Death Jr. and the Science Fair of Doom – NDS – Review

The Death Jr. franchise made
its debut on the Sony PSP in 2005 as a launch title. It received relatively poor
reviews due to its abundance of glitches and generally unexciting visuals. A
sequel, Root of Evil, was seen a year later on the handheld, but it
unfortunately didn’t correct any of its predecessor’s quirks. Here we are in
2007, and developer Backbone has decided to bring DJ to the Nintendo DS.

Death Jr. and the Science Fair
of Doom, on paper, is a 2D action-platformer with 3D segments. The hypothesis,
as the title suggests, surrounds a science fair and a project that went horribly
askew. Still-action cut-scenes with text will articulate the anecdote, but the
presentation is absolutely unbearable. The text will jump from the touch screen
of the DS to the top screen after every sentence, making for a nauseating
experience. This would be fine and well if there weren’t so much dialogue, but
as it stands, I often found myself reaching for the start button to put an end
to the excruciating storytelling. 

DJ’s primary weapon is his
awfully cumbersome scythe. To execute an attack, you either tap your foes with
the stylus or simply press A. Though one would assume the touch-controls would
be more enjoyable, it’s quite to the contrary. The recognition is not only off,
but the psychics are so clunky you’ll be hard-pressed to hit what you’re aiming
at. Later on in the game, your scythe will have the ability to act as a
helicopter in the air. This is a nice feature that makes platforming much less
frustrating as you can time DJ’s landings more adequately in slow-motion.

Pandora, DJ’s high-jumping
sidekick, plays a major role in assisting DJ in reaching certain locations as
she is your ticket to the spirit realm. What’s so enticing about the spirit
realm, you ask? Souls, of course! After DJ eliminates an enemy, a vase will
appear. In the vase lies captured souls. Once cracked, they will be unleashed
into the spirit realm. This is where Pandora comes into play. After switching to
her by pressing select or tapping on the upper right-hand section of the touch
screen, you will have the ability to gather the lost souls. Once gathered, they
can be utilized two ways. One is increasing DJ’s health/confidence meter; the
second is transporting him to a platform he otherwise wouldn’t be able to reach.
The latter is done by shooting a colored soul into a magical ring of like-color.
Once done, DJ will appear below the ring.

The visuals aren’t superb by
any means. The textures are washed-out and lifeless and the environments can get
a little stale after an hour or so. Colors appear a tad dim and the character
modeling, namely on the enemies, is disappointing to say the least. The audio is
sadly no better, sporting an incredibly cheesy score that would’ve worked fifty
years ago.

Death Jr. and the Science Fair
of Doom isn’t horrendous. It doesn’t necessarily fail at any particular aspect.
However, it offers nothing that hasn’t been done before – and, for that matter,
done better. The storytelling via jumping text is a real damper on the overall
quality of the product, and the graphics are nothing to write home about.
Additionally, the physics and controls are clunky and the combat system could
have been more intricate. By and large, Death Jr.’s latest foray into the gaming
world isn’t enough to bring this worn-out franchise back to life.

Gameplay: 6.1

The entire engine has a bloated
feel to it, from the whacky physics to the less-than-stellar platforming.

Graphics: 6.3

Horrid enemy design and
environments that follow suit, Death Jr. and the Science Fair of Doom is a
generally passé-looking title.

Sound: 6.0

Instead of incorporating some
type of voice work, the developers whipped out a typewriter. The music is an
atrocious affair.

Difficulty: Medium

The physics may take a toll on
the playability, but difficulty seldom goes above child’s play.

Concept: 6.3

I’m not going to lie – I admire
the character Death Jr. After all, he is the son of the Grim Reaper. However,
after two failed offerings on the PSP, we’re approaching overkill territory. Let
the man rest in peace!

Multiplayer: 6.5

The included mini-games are
enjoyable, but let’s be honest: a few mediocre mini-games aren’t going to save a
tired single-player campaign.

Overall: 6.0

Death Jr. and the Science Fair
of Doom is a snore-fest laden with abominable controls, physics and level/enemy
design. Redeeming factors are scarce.