Jay and Silent Bob: Mall Brawl is a side-scrolling beat 'em up that would have been well at home in the 1980s. Mall Brawl is a solid, if not quite spectacular, Double Dragon clone, with detailed 8-bit graphics, a decent variety of bosses and opponents, and nine levels of outrageous punches. Reckless women with baby strollers, and even a poop monster are there for you to defeat. You read that correctly: a "♥♥♥♥" monster. Mall Brawl features the duo's trademark potty humor.
While enemies are essentially cut and pasted with different color ensembles or costumes, boss fights are where Mall Brawl shines. Each boss battle is unique and memorable. You'll face a crazed man riding a unicorn, a brawl on a gigantic air hockey table, a Mega Man-inspired duel, and even a poop monster hidden in the mall's restrooms. Boss fights are both tough and enjoyable, especially since you know you'll have to retry the entire level if you fail.
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In Mall Brawl, you only have one life, but you can control both Jay and Silent Bob (or one of them if you play in co-op), who each have their own health meter. While playing alone, you can freely swap between the two. While you are actively playing, the character that is not being used will gradually replenish their health - but be advised, you cannot stand still and expect health to regenerate. You must be actively progressing or fighting. This strategy, possibly the finest way to play Mall Brawl, requires players to stay active and switch between characters frequently.
When playing co-op, each player controls one of the characters, each with their own health meter that does not refill on its own. However, if one player dies and the other survives long enough, the other character will gradually restore their health and allow them to rejoin the game once their health meter is around half full. It adds a good level of tension to survival when you're up against a boss or numerous enemies and running low on health.
The only downside: While I appreciate a good challenge, I believe Mall Brawl lands on the side of difficulty and more in the playable but too stressful to be pleasant pile. This is due to the long stages, only having one life, no difficulty options, being forced to restart from the beginning of the level upon death, aggressive adversaries with unusually big health reserves, wacky controls (Turning while attacking / spamming is not possible), and just too much being thrown at you, especially towards the finish.
Casual players beware, but everyone else can buy this without any hestitation!
