Cunning Stunt…

Format: PlayStation 3 | Genre: Racing | Publisher: Hello Games/PlayStation Network | Developer: Hello Games | Release date: 09/06/2010 | Price: £9.99

Jumping through hoops, over shark tanks, onto spring pads and dodging death… JOE DANGER can do it all and Daniel Lipscombe is along for the ride.

FOUR MEN. Four men sitting in an office in Guildford, creating something special. It takes a certain spark of imagination and creativity to design something that can transport your adult mind into something gooey and pliable. I once wrote on these very virtual pages about how escapism is ignited by memories of childhood and how, as a child, something as simple as a remote control car and a ramp made from books can make you smile.

Sean Murray, Grant Duncan, Ryan Doyle and David Ream of Hello games have managed to make something that not only stands out above much of the industry in terms of quality, but has managed to tap into what we invariably live for – joy. This small team has encapsulated everymoment of childlike glee and wrapped it in a Sega-esque colourful bow.

From the moment that Joe Danger appears on a TV screen, his Evel Knievel get up and confident smile draws you into a world of scuffed school trousers and messy bedrooms. Joe Danger is the game we all created in our minds as youngsters and Hello Games have managed to distil all of it and turn it into a stuntbike videogame.

1st

It would be wrong to call Joe Danger a racing game, in fact I’m sure if you asked Hello Games what genre Joe would sit in they would have to ponder the question for a while. Joe Danger, of course, gets from point A to point B on the back of his motorbike, but much of the movement is reminiscent of Mario and Sonic.

Sure, there are flavours of Trials and excitebike sprinkled throughout, but much of this Danger stew would feel at home in any platformer. If Mario can chase coins, then so can Joe. If Sonic can use spring jumps to reach giddy heights, then so can Joe – although Joe will reach that height while performing a 720 degree spin in a superman pose.

Because of course this is still a game about performing stunts on a motorbike. The beauty of the game is that Joe is guided with such a simple set of controls. There is of course a go button and go backwards button. There’s a go faster button and a jump button. Then there are two stunt buttons. The fact that Hello Games kept things so simple is an inspired move, give anyone the DualShock and watch as they play with little effort.

You already know what Joe can do because you were doing it before puberty. Hold a direction to spin Joe, mangle the buttons for some stunts and get him to the finish line. The excellence comes when you stop button mashing and allow trained fingers to dart across the buttons causing Joe to not only fly, but to soar.

2nd

Controlling Joe is effortless, feathering the accelerate and reverse buttons while in the air will move him almost like he is wearing a jet pack. Pin point accuracy is possible and often needed in later levels. This adds to the plaforming style of the game. Bouncing from springs over towers with bombs on top and guiding Joe onto a target on the other side is a thrill due to his manoeuvrability.

It’s not all about stunts on Joe’s road to superstardom. There are a few races thrown in for good measure and even a mode that revolves around collecting coins. Each level of the career mode lays out several objectives and as you complete them you are rewarded with stars. These stars then open up more levels and challenges, simple.

This is where Joe Danger looks even less like a racer. Many of the additional objectives such as landing on a certain amount of targets, or collecting coins in a time limit hark back to the days of 16-Bit heroes. The movement highlights the teams love for games as small references to older titles drips through.

It’s clear the the inspiration from these games was a catalyst in creating Joe and his world. If he burst onto the scene 15 years earlier he would have surely been held up as a mascot for an older console. Joe and his world are unique, the British humour stands proudly in the glorious backdrops of each level and although after time they can seem a little repetitive, it never detracts from the visual impact.

3nd

If all of that wasn’t enough, Hello Games have gone a step further and thrown in the ability to design your own levels. Think LittleBigPlanet but with slightly less stuff and you’ve hit the nail on the head. In fact, the two are so similar they sit brilliantly next to each other on the PlayStation 3. Creating your own level is intuitive and flows smoothly. Picking items and laying them down is done in a matter of clicks, and creating full levels of excitements needn’t take more than five minutes.

The only thing missing from the package is the ability to play with your friends online. The inclusion of splitscreen play is welcome as it is often forgotten in recent titles, however there is a need for many to play with the chums over PSN. This missed opportunity also carries over to level sharing and rather than uploading them to a hub of some kind they must be sent as messages to your friends. Adequate is a word that springs to mind, ideal is not.

A winner is you

Aside from this minor misstep, Joe Danger is simply one of the most excellent titles on PSN, if not in this generation. The remarkable thing is that it was created by a small indie team of friends. A group of developers that know that fun is the most important aspect of videogames. All they wanted was to create a game that would make people smile. Four men made that happen.

9/10

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