Jackass Games on PS2 sucks and here’s why

Yesterday, the world has a new one Jackass movie. After two years of covid-19, I have to admit I’m glad to see the old gang back, wild and stupid as ever. It’s like a small slice of normality, one that I’m happy to have in 2022. But back in 2007, after the release of the second movie and five years after the show ended, someone decided to make a Jackass electronic games. By all accounts, the people involved really tried to make it. Sadly, they were destined not to translate Jackass for a video game is not possible.

Jackass: Video Games was released for PSP and PS2 in 2007, with a Port of DS released next year. Today, I’m mainly talking about the PSP and PS2 versions of the game because those are the versions I’ve played. These versions are developed by Sidhe Interactive and published by Red Mile Entertainment.

So what is one Jackass video games? How do you turn stunts, goofy and disgusting stunts and stunts from shows and movies into a video game? If your answer is: A collection of mini-games and multiplayer activities starring the show’s cast, you’ve got the same idea as the developers.

In theory, this seems like a surefire way to recreate the fun and frenetic energy of movies and shows. But even if those minigames are good (which they don’t) and even if the game contains 200 of them (which it doesn’t) it still won’t work. Even with all that, you still won’t be able to end up with an accurate reproduction Jackass in the form of a digital video game.

No one is watching Jackass because we really care if Steve-O comes across the tight rope hanging above the alligator pit. No one assumes how stylish or sophisticated anyone looks when skateboarding through a crossbody bag. I don’t care if Johnny Knoxville gets some good punches in his bout with Butterbean.

When asked if Knoxville has “Catch the ball?” Ryan Dunn says, in the clip below, “Who’s going to play?” And he’s right. That’s not what we’re here to do.

I am here, like everyone else, to watch a group of friends play together for a few hours. Success, failure, doing it right, or a combination doesn’t matter. However, nearly all the mini-games in Jackass: Game built around finishing Tony Hawk-like goal, win challenge or score.

And while that’s usually what the game is about, it’s the exact opposite of what Jackass is: A series about young shoots hurting each other, daring each other to do stupid things, and having a blast, all the while failing frequently the whole time. It’s basically impossible to try to turn that into a game.

To the game’s credit, it intelligently includes a lot of elements that make up Jackass work, including music and interactions with the cast. All of the main cast – aside from Bam Margera for reasons of contract with Activision – appear in the game and provide their voices. This is important. Have these idiots fight or you’re only effective if they do it as a bunch of adorable lovable fun. All that joy is key to helping us feel less guilty when we laugh at their pain and suffering. “It’s okay,” we told ourselves, amid bursts of laughter, “Everybody in the audience giggled and hugged. So this is just a fun time! ”

Jackass won’t work if, at the end of each frenzied stunt, the camera just stays on the victim’s contorted body in complete silence, alone and covered in blood or feces or whatever. It needs laughter and friendship and all that great music. And the game has all of that. The point is, the other important part of Jackass is the deposit.

If the cast of Jackass trapped, they can seriously injure themselves or eat or lick something really terrible. Some of the stunts went bad, resulting in terrible injuries. And while that sucks, it’s part of the necessary recipe. Real people, risking it all to laugh and giggle. Of course, removing part of the equation that video games do, eliminates the whole experience.

Why should I care if the in-game digital Pontius falls off a building or gets kicked in the ass? Because I scored less points? That might work in a nice collection of mini-games, but here it just leads to a boring no deposit experience. This game might look like Jackass, but it’s never as exciting as the real thing. Although it was certainly safer, which I guess some parents might have appreciated that day.