At the end of the ’80s and the beginning of the ’90s, there were an excessive number of titles featuring ninjas in the video game scene. Despite being less popular, some of the less prolific titles included Camerica’s Big Nose Caveman, Electronic Arts’ Caveman Ugh-Lympics, Titus’ Prehistoric Man, and of course, Bonk’s Hudson Adventure. Data East had a brilliant idea to combine both elements into one game—a bright and silly two-player arcade game called Caveman Ninja.
In reality, there is very little about ninjas. The Japanese subtitle Tatakae Genshijin is more accurately translated as “Cavemen Fighting,” and many of the console ports use the name Joe & Mac for the wild-haired duo who go on adventures fighting dinosaurs and searching for babes. Some ports combine the two into Joe & Mac: Caveman Ninja. The arcade game was then adapted to several systems, with three series created—one just for arcade and another for SNES.
