Joe Danger Special Edition review
PSN users were a lucky bunch of so and so’s last year. They had the pleasure to meet Joe Danger and his gravity defying stunt work. He may have been a washed up Evel Knievel wannabe at the start of the adventure, but thousands of players delighted in making Joe burn rubber in achieving his dare devilish potential.
The game was a saccharine fuelled odyssey, disregarding earth’s normal gravity and changing it to the moon’s 1/6th every time Joe got air. With the ability to control the bike forwards and backwards whilst airborne, Hello Games didn’t require the player to scream Joe to the finish line, but instead could come up with fiendishly designed levels that had the star collectors amongst us fastening our riding gloves with glee.
Once again in digital download but this time on XBLA, players are required to resurrect Joe Danger from the backwater territory of performing for trailer park crowds and to propel him into superstardom, collecting stars along the way through a seemingly endless supply of venues. Collecting the word Danger letter by letter throughout each track provides an added (if repetitive) challenge.
You always drive left to right from the start during the level, but due to the nature of the controls you will also perform your stunts going right to left. An ambiguous point you may think, but one must understand that this is no Trials HD. It’s fun pure and simple, and serious straight faced competitors should leave their helmets and retire now. It’s slapstick funny both in the animation of the stunt work but also when said stunt goes wrong. Land in a small pool and as Joe signals he’s ok, don’t be surprised if Jaws comes and shark-handles him back under water.
Collecting the aforementioned stars is how to progress, with more stars meaning more levels unlocked and enable you to test your skill and patience throughout the more demanding stages. Joe Danger sports a nice difficulty curve however, and failure rarely fails to spark a quick ‘one more go’ thought.
The special edition moniker is not there just to impress either. Joe Danger SE sports a better Anti Aliasing than the PSN offering, meaning the graphics are much sharper. Optimising code has also meant a significant reduction in loading times too. It’s not just a lick of fresh paint however that the special edition boats of, as it also has a new mode – the Laboratory. The Laboratory is basically a test bed for new stunts, and it sees Joe take on even crazier stunts in a lab environment with increasingly difficult challenges which are far more surreal and ‘improbable’ than the career mode’s offering. You also have a bunch of new environments within career mode and a spate of new characters too. To round off the Special Edition, you have the Special Edition challenge which requires you to complete a number of challenges during a stage without making a single mistake and breaking your run (maybe a cheeky nod to Trials HD?).
In all it was hard not to commend Hello games with the original ‘Vanilla” Joe Danger last year, and that was reflected with the 8/10 it was awarded. The special edition however, which could easily have been a straight port, offers just enough to elevate it to greatness within the XBLA library – as long as you are game for a laugh. Now, where did I leave my flame retardant briefs?
