Way back in June of last year, Hello Games released Joe Danger on the PSN as an exclusive to PSN. I never had the opportunity to play the game on the PS3 and it was one of those games that I wanted to play, but never got around to doing so. So when the chance to review this title on XBLA emerged, I thought that it would be great for my last review on the site. So, here goes.
Joe Danger: Special Edition is a spectacular game that allows you to live out your Daredevil fantasies in the safety of your own home. Even though to be honest it really needs no story, it follows Joe as he makes his comeback to the world of performing stunts and tricks from a previously failed stunt. The game has a nice selection of play modes to choose from including The Lab and Career mode. Career mode has a hefty selection of options inside and each unique course has it’s own addictive objective. The interesting thing that I found about any of the courses are that even while being timed, you have the ability to take the course at your own pace. Yes, this will in turn make your score lower, but it’s a nice addition when considering that most games of this type have you contained and feeling like you have to beat the clock. With this game, you can take your time gathering the extensive amount of collectibles on certain course types. While doing so, it gives you a great feel for the course and what needs to be done, so in the end when you attempt to try the course for the best time or the Gold Trophy you already have a grasp as to what needs to be done.
There are a variety of game types in the career mode. You may have an event that just asks that you perform stunts or maybe grab all the collectible items. There are also courses that are more like traditional races. As you do any of these game types I would suggest that you are always doing stunts of some kind. Stunts and tricks build boost and the boost is something that you’ll need if you plan on getting the max on every level. Considering just how simple the game is, things are pretty deep as far as content. Personally, I can’t count the number of times I’ve replayed every course, rather it be to beat a friends high score or just grab the collectibles, I found reasons to continue to keep playing the courses over again. Some of them require you to buy into the event. You buy in using Stars that you obtain from completing challenges in previous courses. An example would be, if you collect all the stars on the previous level you will gain a star that you will use to buy into an event.
The Special Edition for XBLA features Lab Mode as I mentioned before. This is a new addition for the XBLA release. It features over 50 new levels. When you add this to the 100+ levels that’s there from the core game on PSN, you have a classic in the making. Also present is the create mode. This allows for you to be as creative as you please in making a running your own tracks. Being a sucker for anything that has a create mode on it, this feature is not only one of the most fun and time consuming in the game, but is also one of the things that sold me on the game. Another added feature is Pro mode. This allows you to gain special medals for completing certain tasks in the game. To be honest, the only real downside to the game is the multiplayer. The problem is that, yeah it’s a blast, but it’s local only. So, if you plan on playing as Joe on XBL with your friends, I’m afraid that won’t be happening. But with a solid title like Joe Danger, the multiplayer aspect is not a big enough deal to cause anyone to stay away.
At the 1200 MSP asking price, this game is one of the few out there for this price that is worth every penny. With a huge single player game to keep you playing and a lackluster multiplayer the game still manages to keep a high replay value and it’s something that you’ll get you $15 out of. If you missed out of the game when it was a PSN exclusive, then by all means don’t miss it now as it’s one of the more solid titles of it’s type I’ve seen to grace the game market with it presence in a long while.
