When you think of Kevin Smith and the words Jay and Silent Bob what’s the first thing you think of? Other than weed. Other than movies. Other than Bluntman and Chronic. That’s right: video games. Wait. You don’t think of video games when you hear those names? Well, maybe it’s time you should. Because in the rather INSANE year that is 2020, we’re getting not one, but possibly TWO video games with Jay and Silent Bob. The real kicker? One of these games can be played on your NES system.
Jay and Silent Bob: Mall Brawl is an NES style beat-em-up made by Interabang Entertainment (who are also working on Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch) and Spoony Bard Productions. Backers of the independently funded Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch can get Mall Brawl for free, or you can purchase the game itself digitally. There was also an NES cartridge from Limited Run Games that has since sold out.
Jay and Silent Bob: Mall Brawl has you playing as, well, Jay and Silent Bob. Taking place just moments after the ending to Kevin Smith’s Mallrats, we find our main characters on the run from the security guard known as La Fours. Having just ruined the show Truth or Date, Jay and Silent Bob need to escape the mall as quickly as possible. Easy right? Not in this mall. Everyone is after them so Jay and Silent Bob will need to kick, punch, and super-move their way through security guards, hockey players, and poop-demons before they can fly to safety.
Gameplay is fairly straight-forward. Jay and Silent Bob each have a standard punch, kick, and jumping attack. They can combo attacks and build up stars to a special move. Jay has a flip kick and Silent Bob has a spinning lariat. Specials moves and stars are consumed automatically at the end of a combo, so if you’re trying to play it safe, you might want to think about ending the combo so you have your stars saved up.
Like classic beat-em-ups, Jay and Silent Bob: Mall Brawl will have some moments of difficulty. Enemies pull the classic “sandwich” move where they will place you between the two of them and beat the hell out of you until you lose a life. Some of the more mobile enemies can be a pain in the ass as neither Jay or Silent Bob can move very fast. If you double-tap left or right they can run but it’s hard to control. I often would hit a wall and take damage because I missed my target.
The game overall can be frustrating. Enemies don’t let up and you will often find yourself close to death. If you’re playing single player, you can swap between Jay or Silent Bob. If one character dies, you will auto-swap to the other. A character in reserve will slowly gain health back. Once they have at least half of their health, they can be swapped or used again. This can be a little tough when you’re up against multiple enemies and you don’t have the time to wait for health to regenerate. You might end up seeing that Game Over screen more than you’d expect to.
Jay and Silent Bob: Mall Brawl relies heavily on nostalgia. There a ton of in-jokes that Kevin Smith fans will notice and there are loads of references within the game. The music and art style are done in a perfect 8-bit style. The downside to this is that the music and a lot of the art is repetitive and generic. It almost feels as if someone modded an old NES beat-em-up and reskinned it to fit within the View Askewniverse. It’s a nice throwback to the days of video games, but it does leave me wanting more. So in essence, Jay and Silent Bob: Mall Brawl is the perfect snack before we get to Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch.
A digital Switch copy was provided for the purpose of review. Learn more about both Jay and Silent Bob games on the official website. Screenshots and featured image used courtesy of an official press kit.
