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Lots of fun even though it could have been more polished

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: October 05, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I found this game to be really fun. I beat it 3 times and would not mind having another go. In the game you are the son of Death himself and you must stop the evil Moloch after it gets "accidentally" released from a treasure chest.

You have a scythe that you can use for melee combat and platforming action as well as various guns. Remember, don't approach this game as a platformer but more as a third person shooter with some platforming elements. You even have C4 hamsters that run at enemies and then explode. All the guns (to name a few, electric gun, flamethrower, shotgun, among others)
were fun to use so I found myself using all of them on a continual basis. Your scythe has a couple combos that you can purchase. For instance, one lets you hit the enemy twice and then knock it into the air so that you can then shoot it while its still in mid-air with a gun. This game also has a combo system that begins when you attack enemies or hit destructible objects. A bar at the top right of the screen fills up and then starts to go down if you don't attack anything. It adds to a score that you will see at the end of each level. Doing combos fills up a special attack gauge that when used damages all enemies onscreen. There are collectables hidden in levels that make your life bar longer, more special attacks to be stored at once, among others. At the end of each level you are scored on how many objects you destroyed, enemies defeated, and your total combo score. I found there to be plenty of enemy variety with different attack methods. Thus battles are pretty intense and exciting. The boss battles in Death Jr. are pretty cool (one is a standing cow that uses its udder like a machine gun).

Now I will tell some of the negatives of this game. First of all the game could look better than it does. People should know by now that the PSP IS just as powerful as PS2. The people that made Gran Turismo are bringing GT 4 to PSP specifically said that the PSP is equal to PS2 in hardware. Even the makers of this game said that "polygon to polygon, PSP is better than PS2."
I still found it to look cool enough and not too bad at all.

Another thing that could have used some work was the camera. You can target enemies with R and then go into strafe mode and make the camera go right behind you by tapping L (holding L has you go into First Person View mode. Lots of people have complained that the camera is terrible but I did not find it to be that bad. Very rarely did I get annoyed and even when I did feel a little frustrated it wasn't a big deal for me. Some of the platforming sequences would have been made easier by more scripted camera angles.

Another thing that disappointed me was the fact that the production values could have been higher. For example most of the boss battles don't have their own theme music (Moloch does) and instead of hearing Death Jr. speak, a written message appears at the top of the screen.

Even though it doesn't have quite as much humor as promised there is still some things I found that were funny.

I really had fun with this game even though its 17 levels takes only about 7-8 hours. Don't expect too much from this game and you will enjoy it. Highly recommended.

Death Jr. .........

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: June 06, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I bought Death Jr. soley for the fact that it was made by Backbone Entertainment(previously Digital Eclipse, who made the GBA Spyro games). Thinking the game was something along the lines of Ratchet and Clank, I was more surprised it was a weird hybrid along the lines of Psychonauts & Tim Burton's The Nightmare before Christmas. No worries, though, because the game turned out to be pretty awesome to me, albeit a little on the short side. The story goes a little something like this...DJ and his friends go on a trip to the Museum of Supernatural History one day with the school. DJ and his friends unleash an ancient evil force from a mysterious locked box. To avoid punishment, he and his friends must collect the demons and keep them from spreading through the museum and outside town, before anyone notices! That's where things begin and, let me tell you, you're definitely going to have your work cut out for you 'cause Death Jr. is a challenging game.

While there may be other platformer/action games out there worth looking into; give Death Jr. a try. I'm sure you'll like it. I know I did.

I hear a second game is planned in the near future for the PSP so do yourself a favor and check this one out.

Limited "Save Game" feature ruins this

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 11 / 15
Date: October 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I found this game incredibly easy and was able to get to the end of levels to fight the big boss -- however it takes a number times to figure out each boss and defeat them -- the worst feature about this game was that you CANNOT save where you left off -- if you screw up at the end you must complete the entire level over again before you can face the boss again -- OVER AND OVER until you get it right or until you are sick of it and sell it on eBay. It's extremely tedious.

Also -- with regard to story and characters -- I found them uninteresting and kind of lame. If you want a great game with lots of humor, sick and twisted characters, fun action play and great animation then get MEDIEVIL RESURECTION -- if only they would make more like that.

Is This Deadly Enough: Death Jr.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: September 15, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Game title: Death Jr.
Produced by: Konami
Date released: August 16, 2005
Levels: 17
Rating: T for teen due to language, blood, gore and violence.


Imagine being the son of death and having to hack, slash, and shoot your way through 17 levels of stubborn monsters that never stop coming after you. Well you don't have to imagine any more if you buy Death Jr. for the PSP, or the Playstation Portable. With the option of seven different guns and the ever so popular scythe you'll be playing until your eyes pop out, yeah it's that good.

My biggest reason that this is a great game is that it has fantastic graphics. Whenever I was playing Death Jr. I sometimes forget it's a game and it feels like its real and I'm Death Jr. slashing the monsters or pulverizing them. It also looks like a movie. Well that is a reason that this is a good game.

In addition to the great graphics of this game it also has great gameplay. It gives just enough challenge that it makes it a perfect game. The monster's AI, that's artificial intelligence, is also made to perfection. The challenge was just enough that when I beat it, it made me feel better about myself like I did a good job.

Likewise another reason this is a great game is that it has good sound quality. When I was playing Death Jr. it actually sounded real. also Like a movie. Whenever I shot at a monster it was real loud and the monster screamed when I shot him.

Overall, Death Jr. was a superb game with flawless gameplay, top notch sound quality, and perfect graphics. It is a great action game. It's also a role playing game so you get two for one. With the selection of not one not two not three but seven guns and the deadly and sharp scythe. This game is a great challenge for any gamer. I highly recommended this game to anybody who likes action games. You'll have a blast.

