Death Jr. II: Root of Evil

The good easily outweighs the bad in this case, though, and plants Death Jr. 2 firmly in the upper echelon of PSP titles. [Nov. 2006, p.145]

Sometimes frustrating, but relentlessly entertaining, Death Jr.2: RoE marks a successful return for the franchise.

It's still not perfect, but at least the developers have taken steps in the right direction. [Dec. 2006, p.80]

The unique blend of wonderfully bizarre settings and enemies make Death Jr.'s return a fresh gaming experience. It's "Nightmare Before Christmas" meets "Alice in Wonderland." Prepare yourself for one crazy trip.

The top class game that the original should've been and ultimately an impressive sophomore effort for a series I'm increasingly psyched to hopefully watch grow and evolve in the years to come.

At the end of the day, though, the collision detection is enough of a problem to dock it a few points.

If you enjoyed the first game, then you will more than likely enjoy its sequel.

What makes Death Jr. a hard recommendation twice now is how the game is still sloppy in execution despite its best qualities -- it's time for DJ to grow up and scythe straight.

Root of Evil puts itself across as a lighthearted, if slightly demented, kid's game. But it can be much more challenging than such a presentation implies, and the disconnect is sometimes jarring.

Root of Evil tries to get at the root of the original game’s flaws, but comes up short. Essentially more of the same, the game does offer a bit of enjoyment in its wacky combat; however, problems with the camera and controls make it no more than an average action platform game.

A slightly updated platformer, with just a few touches here and there completes a decent sequel.

It's got a head above the PSP's run-of-the-mill platformers, but that still isn't saying terribly too much. But if your heart's in the genre and you've got a weekend to blow, it's certainly worth a shot.

Still some minor glitches, but a much more playable title than the first outing. [May 2007, p.87]

The pacing could use some work, but the short nature of the levels and the game itself works in its favor to not dawdle too long with the boring areas.

Even being a major horror fan and enjoying the fact that someone has created a horror themed platformer, I have a hard time believing this is going to find a core audience that shares my views about the game and its content.

Almost all of the major control issues have been fixed, the graphics are much cleaner, and the wireless co-op feature is fantastic. But all of the good still doesn’t outweigh the bad--the horribly generic gameplay just doesn’t cut it.

The younger set might not mind backtracking through old levels, hunting high and low for weapon parts (and that last, pesky, unsmashed crate). But other aspects of Root of Evil definitely aim older, such as the characters -- which include a dead boy, conjoined brainiac twins, and a wiseacre baby with stumps for limbs in a jar of formaldehyde.

Barely a sequel, it's more like a Death Jr. add-on pack, but still enjoyable for a short amount of time.

Death Jr. II is almost a good game, but substandard controls and repetitive combat make it difficult to enjoy.

They've added no-frills co-op and a second character but stayed within the comfortable confines of mindless action. [Dec. 2006, p.160]

But the blatant flaws like inconsistent difficulty spotted with flat unfunny humor attempts, as well as huge gaps between storyline progression seem hell-bent on making you not really care as much as you should.

When the level mechanics still depend on mashing the attack button mindlessly for minutes at a time, with no real cue as to when to stop, no amount of snappy dialogue or Tim Burton-esque scenery will make it fun to play.

There's a good amount of fun to be had here -- just don't expect to be blown away by the experience.

You can't make a choppy action/adventure, darken the imagery, add a less childish lead character, and expect players to come running.

It's a psychotic, disjointed, almost loveable mess. [Dec. 2006, p.130]

Most weapons, like the enemy-seeking suicide hamsters, are worth the effort.

Death, Jr II inches its way closer to being a very good game but, too often, its action fails to match the creative promise of its scenario, character and art design.

Despite a genuinely well designed central character and a delightfully surreal sense of humour it's now two failures out of two for the Death Jr series.

A minor irritation. [June 2007, p.98]

Unfortunately, though, the game's controls turn out to be more effective at slowing you down than all of its eerie enemies and devilish puzzles. [June 2007, p.74]

It's a shame that the gameplay hasn't evolved all that much since last year's release and that there is a real lack of contrast between Pandora and Death Jr.'s character, but there's still a solid and fun game experience to be had if you give this title a chance.

The worst part of the game was combat. Slashing similar enemies over and over became boring, and I had to constantly adjust the camera and do several precise tasks with the PSP's annoying analog stick.