Hands on experimentation with Death, Jr. and the Science Fair of Doom

Over at Konami's handheld showcase at the recent Game Developers Conference, we ditched our pen for a scythe in our look at Death, Jr. and the Science Fair of Doom. Offering a brand new game in the young series, specifically tailored to Nintendo DS, we went hands-on to experiment with this stylish action-platform sequel.

Death, Jr. and the Science Fair of Doom brings back the Grim Reaper's son, DJ and his troublesome pal Pandora (first seen on PSP) for some death-defying action. Aiming for the blue ribbon in the school's science fair, the two instead end up making a huge mess when their experiment goes awry.

Death, Jr., (aka DJ) serves as the main character, but you can switch to Pandora on-the-fly in order to solve simple platform puzzles.

We only had the opportunity to play as DJ in our short, two-level tryst with death. Both levels were fully three-dimensional, albeit it taking on a side-scrolling perspective. We're told other levels will offer more freedom to move about the screen (as suggested by the screenshots), but what we saw played much like an arcade side-scroller. All of the action takes place on the touch screen, while mission-specific information is display on the top screen.

You can use either the directional pad or stylus to move about the screen. It was definitely easier to use the directional pad for movement; however, since the stylus is the only way in which to pull off special attacks, we stuck to the stylus in order to knock off enemies with style. For example, we twirled a few enemies around with DJ's spin attack simply by quickly tracing a circle on the touch screen. Other moves include employing the scythe to latch onto hooks and swing across crevasses.

The touch screen definitely adds energy to the game, which would probably play like any other action game without it.

As you delve deeper into Death, Jr., you'll gain access to new weapons to complement DJ's scythe. We were able to equip a shotgun, for example, which was promptly used to blast back naïve foes. Along with new weapons, you can use money earned from defeating enemies to purchase upgrades and special abilities. DJ and Pandora have a slate of skills specific to them, so there ought to be plenty to unlock and explore.

Beyond the single-player story, you'll also be able to connect wirelessly with another player for two multiplayer mini-games. While we weren't offered a look at them, they should be a nice distraction from the main game.

Death, Jr. and the Science Fair of Doom seems to be shaping up as an improvement on the original rather dull PSP game. We'll have more details as it nears its release near the middle of this year, so click 'Track It!' to avoid any deathly silences.