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> Results: Death Jr.
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If your children are old enough to know what shows they want to watch, yet young enough where you closely monitor their viewing, then you know that there are cartoons you will let your child watch and those you won't. Death Jr. makes you think of this during the nicely done cartoon cinematic that opens the game with cute little kid characters because the game is definitely not for little kids.
The game begins with DJ on a school tour of a museum. He wanders off with a group of his misfit friends, all of whom stumble across a box. One friendﾗPandora, of courseﾗjust has to have it opened. DJ opens it and as expected, bad things happen! It is an entertaining opening sequence that leads into the basic storyline: rescue everyone and restore order without having to call DJ's dad, The Grim Reaper. You play through a number of training levels to learn how to control the game and find out what earns you rewards before embarking on your first real missions. In these missions you encounter more of the action-platform aspects of the game and meet more serious challenges. At this point in the game, I was having a blast. The beginning is engaging, and has some spectacular production values. Had I rated it then I would have considered it as a four-star game or better. The early part really is that good.  Unfortunately the problems show up soon after this. There are camera, control and some fundamental story issues. With the camera, you find yourself facing the wrong way. Tap L to fix the view, move again and find you still aren't looking the right way, all while avoiding enemy fire. The other camera issue is related to controlling DJ in platform jumping areas. It is often difficult to see where you need to go, and switching to free look mode leaves you too vulnerable to attacks. The camera in Death Jr. is much better than in the PSP's Dead to Rights, and probably wouldn't have been too bad if not coupled with some of the control issues. The control issues are more serious, as they often end up resulting in death. First, to switch weapons you need to stop DJ from moving, which often results in death. There isn't really an alternative, but it makes the gameplay more annoying than it need be, especially given the rapid enemy respawning. The most annoying problem is the targeting system. With only a few enemies around it is pretty simple. The R button locks a target, and L switches from target to target. However, even in these situations, getting the crosshair to lock on to something can be problematic. Of course, there are seldom only a few enemies around, and they seem to have no problem targeting you, which means you spend much of the battle hopping and running around trying to target enemies while avoiding their fire. The charming story in the early part of the game gets spread pretty thin as you progress. Much of the game is spent either jumping on platforms or slashing through foes, trying to collect power-ups and weapon upgrades. There are a variety of weapons and upgrades available in the game. Notable among them is DJ's scythe and the C4 hamsters. Yes there are C4 hamsters, just like it sounds. The story is furthered by dialogue text on screen but you never really know after the beginning scene who is saying what. There are witty remarks and interesting tidbits, but not much of an overall story thread. The whole game boils down to battling enemies and bosses while rescuing some people and then meeting the final boss. Death Jr. could have been really cool. It is hampered by control problems and the bad camera, as well as the lack of a really compelling story to propel the game forward. In the end you are left unsatisfied because of the wasted cool premise with great presentation and production value. However, it's probably worth a rental. The interesting characters like Dead Guppy, the great opening scenario and fun early areas end up leaving you hoping for much more than what you get. 
The game is one of those kids' cartoons that isn't really for little kids. The gameplay aspects of Death Jr. only accentuate that. The comparison that immediately springs to mind is with Super Smash Bros. Melee for the GameCube. Both are rated T, but Smash Bros. would probably be E-10 if re-rated now. The graphics in that game are flashy but harmless, and the action rewards combat moves that defeat your enemy. In Death Jr. however, the graphics are much darker in tone, the enemies scarier, and you are rewarded for things like how gory you made a kill. Not only that, but the deaths are presented in a truly T-rated fashion, and you are also rewarded for rampant destruction of property. It is not a gore-fest, nor should it be rated M, it is just that the marketing of the cool and cute characters makes it very appealing to younger kids. Just remember, this is not a game for little kids.
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