Here’s an exposition dump for you. In the future humankind and the internet have combined into one. If that wasn’t enough, AI controlled robots have turned rampant and made themselves robo-billionaires. Our shade-wearing one-liner spewing protagonist, proudly sporting the titular quintessentially ‘80s hairstyle, is out to kick robotic ass, but so needy are the current generation that a dopamine rush is required to stay alive. Live streaming his rampage – taking place in a 100-floor tower block – at least one robot must be destroyed every 10 seconds, with ‘likes’ pumped straight into his bloodstream. Madjack’s reward for all this high-octane bloodshed? The admiration of a green haired buxom female. That, and a pair of the latest sneakers.
Your goal is simple. Dash through short, corridor-like, stages as fast as possible while gunning down robotic adversaries, with every kill adding a few precious seconds to a timer, maxing out at 15 seconds on one of the easier difficulties, and only 10 seconds on normal or above. If the timer reaches zero, you’re toast. At the end of each floor an upgrade or a new weapon can be selected from a choice of three, varying from more explosive barrels littering the tower’s floors to ricochet bullets. Weapons are the usual assortment of punchy shotguns and rifles, with katana swords bolstered by elemental effects adding fantastical flair.
Enemies appear frequently, assisting in quickly dashing from one kill to the next to stay alive, and every ten floors something new is introduced such as laser-trip wires, wall running, and corrosive acid pools. No major shakeups, but enough to add just the right amount of additional challenge. New upgrades and perk types are also doled out periodically, while weapons can be improved three times over, becoming comically overpowered.
To say Mullet Madjack – the game, not the character – has style to spare would be an understatement. Although this is also true of our hero, certainly, who thrashes around in a sleek red sports car and has a penchant for lollipops. The whole shebang is presented like a Japanese computer game circa 1995, complete with faux anime cut-scenes that feature a futuristic neon drenched city as a backdrop. Imagine Snatcher, Road Avenger, The Club and Duke Nukem 3D rolled into one. There’s even a virtual unboxing feature on the main menu, in which you’ll get to unpackage a copy of the game and examine the contents, including a detailed instruction book.
So stylish is Mullet Madjack that it takes a few minutes for your eyes to settle, with your attention drawn to several parts of the screen such as codex-style boxouts and a faux livestream. The colours used are vibrant, enemies satisfyingly explode into a mess of metal and gore, and it runs like greased lightning. Perform a finisher, and you’ll see an extreme close-up of a robot having their chrome-dome smashed with a hammer or wrench. Or an anime novel.
However, a complex game this isn’t; it’s unabashedly retro, involving little more than running and dashing, shooting and kicking, and occasionally jumping and wall running towards a clearly marked exit. There is a need to aim shots carefully though, and the 100 floor challenge is punctuated with a few diversions, including boss battles and a sniper scene. The ending sequence is also something of a treat, which we won’t spoil. Boss battles are centred around the core mechanics – shooting, dashing, jumping – and so aren’t largely innovative, but each boss puts up a good fight. Upon defeat you’re cast back to the start of the floor, but as levels usually last no more than a minute it doesn’t take long to recover, and you may gain a better selection of upgrades to assist.
The action here is fast-paced and rather moreish, intended to deliver a hit of dopamine with the over the top violence. Although enemies are 2D sprites, headshots still add extra seconds to the timer, as do groin shots. Enemies can be kicked into fans and electric panels, while knocking an enemy into a soda machine will see cans spill out – with soda providing a health boost. The game’s glitzy nature does come at a minor cost though; from start to finish, the action is mostly contained within small boxy rooms joined by corridors, with little in the way of unique set-pieces outside of bosses and sniper battles. You’ll be seeing the same interior locations repeatedly, with prime offenders including a large room with a zig-zag path surrounded by acid, a smaller room with two adjacent spinning fans and enemies conveniently placed in front, and dozens of identical corridors littered with explosives.
Luckily, this isn’t to Mullet Madjack’s detriment as the core premise is remarkably robust. Death can come quickly, but it never feels unfair, and you’ll be back to maiming with just a few button presses – albeit with your perk selection reduced to all but one. A few different modes and difficulty settings are also present to dive in and out of. If you just want to see what the campaign has to offer there’s an accessibility mode with a greatly reduced difficulty. Only the normal or harder settings feature online leaderboards. A boss rush and endless mode can also be accessed from the outset, with death in the latter coming even quicker than usual.
Mullet Madjack is a case of a simple idea done well, and the extra sheen applied to the presentation helps to forgive its few shortcomings. While it isn’t particularly long, lasting 3-4 hours, this means the one-note gameplay remains fresh, and chances are you’ll want to return and mop up achievements and beat best scores. When it comes to killing time, Mullet Madjack means business. Kick, shoot, stab and smile.
HAMMER95’s MULLET MADJACK is out now on Xbox One and Xbox Series. Published by Epopeia Games. A PC version was released in 2024.