Death Jr. is an action platforming game that blends elements of first person shooters with the exploration of a third person platformer. You are Death Jr. or DJ for short. As the teenage son of the Grim Reaper, you are armed with the trademark scythe along with an arsenal of guns and explosives.

DJ starts off on a field trip to the Museum of Supernatural History with his friends Pandora, an obsessive compulsive Goth girl who can’t put her hands on anything without opening it; Smith and Weston, a pair of brainiac twins conjoined at the head; Stigmartha, a girl who bleeds from her hands whenever she gets nervous; and the Seep, an armless, legless, foul mouthed foreign exchange student in a vat. The gang discovers a tantalizing box and at the insistence of Pandora, opens it, unleashing Moloch, an ancient demon, and all of his minions into the world. DJ now must save his friend and the world before he gets in trouble with his old man, The Grim Reaper himself.

Visually the game takes a page from the mind of Tim Burton, as it easily resembles his visions and ideas of The Nightmare Before Christmas and the Corpse’s Bride. The game is dark, but humorous at the same time with grizzly ghouls, haunted environments, and oodles of blood…or at least as much as a teen rating will provide. With story driven CG cut scenes to play out the plot, the presentation is top notch. The frame rate stays at a constant 30fps pace the entire game, and the camera is surprisingly very cooperative for a third person title. DJ himself has franchise written all over him, especially for horror fans such as myself. The levels are beautifully rendered and the enemies are extremely varied so the game never gets old quickly. Even the animations of DJ’s attacks and arsenal of weaponry are fluid and unique. Overall, DJ may not be the prettiest package on the PSP, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and for horror buffs like myself, this game is indeed a looker.

The game’s audio is also a joy as you not only get great cut scenes that move the story along, but the music for the game is moody, yet catchy at the same time. Even the sound effects are a treat with great explosions especially the C4 Hamsters…yes Hamsters. While I would have liked to hear DJ and the gang’s voices in game, the text during the in game play is a bit disappointing.

Death Jr. is really not much more than your run of the mill platform title, but honestly, that is not a bad thing. Controls are solid, there are tons of goodies and unlockables to find, there are plenty of head scratching puzzles, the A.I. is decent, and there are even some very tough boss fights. DJ even has a nice variety of enemy bashing combos and special moves that range from the average to the hysterical. The end result is a delicious platformer that will keep you busy for a good amount of hours.

The fun does end rather quickly though as Death Jr. is not a very long adventure. So what makes DJ so appealing if the adventure is a short one? You do have a wide arsenal of weapons to thwart off baddies, such as dual pistols, a lightning gun, a flamethrower, and those adorably fun to blow up C4 Hamsters. You will want to discover all the weapons, as they will make your later boss fights more enjoyable. There are also plenty of hidden items that will make that voyage a second time, a welcome one.

DJ is a fun little adventure that has new franchise written all over it. I hope that PSP owners will give Death Jr. a spin, as you may be pleasantly surprised on how enjoyable the game really is. Especially if you are a fan of old school platformers, like Jersey Devil. I can do nothing but recommend DJ highly, even if the game is on the short side, the game is perfect for those on the go.