Joe Danger | |
---|---|
![]() Joe Danger in front of the game's logo | |
Developer(s) | Hello Games |
Publisher(s) | Hello Games [1] |
Director(s) | David Ream |
Designer(s) | Sean Murray |
Programmer(s) | Ryan Doyle |
Artist(s) | Grant Duncan |
Platform(s) | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows, iOS, Android, Vita |
Release | PS3 Xbox 360 14 December 2011 [4] iOS 10 January 2013 [5] Windows 24 June 2013 Vita |
Genre(s) | Racing, platform [6] [7] |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Joe Danger is a side-scrolling video game incorporating elements of racing and platform games, and is the first game developed by Hello Games. The player controls the eponymous daredevil and navigates time-limited courses, aiming to complete enough objectives to continue to further rounds. Joe Danger is presented in a lighthearted way, with emphasis on stunts and maintaining speed.
It was released for the PlayStation 3, via the PlayStation Network, in June 2010, after Hello Games originally chose to publish it exclusively with Sony Computer Entertainment. A "Special Edition" for the Xbox 360, via the Xbox Live Arcade, was released on 14 December 2011; an iOS spinoff was released on 10 January 2013. In April 2015, a version for Android was released through the Google Play Store. [8]
On its release, Joe Danger received generally positive reviews; most reviewers praised the accessible gameplay and the ability to edit courses while playing them. Some suggested the game would have benefited from more options, such as sharing and rating user-generated content, and criticised the lack of an online multiplayer mode. Hello Games subsequently released downloadable content to add features that users and reviewers had requested in the months following the game's release. Using leaderboard statistics, Joe Danger was estimated to have sold at least 108,000 units in its first three months on sale. It was nominated for several awards, including the grand prize at the 2010 Independent Games Festival.
The player controls motorbike stuntman "Joe Danger" and guides him through ten "trials" to defeat his nemeses, the members of Team Nasty. [9] The game uses elements of both racing and side-scrolling platform genres, [7] in which the protagonist can move to the right and, by reversing, to the left as well as hopping over and ducking under various obstacles. [10] Although the game is based on a two-dimensional plane, some of its courses are designed with three layers accessible by changing lanes. [11] The bike is controllable in the air, allowing various tricks to be performed, for which points are awarded with higher scores awarded for long trick sequences, [10] and for manoeuvring onto targets. [12] Executing a stunt will build a "boost meter", [7] which is used to increases Joe's speed, but drains the meter. [11] [13] [14] The Select button is used to teleport Joe back to the last checkpoint passed. [15]
Joe Danger's level design was directly influenced by the Sonic the Hedgehog game series, [15] as evidenced by the use of avoidable spikes, vertical loops, [14] [17] and springs placed in levels to allow higher jumps. [10] [16] Some elements are designed to hinder the player, such as conveyor belts, which slow the motorbike, [15] oversized boxing gloves, which will propel the player backwards [12] and barricades, which make it necessary to switch to an alternative lane. [11]
The primary goal in each level is to collect as many "stars" as possible. A star is collected for completing an objective, and once enough are collected, the next course is unlocked. Critics compared this process to that used in the Super Mario Bros. titles. [18] The player is free to choose which objectives to complete, with the option of replaying a level to earn more stars. The most common objective is to finish a course within a time limit with as many points as possible. Other level-specific objectives include collecting a series of coins, hidden stars or letters spelling "Danger", [11] [13] while in others the player is required to land on every target, or to complete a course in one continuous sequence of tricks. [19] Later levels require the player to do more than one objective simultaneously. [7]
Joe Danger contains a sandbox mode, which allows the player to drag and drop objects onto the course to customise levels. [11] This mode is integrated into some single-player levels where the game may instruct the player to introduce obstacles such as ramps to access later sections. [19] New levels can be shared online with friends via the PlayStation Network. [20] The game has a split screen multiplayer mode for up to four players on a selection of specially-made tracks. [14] There is leaderboard support, initially limited to those on the player's PlayStation Network friend list. [13]
