Product Description

All hell breaks loose on a typical school field trip at the local museum when Death Jr., (DJ) the son of the Grim Reaper, and his friends open an ancient box holding an unspeakable evil. With his trusty scythe and a complement of firearms, Death Jr. must fight his way through the portals opened by the demon horde of the box and stop the evil anti-reaper, Moloch from literally bringing hell on earth and the worst possible thing in the world...military school.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11927 in Video Games
• Brand: Konami
• Model: PHKONA 083717260011
• Released on: 2006-09-08
• ESRB Rating: Teen
• Platform: Sony PSP
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .75" h x 4.00" w x 6.75" l, .22 pounds

Features

• Blast enemies with multiple ranged weapons including dual pistols, a lightning gun, flamethrower and exploding C4 hamsters
• Extensive move set including multiple scythe combos, special gun attacks and aerial maneuvers
• Unique particle-effect system and sophisticated 3D engine provide beautifully rendered characters and enviornments never before seen on a hand-held gaming system
• Death Jr's friend Pandora will assist by setting up multiple combos, so you can rain down terror on your enemies

From the Manufacturer
All hell breaks loose on a typical school fieldtrip at the local museum when Death Jr. (DJ), the son of the Grim Reaper, and his friends open an ancient box holding an unspeakable evil. With his trusty scythe and a complement of firearms, DJ must fight his way through the portals opened by the demon horde of the box and stop the evil anti-reaper, Moloch, from literally bringing hell on Earth and the worst possible thing in the world... military school.

Features:

• Action-packed 3D shooting with FPS-like controls
• Blast enemies with a full arsenal of guns and explosives
• Use DJ's scythe to fight demons and as a platforming tool
• Explore environments including the museum, school, and insane asylum

Customer Reviews

Lots of fun even though it could have been more polished
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. .........
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.

Is This Deadly Enough: Death Jr.
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"