Hello, and welcome to another installment of Hidden Gems, and today, we’ll be taking a look at the third party game from the Wii. Now, I know that third party games for the Wii were… Not the best. Usually, you’d find a bunch of awful party and fitness games. Sure, you get a few good third party games, but they're all kind of… E rated games. They never went to the extreme… But then one game did just that. There was a game on the Wii that decided to push it to the limit and create something rather gruesome and violent for a console as family friendly as the Nintendo Wii… And no, we will not be talking about No More Heroes 1 and 2. I love No More Heroes, and it was indeed a very violent game, but I feel that many people know about it now. Maybe back when the Wii was new, I would have talked about it, but I feel that it has managed to gain more popularity over the years, since it got two games, and a rumored third one for the Switch. No, today, we’re talking about something more obscure and debatably more insane, and that is the beautifully gory Madworld.
~Story~
Madworld is a hack and slash game created by Platinum Games, who you may know for making amazing games like Wonderful 101, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, and the Bayonetta franchise, so they’re pretty good there. Madworld takes place in the fictional city of Varrigan City, which was under attack by a terrorist group called The Organizers. The Organizers caused the city to lose all contact with the outside world and released a virus that was said to kill anyone within 24 hours, and the only way to prevent it was to kill someone, and soon, the town erupted into violent crime. This was the set-up for the game show Death Watch, where city residents, as well as new arrivals, would fight to the death in order to win both a massive cash prize and their freedom. So it’s like Smash TV. Yeah, remember that arcade game? In this game, you play as Jack Cayman, an ex-marine clad in biker gear with a robotic arm that turns into a chainsaw, who arrives to compete in Death Watch, but is actually there on a mission, and so the runner of the game show, Noa, plans to kill him in the game show instead of in secrecy, as Jack quickly becomes a fan favorite. From this point, your goal is to fight your way through enemies, rack up points in violent combos, defeat the boss of the level, and move on from there. It’s as basic as it gets… And I love it.
~Gameplay~
Madworld does exactly what you’d expect with it’s gory violence. It doesn’t hold back on anything. If you want to impale an enemy through the face with a street sign, do it. If you want to beat them in the face with a baseball bat, go right ahead. If you want to toss them into moving trains, a piranha tank, a crushing thingy, go crazy. Madworld is a game that does not care how you kill people, as long as it’s over the top and makes no sense, then do it. Your job is to take out enemies and rack up points before time runs out. The more combos and more creative your kills are, the more points you get. Once you have managed to get enough points, the levels boss appears. Kill the boss, and you progress to the next level. The art style of this game really makes it even better. The black and white style mixed with the cel-shading really gives the game a sort of style to it. But it’s not all black and white. As a violent game, it’s red ALL over. Blood is the only thing in this game that has color, and there’s a lot of it. And with all of the fighting you’re gonna do, I assure you, you’re gonna see a lot of it. Yep, lots of fighting… Lots and lots and lots of it.
Okay, so to some people, seeing this much fighting can get a little tiresome. The game doesn’t change much after that, so the fighting may get a little old for some people. Not for me. Other than horror, my favorite thing in entertainment is stupid, over-the-top action, and Madworld certainly has it. Thankfully, for those who are sick of fighting the same amount of goons every level, the game mixes it up with a few mini bosses, like an overweight man that rolls around in an attempt to run you down, a man dressed as a bull with a massive chainsaw, and the grim reaper…… Oh, I’ll get to that bastard later. You are also able to go on the road with your motorcycle and fight enemies with your chainsaw or by running them over. But the best part of the game besides the fighting is the mini games, also known as Bloodbath Challenges. These Bloodbath Challenges are hosted by the one and only Black Baron, a pimp who shows you how the challenges work, as he is used as a demonstration by his… “Assistant”, Mathilda, who ends up killing The Black Baron to show you how the challenge works, yet he somehow ends up coming later, perfectly fine, just in time to show you the next Bloodbath Challenge before he’s killed again. These challenges are pretty fun. The goal is to kill a certain number of enemies in a certain way before time runs out. For example, the most well known one, Man Dart, has you smack enemies with a baseball bat and send them flying into a giant dartboard. These mini games are so brutal and I love them.