"Grant [Duncan, artist] had a box of toys he brought down from his attic. Something kind of beautiful happened when he brought those in. There was an instant power to demonstrating your latest game idea with Optimus Prime in your hands. I like to think we designed our next five games that first week, just setting up toys on the office floor." [21]
Sean Murray, managing director of Hello Games, on the conception of the project
Joe Danger arose from the team's wish to make "something that puts a smile on people's faces" similar to games such as Mario Kart and Micro Machines . [22] An Evel Knievel toy was a main source of inspiration for the "Joe" character; the team had fun "firing that stunt cycle out of windows and down halls". [16] Nevertheless, Murray likened work as an independent developer to "the reality of eating ice cream every day for every meal" as the novelty of working for themselves wore off. [23] The team often spent more than 60 hours a week working on the project because of the "unrealistic" time scales for development and with only four team members, each had to fulfil several roles; they had no public relations representative nor did they have a business manager or a designer. [21] [23] No software design document was made throughout the production of Joe Danger, since the team felt they understood each other's ideas. [24]
The game was announced on the developers' website on 23 September 2009 and given its first public showcase in November 2009 at the Eurogamer Expo in Earls Court. [25] The team used this event as an opportunity for extensive playtesting, receiving feedback from those playing the game and creating new software builds for each day of the expo. Murray cited numerous "happy accidents" during development, which led to incorporation of various features into the end product. An example of this was a bug in the programming which enabled players to jump as often as they liked in mid-air; the team decided this was fun and incorporated it as a double jump. [24]
Hello Games struggled to find a third-party publisher for the game. Some of the reasons include worries about the lack of potential for porting it to other platforms, and comments such as "collecting giant coins feels unrealistic to me", and "we want games that are less about fun right now". [26] [27] [28] One prospective publisher intimated that they might have published the game if the main character had been a monkey. [26] When players were invited to make suggestions for additional characters, there was popular support for the monkey idea; this led to the introduction of a downloadable bonus character, Chuckles the Chimp. [29] After nine months looking for a publisher, the team ran out of money. Murray later came up with the idea of selling his home to help fund development. [30] [31] He explained to Jessica Conditt of Engadget that he considered the house "like a blood diamond", since it was paid for with money earned at his job with Electronic Arts. [32]
After initially being unsure of the best platform on which to release Joe Danger, [33] the developers announced in March 2010 that they would be releasing the game only on Sony's PlayStation 3. [34] This decision enabled Hello to make use of Sony's "Publishing Fund", a scheme which offered advantageous financial terms in exchange for exclusivity. [34] [35] Murray said that the PlayStation Network was the ideal place to release the game because it was the only way they could publish by themselves [36] and branded the Xbox Live Arcade platform a "slaughterhouse for small developers" due to poor sales figures for independent works. [37] [38] Joe Danger was released on 8 June 2010 in the North American PlayStation Store, with a European release the following day. [2] [3]
In October 2011, Eurogamer picked up on an Xbox Live Arcade listing for a Joe Danger: Special Edition on the Korea Media Rating Board. [39] The project was officially announced on 3 November; [40] a GameSpot-exclusive trailer was released the same day. [41] Murray said that the Special Edition will include new gameplay modes and characters; another new addition is the "Laboratory" mode, in which the player must complete unique "developer challenges". [4] [42] The edition was released on 14 December 2011 and was exclusive to the Xbox 360. [4] [43] Murray stood by his earlier statements criticising Microsoft's platform; he said, "Obviously a comment like that isn't meant exactly how it sounds. For probably a few years XBLA was basically the only show in town. If you managed to get your game on there it was almost a guarantee of success. I don't think that's the case now. That isn't Microsoft's fault, and it isn't developers' fault. It's just that a hundred games come out there a year, and of those maybe ten break through and make an impact. The rest don't." [44] [45] He stressed the decision to port the game "made business sense", and that the team "jumped at the chance without even thinking about the economics of it". [46]