By: Johnathan the "Boogie Bear"

ONE OF THE BEST!!!!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: August 25, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The first thing to know about this game is that this is just not only a good PSP game but one of the best portable platformer/shooter ever made!The basic story of the game is about Death Jr. (a.ka. DJ to his friends) the son of the Grime Reaper.While on a field trip with his friends DJ accidentally releases Moloch the evil necromancer who unleases his hoards of demons and on top of it caputered the souls of DJs friends.Now DJ must stop Moloch before his father finds out and sends DJ to military school.Now lets start talking about the acutal game itshelf.The controls are easy and simple which is a good thing. The gameplay itshelf is a mix between Rachet and Clank and Tim Burtons Night Before Christmas gothic style.There are 9 weapons to chose from a scythe,shotgun,rocket launcher,and C4 hamsters which can be upgraded from Smith and Weston's shop.The cast of characters,enemys,and boss are pretty impressive including DJ,s friends which rain from a creepy gothic girl, a girl with stigmata who bleeds from her hands when she is nervouse,two conjoined brainy twins, a lifeless fish,and a legless,armless,foreign exchange student who is in a jar and if that,s not a weird/cool cast of characters then there is something very wrong with you!The graphics are absoultly amazing with beautiful texters,great character modles,and great level design this is almost like playing a PS2 game from 2002.This game is almost flawless except for the fact that the game is short,and the camera controls just plain suck!While aiming is used by the L and R shoulder buttons it just dosen't cut the fact that the PSP needs a second analog stick espically for shooters like this.Over all this is a must buy for the PSP you get some descent replay vaule you'lle never want to put this down for even one second!!!

Sloppy camera kills Death Jr.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: September 26, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I really wanted to like this game. The concept was fresh. Being the son of the grim reaper sounded like fun and with the lack of PSP adventure games...or games period, I couldn't wait for Death Jr. The game is a disappointment. You start off in a hub world (the museum) in which you find that three of your friends have been captured by the evil Moloch. Okay fine...but then you find out that Moloch has turned your friends into...wait...puzzle pieces? Now it is up to Jr. to find the pieces of each friend to release them from the evil grip of Moloch. As you enter the different stages you will quickly realize that Moloch must control the camera also because it will cause Jr. to die...alot. True the game gives you guns a plenty a la Ratchet and Clank, but the auto aim and targeting system is flat out horrible. Once you start using your weapon it is tough just to get your character to turn around and aim behind him. Very frustrating when I have enemies surrounding me and I can't see where they are due to the equally horrible camera. The game also has it's fair share of glitches (jumping through walls, falling through floors, etc.)
In closing I have to say that I would recommend Death Jr. to my worst enemy...Yeah, I would. But to you reading this I don't know you so take my advice...wait for the next adventure/platformer for the PSP and don't waste your money on this like I did. Let's just hope it's soon before the reaper gets me.

A half-assed swing of a scythe

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: August 28, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Death Jr. was the first PSP game ever unveiled, and it's been in development for quite a long time. Ever since it was announced, gamers have been enticed by a graphic design that is similar to Tim Burton's style. Unfortunately, you can't judge a book by its cover--Death Jr. is cute, and despite a long development time, the final product is strangely half-assed and doesn't quite hit the mark.

The story isn't much of a blood-pumper. Death Jr. and his friends go to a museum during a class field trip and DJ tries to show off by opening up a mysterious treasure chest. As a result, the evil necromancer Moloch is released and begins to wreak havoc on the museum, in the process sealing DJ's friends in different worlds. The gameplay forces you to enter these worlds, fight through them, and find the missing pieces that make up DJ's friends.

The gameplay wouldn't be quite so bad if it weren't for a scatterbrain camera that results in difficult controls. The game is like a bastard child of Devil May Cry and Rachet & Clank. DJ attacks with a big scythe as well as nine different guns; including dual pistols, a rocket launcher, an electric gun, and hamsters attached to C4 explosives. There is a combo system that earns points as you rack up kills and destructive force around the level, and like Devil May Cry, a bonus is given to players who get high scores on each level.

Unfortunately, playing through Death Jr. just isn't that much fun. By the 11th stage or so I was nearly snoring through 100-hit combos. I found myself wanting each stage to end more and more quickly as the game progressed. Each stage brought something new to the table, but overall nothing impressed me as much as I had hoped.

I don't mean to sound so negative--Death Jr. definitely had a chance, though. The developers had ages to make it into a well-crafted platformer on the PSP, and they just didn't get the job done as well as they should have. Hopefully a sequel comes along and proves that Death Jr. and his friends are worth paying attention to.

Finally, a decent PSP game...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: August 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Death Junior turned out to be more than any reviewer suggested- a decent game with a story, and on the PSP. A platformer very akin to "Ratchet and Clank," with great action and cool weapons, this is a must-own for any PSP owner sick of racing games. The controls for DJ work suprisingly well, with decent graphics and creative enviroments, including several made entirely of meat. If you like Tim Burton's films, you'll love the atmosphere in this game. A wonderful title.

Would have been great if you could save your progress

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: March 02, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I am not as harsh as some people are about this game. I loved the gameplay and found the underlying story line quite original. What takes away from this game is the inability to save progress. That does not become immediately apparent until you almost get through a particularly trying level, save your game before you run into the boss, end up being killed and thinking you can pick up where you saved last. WRONG! You must play the entire level over again, even if the game has prompted you to save your progress. Also, I did find some of the camera glitches annoying but not fatal. My advice: get this game used; don't pay full price. But buy it if you find this genre fun.

fun game to play

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: October 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Its an interesting game to play, aside from a few issued with camera angles i love playing this game, its very unique and creative and i love the story line

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