Developer: Data East Publisher: Data East Released: 1993 Genre: Platformer
For me Joe & Mac was one of the highlights of the early SNES period. Although it was vastly different from the arcade game I still enjoyed it nonetheless, enough that I looked forward to a sequel. Well we got one although it was not what I expected. Congo’s Caper should have been an easy slam dunk by expanding on what made its predecessor great. Instead it largely goes in its own direction and feels a bit….generic. It isn’t outright bad but it does not particularly stand out either.
The only thing Congo’s Caper shares with Joe & Mac is the prehistoric setting. Congo and his girlfriend are a pair of monkeys who come in contact with a mysterious jewel that evolves them into cavemen. Unfortunately a devil kidnaps Congette as soon as this happens prompting the start of the journey. The naming conventions regarding this series is all over the place. In Japan it is Tatakae Genshijin 2: Rookie no Bouken, making it an official sequel to Joe & Mac. But in the US it is Congo’s Caper, disregarding the link. It gets even more blurred with Joe & Mac 2: Lost in the Tropics, which was Tatakae Genshijin 3. Why god why?
While Congo’s Caper is technically a sequel it doesn’t play like one. There are many mechanical changes that give it a different feel. You have no life bar; when Congo takes a hit he devolves into a monkey. As an ape his reach is shorter and his jumping prowess is less. You can only survive two hits before death but there are power-ups to get around this. Red orbs will change you back, and if you collect three while in normal form you become Super Congo. As Super Congo you can leap several screens high, float downward and survive three hits before going back to normal. This is the only real power-up in the game as everything else is collectibles. At least it persists from one level to the next.
The over world map from the Super Nintendo version of Joe & Mac is gone. However after the first world you can tackle the rest in any order. Congo’s Caper does a great job of incorporating a great deal of variety in its levels. Even though this is the prehistoric era you will visit a pirate ship, volcano, and ghost town. The levels are more open, rather than the straightforward action stages of the first game. There are plenty of secrets and such that make creative use of your abilities; stunned enemies can be used as platforms or rolled. But by and large the stages are so short you will complete them before you even figure out how to reach that one item you saw.
There is nothing inherently wrong with Congo’s Caper. But at the same time there is no one aspect of it that stands. It has platforming and does it well enough. Yet there are many better titles to spend your time with. I can’t help feeling like I wanted….more. Caveman action games were common in the late 80s and early 90s yet Joe & Mac managed to stand out at the time. Congo’s Caper does nothing to leverage the somewhat unique take its predecessor laid down and is now simply a generic platformer on a system with plenty.
Despite its lack of a life bar Congo’s Caper is incredibly easy. Red Orbs are everywhere, allowing you to easily become Super Congo and stay that way for most of the game. Diamonds that activate the roulette for extra lives are scattered about everywhere; it isn’t uncommon to find five or six per level. Even the bonus rounds aren’t hard to find. Boss battles present the only challenge and these are more of a battle of attrition since they have long life bars. These could have elevated the game somewhat but the fact that they are drawn out with the same repetitive mechanics hurts it. Shame too, as some of these fights are creative.
In Closing
Congo’s Caper is a slightly above average game that is inoffensive but generic. It is mechanically sound and reasonably fun at times. But it is also so generic that it is hard to recommend. As a sequel to Joe & Mac I expected more and came away disappointed.
