EXPANSIVE OVERVIEW: JOE DANGER TOUCH

Before continuing, we recommend reading this – it will explain the intentions of the Expansive Overview and what it sets out to achieve.

Even mobile games aren’t safe from the clutches of an Expansive Overview. This time, we look at Hello Game’s debut on the small-screen, Joe Danger Touch.

Publisher: Hello Games
Developer: Hello Games
Release Date: January 11th 2013
Format: iOS
Version Tested: iPhone 4S

The time to question the relevance of mobile devices in the gaming market is over. People have sniggered and sneered at the thought of playing games on mobile phones for a long time. Despite their overwhelming popularity and ridiculously high market share, some refuse to believe in their validity as a format.

Up until now, Joe Danger and its sequel have remained exclusively console releases. The graphics in both games are striking and gorgeous; their palettes, rich and vibrant. The games’ barely slowdown, they offer continuous fun for single or multiple players, and both have raised the bar of quality for digitally distributed titles.

With Joe Danger Touch, we believe Hello Games have repeated that success on the mobile market, and in years to come, when other developers have had their crack of the whip, Joe Danger Touch will still be remembered as one of the most desirable conversions from console to the mobile space.

Hello Games are absolute perfectionists. There are glitches and bugs in their games, but they’re so microscopically minor that you’d probably need to be a programmer yourself to notice them. With Touch, they’ve worked very hard to iron out all those kinks. The multi-touch, even on the iPhone 4S screen, works freakishly well in a Joe Danger game. Each press responds quickly and efficiently. Even when players drag the screen to do a wheelie, or hold their finger down to duck, releasing it into a hang-time heavy leap. Despite all the information the game is processing, Touch remains fluid and fast-paced. We can genuinely say that your success in the game will be determined by your own spatial awareness and responsiveness, not by some cheap in-game  hiccup.

When Hello Games said they were aiming for a console-quality release on a mobile format, they really weren’t kidding. Touch looks, feels, plays and sounds exactly like its predecessors.

At £1.99, Joe Danger Touch already represents the best value for money of any game in 2013. With 60 levels of varying difficulty, and over 20 costumes of diverse properties (including Golden Joe!), there’s a lot to take away and experience. Also within each level are a number of ‘discoveries to be found. These vary from floating spaceships, to a Hello Games logo, and all add up to an overall score. Also within each level are set requirements players must fulfill before they can claim the Pro-Medal. These also vary and include collecting all coins, finishing the level in a certain time, getting perfect response times on jumps and ducks, and more.

Future patches and updates will surely add more courses and costumes, and perhaps some form of multiplayer mode akin to the variants we’ve seen in Joe Danger: The Movie. Equally, it might be nice to see some custom level design capabilities. We’ve seen them used to an extent with Rovio’s Amazing Alex, and we know Hello Games love seeing their community engage and interact with their games. iOS devices are definitely capable of it.

Touch is so addictive that I’m ready to wrap up this Overview just so I can get a few more gos’ in. Talking and thinking about it actually heightens excitement and anticipation for the game, rather than dulling any desires.

Joe Danger Touch is a fantastic technical achievement. The difficulty levels are well-balanced, the control scheme is excellent, the graphics look glorious. Frankly, this is Hello Games’s swan song. No doubt, we’ll be playing this for several months to come.


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