Since the release of Special Edition, a spin-off version for iOS and Android devices has been in development. The team decided not to directly adapt the original game for the new device; Murray told Mike Rose of Gamasutra that "simply porting a game is never something I could get excited about, it's soulless work". He explained that the team's aim is to create a game with similar graphics to a console game, while also keeping the frame rate at 60 frames per second. [47] The game is being co-developed by Steven Burgess, who previously worked on WiiWare game LostWinds with Frontier Developments. [48] It was given its first public showcase at the Penny Arcade Expo in Boston, Massachusetts, on 7 April. [49] The iOS version, titled Joe Danger Touch, was listed on the iTunes Store on 10 January 2013. [5] [50]
A version of the game for the PlayStation Vita was announced on 27 August 2014, containing both levels from the original game and levels exclusive to the PlayStation Vita. It was made available for free on the PlayStation Plus Instant Game Collection service in September 2014. There are 25 playable characters available in the game, as well as a modified level editor. [51]
Since the game's initial release, additional downloadable content has been made available. The first patch for the game, dubbed "The People's Patch", was released in August 2010 [52] adding two features: the ability to upload video replays to YouTube and the ability to share customised courses with those not on the player's friends list. Their absence had been the source of early criticism by reviewers. [53] Other additional features included custom soundtracks, new levels, and alternative costumes. [54] The announcement of the game's expansion coincided with a level-designing competition in which the top five contestants won T-shirts and artwork. [53] Murray said Hello were trying to respond to all suggestions from users, and that they would release a patch addressing "every concern we could". [55] In November 2010, the team announced four new playable characters, each with a unique appearance and range of moves. [29]
The game was re-released on 27 January 2022 after Hello Games received an email that they said "broke our hearts", from the father of an autistic child, explaining how the game had become an enabling mechanism for his son's social interaction and a coping and reward mechanism for stressful situations, adding that due to changes to Apple's iOS operating system, the game would no longer run on modern devices. Hello Games said the message "broke our hearts and made us want to set things right", so they rebuilt the game as a "hobby project", upgrading the eight year old game to modern technology. [56]
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
Metacritic | 86/100 [57] |
Publication | Score |
---|---|
1Up.com | B+ [18] |
Eurogamer | 8/10 [11] |
Game Informer | 9/10 [20] |
IGN | 9.5/10 [19] |
The single-player gameplay mode of Joe Danger was generally well received by critics. The game's accessibility was a source of praise; according to Eric Neigher of 1UP.com, it allows for "five-minute sprints" of gameplay, although more in-depth options take up more time. [18] IGN's Daemon Hatfield compared the game favourably to Nintendo Entertainment System launch title Excitebike , and said that Joe Danger felt like a Nintendo game. [19] Other critics focused on similarities to Super Mario Bros., such as non-linear level progression (the ability to play levels in any order, providing that the player has earned enough stars to "unlock" the level), the encouragement to play through multiple times to complete every objective, and the use of platforms. [14] [18] Another influences noted with favour by critics was the combo system, which some compared with the Tony Hawk's series of skateboarding games. [20] Comments were also made on the influence of early Sonic the Hedgehog titles. [11] The cheerful, cartoon-like nature of Joe Danger's artwork was well received; Eurogamer's Tom Bramwell said "I've worked on games websites for over a decade and not enough games are happy and colourful. This one is. More of this, please, everyone." [17]
Opinions were less uniformly complimentary about other modes of the game. Scott Alan Marriott of G4 TV was disappointed with the shortage of options in multiplayer modes, in particular the inability to play against others online. [13] The game's leaderboard feature was another source of criticism, with several reviewers noting severe lag issues. [11] The Daily Telegraph 's Martin Gaston said "it would also have been nice to see the game give dedicated players the opportunity to study from the world's finest by implementing online replays", an option not originally included; [15] the decision not to allow sharing custom courses with users outside the player's friend's list was labelled "questionable" [13] and "obtuse". [15] Minor criticisms related to the lack of variety in sound design and background scenery. [7] [18] Two months after the initial release, Hello Games' first patch for Joe Danger contained features to cover most critics' concerns. [53]
