{"id":27300,"date":"2026-11-06T00:01:01","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T00:01:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/?p=27300"},"modified":"2026-10-20T13:54:57","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T13:54:57","slug":"joe-mac-retro-collection-switch-1-2-ps5-xbox-x-s-pc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2026\/11\/06\/joe-mac-retro-collection-switch-1-2-ps5-xbox-x-s-pc\/","title":{"rendered":"Joe & Mac Retro Collection (Switch 1 & 2, PS5, Xbox X\/S, PC)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Man, I don\u2019t know what it was about the early 90s, but there was a fascination in entertainment media with cavemen for a while.\u00a0 In movies you got stuff like Encino Man and the live action Flintstones movie for instance.\u00a0 It was especially apparent in video games.\u00a0 There were mascot platformers like Bonk, Chuck Rock, and Prehistorik Man.\u00a0 Joe and Mac was another one.\u00a0 They first starred in an arcade game called Caveman Ninjas, but then had several console games afterward.\u00a0 This collection has three of those console outings.\u00a0 They\u2019re all 2D platformers with colorful visuals and expressive animations.\u00a0 It may not seem like much now, but back then those cartoony graphics really set them apart from the rest of the pack.\u00a0 Anyway, Joe & Mac Retro Collection is available on most current consoles and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.<\/p>\n

The three games on here are all from the Super Nintendo, which is my favorite console.\u00a0 I feel like the controls on these would\u2019ve been better with an original SNES controller.\u00a0 I know they make one for the Switch but I don\u2019t have it.\u00a0 I could\u2019ve sworn some of these were also on the NSO SNES service, but maybe they\u2019re not.\u00a0 Like all good game collections, they let you toggle all sorts of options for screen size and graphic displays, borders, sound, HUD displays, and more.\u00a0 You can also view artwork and music and such.\u00a0 I love the rewind feature since a lot of these games were tougher back then and I don\u2019t have as much patience now.\u00a0 Anyway let\u2019s take a look at the games on this collection.<\/p>\n

Joe & Mac<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first game is loosely based on the arcade game.\u00a0 Some of the stages are changed a bit, as some are a little longer now.\u00a0 You have a map screen, too.\u00a0 Two players can play at the same time.\u00a0 You can run, jump, and hit enemies with your club.\u00a0 Pick up long distance throwing weapons like bones, boomerangs, and fire.\u00a0 The wheel is the best weapon, so hold onto that when you can.\u00a0 Know that you can ride on enemies heads and do a high jump by pressing up and jump.\u00a0 The stages are short, but that\u2019s because the highlight of this game are the boss fights against giant dinosaurs.\u00a0 Your job is to save all the cavewomen who have been captured by enemy cavemen.\u00a0 I rented this game back in the day and I know I beat it.<\/p>\n

Congo\u2019s Caper<\/strong><\/p>\n

At first glance you wouldn\u2019t think this is a Joe & Mac game.\u00a0 It has a prehistoric theme and some of the dinosaur bosses are similar, but that\u2019s it.\u00a0 But in Japan, this game is called Joe & Mac 2, and the third game that we got as Joe & Mac 2 is called Joe & Mac 3 there.\u00a0 Also in US Joe & Mac 2, there is a picture of the main character from this game in one of the huts, so maybe this is a prequel?\u00a0 I don\u2019t think they were too invested in Joe & Mac lore back then, so best not to think about it too much. Anyway, in this game, a bunch of monkeys are hanging around when two red orbs fall from the sky.\u00a0 They make two of the monkeys evolve into cavepeople, a boy and a girl.\u00a0 But the girl gets captured by a little demon, so it\u2019s up to the caveboy to stop them.\u00a0 The game plays similarly to Joe & Mac titles.\u00a0 You can run and jump and hit enemies with your club.\u00a0 Press up and jump to go higher.\u00a0 You can stun enemies with one hit and roll them around and ride on their heads.\u00a0 Controls are tighter, but the graphics aren\u2019t as expressive as in the other Joe & Mac games.\u00a0 If you get hit, you get turned back into a monkey.\u00a0 Get hit as a monkey and you lose a life.\u00a0 Grab a red orb to turn back into a caveman.\u00a0 What you want to do is get three red orbs in a row, because when you do, you\u2019ll turn into a super caveman that flashes and can jump really high, glide down by pressing the jump button, and you can take even more hits before reverting back.\u00a0 The game is a bit derivative, but it\u2019s still fun.<\/p>\n

Joe & Mac 2: Lost in the Tropics<\/strong><\/p>\n

They go back to the basics with this one as you play as Joe & Mac again.\u00a0 The sprites are even bigger and more detailed here.\u00a0 This game adds more adventure elements like a world map, sprawling levels, and items you can buy in villages.\u00a0 A bad caveman has stolen the chief\u2019s crown so Joe & Mac are back to save the day.\u00a0 One thing I like is that when you eat meat items, not only do you restore your energy, but you can now spit out a few bones as projectile weapons.\u00a0 You can do this with other things like water.<\/p>\n

And those are all the games.\u00a0 Honestly the only complaint I have is that I wish they had ALL the old Joe & Mac games.\u00a0 The arcade game is a little different, and the SEGA Genesis version is based more on that arcade game than the SNES version. And the NES version is also different, too.\u00a0 There was another arcade game called Joe & Mac Returns that plays like a single screen Bubble Bobble style arcade game.\u00a0 I never played it, but it looks like a reskinned version of another Data East game called Tumble Pop.\u00a0 A few years ago I reviewed New Joe & Mac: Caveman Ninja<\/strong><\/a> but that wasn\u2019t very good and not considered retro anyway. Also I think they could\u2019ve done better explaining certain gameplay aspects of these titles.\u00a0 \u00a0But aside from that, I\u2019m always thrilled to play some SNES games I didn\u2019t play to death back in the day.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Kid Factor:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Joe & Mac Retro Collection is rated T for Teen with an ESRB descriptor of Violence.\u00a0 You bonk enemies with clubs and other weapons and they just make silly faces and fall over and disappear when defeated.\u00a0 I\u2019m surprised they didn\u2019t get an ESRB descriptor of Suggestive Themes with all those scantily clad cave women you have to save.\u00a0 I\u2019d be OK with kids younger than teens playing this because the violence is no worse than a Looney Tunes cartoon.\u00a0 Reading skill is helpful for the text, though.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Man, I don\u2019t know what it was about the early 90s, but there was a fascination in entertainment media with cavemen for a while.\u00a0 In movies you got stuff like Encino Man and the live action Flintstones movie for instance.\u00a0 It was especially apparent in video games.\u00a0 There were mascot platformers like Bonk, Chuck Rock, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":27295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27300"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27302,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27300\/revisions\/27302"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}