Recognized as the first title publicly shown on the PSP prior to its release, Konami's Death Jr. was hoped to be the key killer-app release to generate some early buzz for the anticipated new portable platform when it debuted last year. While it turned out to be fairly enjoyable, it suffered from a cavalcade of mechanical flaws and an all-around lack of polish that left the game feeling unfinished. Fast forward a year since then, and Konami and developer Backbone Entertainment have joined forces once more to right the first game's wrongs with the new and improved sequel, Death Jr. II: Root of Evil - and for the most part they have done just that.

Taking place over a long stretch of sixteen episodes (plus a few boss stages), Death Jr. II propels DJ, the son of the Grim Reaper, and his freaky cohorts on an adventure to stop Furi, a hell spawn of nature who has unleashed her evil minions on the world after DJ and his friend Pandora accidentally let her loose. The plot isn't necessarily as fully developed as it could've been, but even so, the characters in addition to DJ and Pandora are absolutely unforgettable - including The Seep, a limbless body living in a jar like some dissection experiment gone awry, Smith and Weston, a pair of twins connected at the head sharing one brilliant brain, Stigmartha, a quiet but bright student who is somewhat of a school outcast and the self-explanatory Dead Guppy. Backing up this fantastic cast is dialogue written with tremendous wit and charm, made even better by some of the best voice acting I've heard in any game on any platform all year. Stunning CG sequences splendidly advance the plot along as well, although I wish Backbone had taken even more time to render more of them to really flesh out the story to its peak potential.

One of the new features to Death Jr. II is the option to play through its hilarious storyline as either DJ, the son of the Grim Reaper, or his friend Pandora, or even take a friend along for the ride with you in Wi-Fi co-op play. The game lasts a good six to eight hours one time through and although both characters follow the same storyline, they do have unique abilities and weapons, so I found it well worth playing through a second time solo, with a third trip played in co-op mode extending the replay value even further. Whichever character you choose to play as, you'll find that the gameplay hasn't changed at all from the original Death Jr., except for some much needed camera and control tweaking (although both could still use even more fine tuning).

Seamlessly blending 3D platforming with run-and-gun shoot 'em up action a la Ratchet & Clank, Death Jr. II is a simple yet incredibly challenging game. DJ and Pandora are equipped with an arsenal of high-powered weaponry (unlocked and created by collecting hidden weapon parts), including twin pistols, shotguns, C4-strapped hamster bombs, Tommy guns, flamethrowers, rocket launchers and freeze rifles, as well as their trusty scythe and whip respectively doubling as platforming utilities and melee weapons for down-and-dirty hacking and slashing. Combat is the gameplay headliner and thankfully it is solidly implemented - aided by mostly on-point auto-targeting and strafing systems - as well as being very satisfying. Some may whine that it's too repetitive, but with the smart enemies and varied weaponry I never found myself bored or uninterested.

Platforming makes up the other half of Death Jr. II and it certainly holds the gameplay from falling into a mindless rut of constant blasting and slashing. Each of the sixteen stages is intelligently laid out to accommodate action and traditional hoppin' and boppin', filled with hooks to swing from, wires to zipline across, balance beams to traverse, ledges to climb and clever platform arrays to bounce along. Like the original though, the platforming is the weaker of the play aspects due to a camera that likes to get stuck at inopportune moments and character movement that feels a bit slippery at times, both leading to occasional frustrating deaths in the latter stages of the game when the level designs become more challenging than ever. Controlling the camera is largely not an issue, using the shoulder buttons to rotate the viewing angle left and right, but adjusting it in the middle of a series of tough jumps can cause some mild headaches. Fortunately, both of these control quirks have been updated over what was seen in the original and neither are frequent detriments to the fun.

Another noticeable improvement over the original can be seen in the fantastic graphics on display here. I wouldn't go as far to say that Death Jr. II is a pretty game nor a technical powerhouse, as its color palette consists of a lot of dark hues and the texturing and modeling geometry isn't the best the PSP can produce, but the level designs and character designs are so creative and unique, in a loveable Tim Burton-esque style, while the particle and lighting effects are so jaw-dropping that your eyes won't care about the small deficiencies. Seriously, how can you not enjoy hopping through a robotic llama farm, whacked out waffle house, twisted shopping mall and demented toy graveyard slaughtering mushroom men, psychotic stuffed animals, laser-equipped chickens, kamikaze rats and over sixty other freakish creatures?! This creative visual style is nicely complimented by snappy load times, a steady frame rate performance, spooky, carnival-themed music and weighty combat sound effects.

Death Jr. II: Root of Evil has a few lingering chinks in the armor left over from last year's franchise starter, those being an occasionally off kilter camera and character controls, but even these issues have been cleaned up effectively, while the rest of the game is laced with an undeniable charm and humor that is simply too fun to ignore. Death Jr. II is the top class game that the original should've been and ultimately an impressive sophomore effort for a series I'm increasingly psyched to hopefully watch grow and evolve in the years to come.

Reviewed by Matt Litten for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).