Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Genre: Platform
Region: NTSC
Format:
Release Date: 22 May 07

User Rating
8 (1 vote)

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Overview

I was actually very surprised to see that one of the better PSP games, and in fact one of the more "unique" games for the handheld was making a transition over the the Nintendo DS. The game is obviously Death, Jr., an interesting little action platformer (similar to a Ratchet and Clank or Jak and Daxter) where you have a little bit of everything rolled into one. Now it seems like Konami wants to try and bring it all together again but this time using touch sensitivity. How does Death Jr and the Science Fair of Doom fair with this new feature? Read our full review to find out!

Gameplay

I have to say that I wasn't enormously fond of the first title Death Jr. for the PSP, however one thing I did mention in that review was that the concepts for this game were all there and they just needed to come together. Having not played the second title I can't comment on that end, but I can say that going into this review I wasn't sure what Konami was going to want to do with this game now with the touch screen capabilities.

What you end up getting, first and foremost, is a very drawn out and rather boring storyline that gets pretty tedious a few slides in. The game is told in some hideously monotonous comic book style screens that have plenty of reading material, none of which is very interesting. If I knew more about the story I would say but I will spare you the agony. Then comes the game, which to me is one of the most convoluted and misguided experiences I have played in a long time.

With a video game I would imagine in development you would have some primary goals, one of which would be either to make the game a 2D or 3D platformer. Well in Death Jr on the DS that distinction is thrown around all throughout the game, as at times it feels like a side scroller and at others it has a weird 3D view that doesn't seem to work right. I was instantly turned off right at the beginning and unfortunately nothing improves throughout the experience.

Overall there is not a whole lot positive I can say about the gameplay of this title. Right away you can see that this game has a narrow minded single button approach that tries to appease us with some thrown together extra features and controls, but for the most part the X button is your one and only friend. It's unfortunate that this game went so far in the wrong direction for the franchise. There is very little in the way of innovation nor is there much in this game to enjoy.

Graphics

The visual style is still relativity the same thing that we have seen from previous titles in this series. Mainly the biggest problem I had with this game was that although it borrowed heavily from previous games it still has the camera, which manages to mess up any little piece success the game has. It's unfortunate to because the style of the previous games has been very good but in this game things just really didn't come together well enough to make for much of a dent in the overall scheme of this game.

Fun Factor

Had Konami and the developers spent more time really trying to focus on what they wanted from this title, it would have been much better organized and secondly been designed in a way that is more interested for the user. It just seems like the developers make this game from platformers 101 without really branding this game in a newer fresh manner, while still making the game enjoyable. The overall appeal of this game however ends up in the dumps.

Overall

In the end, there is only one thing I can say, and that is that this game was a sincere disappointment. From the very first time Death Jr hit the PSP, I thought the game had potential, and even with the blunder that is the developers first try on the DS, I still think this a series that could be potential.

Gameplay
5.0

Graphics
5.0

Fun Factor
5.0

Overall
5.0

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