The first time that anyone heard of the game Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch was around 10 years ago. This was back when Interabang Entertainment used Fig to kickstart game development. The crowdfunding efforts were successful, but news on development went silent. The 8-bit spin-off title, Jay and Silent Bob: Mall Brawl, was released four years later on the NES and a year after that on consoles and PC, but the original game was still nowhere to be found. After a decade since its initial announcement, Chronic Blunt Punch finally got released simultaneously on multiple platforms. That is a very long wait for a beat-'em-up, but the question is whether the game is good on its own merits.

The story starts in front of the Quick Stop, with the titular duo dancing near their boombox. They decide to go inside for a snack when they see a bunch of roller hockey teens trying to trash the place. Jay and Silent Bob take care of the hoodlums but soon discover that Randal has been kidnapped, and their rescue mission turns into a bigger adventure where they ultimately need to discover what's behind the mystery of a mall appearing out of thin air and threatening to take over New Jersey.

The story is fine and not essential, but your enjoyment of the game is dependent on how much of a fan you are of Jay and Silent Bob in the first place. If you're a big fan of the View Askewniverse, then you'll thoroughly enjoy what's on display. Loads of characters from the various related Kevin Smith movies make an appearance, and the references to the stuff from those films and anything associated with them are all over the place. For example, you'll spot things like a movie poster for Good Will Hunting 3 in a mall, a continuation of them making fun of a potential sequel to Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's breakout hit. If you're not a fan or only have a passing interest in the movies, the only thing that'll catch your eye are the dated references throughout the game. The game store, for example, has a poster for the game Left 4 Bed, while two guards are discussing tweets about gay frogs. The stuff no longer works even for cheap laughs, but their presence reminds you of how painfully long this game was stuck in development hell.

Like Jay and Silent Bob: Mall Brawl, Chronic Blunt Punch is a standard beat-'em-up that can be played either in co-op or solo, and there are some interesting modern twists. You have access to both regular and strong attacks, and they can be strung together for some effective combos. You have access to a dodge roll and the chance to block attacks with a button press. Build up your meter, and you have access to some special moves, while another meter lets you call on other characters to help you in the fight with their distinct abilities. For example, Dante will come in swinging a body bag with a frozen body in it, while Randal will call in a fleet of donkeys and orgy participants. If you're playing solo, you can tag between taking control of either Jay or Silent Bob. You'll want to do this often, since each of them have their own health and special attack meters, and each only has one life before the game ends. You can revive anyone who has fallen, but the process takes quite a bit of time to execute, and you'll revive the other person with half of their health bar instead of a full one.

For the most part, the fighting is pretty decent. The presence of two attack types is nice, and it is used with great effect during boss fights. String together some nice combos instead of button-mashing one attack type, and you have a winning strategy for reducing a decent amount of health from a boss, making many of these fights quite manageable compared to other beat-'em-ups. The game's leveling system allows you to expand your move repertoire a bit, but don't be surprised if your previous genre experience means that you'll stick to the basics. The same applies to your defensive maneuvers, especially blocks, which are effective but need to be used with intention. Thanks to some recent patch work during the game's initial release week, some complaints from fans have been addressed, such as the ability for enemies to constantly pummel you without a chance for you to escape or counter. Having such basics slip through after all this time in development do make you wonder.

Speaking of which, Chronic Blunt Punch features a number of design issues that cover a wide range of severities. Normal enemies seem to take too many hits before they get knocked out, so some boss fights feel easier than fighting off a mob of foes. A number of bosses have the old multi-phase gimmick, where you actually have to beat them in multiple forms, with full life meters for each form. The leveling system is cool, but there's no indicator to show you how far away you are from the next level, and you also don't know what you get from achieving that goal. Building up each super meter is slow, so you'll be lucky to pull off a special move or assist twice in a stage. That becomes a problem when you realize that each stage is longer than in a typical beat-'em-up.

Beating up any environmental object for a power-up or health refill takes longer than expected, as you essentially need to unleash a full combo before even a lowly trash can breaks. Another baffling design decision is the fact that there are no weapons to pick up. This is fine if you're playing a beat-'em-up where you have weapons, but this is a strange omission when the 8-bit game had weapons. All of these little things add up to create an experience that feels unpolished and drags down what should be a game that provides a simple, enjoyable experience.

Much like the duo's 8-bit outing, don't expect much from the game beyond the campaign, which features no branching paths and there are no other modes to explore. Online play is also missing, so co-op can only be done locally. You have an extras menu where you can peruse the various illustrations for the game's characters and environments, but that's it. With different difficulty levels also missing from the game, this is a completely one-and-done affair.

The majority of the game is hit-and-miss in several areas, such as the presentation. Graphically, the game has that zany modern cartoon look that makes it instantly appealing. The animations are exaggerated, and the colors and character designs stand out in a good way. The audio is where things vary a bit. The voice acting is good, but considering the nature of the characters, expect to hear more from Jay than anyone else in the game. It would've been nice if there were more lines recorded; as it is, expect to hear the same few lines repeated by everyone. The music is fine, but don't expect anything memorable. The sound effects are also good but feel like they could've been punched up a bit.

Linux users will find no issues in running this game, but Steam Deck users will find that the experience on the device is less than ideal. By default, the game is set to run at the lowest resolution of 720x400 within a frame rate cap of 30fps. You can still change the settings, so the game will run with a 60fps cap and a resolution of 1280x720. It remains a mystery as to why things were set so low in the first place. None of this matters, as the game freezes when you try to get into a level, with some crashes being so bad that it causes the device to reboot. This is a real shame, since this type of game is perfect for a portable device.

Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch is fine. The combat is good, especially after the week's worth of patches that have fixed things, like missing invincibility frames and toned down the strength of the enemy hits. The game clocks in at a decent length, and the difficulty is fine if you're OK with only having one life per character and fairly long levels with no checkpoints. There's just nothing that elevates the title into being more than a game you play once. Fans of the duo might dig it, but genre fans will find this to be a filler game that briefly satisfies a craving before moving on to more substantial fare.

Score: 6.0/10