 For whatever reason, there were a lot of 16-bit caveman platformers. I'm not sure what inherent qualities caveman possess that makes them ripe for game fodder, but let's take a look and see if any of these games are any good. I just have to mention first that this isn't to be confused with the game caveman games. That game didn't have an SNES port. This is just 16-bit caveman platformers in general. Starting with the three Joe and Mack games, the first Joe and Mack was one of the first games I ever remember renting after we got our Super Nintendo. I was blown away by the pixel art here, and to this day it's still impressive. I love this giant sleeping dinosaur that later becomes the first level boss. But yeah, as you can see, Joe and Mack is exactly what you'd expect just based on its cover. You're two cavemen fighting dinosaurs, mutant plants, and other cavemen. You fight with clubs, bones, and fireballs that travel on the trajectory, traversing through the jungle, a volcano, a waterfall, and of course the token ice world. It's worth mentioning that this is technically an arcade port, but all the levels are redesigned, and like I said, the graphics and pixel art here are surprisingly very good, and compare very well to the original. However, the SNES version is missing a lot of the power-ups that the arcade version had. Joe and Mack may look like your standard platformer, and in a lot of ways it definitely is, but there's a couple things worth pointing out. Most obvious is that it's two-player co-op. That's really what makes this game worth playing today. Another is that this game is extremely boss fight heavy. The levels are usually pretty short, so there's a lot of one-on-one fighting, with monster after monster after monster. Also, you have the ability to roll, which is pretty fun, and when you die you can float around and pick out your respawn point. That's a nice touch. Joe and Mack also got ports on Genesis, NES, Game Boy, and Amiga. The Genesis version is a little bit more like the original arcade game, but I like the SNES version more. Joe and Mack 2 is a standard sequel, it's just more Joe and Mack with a few new abilities. You can now upgrade your clubs with spikes, you spit bones after using a health replenishment, which is a nice touch, you can ride dinosaurs, spit fire after eating a pepper, and after you finish the first level, you get access to an overworld where you can wander around and visit a village and buy flowers and pick out a wife and start a family. This is all really funny and gives the game some personality that helps it stand out a bit. Joe and Mack 2 is easily the best game on this list because it's a good co-op platformer that has a few extra features that add a bit to the game without getting in the way. Now, technically Joe and Mack 2 is the third game in the series and is advertised as such in the PAL region. The second game is actually Karake Genchijin 2, which got changed to Kongo's Caper in North America. This plays a lot less like a Joe and Mack game, though, and it's more of a pure platformer with the emphasis placed on jumping and hitting your target, although the control does have some similarities since you can double jump the same way, and you still of course use a club to hit enemies. Kongo's Caper is a little looser and a little more open-ended with larger levels, but I gotta say I prefer the two Joe and Mack games, especially since those are two player co-op and Kongo's Caper is not. Let's move on to the two Bonk games. First is Super Bonk, and this is a game original to the SNES, it's not a port from anywhere because, yeah, as you may or may not know, Bonk was more or less the mascot of the TurboGrafx-16 system, but that system was pretty much finished by the mid-90s, so Hudson Soft brought him over to the SNES in what I would consider a hit-and-miss game. Of course, as Bonk, you use your oversized head to attack stuff, and as a result, Bonk is kind of peculiar to control. It's hard to describe, but this definitely isn't a pick-up-and-play kind of a game. It takes a bit to get used to his movement. Super Bonk is the kind of game that provides your character with a ton of power-ups and abilities, like either growing up to be oversized or shrinking way down, that's fun. The problem though is that these power-ups are just kind of haphazardly thrown around, while the level design often offers nothing that allows you to actually do anything with that. Super Bonk is a fine game, and a very long one too, but you can find better, like... Super Genshin 2, or Super Bonk 2, which was only released in Japan for Super Famicom. The level design feels like it better matches what Bonk is capable of, and also the game overall just looks more interesting. The first game just kind of looks basic. I know in my English-friendly Super Famicom series I mentioned that I like the first game better, but I've since changed my mind after playing these back-to-back. Also, yeah, I have to admit these games don't really come close to the fun of the original Bonk games on TurboGrafx16, just FYI. Super Bonk 1 and 2 are fine. The latter I'd even call pretty good, but not classics like the TG-16 games. Now we get into some murkier territory, starting with Chuck Rock, a game that was originally made for the Amiga and Atari ST computers and ported to the SNES, and about two dozen other platforms. Seriously, this game was everywhere back then. Chuck Rock is predicated on slapstick humor, because your main attack here is slapping enemies with your gut. What do you call that, O? Gut butt? Anyway, yeah, you can pick up and throw rocks at enemies, and while some of the enemy design here is interesting, overall Chuck Rock is mediocre at best. Next is Prehistoric Man, which is the sequel to Prehistoric 2 for PC. This is a little better, as it's a great looking game, with some fine animation. This also isn't a typical side-scrolling platformer, since the game has you collecting food for the rest of your village and other stuff, like using this paper airplane thing to fly around, collecting gemstones to unlock new areas, and other things. It's pretty good. The actual platforming, though, is iffy. Starting and stopping is very slippery, and falling off ledges gets old very quickly. Also, I found the camera viewpoints to be noticeably shifty. It just feels like it doesn't know how it should follow you sometimes. So while Prehistoric Man is a bit above generic, the platforming mechanics here just aren't good enough to warrant a recommendation. Last, we have two Flintstones games. First is based off the ill-advised live-action Flintstones movie starring John Goodman, and this is one of the strangest looking games I've ever seen. They've literally stuck John Goodman's head onto a cartoony, fled Flintstone body. I don't know who thought this would work, but it is funny as hell. And yeah, as you might guess, this game is not good. It's got some decent ideas here and there, but again, the actual platforming and hit detection for grabbing onto ledges and landing on areas is really spotty. Avoid this game. Mercifully, we do have a game based on the original Flintstones cartoon. The Flintstones, the treasure of Sierra Madrock. The great poobah of the water buffaloes is retiring, and whoever finds the treasure will be his replacement. So the game is presented like a race, or more accurately, like a board game. Not even Wilma or Betty can get in the way here, and if you run into them at any point, they'll drag you off to a random location. The world map here is like a board game. You roll the dice, move to a location, and clear the area, with each area being a platforming level or some kind of mini-game thing. I don't think this is worth going out of your way to play or anything, but it's a faithful representation of the Flintstones universe, and it's a fun two-player game. Alright, so there you go. If I had to pick one game to play out of this list, it'd have to be Joe and Mac 2, with Super Bonk 2 on the Super Famicom as the runner-up. However, I have to mention, of course, that Joe and Mac 2 goes for like $60 on eBay, and hell, even the Flintstones Treasure of the Sierra Madrock goes for something like $35. Super Bonk 2 can usually be found for less than 20 bucks, though, so that's probably the best deal out there. Anyway, that's all for now. Thanks for watching, and have a great rest of your day.