If Marvel had licensed a Deadpool game to Capcom or Tecmo back in the ‘90s, I’m not sure it would’ve gotten as loving a treatment as Danger X, NiO, and the rest of the Techmoon team has done with this beauty.

Deadpool is Ninja Gaiden hard, which you’d expect, but the team gives you a Mercy option and a secret code (that code revealed provided you can beat the game and the boss rush… or provided you can do some romhacking yourself… but I won’t spoil their fun for you…). It’s a fun hack-and-slash platformer with a lot of cool environments, weapons, and Pool-rich cutscenes. Plus, the villains and story characters are nice throwbacks to a number of the comic’s series, from the first run and into Deadpool Corps.

Meanwhile, Retroslam’s tunes are fun and fit well with the plot (particularly Cruisin’ and The Great Escape), and the team’s takes on X Gon’ Give it To Ya and Careless Whisper are great nods to the first movie, the Deadpool Mix being a fantastic first level track.

And then you head over to the team’s Facebook page, and the devs load you up with content: ROMs and images that you can play on your NES/NES Classic, GBS/DS, 3DS, Dreamcast, PSX, or Switch; professionally made box art; a zany manual/comic; and all those catchy songs in .mp3 format. Plus, there’s an opportunity to buy the legit NES repro cartridge CIB with the manual and other goodies.

If I have any nits, they’re pretty minor:

• That ground enemy in the first level/issue… I can’t quite figure out what the sprite is… it’s like a spiny symbiote with a Deadpool head.
• The grammar in the English cutscenes could use a tad more proofreading; mind you, I’m talking small punctuation suggestions, not some Zero Wing “All your base are” craziness.
• I couldn’t quite tell, but the last boss in the boss rush (again, I won’t spoil anything) seems to have some machine gun or other item icon appear in its bloody death animation.
• Some of the story in the cutscenes could flow a bit better. I’m not sure why we’re fighting certain bosses, as they pertain to the storyline, but I’m not complaining either. There’s a lot of fun baddies to duke it out with, and quite a few fun easter eggs too!

This is a AAA-quality title completely worthy of your NES Classic, old school NES, GBA, and all the other systems this team has tirelessly setup the game to be compatible with. If you’re a Deadpool, hack-and-slash, platformer, or just a retro game fan, you need this game in your life!

WHAM!