The Joe & Mac Retro Collection has opened pre-orders to the public, bundling three prehistoric run-and-gun titles from Data East onto Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5, with Games Press confirming a digital release date of 29 October and physical editions following in early 2027.
If you grew up feeding coins into a cabinet or hammering buttons on a Super Nintendo pad, the Joe & Mac name needs no introduction. Data East’s caveman platformer was one of the more charming arcade releases of the early 1990s, pairing dinosaur-bashing action with two-player co-op chaos in a way that stuck in the memory long after the cartridge was boxed up. The three titles gathered in this collection were all released on Super Nintendo between 1991 and 1995, according to Games Press, which means anyone who played them at the time is now being asked to revisit something they last touched the better part of three decades ago.
What the Joe & Mac Retro Collection includes
The three games in the package are Joe & Mac Caveman Ninja, the original arcade hit that set the whole prehistoric ball rolling; Congo’s Caper, a spin-off with its own brand of monkey-infested madness; and Joe & Mac Lost in the Tropics, a tropical sequel with new weapons and a Tiki Village to defend. Keen fans will notice that Joe & Mac 2 and the well-regarded Joe & Mac Returns are absent, and the community has already made its feelings known on social media. Three titles is what we have, and for many players that will be plenty.
Red Art Games, working in collaboration with developer G-Mode, produced the collection after a Kickstarter campaign that secured backing of over €36,000. Those who missed the campaign can now order directly through Red Art Games. Pre-orders are open for both Nintendo Switch and PS5, with the choice of a standard edition, a deluxe edition or a collector’s edition.
Editions, pricing and what the collector’s box contains
The standard and deluxe editions are priced at €39.99. The collector’s edition comes in at €69.99 and includes a poster, badges, an acrylic stand and stickers alongside the game itself, available for both Switch and PS5.
Two new modes have been added on top of the original content. A Boss Rush mode strings together bosses from all three games back to back, turning it into a time-attack challenge against your own patience and reflexes. Local two-player co-op is also included, with each player managing their own health bar and competing for meat pickups while nominally helping each other through the levels. Anyone who played the original arcade version with a friend will know exactly how co-operative that usually gets.
On the timeline, the digital version lands on Nintendo Switch and PS5 on 29 October. Physical editions, including all the collector’s goodies, are expected in early 2027. For a series that spent years quietly out of circulation, it is a thorough return: a digital release to play immediately, a physical edition to put on a shelf, and enough new content to give returning players a reason to boot it up rather than just admire the box.
