Joe Danger Review

Joe Danger is an interesting name. The first name Joe is about as ordinary as one can get, it even has phrases like “average Joe” attached to it. And the word Danger is something relegated to the middle name of stuntmen the world over, yet Joe wears it as his surname. If you want to be proper, he is Mr. Danger. It is this kind of silly thought to detail that makes Hello Games’ Joe Danger so wonderfully exuberant.

Joe Danger (Playstation Network)
Developer: Hello Games
Publisher: Hello Games
Release: June 8, 2010

The joyous feeling permeates in the details surrounding the game. A billboard with a T-Rex in a suit, bowler hat donned on his head, sipping tea, with the text “Tea Rex” plastered above him. There are smiling faces in much of the background and the occasional “Well that’s not right” face is humorous because of it. Joe himself is a tubby, middle-aged, square-jawed stuntman with a red star-spangled spandex suit that is a bit too snug, a white cape and shades. All the aesthetic choices in Joe Danger, even down to things like the color palette and font face, are inviting and contributes heavily to lively energy it has.

This energy is carried into the design of the levels as well. Joe Danger plays out on a two dimensional plane where Joe rides his motorcycle off huge jumps, under bars, or over obstacles. There are multiple goals, like hitting targets placed on the track or collecting letters to spell “DANGER”, in each level which, when obtained, awards stars that are used to progress further. Even in achieving parts of a goal, there is Joe Danger’s brand of liveliness. Hitting a target makes pyrotechnics shoot up around the outside of it while a guitar riff sounds. Similar things happen when a level is finished—the pyrotechnics, crowd cheering, music, score tallying sound effects—all of which is magnificently overblown but it is precisely what a stuntman like Joe would have.

Controlling Joe has been a cathartic experience as well. Feeling the surge of boost, then hitting a ramp and doing five superman backflips over a long row of buses and hitting the target on the other side. Quickly hitting the lane switches between the three planes of movement just in time to avoid the obstacles. But mistakenly hitting an obstacle isn’t frustrating, they are also exuberant. They range from the more typical stuntman foes like cars and busses, to the more endearing type like giant mouse traps with cheese, spring loaded boxing gloves and kiddie pools of sharks—the latter of which has Joe flailing around as if being sucked down by a whirlpool, then climbing out to the edge, signaling he is okay, only to then slip, hit his groin, and fall back down in again.

Joe Danger is not without its few minor issues though. When getting extremely high air, the camera can make it difficult to judge what will be landed on below but this is mitigated by an instant restart feature and usually generous checkpointing. Progression being tied to earning stars to unlock levels often requires multiple plays of the same level to achieve the multitude of goals in each one. In some levels this can be enjoyable, like where it encourages exploring for hidden stars, taking alternative paths or holding a combo throughout the level, but in others, this can mean having to do the more tedious collection goals. A few ideas also go underused, like the puzzle levels where ramps must be put in place using the level editor to get past obstacles or the intentional crashing of the bowling mini game.

Those are really just small specks on the spectacular shine of Joe Danger. The exuberance that this game exudes can have a tremendous affect on a person. It is hard to play Joe Danger and frown. It is one of those games that someone can play when they are frustrated or upset and it makes them feel that much better. Even just hovering over the game in the console’s interface and seeing tubby Joe standing majestically on a plateau in the desert while the soothing, faux-waiting room music plays will do that to a person. Joe Danger is that good.

Score: 87 out of 100