Joe Danger: A PSN GEM

In order to set the tone for this article I need a little background music. Cue up this song while reading the rest of this post.

There we go. Ah yes, Joe Danger. Simply put, Joe Danger is Excite bike for the PS3. If on the off chance you've never played Excite bike, you can catch up to speed right HERE.

There's something infectious about this game. Granted its not very original, it does however do a great job of reinventing an old formula. We have seen attempts at re-sparking the old excite bike by Nintendo, which was pretty well received, but nothing to run to the hills about. Trials HD, which came out about a year ago on the Xbox. Is a similar game to Excite Bike, however, Trials is more about pulling off stunts then racing or collecting.

All those aside, Joe Danger is a fresh take on an old formula. It takes everything that made Excite Bike fun and popular, adds a cute and charismatic art style, along with rag doll physics for both the rider and objects on the track. To create one of the most well rounded "on rails" motorcycle experiences.

As you can already tell by this catchy theme song (which is probably almost done, if not over) Joe Danger is a very simple "pick up and play" type of game. You control a motorcycle on rails, just like the original excite bike. The concept of game play here is less about actually riding the bike and more about pulling off tricks like Tony Hawk... well the digital version that is.

Pulling off entire track long wheelie's and enough back flips to make an air force pilot sick, is a piece of cake. Some of the challenges like collecting D.A.N.G.E.R. and finding the hidden coins have a classic Tony Hawk appeal that I've longed for, for many years. Not only are you pulling off tricks for a High score, at times you may be racing the competition or asked to complete certain objectives. There is enough variety to keep the boredom from setting in.

Much like the original excite bike and just about every PlayStation title these days, there is a play, create .. not so much share, formula here. You can create your own tracks from the ground up using the games track editing tool. Want to see how many school buses you can jump? Start lining them up, but don't forget to add a shark tank in there for good measure (the fonz approves).

I don't think there is much more to say about this game other than, its often overlooked and its one of the more addicting titles available on the PSN. Obviously this game isn't for everyone, if you've already checked it out and passed on it... then why are you reading this? See I told you it was infectious, now go download it!

Hello Games Official site

Check out the Demo on the PSN.