Car Battler Joe is an overhead role-playing game originating in Japan. The game play is like an overhead cross between the Pokemon game series and Twisted Metal. At the beginning you battle some guys from the neighborhood in your weaponized car. At first you have no weapons on it, but you get them as you progress through the game. Part of the game is walking around from overhead like a Pokemon game. However, every time you take a mission from your banker/consultant, the game asks you where you want to go and then you drive your car through an area in 3 rd person view behind your car. You then have to use any weapons you have to blow up obstacles and enemies in the road.
The cut scenes are incredibly long and boring, consisting mostly of pressing A over and over again to progress through the dialogue. The first twenty minutes of the game, if you're paying attention, are comprised entirely of listening to people and pressing A over, and over… and over. I actually had to shake myself to stay awake (not exaggerating).
The game has over forty roads to traverse in your battle car, and several towns to explore. There are many various enemies across these roads, and many other car-battlers to fight off. The items you get off these enemies will either get you an item to sell or that is for a mission, a component for a car, or Garan, the car-battling world money. With Garan you can go to the banker consultant guy and buy new parts for your car.
Most enemies in the game are easy to defeat, usually without any real weapon, and will run in circles or away from you. There is no real challenge to fighting, unless you chance upon a car-battler, in which case you are engaged into a challenging, Twisted Metal-like dogfight between the two cars, which can be very fun.
The graphics are average for a Game Boy Advance game, almost identical to the Pokemon series. Most areas are wasteland-ish and post-apocalyptic looking. The buildings look to be made out of plywood and scrap metal, and several characters are wearing old, ragged clothing.
The sound was a little below average for any Game Boy Advance game. The main sound effect in the game was monotone music, and that was mainly inside buildings. There is no sound of gunshots from your car-guns, only ricocheting sounds.
All in all, this game is pretty much just another generic anime game. It is good for Pokemon game fans who want to try something new, but it wasn't quite to my liking. My suggestion is that you rent it before you buy it, because it can be a very different experience to different people.
