It’s really hard these days to not be addicted to consistent stimulation. Even I am guilty of picking my phone up immediately upon waking up most mornings. Often I don’t focus on one single task when at work, as I have music or podcasts in the background or, at worst, a whole video playing despite not having the excess attention to give to it properly. Anyone who grew up, even in part, in front of a screen knows this struggle, and we’ll likely spend a bulk of our lifetimes getting our fix or finding healthier alternatives. Well, Mullet Mad Jack is a game made for this generation of 20-somethings, and that statement is true in way more ways than I’ve already alluded to.

Hammer95 Studio has created a technicolor fever dream that is an homage to 90s anime and modern boomer shooters. The aesthetics have that less realistic, slightly off look you might recognize from anime of the 90s. Eyes might be slightly far apart and proportions might be a bit outta wack, but these details feel intentional rather than accidental. While I didn’t grow up directly with the 90s anime that this game is influenced by, I recognize this same art style from Flash and Java animations from the 2000s on sites like Newgrounds and Adventure Quest.

Speaking of Flash, despite being a fully 3D first-person shooter, the only items that aren’t 2D are the environments and most major objects within it. This lets the art stand out but also makes it feel even more like a flash game, where 2D animation was widely accepted as the default, even as 3D capabilities began to creep into the landscape. This means that every animation, from the reloading of your pistol in your hand to enemies clutching their crutch after a nutshot, looks smooth. The only issue is that, when combat gets brought into the sky, It’s hard to get a shot on enemies when directly above them. Mad Jack uses the cardboard cutout approach, so if you get an awkward angle on a model, there’s nothing there to show, so It’s just flat, which is an issue in a time-sensitive shooter like this.

When it comes to the shooting, it is surprisingly satisfying. Most of my favorite shooters rely on detailed gore systems and massive arenas to create a playground of destruction, but this game manages to keep that arena feel while being 90% hallways. It pulls this off thanks to Its constantly ticking time limit. Mr. Mad Jack only gets 10 seconds to live and to keep that game over screen at bay, you have to constantly do murderous or exciting acts. Your every move is being live-streamed, and their engagement is tied directly to your heartbeat, so every kill, explosion, and kick into a fan blade will keep them watching, and keep you alive. This puts pressure on you to keep moving no matter what, and the lack of ammo management (outside of reloads) allows you to just run through enemies. Run through them you must because every hit you take decreases your time even more, as the timer and your health bar are one, so avoiding damage is just as important as dealing it out. New weapons that you can equip between floors force you to find new rhythms in the gunplay, as the plasma gun feels a bit different from the shotgun, and nothing at all like the ice sword.

The urgency is what makes this game so consistently engaging despite the core gameplay loop rarely revolutionizing itself throughout the 4-5 hour runtime. The game has a rouge-light structure, as levels seem to be set in stone, or assembled with pre-made segments, but the upgrades you choose from level to level will vary throughout your various attempts. The level that requires a lot for wall running a platforming might be a bit easier if you’ve unlocked the double jump, or the boss battle that happens every ten levels will be nearly trivial if you’ve already unlocked the plasma rifle’s level 3 upgrade. The list of upgrades you’re offered after each level is random, so the improvisational spirit of the genre is alive here, but this does feel much more like a way faster spin on the corridor shooters of the PS3/360 era like Quake 4 and Singularity. It’s a nice blend of both genres and while Its short runtime makes sure you never get tired of the gameplay loop, there is an endless mode if you just can’t get enough of it.

But the story of this game is just as over the top as its aesthetics and gameplay. Mullet Mad Jack takes place in the far future where millionaires and billionaires rule the world and human attention spans are so small that they need stimulation every few seconds or they’ll die. It’s the main reason for your time limit in gameplay, and the reason you constantly hold up your phone to your face at all times. You, the Moderator, are chosen as a contestant for a life-streamed show in which you must fight through dozens of levels of a skyscraper to save a damsel in distress. Every ten levels, you nearly reach the damsel, held hostage by the evil billionaire, Mr. Bullet, but they manage to slip away to ten more levels above you, where the cycle repeats again for 9 chapters total. This formula is broken up by some novel set pieces that better pace the game, especially near the end, but for 90% of the game you will be shooting things and dashing through the halls.

This story, despite a surprising twist or two, does play out the way a 90s anime-inspired power fantasy would, and the point of this game is centered squarely on the gameplay. But the vibrancy of the world and the extreme circumstances in which the narrative takes place make this simple narrative one that invites deeper engagement.

Earlier when I said that this game is obviously made by a certain generation, this is what I meant. If you grew up with 90s anime and 2000s flash media, then you also grew up as the post-capitalist wasteland of post-9/11 America began to assert itself. If you grew up playing the linear shooters of the 2010s, then you were likely just starting adulthood when the COVID-19 pandemic happened and most of the wealth from normal people was transferred to a select few billionaires and millionaires. If you lived long enough to see anime be cool and openly loved by folks like Megan the Stallion or to enjoy the boomer shooter renaissance of the last decade, then you have seen how corporations have seized control of most American institutions and have steadily become more brazen when wielding their power. When I say this game is about our generation, as I am a 90s baby myself, this is what I mean. A world ruled by corrupt billionaires, populated by a populace crippled by short attention spans, where the most popular past times are just a vehicle for violence is effectively the world we now live in. Take out the bullet-headed villains and the sci-fi weaponry (except for the Plasma Rifle because that gun is broken in the best way), and this over-the-top portrayal hits way closer to home than is comfortable. And perhaps that’s why I really dislike Its ending.

You get the big, self-aggrandizing ending that you would expect, yes, but the real ending comes a bit later. That ending, without spoiling too much, does draw a direct line from this game to all of the real world themes I’ve discussed. It’s a neat, almost meta twist, but what it does with that plot beat is really disappointing. The addictive nature of the game ties back into the themes of the narrative rather than the story breaking away to conclude in a more satisfying, hopeful way. Sure, nihilism is invited when a setting only has functional enemies in the form of robots since nearly every flesh and blood human is too much of a screen slave to do much else but consume content, but I do feel that grappling with themes should mean you do something more with them. I’m left feeling like this story, for as fun as it was to play through, left me feeling a bit defeated, like watching “Don’t Look Up” a few years ago. The only difference is, I was already in the more negative mindset that that movie fed into, but since I’ve accumulated just enough hope in my heart to not quite vibe with something that bleak again.

Overall, despite the depressing ending, the game overall is the most engaging shooter I’ve played in 2024. Excellent gunplay, tense platforming, striking visuals, and an over-the-top story all combine for a game that has way more smooth sides than rough edges. The game is a great addition to the insane month of Indie releases that are coming out this May, especially if you own a Steam Deck, which it ran perfectly on. Just maybe don’t think about the story too hard, and just enjoy the fun of nonstop violence.