Introduction
Car Battler Joe is probably not a game title that would come to mind as being “high quality”. It didn’t strike me as a title worth looking at either, just because of the name. Well, as the old saying goes, “Don’t judge a game by its title.” Ok, well it might not exactly go like that, but it can suffice for this game. Car Battler Joe is actually a pretty fun game, which charming qualities just save it from the trash bin. In a nutshell, Car Battler Joe is a destruction derby with weapons, lots of dangerous weapons. Despite the main “battle” focus of the game, there is a story and focus behind all the car mayhem. You begin on your sixteenth birthday, which is very important in this particular world. You have officially become old enough to compete and battle with your car. As the story unfolds you find out that Joe’s father, who was a gun-car battler, died years ago. As a reward only Joe’s sixteenth birthday he receives the robot that his father owned, which allows Joe’s car to now equip weapons and burn some serious rubber (in contrast to previously ramming your car into someone else’s hunk of junk). Through the next part of the game you meet a shopkeeper and run through various training courses that show you the “mechanics” of your vehicle and how to basically blast the daylights out of opponents. As you complete missions and defeat opponents you gain experience to obtain a stronger car and cash to purchase new weapons. So now that you know the basic premise of this RPG-style, car-battling, action game, how does it stack up?

Gameplay
Ok, now you say Joe isn’t looking too fun right now, but wait, don’t leave yet, this game actually has some features that may keep some of you from saying “yuck.” In an age of copycat games with little variation, this game is pretty refreshing, even if it resembles a certain popular RPG. Besides, have you played any portable RPG, car-battling games lately? I think not. Blowing things to smithereens has always contented gamers and when you are on those long car trips, what better thing to kill time with than blowing your brother to bits in a multiplayer match without actually using any illegal explosive substances? The game will also appeal to Role-playing fans because of the factor of obtaining new weapons and upgrading your car into a tank of death and plague. My suggestion, pick this game up if you enjoy mayhem that you can tote around for those long waits at the dentist’s office. Otherwise, it’s just one of those titles you really want to love, but it keeps on leaving you with “not ANOTHER errand.”

Story
Car Battler Joe’s charm and unique style is sucked out by some flaws that hold it back from being a truly good game. The first, which isn’t necessarily a drawback, is that the whole story of the game’s “coming of age” themes and setting out at an early age to “battle” and “level up” seemed oddly familiar to the humungous Pokémon franchise. That aside, one of the things I found annoying was the long training that I had to play through. The first one has a figure-eight track that has you drive around it just so you know how to press a button and use the directional pad, yippee, that was fun. Obviously this game was geared towards a younger audience. Another annoyance was the fact that the “missions” are driving from point A on some bland trail/path/road to point B, picking up an item, and driving back to point A. In addition to this, random “competitor” cars hunt you down and when attempting to battle I ended up spinning in circles chasing the end of the other car while it is spinning in a circle chasing my tail. As in any RPG, this game contains numerous dialog that you have to swim through to get to the “action”.