Before its release, Joe Danger was up for the "Seumas McNally Grand Prize" and for the "Technical Excellence" award at the 2010 Independent Games Festival at the Game Developers Conference, losing to Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine and Limbo respectively. [58] The game was unsuccessfully nominated for the "Best New Download IP" award at the same year's Develop Industry Excellence Awards in Brighton, [59] instead winning the studio the "Best New Studio" and "Micro Studio" awards. [60] It received a nomination for "Best PlayStation Network Exclusive Game" at the PlayStation Network Gamers' Choice Awards in March 2011 but was beaten by Dead Nation ; [61] [62] it appeared in the "Best Downloadable Game" category at GamesMaster 's Golden Joystick Awards in September 2011, [63] but missed out to Minecraft . [64] The same month, Play placed it top of its "50 Best PSN Games" feature, ahead of titles such as Braid and The Last Guy . [9]
Joe Danger sold over 50,000 units in its first week on sale on the PlayStation Network. [38] The team announced at the Develop Conference 2010 that they broke even on the day of release. [65] Based on research published by Gamasutra's Ryan Langley, who used the number of unique entries on a game's online leaderboard to estimate the number of sales, it sold more than 68,000 units in its first month of release. [66] In July, the same statistics indicated a further 24,000 units had been sold, bringing the two-month total to over 92,000. [67] The next month saw at least 16,000 new players. Exact sales figures are uncertain because only a limited number of scores can be held within a leaderboard for PlayStation Network games, but on the basis of these numbers the game sold at least 108,000 units in its first three months. [68] Murray said that as Joe Danger does not allow scores of zero to make the leaderboards, the true quantity sold was likely to be substantially higher than indicated. [66] In December 2011, PlayStation Network's senior director Susan Panico named Joe Danger the year's third best-selling game to be supported by Sony's Publishing Fund behind Hoard and Tales from Space: About a Blob . [69]
Sales for the Xbox Live Arcade version were less impressive; Langley's statistics indicate that 8,300 units sold in the first week, and by December's end that figure rested at around 16,800. [70] At least 6,800 further sales were noted with the same technique in January 2012, and by March the overall figure was thought to be least 37,500 units. [71] [72]
Several months after Joe Danger's release, Hello Games began to advertise positions on their website, indicating that work was proceeding on a new project. [73] New staff were added and towards the end of the year the organisation moved its offices. [74] [75] After an announcement on Hello Games' website a week prior, Joe Danger: The Movie was presented for the first time at Gamescom in Cologne in August 2011. [76] [77] Murray said the game is "kind of" a sequel to Joe Danger, but that he envisioned it big enough to dwarf the original. [78] Renamed Joe Danger 2: The Movie, the game was released 14 September 2012, [79] and was the last of Hello Games' projects to be based around the character. [80] [81]
Crazy Taxi is a racing video game developed and published by Sega. It is the first game in the Crazy Taxi series. The game was first released in arcades in 1999 and then was ported to the Dreamcast in 2000. Gameplay is based on picking up taxi customers and driving to their destination as quickly as possible. Reception to Crazy Taxi has been mostly positive. It was ported to other platforms numerous times, including the PlayStation 2 and GameCube by Acclaim in 2001, and then Windows in 2002.
Castle Crashers is a 2D side-scrolling hack-and-slash video game developed by The Behemoth. The Xbox 360 version was released on August 27, 2008, via Xbox Live Arcade as part of the Xbox Live Summer of Arcade. The PlayStation 3 version was released in North America on August 31, 2010, and November 3, 2010, in Europe via the PlayStation Network. A Microsoft Windows and MacOS version, exclusive to Steam, was released on September 26, 2012. The game is set in a fictional medieval universe in which a dark wizard steals a mystical crystal and captures four princesses. Four knights are charged by the king to rescue the princesses, recover the crystal, and bring the wizard to justice. The game includes music created by members of Newgrounds.
