“I’m here to chew bubble gum and shoot robots. And I’m all out of bubble gum!” Or something like that.
Mullet MadJack isn’t here to play nice with robotics, but it is here to have a great time! It’s a wild-as-hell first-person shooter that has you blasting, dashing, and sliding through dozens of stages before your heart gives out. This is a game that’s had some pretty success on other platforms, and now the colourful, 80s and 90s-inspired world of AI and evil corporations has hit the Switch and Switch 2.
Mullet MadJack moves at breakneck speed and is very in-your-face with its humour and action. It’s an insane ride of goofball humour and action that almost any player can get some solid robot-blasting fun out of!
Mullet MadJack is a Neon Blend of Anime, Attitude, and Humour
In a world where cyberpunk billionaire robots have taken over and turned the tables on humans.
It’s a setup and story that set the scene for wild action and could easily have been plucked from an old comic book, anime, or cheesy B-movie from the 1980s, and it works! You won’t spend too much time thinking about the story, other than some pauses in between stages for moments of lore and a chance to refocus on your overarching goal: rescuing a princess (who is on a different floor… again!).
But time is not on your side as a police officer with a wicked mullet and an arsenal of moves and guns at your disposal. The main conceit and setup of Mullet MadJack is that our protagonist has accepted a rescue mission contract but has only 10 seconds to live. The only way to keep that clock ticking in the upwards direction is to destroy the army of robots and turrets trying to prevent you from completing your task. This is the core gameplay loop of Mullet MadJack as you try to move as fast as possible, but also be strategic in who and how you fight your way to the goal.
It may not sound like much, but the long neon-soaked hallways and floors are littered with opportunities to both aid and hurt you. There is no traditional health bar here, just time itself. Each hit you take ticks off a second or two (which can be adjusted in the many difficulty modes), while destroying enemies will add a few seconds. All this happens nearly every second of every level. So not only is MadJack themself being filled with the dopamine needed to survive, but you, as the player, also feel it!
It was very frantic, and I was unsure how the game would come together after my first few attempts. But once I got the hang of the mechanics and adjusted my approach ever so slightly, I was on a roll and just loving it! It’s a little difficult to put into words just how Mullet MadJack feels to play, as a lot of what you’ll be doing comes down to split-second decisions, as you plan and inevitably adjust what will work in any given situation. But, that will likely change.
Be Quick, But Careful
Part of the beauty of Mullet MadJack is that, despite how fast and frantic the whole experience is, you still have an opportunity to adjust and deal with enemies however you’d like. Stages are filled with chances to kick robots into electrical obstacles, using melee weapons like an axe or even a VHS tape to add a few seconds of life. Or why not get classic headshots or even nut shots? Yeah, that’s right, you read that correctly.
Combos add up and award you with more time and a score at the end of each set of stages (10 to be exact) that all culminate in a boss fight. These also change up the formula, as now you are fighting one-on-one and have a more traditional health bar to manage. These are enjoyable, but not my favourite. I do appreciate the value, but for me, they often felt like they put a real damper on the faster and more strategic action of the normal stages.
The game also goes out of its way to tell you that this is a roguelite…not a roguelike. It’s hard to differentiate the two at times, but I think this actually leads Mullet MadJack to an odd place. There are lots of elements of replayability here, which is great. But as the player, if you fail, you also don’t have to go back to the very beginning of your run to fight on. After you’ve completed a floor (the 10 stages with a boss), that’s essentially your starting point from here on out. Not a bad idea, and this may be a plus for many players. But as someone who loves the rogue genres, I would rather start fresh and accumulate my power or weapons as I go, creating a completely new experience and adjusting my approach as I choose my rewards.
On top of all this, if you do complete 10 stages, you’ll have to forgo all of your upgrades other than your weapon (and any permanent ones you’ve gathered over time). This leaves you with some acquired skills, sure, but I almost always felt underpowered and less likely to succeed or continue my run with new level layouts and some stronger enemies I haven’t seen before. It’s a bit of an odd choice, one that fits into the world and lore of Mullet MadJack, but not one I found particularly interesting.
Without a doubt, one of the best elements of Mullet MadJack is its presentation. The colours constantly pop and take hold of you; the music is an awesome retro blend of styles; the dialogue is corny and funny; and the aesthetics, from the enemy designs to the looks of your weapons, are just top-tier. It’s truly a game that looks and feels like nothing I’ve played before.
At times, and especially when you start to play it for the first time, you may feel bombarded. I know I did! But after a bit of time with the game and as I learned to play within its confines, I tapped into what it was offering me and had a great time. I constantly laughed at the ridiculousness of what was going on, while also taking in its sometimes subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle messaging about consumerism, online and streamer culture, advanced artificial intelligence, billionaire “culture”, and violence. Think of it as a B-movie with a surprisingly apt message and deeper heart than you’d expect. I appreciated this extra touch the developers took to the wild world I was blasting through.
Verdict
Mullet MadJack is insane! And I mean that in the best possible way.
Its over-the-top approach to almost everything it offers you can feel overwhelming, but there’s no denying just how fun it is to play! Dashing through stages that last mere moments is such a blast that I had a hard time putting down my Switch. It’s a breath of fresh air to play a game that has something to say, but presents it in a style that we rarely see or hear anymore. Mullet MadJack is a wild ride and one that almost every FPS fan should play.
[The publisher provided a copy of the game for review purposes.]
Reviewed on: Switch 2
