Ultra-violent beat-em-up by PlatinumGames, black and white aesthetic with splashes of blood red. Jack Cayman joins a murder game show where you must kill creatively to score more points. Chainsaw, hammers, spikes, environment usable as weapon. Hilarious English voice acting, comic book presentation, snappy action. Shorter than deep, but unique artistic punch on Wii.
Your verdict
Category
Beat-'Em-Up1 player18+
Description
Beat-em-up action developed by PlatinumGames and published by Sega in the USA in March 2009. Jack, a masked fighter, competes in a televised death match in a black and white city where the only color is scarlet blood. Creative executions with chainsaws, stakes and vehicles to rack up points, burlesque sports commentators and scathing ultra-violent humor. One of the boldest adult action games on Wii.
MadWorld review
MAX
Art direction
★★★★★
"Iconic"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
4/5
Story
★★★★★
"Captivating"
Reduced to a stark black and white where only blood spurts in red, the game borrows from comics their brutal ink and violent contrasts. Every execution stands out like a punk panel, readable despite the carnage. This graphic boldness, radical and stylish, has never been matched on the console.
Against the codes, the music bets on a raging hip-hop and rap numbers that match the outrageous, stylised violence of the black-and-white game. The heavy beats and nervy flows charge the chaos with a ferocious humour. This sharp sonic identity, seen nowhere else, makes the whole singularity of the experience.
Gameplay
"Excellent"
Fun
"From the very first seconds"
Slicing, crushing and impaling hordes of enemies in stark black and white streaked with red splatter: this ultra-violent beat'em up owns a unique aesthetic and a wry humour. The remote triggers spectacular executions with a gesture. The frantic pace and gleeful excess grab you at once. Stylish, brutal and fiercely original, a blow-off like no other.
PlatinumGames' ultraviolent beat'em up in black and white slashed with red, a mature anomaly in a Wii library dominated by family fare. Its desirability rests on this hardcore comic-book look and its standing as an auteur work by the Bayonetta team on a console ill-suited to it. Sought by Platinum fans and collectors of mature Wii titles, its run staying thin for lack of an expected audience.
Memorable bosses
In a stark black-and-white where only blood spurts red, this no-holds-barred beat'em up pits you against a menagerie of unhinged killers, from a cybernetic shogun to a turbocharged wrestler. Finishing these guardians by turning the scenery into a trap takes as much inventiveness as brutality. The radical art style and the fierce dark humor of these duels make it an experience apart.
A questionable morality
Turning each kill into a music-hall act to rack up maximum points sums up the idea: the more inventive and spectacular the execution, the louder the crowd roars. The black-and-white comic-book styling slices into the grotesque, and you choreograph this ultraviolent show like a performance, the bad taste owned all the way through with a wink.
Is MadWorld still worth playing in 2026?
A beat'em up from Platinum Games, MadWorld plunges the player into a murderous game show with a black and white aesthetic slashed by red splatters, where you dismember hordes of enemies with uninhibited gore inventiveness to maximise a spectacular score. The unique art direction inspired by comics, the outrageous humour and the creativity of the kills appeal to fans of brutal, stylish action. The repetitiveness and the extreme violence target a mature audience. For a fan of snappy beat'em ups or someone curious about a radical artistic proposition, the title keeps a perfectly preserved style and energy.