Torchlight is an action role-playing hack and slash dungeon crawler video game developed by Runic Games and published by Perfect World Entertainment. It was originally released for Windows in October 2009. The fantasy-themed game is set in the fictional town of Torchlight and the expansive caverns and dungeons nearby, which adventurers explore to collect valuable loot and battle hordes of monsters. Following the October 2009 digital distribution release, a Windows retail box version was released in the U.S. in January 2010 by Encore, Inc, and JoWooD Entertainment published a retail box in Europe in April 2010. A port for OS X was developed by World Domination Industries and released through Steam on May 12, 2010. Runic Games and World Domination Industries developed a port for Xbox Live Arcade which was released on March 9, 2011. A Linux port was released as part of the game's inclusion in the Humble Indie Bundle 6.
Braid is an indie puzzle-platform video game developed by Number None. The game was originally released in August 2008 for the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade service. Ports were developed and released for Microsoft Windows in April 2009, Mac OS X in May 2009, PlayStation 3 in November 2009, and Linux in December 2010. Jonathan Blow designed the game as a personal critique of contemporary trends in video game development. He self-funded the three-year project, working with webcomic artist David Hellman to develop the artwork.
Bionic Commando Rearmed is an enhanced remake of the 1988 Nintendo Entertainment System version of Bionic Commando. It was developed by Grin and published by Capcom for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Network, and Xbox Live Arcade, and was released in August 2008. The BlackBerry version was developed and published by Beeline Interactive and released on April 23, 2009. The remake serves as a prelude to the 2009 video game Bionic Commando.
Xbox Live Indie Games were video games created by individual developers or small teams of developers released on Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace for the Xbox 360. The games were developed using Microsoft XNA, and developed by one or more independent developers that are registered with App Hub. Unlike Xbox Live Arcade titles, these were generally only tested within the local creator community, had much lower costs of production, and generally were less expensive to purchase. The service was released to widespread use alongside the New Xbox Experience, and as of November 2014, over 3,300 games had been released on the service, many receiving media attention. All Indie Games currently require the user to be logged into their Xbox Live account to initiate the start-up of each game. Indie Games were not available in Australia, due to the requirement for all games to be rated by the Australian Classification Board, and the prohibitive expenses involved. The Xbox Live Indie Games program did not continue with the release of the Xbox One, and the marketplace for these games was shuttered on October 7, 2017.
The Maw is an action-adventure video game developed by Twisted Pixel Games and released for Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. The game centers on the extraterrestrial Frank and a purple, amorphous creature called The Maw, who have crash-landed their spacecraft on an alien planet. The player assumes the role of Frank and directs The Maw—which can take on the abilities of objects and fauna it consumes—via a leash.
OutRun Online Arcade is a racing video game and the most recent release in the OutRun series. It was developed by Sumo Digital and published by Sega. The game was released on April 15, 2009 on Xbox Live Arcade and released exclusively in Europe for the PlayStation 3 a day later via the PlayStation Network. Gameplay involves players racing their choice of Ferrari through a selection of fifteen stages in the shortest time possible.
Battlefield 1943 was a first-person shooter video game developed by DICE and published by Electronic Arts for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 through digital distribution. It takes place in the Pacific Theater of Operations of World War II. A Microsoft Windows version was planned but later cancelled.
Super Meat Boy is a 2010 platform game designed by Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes under the collective name of "Team Meat". It was self-published as the successor to Meat Boy, a 2008 Flash game designed by McMillen and Jonathan McEntee. In the game, the player controls Meat Boy, a red, cube-shaped character, as he attempts to rescue his girlfriend, Bandage Girl, from the game's antagonist Dr. Fetus. The gameplay is characterized by fine control and split-second timing, as the player runs and jumps through over 300 hazardous levels while avoiding obstacles. The game also supports the creation of player-created levels. Super Meat Boy was first released on the Xbox 360 through Xbox Live Arcade in October 2010, and was later ported to Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, and the Nintendo Switch. A Wii version was in development but was ultimately cancelled.
Machinarium is a puzzle point-and-click adventure game developed by Amanita Design. It was released on 16 October 2009 for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, on 8 September 2011 for iPad 2 on the App Store, on 21 November 2011 for BlackBerry PlayBook, on 10 May 2012 for Android, on 6 September 2012 on PlayStation 3's PlayStation Network in Europe, on 9 October 2012 in North America and on 18 October 2012 in Asia, and was also released for PlayStation Vita on 26 March 2013 in North America, on 1 May 2013 in Europe and on 7 May 2013 in Asia. Demos for Windows, Mac and Linux were made available on 30 September 2009. A future release for the Wii's WiiWare service was cancelled as of November 2011 due to WiiWare's 40MB limit.
