Jackass the Game DS Review

Jackass the Game seems like an odd one to bring to the DS. Not that I mind mature-themed games on Nintendo’s squeaky-clean handheld, but in the midst of baby caring simulators and Disney license spin-offs, it’s a bit out of place. Jackass really pushes the T-rating, too, alluding to some pretty crass material and swearing up a storm with censored text that doesn’t do much to hide what’s really being said, such as the classic a$$. I see what you did there.

I’m not complaining (yet), though, because, honestly, it’s kind of nice to play a DS game that isn’t afraid to encourage you to be… well, to be a jackass. As the story goes, the crew from the TV show has just hired you as the new intern and revels in making you do their bidding, whether it’s harassing farm animals or riding a shopping cart into the boss’s wife’s car. They also enjoy setting up elaborate stunts like launching from a merry-go-round onto the roof of a retirement home, and, naturally, you’re the guinea pig. Sounds like a blast, doesn’t it? You’d like to think so.

The game ends up being mission-based; you run around one of six open worlds, looking for Jackass crew members to assign you new stunts. It feels like such a cop-out and does well to remind you you’re playing a video game based off a TV show. The stunts aren’t even very exciting. It takes all of five minutes to realize the designers only had three solid ideas: ride something, launch from something, and/or crash into something. There may be six different areas full of potentially crazy stuff to do, but it’s always the same. In the first level, you ride a wagon and knock over trash cans. In the second level, you mow over chickens with a tractor. In the third, you’re using a bike to bang up phone booths. The objects may change from scene to scene. The tasks you do, however, don’t.

To be fair, later stunts tend to be a bit more complex. Sometimes it’s not as simple as scooting down a hill into a hotdog stand. You are frequently required to string different events together. So you may have to launch from one point, fly through the air, land on a vehicle, ride it to another launching point, and finally crash land in a pile of cow poo. En route, it’s possible to do tricks while on a vehicle or silly poses if airborne. But this is no Tony Hawk, and the limited amount of tricks, as well as the ease they are performed with, hinders their appeal.

These longer stunts are not difficult, either. The hardest part about the game is calculating the power (and sometimes angle) of your launch so you can make it to the drop zone. But even if you mess up, there’s a good chance you’ll still make it, because you can quite unrealistically speed up, slow down, or turn while in the air. Granted, this could be an amusing element if crashing into something was spontaneous and unique every time. Your character does go into rag doll physics mode as soon as he/she has lost consciousness. It isn’t very entertaining, though, because there’s not a lot of nearby debris for him/her to get snagged on and flop over. Nor does the thing you crashed into crumble and break apart. It puts the game’s open world idea to waste. Open worlds are meant for screwing off and destroying things, but Jackass the Game just has too little to it to make any sidetracking worth the effort.

The problem with this, of course, is that we’re playing–or trying to play–an open world game on the DS. The DS just doesn’t have the kind of graphical power needed to produce a really good, engaging city. These cities, farms, and ski lodges are ugly and bare. And the prodding you are given to explore and find hidden goodies (i.e. additional costumes) is better off ignored when you realize how difficult it is to jump on something. It’s never boded well to do 3D gameplay with a D-pad, but Jackass’s clunky controls, floaty physics, and glitchy platforms make it an impalpable mess.

Final Comments

Obtaining the rights to something as outrageous as Jackass gives you cart blanche to make what could very well be the sweetest game ever. An anything goes attitude with a quirky cast of characters is a winning combination. Well, not always, I guess. Jackass the Game squanders a perfectly good license and isn’t much fun. This should have been something more akin to the freeware game, Truck Dismount, where the idea is to meticulously ram a truck against a wall to inflict as much damage on yourself as possible. Take that, add other Jackass stunts with it, and you have pure gold. Take this game, and stuff it through a paper shredder.