However, as much as I love the over the top action of the game, it’s not perfect. There isn’t much variety besides that, I’m afraid. It’s fun, but I can definitely see people getting bored within a few hours. And then there’s the infamous Mad Castle level, the level that is glitched to where you cannot dodge the enemies attacks within a quicktime event, and you will either get hurt or even get killed. This is proven when you fight Death Blade, a grim reaper on roller skates, whose scythe kills you in one hit. One goddamn hit. And the boss of the level, the Shamans, cannot be dodged. Trust me, I’ve tried. Just wail on them and pray you kill them before they kill you. It’s easy as long as you had enough lives saved up, but that may not be so thanks to Death Blade. Speaking of the bosses, there are thankfully more good ones than bad ones. But the bad ones really show. Little Eddie is a giant monster and does the first boss role well. Not a great boss, but he works. Jude the Dude is a cowboy that skates on rails, and is a pretty fun boss, even if he fights from a distance. Frederick von Twirlenkiller is a German soldier that creates tornados and is truly the first great boss you fight in this game. Rinrin is a much more deadly version of Chun-li and manages to be a pretty fun boss to fight. Shogun Kokushimusou is a shogun and, while not a bad fight, I remembered the scenery, a burning dojo, more than the boss. Yokozuna is a sumo that survives being impaled several times and takes being shot into a volcano to kill. It’s insane and I love it. The Shamans are werewolves and obviously suck. Frank is a Frankenstein monster and sucks even more with his healing and bullshit attacks. Elise is a vampire and the best boss in the Mad Castle area. Kojack is an evil version of Jack and is more fun because you get to fight him on your motorcycle. The Masters are just two jedis. They have lightsabers, and move you with the will of their minds. Martin is just boring, and yes, an alien in a giant robot is boring. Not fun and not annoying. Just boring. But the final boss, that is where the game gets really good.
~Ending~
~SPOILERS AHEAD~
So, as it turns out, the man in charge of the event works for a pharmaceutical company known as Springvale that helped the Organizers create Deathwatch, as a way to help sell the vaccine, after they also created the virus. So, in order for Jack to get to the man in charge, he must defeat the final boss and champion of Death Watch. At first, I thought the leader of the Organizers was the final boss and champion, but as it turns out, the final boss was hiding under our noses the whole time… And it was The Black Baron all along… Yeah, the Black Baron was the final boss. And thank god, for once on this series, I get to talk about a game with a good final boss. And The Black Baron isn’t just a good final boss, but the best boss in the entire game. You have no weapons in this fight. Just your fists and your endurance. You have to fight The Black Baron as he throws punches at you and with his “assistant” trying to fight you as well. However, during the fight, the geishas that Jack saved in the Asia Town level come to give him health if he needs it. After you manage to knock The Black Baron’s health down by half, things suddenly change. The Black Baron is more pissed and isn’t screwing around anymore, and even the background music changes. This time, The Black Baron has faster and more aggressive attacks, and can even create one hit kill vortexes (But their easy to avoid, so it isn’t cheap). After you manage to defeat The Black Baron, Jack pimp slaps him a few times, followed by smashing him into the dart board for the final time. Jack kills the leader of the Organizers and creator of the virus, and then leaves the city as the DeathWatch champion as the credits roll, and you get to hear the announcers, Howard “Buckshot” Holmes and Kreese Kreeley voiced by Greg Proops of Whose Line is it Anyway and John DiMaggio as Bender from Futurama and Jake from Adventure Time. (By the way, these two are hilarious in this game. I recommend buying it just to hear them).
~Legacy~
Madworld is a game that was fondly remembered…. No, that’s a lie. Not many people bought this game, and those who did hear of it hated the game for it’s violent content being on a console like the Wii. The National Institution of Media and Family were disappointed in Nintendo for allowing the game to be put onto their console in the first place, while Germany banned the game altogether. However, for some reason, Madworld was able to be successful enough to get released in Australia in a combo pack titled Welcome to Violence, which, along with Madworld, came with House of the Dead: Overkill and The Conduit. Madworld was even able to get a sequel, titled Anarchy Reigns. It too wasn’t that popular, so maybe I’ll review that game too in the upcoming future.
