also acknowledge that it plays fast and loose with the original’s mechanics. Whether you like it or not comes down to expectations. If you want a faithful arcade port the Genesis version is the way to go. If you just want a good platformer the SNES game is pretty damn good.
While it technically is an arcade port the SNES version of Joe & Mac might as well be a new game. It features many of the same levels and bosses but also adds a few features as well. Rather than the free form structure of its arcade counterpart this version is linear. The addition of a world map tries to give off the impression of a large world along the lines of Super Mario World but it is superfluous. Aside from gated bonus areas the game is of medium length. Sadly it loses the multiple routes at the end of each level that gave the game a lot of replay value.
Mechanically this version has a significant number of changes, some good, and some bad. It loses the degenerating health for a simple life bar which works much better. For some reason the default throwing axes have been replaced by a simple club. It’s a ridiculous change and one that is cause for some frustration. There are less weapons and power-ups overall which sucks as most enemies take multiple hits to kill. The most egregious cut is the cool wind up attack, which enabled you to kill bosses faster. The addition of a lame roll does not make up for it.
Nearly all of the levels from the arcade are featured here in some form. The arcade’s stages were very short and almost gave the game the feeling of a boss rush. Here most levels are the same length of a typical platformer which is both good and bad. It gives the game more substance but also highlights some of its weaknesses. Most enemies take a few hits to kill which is incredibly annoying. The light platforming is weak and imprecise.
But worst of all it removes the multiple routes at the end of every level. Although the stages were short there was a great deal of variety among them which has been lost. Some of the best were the animal riding stages did not make the cut. The multiple paths lead to three different endings which gave Joe & Mac replay value. Their loss hurts the game tremendously.
Silly changes aside at least you’ll actually reach the end of this without cheating. As much as I like the Sega game the crippling difficulty nearly ruined it. That isn’t the case here; in fact it might be too easy. You can survive as many as 12-15 hits before death which is a bit much. The game is very generous with food so most of the time you will have full health. Even if you die you respawn immediately rather than being sent back to a checkpoint. With a little exploration you can find the many bonus rooms that grant health or extra lives, making it even simpler.
This version of Joe & Mac looks fantastic and very close to the arcade. The sprites are large, the level of background detail is similar and the overall color palette is a close match. Oddly enough certain effects such as the various river stages look sub par. Surprisingly despite being an early SNES title Mode 7 is completely absent. The animation has taken a hit somewhat but overall this looks stellar. The soundtrack is also fantastic and even better than the arcade.
In Closing
While it is disappointing that this isn’t a straight arcade port it is still pretty good overall. If that is what you want you are better off going with the Sega version. If you want a solid platformer in the same vein Joe & Mac is more than adequate. Some of its changes are actually for the better while the rest are fluff but it does not hurt the game overall.
