'Jackass: The Game' Kinda Rules
Hi I’m Mark Roebuck, and this is the unironic endorsement of the Jackass video game!
I’m on the record with the not-particularly-bold stance that Jackass has always been incredible, and it took a snobby chunk of our population years to realize it. So while the movies’ Rotten Tomatoes scores grew over time, longtime fans knew that it was always special, one of the funniest cultural institutions of the 21st century and arguably the most consistent. With that distinction, I’d argue that Jackass isn’t just funny, it’s important. (Which is, of course, hilarious.)
I played the PlayStation 2 game back when it came out in 2007 and vaguely recall being mildly amused by it and skipping off of it. I didn’t regret renting it, but I had no desire to keep playing. Nearly 20 years later, I find myself with a newsletter that focuses on video games, namely oddball pop culture adaptations of them1, and I decided to revisit Jackass: The Game and see if there was anything worth writing about in the experience.
Wouldn’t you know it, I had a damn blast and thought it was a hell of an adaptation of one of my favorite things in the world.
In her excellent book covering GoldenEye 007, author Alyse Knorr says about the nature of successful video game adaptations, and why they so often fall short of expectations:
Licensed games usually fail because they’re rushed projects relying entirely on a movie’s brand-name recognition. But games based on movies also often don’t work for an even deeper reason: Films and games are fundamentally different media, involving very different forms of narrative immersion. Many licensed games fail because they focus too much on the source materials’ story rather than on the gameplay. Players must participate in the game world through immersive mechanics and lots of control, which is the opposite of sitting passively and watching a film.
For decades, games based on shit we watch adhered to a plot, not a vibe. The secret is realizing the world and letting players hang out in it, not merely tasking them with going from a recognizable point A to point B. No one complains that the classic Nintendo 64 game made up some scenes that weren’t in the GoldenEye film. Those levels were put in there as excuses for James Bond to use his laser watch and shit, so it all served the GoldenEye adaptation.
Participation, immersive mechanics, and lots of control: Jackass for the PS2 has these things in spades.
While it may seem puzzling at first, upon reflection Jackass makes sense as a video game for a multitude of reasons. It’s an extremely popular license, a whole-ass vibe, features dozens of memorable moments, and has an eclectic cast of characters complete with several recognizable costumes, be they Ryan Dunn covered in shit from swimming in a sewage tank or Johnny Knoxville’s immaculately cultivated thrift store collection. Additionally, the Jackass IP also comes complete with a font, a perfect framing device for insane minigames, and is the perfect game to load up with bulletproof punk rock tracks.
Though the show was long off the air by ‘07, the game’s MTV Story Mode involves the squad putting a new season together, one episode at a time. When you accumulate enough good footage for each episode, by way of racking up high scores in sets of minigames, you air the episode and begin making the next one. You’ll meet the whole gang along the way, and even a few deep-cut surprises for fans. Except there’s no Bam, because of his contractual obligation to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater stuff, but that’s fine. Bam is missed, but much like Jackass Forever, it’s not a deal breaker. Jackass is like a great sports team. Next man up2.
The cut scenes and dialogue range from feeling authentically Jackassian to being moronic in the wrong ways, but overall they’re pretty good. I wish the introductions to each bit had more charm, but sadly, about a third of them digress into them just beating on whatever vehicle or prop they’re about to use, like teenage Homer Simpson instinctively bashing the weather station just because it’s there.
Once I got to the minigames, I was impressed and surprised. A lot of them run on similar engines, but that’s fine. I think the most important thing is they’re creative, funny, and the batting average is strong overall. In a fun bit of worlds colliding, many of them reference other video games. Examples include things like “Fridge Racer” (where you ride down the San Francisco streets on refrigerators), “Short Fighter” (where you assault a car as Wee Man, akin to the infamous Street Fighter II minigame), and a Katamari type game where you roll Preston Lacy into an increasingly bigger snowball down a ski hill, swallowing up snowboarders and other things along the way.
