Everything in Mullet MadJack is over the top. Crazy characters in a neon-lit world perform insane actions to keep the dopamine flowing. It’s relentless, it’s grotesque and it’s non-stop fun. Brazilian indie game studio HAMMER95 goes all out in this boomer shooter on steroids. “It’s the style!”, says Game Director Sandro Martinello when asked about what makes his game stand out. “We aim to make the most stylish first person shooter possible, and I like the style of everything, gameplay and visuals.”
And those visuals really do pop. It’s like an eighties anime comes alive. “I always liked Japanese anime and arcade fast gameplay”, says Martinello. “So when I saw that boomer shooters were becoming faster and arcade-like, I thought it was time to try my take on that! So Mullet MadJack is like a kickass Japanese anime, but playable! And Jack is your typical action hero from that era.”
In the mad, mad world of Mullet MadJack, man and internet have merged into a new being. That being needs a fresh dose of dopamine to feed the ever ticking death clock some extra seconds of life. So in order to stay alive the player has to keep moving forward, killing everything and everybody in their way. Martinello thinks he knows why the game has garnered over 150.000 wishlists. “The core gameplay loop combined with the narrative to form a cohesive world makes people really happy!.”
Alternate world
Indie studio HAMMER95 is a collective of three developers with more than ten years of experience each. This is their debut game operating under this studio name. “We chose that name because we envisioned games in an alternate world where arcades did not cease to be mainstream. And we wondered what kind of games would be made in this scenario”, explains Martinello. “We have specific roles in the studio. I’m the artist, so I always will have the pitch that uses my talent the most! And since the coders have a passion for FPS games, it’s a win-win!”
“I always liked Japanese anime from the VHS era. I consider that the golden age. Even young people are drawn to the style of that era in gifs and on TikTok. Why are there no games with this aesthetic until now?” To get that specific look working was not an easy feat according to Martinello. “The hardest part is compressing and making all the sprites and frame by frame animation work on a modern game! We worked to make the sprites and animations optimized to look like an anime without being too heavy.”
With the release of the game drawing near, the HAMMER95-team feels that Mullet MadJack might really do well. “The game has much potential, so if it succeeds, I want to work on this franchise for years to come! This game is everything I love in one package!”