Death Jr. and the Science Fair of Doom
Score: 85% ESRB: Everyone 10+ Publisher: Konami Developer: Backbone Entertainment Media: Cartridge/1 Players: 1 - 2 Genre: Action/ Platformer/ Platformer (3D)
Graphics & Sound: Owning both a PSP and DS is like having a crush on two very different girls. One girl (I'll let you guess) has all the looks and can stop traffic on a busy street with her perfect features. The other girl suffers in the eye-candy department, but is a lot of fun and lets you put your hands all over her. Stop laughing, because you know the girls I'm talking about... When I get a game on DS that I've already played on PSP, my heart sinks a little because I know I'm going to have to overcome the immediate bias around "how much better it looked on PSP." Death Jr. and the Science Fair of Doom is no exception, but it also showcases why the DS and all the GameBoy iterations beat the pants off the competition. It's all about the gameplay in the end. That said, Science Fair of Doom features very respectable graphics. The game is almost one of those "2.5D" titles in that it runs on rails, but definitely features 3D objects and environments. The attempt to transfer 3D graphics to DS results in some really blotchy textures, but we get the point. The character models are rough, but also get the point across and are fun to watch in action. You get some nifty cut-scenes but nothing that will shake you to your core.
Gameplay: The first Death Jr. game was a blast because it featured very smooth controls and innovative mechanics coupled with some good fighting action and puzzles. Science Fair of Doom pulls from the same playbook with similarly strong results. When an experiment goes wrong and all (literally in this case) hell is unleashed in the vicinity of DJ's school, it falls on DJ and Pandora to restore order. Playing Pandora was always fun, but the game now incorporates the team of two in a more central way. At any point during play, Pandora can take over in spectral form to solve problems or overcome platforming obstacles that DJ can't handle. Good team-based gameplay is always fun, but the addition of Pandora's altered state means that she is phasing out of DJ's reality entirely. New platforms and other elements invisible to DJ can be explored by Pandora and will often mean the difference between DJ progressing in the game. Think of something like Super Paper Mario with the "flip" feature and you get the idea. Science Fair of Doom retains the mix of weaponry and hand-to-hand combat that we had in the first game. DJ once again uses his scythe with devastating effects on his enemies. The scythe is more than just a weapon, though. It can be swung around like a helicopter blade to help DJ glide between platforms, or snagged on ledges that DJ can pull up on, but not quite reach by jumping. Pandora has a slingshot that captures the souls of different enemies after DJ destroys them. This soul slingshot can be turned on DJ to give him some power back or it can be used to unlock areas of the game by tripping switches. Several themed areas of the game are unlocked as you progress, and each will free one of your friends. This device is identical to the way the first game played, but doesn't feel stale here. Weapons are unlocked gradually as you work through each level, and you'll find that collecting souls is its own reward. In the end, DJ's main goal is to free his fellow students captured by evil forces after the strange accident at the science fair. If you enjoy the single-player, you can hook up with a friend that owns the game and play two quick mini-games via wireless connection.
Difficulty: Enemies become progressively more difficult through successive levels. The mechanics for fighting - tapping the touchscreen - are not always as accurate as one would hope, but they get the job done. You aren't exactly overcome by the speed and ferocity of most enemies for a while, so the early levels are almost for training purposes. The weapons can be upgraded and reloaded at points during each level. Science Fair of Doom includes a hint system that does a nice job of orienting new players and pointing out items of interest.
Game Mechanics: Death Jr. and the Science Fair of Doom uses a control system that is flexible and even a bit confusing. The battles with enemies have you tapping the enemy to attack and you can draw patterns on the screen to bust our super-powered moves. Movement is handled on the D-pad and you can jump using the (B) button or the (L) shoulder button. The thought behind this is that players holding the stylus in their right hand won't be able to get to the (B) button quickly enough. The jumping with (L) is only difficult because you also have to control movement using the same hand (left). In battles, this can get interesting, since you are holding the stylus to tap an enemy, then moving and jumping with your left hand. My experience was that tapping enemies wasn't terribly accurate, but it worked out in the end. To heal, you have to tap an icon on the screen and switch to Pandora. Her soul slingshot shoots various colors of soul and some will heal you or improve your confidence. Increased confidence has a direct impact on how many special moves you can pull off. The controls are fairly smooth, but I experienced some frustrating lag, especially when enemies were on the screen. The slippery control made it hard to land on platforms and this resulted in some "return to your last checkpoint" moments that sapped some fun from the game. I mentioned that tapping the enemies was a rather imperfect science. The other aspects of the game in terms of how well everything is implemented are solid. Everything fits together nicely and the save points are far enough between each other so as to create challenge without creating frustration. Better platforming titles have been built, but nothing I've played yet for DS in this category was as entertaining and creative as Science Fair of Doom. At least worth a rental for curious Platformer junkies and a must-buy for fans of Death Jr.
-Fridtjof, GameVortex Communications AKA Matt Paddock
Brooktown High Dungeon Maker: Hunting Ground