Zombie Apocalypse is a downloadable action shoot 'em up video game developed by Nihilistic Software and published by Konami.
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is an action-adventure game developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Square Enix's European branch for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Android and iOS. It is part of the Tomb Raider series, but unlike previous games, the game does not carry the Tomb Raider brand and has a heavy emphasis on cooperative gameplay. In multiplayer, players take the role as either Lara Croft or a 2,000-year-old Mayan warrior named Totec. They must work together in order to stop the evil spirit Xolotl and retrieve the Mirror of Smoke. A single-player campaign mode is available that does not include the non-playable character AI following or helping Lara.
Limbo is a puzzle-platform video game with horror elements developed by independent studio Playdead and originally published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360. The game was released in July 2010 on Xbox Live Arcade, and it has since been ported by Playdead to several other systems, including the PlayStation 3, Linux and Microsoft Windows. Limbo is a 2D side-scroller, incorporating a physics system that governs environmental objects and the player character. The player guides an unnamed boy through dangerous environments and traps as he searches for his sister. The developer built the game's puzzles expecting the player to fail before finding the correct solution. Playdead called the style of play "trial and death", and used gruesome imagery for the boy's deaths to steer the player from unworkable solutions.
Castlevania: Harmony of Despair is a multiplayer-focused platform-adventure game in the Castlevania series, featuring an ensemble cast of characters from the 2-D Metroidvania era of games, developed and published by Konami for Xbox 360 in August 2010, and for PlayStation 3 in 2011.
DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue is an action role-playing game by game designer Ron Gilbert and is the sequel to DeathSpank. It was announced on August 23, 2010. The game adds new environments, modernized weapons, increased boss fights, and a new multiplayer character. Thongs of Virtue was released on September 21, 2010 on the PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Network and on September 22, 2010 on the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade. The Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X versions were released November 30, 2010 and December 14, 2010, respectively via Steam.
Pinball FX 2 is a pinball video game for Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows and is the sequel to Pinball FX. It was developed by Zen Studios and published by Microsoft Studios. It was released on October 27, 2010, via the Xbox Live Arcade service. The game includes several new features, such as local multiplayer and the ability to tweak table settings. Players can also import all of the tables from Pinball FX they had previously purchased. The Windows 8 version of Pinball FX 2 was released on the Windows Store on October 27, 2012, two years after the original XBLA release. The game was subsequently released for other Windows platforms via Steam on May 10, 2013. Pinball FX 2 was announced for Windows Phone in February 2012. A sequel, Pinball FX 3 was released in September 2017.
The Adventures of Shuggy is a puzzle-platform game developed by British studio Smudged Cat Games and published by Valcon Games. It was released June 15, 2011 for the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade, for Microsoft Windows on June 13, 2012, and for Linux and OS X on October 30, 2015. It follows the vampire Shuggy as he seeks to rid his newly inherited mansion of its undesirable inhabitants.
Joe Danger 2: The Movie is a racing and platform video game developed by Hello Games for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and PlayStation Vita. According to Hello Games's managing director, it is "kind of" a sequel to the successful Joe Danger. The game was announced in August 2011 and released for Xbox 360 on 14 September 2012, and 9 October 2012 for PlayStation 3. A Microsoft Windows version was released 24 June 2013, followed by Mac OS X and Linux on 7 January 2014, and PlayStation Vita in January 2015. The game centers around the titular character, stuntman Joe Danger, as he performs stunts for an action film. It features multiple vehicle types, and has local multiplayer for up to four players.
Marvel vs. Capcom Origins is a crossover fighting video game developed by Iron Galaxy Studios and published by Capcom. It is a compilation of Marvel Super Heroes (1995) and Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes (1998). The dual pack was released through the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade in September and October 2012, respectively.