~Verdict~
Madworld was a game that had style, and managed to be entertaining from start to end, despite its limitations. I can understand many people being bored quickly, but I for one, love this game. It had a unique art style to it, amazing over-the-top gameplay, a rather catchy rap soundtrack (And I don’t even like rap, so let that show how good it is), and some of the best comedy I’ve heard from two faceless characters that aren’t even important to the story. If you want a game for the Wii that doesn’t feel incredibly dull or a cash grab, than I ask you to give Madworld a try. Madworld gets the ranking of Excavation Worthy. Goodbye.
~Story~
Madworld is a hack and slash game created by Platinum Games, who you may know for making amazing games like Wonderful 101, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, and the Bayonetta franchise, so they’re pretty good there. Madworld takes place in the fictional city of Varrigan City, which was under attack by a terrorist group called The Organizers. The Organizers caused the city to lose all contact with the outside world and released a virus that was said to kill anyone within 24 hours, and the only way to prevent it was to kill someone, and soon, the town erupted into violent crime. This was the set-up for the game show Death Watch, where city residents, as well as new arrivals, would fight to the death in order to win both a massive cash prize and their freedom. So it’s like Smash TV. Yeah, remember that arcade game? In this game, you play as Jack Cayman, an ex-marine clad in biker gear with a robotic arm that turns into a chainsaw, who arrives to compete in Death Watch, but is actually there on a mission, and so the runner of the game show, Noa, plans to kill him in the game show instead of in secrecy, as Jack quickly becomes a fan favorite. From this point, your goal is to fight your way through enemies, rack up points in violent combos, defeat the boss of the level, and move on from there. It’s as basic as it gets… And I love it.
~Gameplay~
Madworld does exactly what you’d expect with it’s gory violence. It doesn’t hold back on anything. If you want to impale an enemy through the face with a street sign, do it. If you want to beat them in the face with a baseball bat, go right ahead. If you want to toss them into moving trains, a piranha tank, a crushing thingy, go crazy. Madworld is a game that does not care how you kill people, as long as it’s over the top and makes no sense, then do it. Your job is to take out enemies and rack up points before time runs out. The more combos and more creative your kills are, the more points you get. Once you have managed to get enough points, the levels boss appears. Kill the boss, and you progress to the next level. The art style of this game really makes it even better. The black and white style mixed with the cel-shading really gives the game a sort of style to it. But it’s not all black and white. As a violent game, it’s red ALL over. Blood is the only thing in this game that has color, and there’s a lot of it. And with all of the fighting you’re gonna do, I assure you, you’re gonna see a lot of it. Yep, lots of fighting… Lots and lots and lots of it.
Okay, so to some people, seeing this much fighting can get a little tiresome. The game doesn’t change much after that, so the fighting may get a little old for some people. Not for me. Other than horror, my favorite thing in entertainment is stupid, over-the-top action, and Madworld certainly has it. Thankfully, for those who are sick of fighting the same amount of goons every level, the game mixes it up with a few mini bosses, like an overweight man that rolls around in an attempt to run you down, a man dressed as a bull with a massive chainsaw, and the grim reaper…… Oh, I’ll get to that bastard later. You are also able to go on the road with your motorcycle and fight enemies with your chainsaw or by running them over. But the best part of the game besides the fighting is the mini games, also known as Bloodbath Challenges. These Bloodbath Challenges are hosted by the one and only Black Baron, a pimp who shows you how the challenges work, as he is used as a demonstration by his… “Assistant”, Mathilda, who ends up killing The Black Baron to show you how the challenge works, yet he somehow ends up coming later, perfectly fine, just in time to show you the next Bloodbath Challenge before he’s killed again. These challenges are pretty fun. The goal is to kill a certain number of enemies in a certain way before time runs out. For example, the most well known one, Man Dart, has you smack enemies with a baseball bat and send them flying into a giant dartboard. These mini games are so brutal and I love them.
