The game sets up the story with the opening video - you’re Joe Danger, a former big-name stuntman whose intent is to become the stuntman he once was.

This video is very well subtitled. The font is a large white with black border. The subtitles aren’t as clear as they could be, but that’s not to imply that they’re illegible. They could be improved with either a different font style, or maybe spacing the letters a little bit. That’s not really a complaint so much as knit-picking on my part.

“Joe Danger” is otherwise not subtitled. This doesn’t seem to be detrimental to the game as the visuals in the game make up for it - if Joe does something he’s excited about, it can be seen on his face. If you get huge air, the center of your screen will tell you that you just got HUGE AIR, likewise for other in-game events.

That’s not all the font a player will encounter while playing “Joe Danger”. While events are loading, you’re treated to a screen that shows you what you’re trying to accomplish - finding all the stars, beating the clock, landing all of your tricks, hitting all the targets, and so on. This screen is fine to look at with black font on a white background. Sometimes it just seems like it’d be nice to see it longer, or between attempts at the event.

Then there is the screen that gives you the run-down on your high score, the high scores of friends, trophies you’ve earned, and so on. This is all very nice and readable, but if you have an issue telling gold from bronze, you will be forced to read and figure out what color trophy you’ve currently got on the track by way of a little math and some logic.

Otherwise there aren’t really any issues with the visuals. There is a lot of brownish-red in “Joe Danger” which seems almost fitting when you take into consideration the western setting from the cacti to the shark tanks. It almost makes the player want to see Joe throw the Fonzie-esque two thumbs up.

For as many sharks as Joe manages to jump within the game, “Joe Dangers” comes nowhere near jumping the shark in any way. For some Ablegamers with mobility issues it may come close, as even though the player may be asked to be fairly quick with their reflexes.

Players interested in changing the button layout will be let down by “Joe Danger” as there is no remapping. Fortunately the controller layout is a basically familiar one to this generation’s titles that allow the player to get behind the wheel.

Although, as opposed to “familiar”, why don’t we use the term “believable”. “Joe Danger is hard to describe, it’s a 2D/3/D, side-scroller that feels like its a little bit Mario, a little bit Sonic, a lot Exitebike, and a measurable amount of kart-racer.

Instead of accelerating/decelerating, the right trigger and left trigger move Joe to the left and right of the screen. The right and left triggers control Joe’s corny show-off moves. While the player has their choice of using the D-pad or left stick as a means of leaning forward and backward on the bike to flip, wheelie on either the bikes front or back wheel. Finally, the controllers face buttons are reminiscent of a kart-type game.

“Joe Danger” is one of those games that you buy around 7:00 PM, and then sit down to play at 8:00 PM, and then the next thing you know its 1:20 AM.

For $15, Ablegamers and able-bodied gamers alike could do a lot worse than to put their gaming dollars toward Hello Games’ “Joe Danger”. If you liked exceptive back in the day, or more recently, it’s spiritual successor Trials HD, “Joe Danger” is definitely a title worth looking into.

At-a-glance:

Mobility

Use of most of the buttons on the controller is a requirement to play the game. A moderate level of reflexes will come in handy during play. But no re-mapping is a pitfall that could’ve easily been avoided.

Recommended Score: 5/10

Visual

The game is set in a mostly brownish-red environment, though there is a lot of different scenery and obstacles to break it up. The majority of the game is easily seen. The use of “Gold”, “Silver” and “Bronze” in the game will force visually impaired gamers to look elsewhere and figure out their standings on the track.

Recommended Score: 8/10

Hearing impaired

The only video in the game is captioned and captioned well - large white font with a black outline. Everything that happens in the game that a player would want to know about is represented by a visual.

Recommended Score: 9/10

Overall Recommended Score: 6.8/10

Beyond Accessibility

As a former stuntman trying to make his way back to the glory that once was, you travel the road performing your particular brand of entertainment for anyone that wants to watch. As the stunts get bigger, so do the crowds. Performing tasks like gathering all the mini-stars, beating the clock, or landing 100% of your tricks, among other things, makes this 2D/3D side-scroller a great game if you’re willing to jump through some hoops, and over some sharks, you’ll have a ton of fun.