The inspired themes of the minigames can at least partially be attributed to the Jackass fellas’ involvement. Not only did they reportedly pitch ideas to developers, but reports indicate that they even contributed old stunts they had to shelve in real life for being far too dangerous. I’m guessing these are the ones involving hitting grenades with golf clubs or fucking around with bumper cars on skyscraper rooftops. It explains why the more over-the-top games are still pretty on-brand.
In addition to using ideas that never were, many all-time Jackass bits are recreated here with reverence. Driving golf carts around a mini golf course and harassing Japanese locals as Party Boy bring to mind highlights of the first film, while egg eating contests, Pogo sticks, and shopping carts hearken back to classic bits from the original series. There’s even a clever recreation of Knoxville’s Rolling Stone cover shoot that also served as a stunt on the show.
My favorite one of these might be the reference and escalation of Steve-O’s full back self-portrait tattoo from One. In the game, Steve-O is paying it forward, giving Wee Man a Wee Man tattoo on his back as he rides on a mechanical car ride inside of a mall. The combination of stunt and setting is perfect, and the kind of cohesively presented absurdity I don’t think Jackass always gets enough credit for. The game also missed a golden opportunity to be the second video game featuring Butterbean as a final boss, but you can’t win them all.
Jackass: The Game also provides running injury notifications that are a clever touch, even if they’re ultimately meaningless. Akin to the thing in Burnout that tells you the parts of the car you’re fucking up, it lets you know which bones and other things you’ve hurt in the Jackass’ body. More games could adopt this mechanic and I wouldn’t be mad. I’ve always been curious to know whether or not Nathan Drake or Crash Bandicoot are injuring their testicles, but those boring games never tell you that stuff.
I also liked that the game’s goals often reflect the appeal of show. Most of the racing based events will reward you for finishing in first place or in a skillful time, but they also include equally important objectives centered on doing damage to the surroundings or yourself. This is the spirit of Jackass, a stunt show where no one’s really interested in seeing the stunts performed competently or successfully. By rewarding the player equally for nailing things and eating shit trying to nail things, Jackass: The Game stays true to the laughing, limping spirit of its source material.
Don’t let me oversell it. It’s a collection of 40+ physics based minigames with depth way closer to WarioWare than UFO50. Some of them are slogs, and if you don’t enjoy the first few you’re not going to turn the corner at any point. And sure, plenty of things could’ve been tightened up. But this funny, dirty, inspired title lives up to its namesake and offers a surprising amount to do. It’s not one-note, it’s more like three chords played to perfection.
Plus, any game that lets you unlock bonus footage of Ryan Dunn recording voice overs is an easy rec for a sap like me. I remain disappointed that Dunn’s death was a circumstance of drinking and driving, and that a passenger passed away in the incident as well, but I also remain sad about the Random Hero-sized hole left in the crew ever since. The game’s treasure trove of unlockable behind the scenes clips and classic footage from the show sadly serve as a time capsule of Jackass before they lost one of their own. It’s a treat.
(That clip has nothing to do with the game, I just like it a lot)
I know it’s wishful thinking, but after playing this I couldn’t help but think that future video games could be a great way to continue the Jackass series. After all, digital Johnny Knoxville can fill up his concussion card and nobody has to go to the hospital. Perhaps future installments would share a similar trajectory to the films, and the series could slowly win everyone over, and before we know it the fourth Jackass game could very well be one of the highlights of our next pandemic.
Or probably not. But hey, they should make a Wildboyz game.
It wasn’t my idea. I took over for the last guy. Skitching the Elephant is like a lighthouse in that way.
Also, since they include a CKY track, that means Bam’s brother is in the Jackass game and he isn’t. Dang Phil, that’s muffed up.
I picked this up at a garage sale years ago but never put it in because I assumed I'd be immensely saddened by how bad it is (but wanted a copy to keep as a cultural relic), but this makes me want to dig it out and jam through a few mini-games tonight.