However, as much as I love the over the top action of the game, it’s not perfect. There isn’t much variety besides that, I’m afraid. It’s fun, but I can definitely see people getting bored within a few hours. And then there’s the infamous Mad Castle level, the level that is glitched to where you cannot dodge the enemies attacks within a quicktime event, and you will either get hurt or even get killed. This is proven when you fight Death Blade, a grim reaper on roller skates, whose scythe kills you in one hit. One goddamn hit. And the boss of the level, the Shamans, cannot be dodged. Trust me, I’ve tried. Just wail on them and pray you kill them before they kill you. It’s easy as long as you had enough lives saved up, but that may not be so thanks to Death Blade. Speaking of the bosses, there are thankfully more good ones than bad ones. But the bad ones really show. Little Eddie is a giant monster and does the first boss role well. Not a great boss, but he works. Jude the Dude is a cowboy that skates on rails, and is a pretty fun boss, even if he fights from a distance. Frederick von Twirlenkiller is a German soldier that creates tornados and is truly the first great boss you fight in this game. Rinrin is a much more deadly version of Chun-li and manages to be a pretty fun boss to fight. Shogun Kokushimusou is a shogun and, while not a bad fight, I remembered the scenery, a burning dojo, more than the boss. Yokozuna is a sumo that survives being impaled several times and takes being shot into a volcano to kill. It’s insane and I love it. The Shamans are werewolves and obviously suck. Frank is a Frankenstein monster and sucks even more with his healing and bullshit attacks. Elise is a vampire and the best boss in the Mad Castle area. Kojack is an evil version of Jack and is more fun because you get to fight him on your motorcycle. The Masters are just two jedis. They have lightsabers, and move you with the will of their minds. Martin is just boring, and yes, an alien in a giant robot is boring. Not fun and not annoying. Just boring. But the final boss, that is where the game gets really good.
~Ending~
~SPOILERS AHEAD~
So, as it turns out, the man in charge of the event works for a pharmaceutical company known as Springvale that helped the Organizers create Deathwatch, as a way to help sell the vaccine, after they also created the virus. So, in order for Jack to get to the man in charge, he must defeat the final boss and champion of Death Watch. At first, I thought the leader of the Organizers was the final boss and champion, but as it turns out, the final boss was hiding under our noses the whole time… And it was The Black Baron all along… Yeah, the Black Baron was the final boss. And thank god, for once on this series, I get to talk about a game with a good final boss. And The Black Baron isn’t just a good final boss, but the best boss in the entire game. You have no weapons in this fight. Just your fists and your endurance. You have to fight The Black Baron as he throws punches at you and with his “assistant” trying to fight you as well. However, during the fight, the geishas that Jack saved in the Asia Town level come to give him health if he needs it. After you manage to knock The Black Baron’s health down by half, things suddenly change. The Black Baron is more pissed and isn’t screwing around anymore, and even the background music changes. This time, The Black Baron has faster and more aggressive attacks, and can even create one hit kill vortexes (But their easy to avoid, so it isn’t cheap). After you manage to defeat The Black Baron, Jack pimp slaps him a few times, followed by smashing him into the dart board for the final time. Jack kills the leader of the Organizers and creator of the virus, and then leaves the city as the DeathWatch champion as the credits roll, and you get to hear the announcers, Howard “Buckshot” Holmes and Kreese Kreeley voiced by Greg Proops of Whose Line is it Anyway and John DiMaggio as Bender from Futurama and Jake from Adventure Time. (By the way, these two are hilarious in this game. I recommend buying it just to hear them).
~Legacy~
Madworld is a game that was fondly remembered…. No, that’s a lie. Not many people bought this game, and those who did hear of it hated the game for it’s violent content being on a console like the Wii. The National Institution of Media and Family were disappointed in Nintendo for allowing the game to be put onto their console in the first place, while Germany banned the game altogether. However, for some reason, Madworld was able to be successful enough to get released in Australia in a combo pack titled Welcome to Violence, which, along with Madworld, came with House of the Dead: Overkill and The Conduit. Madworld was even able to get a sequel, titled Anarchy Reigns. It too wasn’t that popular, so maybe I’ll review that game too in the upcoming future.
~Verdict~
Madworld was a game that had style, and managed to be entertaining from start to end, despite its limitations. I can understand many people being bored quickly, but I for one, love this game. It had a unique art style to it, amazing over-the-top gameplay, a rather catchy rap soundtrack (And I don’t even like rap, so let that show how good it is), and some of the best comedy I’ve heard from two faceless characters that aren’t even important to the story. If you want a game for the Wii that doesn’t feel incredibly dull or a cash grab, than I ask you to give Madworld a try. Madworld gets the ranking of Excavation Worthy. Goodbye.
