» PSP

Coconut Dodge Review

TurtleGirl — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 16:23:32 +0000

Much like the majority of halfway decent iPhone games, the most enjoyable Mini games on PSP offer simplicity over complexity and quick hit fun over lengthy campaigns. FuturLabs seem to have identified this fact and their first console game, Coconut Dodge, is evidence of how well it can work.

Much like Chicken Little, the hero of this game must surely be afraid to leave his rock, for fear of the sky falling. He is a crab, hence the reason why he lives under a rock, and it would appear that his armoured shell offers very little protection from the huge number of objects that are falling from the sky. But rather than run off and hide, our six legged hero can see the bright side to any situation. Not only are their potentially shell cracking coconuts falling, but there are also coins, jewels and gold raining down upon him. Not one to miss an opportunity and with dreams of a jewel encrusted shell and indoor pool under his rock, crab sets out to gather as much of the riches as possible without being squished. The fact that all of this has happened in my imagination is proof that Coconut Dodge is all about the quick hit gameplay. Who needs a story to slow everything down. Make your own up, I did.

So, as the little crab, the player is charged with simply collecting as many worthy items as possible whilst avoiding any that could do harm. There are two main forms of gameplay here. The first is just a matter of nipping from left to right, catching the good stuff and avoiding the bad. The second, known as mazes, is more or less the same, but the items fall in formation, giving the impression of a top to bottom scrolling shooter from days gone by, without the shooting of course. Occasionally a beach ball may fall onto the screen and our crab will need to bounce the ball a set number of times.

There are a couple of modes of play to keep you entertained. The main emphasis is scoring as many points as possible, and this is achieved not only by catching goodies, but also by surviving. The standard mode gives the player three lives with which to last as long as they can. Maze Master mode offers just one life and is played with the Maze levels only. There are also hardcore and impossible modes for the elite crabs out there, and a fun little ball bouncing mode.

As I already mentioned, simplicity is the name of the game. Actually the game is called Coconut Dodge, but you know what I mean. The graphics are bright and pleasing to the eye, especially on the lovely PSP screen, and above all simple. The same can be said of the sound work. The game looks and sounds good, but is all about the gameplay.

And how much fun is it? Loads. Not to be confused with a game that the player will spend hours playing in one sitting, this game is to be picked up and played for short bursts of simple, unadulterated fun. It is easy to pick up and easy to understand, but the temptation to get a better score is implanted right from the beginning. There is very little to complain about here, although the simplicity of Coconut Dodge will probably be seen as a negative by some gamers.

But, for the casual gamer looking for that next quick hit fix of gaming fun, Coconut Dodge is well worth a look.

★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Modnation Racers (PSP)

TurtleGirl — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 14:54:22 +0000

Small screen kart racing action.

Modnation Racers on the PSP is one of those games that I got very excited about. Since seeing the first trailer last year, then hearing the announcement that it will be coming to the Sony handheld, I have been longing for this game. This game has so much customization, it is amazing. There’s everything from creating your own mod racer and kart, to creating your own awesome tracks using tons of creation tools.

Creating your own track is simple with the easy to use track editor, which allows players to pick from four environments. You can make your track drive through these surrounding areas and can even raise and lower terrains. Add jumps so your Modnation Racer can perform tricks and stunts while in the air. Provided you’re happy and satisfied with the track that you’ve created, you can then upload it to the community to share with other players. Here they can rate it or even download it, which is pretty awesome because there are some marvellous tracks out there.

Although I happily play Modnation Racers on the PSP, I couldn’t help but notice that the handling was a bit clumsy. Either that or I’m a terrible driver. I constantly hit walls and missed weapon picks up when I tried my best to start drifting. I’ve played Modnation racers on the Playstation 3 and PSP, so it’s safe to assume that I can make the comparisons. Unfortunately the PSP falls short when it comes to solid gameplay. It’s hard not to make the comparisons but it’s inevitable when you played both. The Playstation 3 wins hands down, although still a little clumsy on the control system.

That’s not to say that the PSP version isn’t nearly a perfect game. On the PSP Modnation Racers has very polished graphics which make it the perfect eye candy on the handheld. The game boasts great cut scenes with a small storyline and it’s very enjoyable collecting special power ups to blast your enemies off the tracks. Drift as often as possible to fill your meter and enable a boost that could see you speeding towards the finish line.

The weapons consist mainly of lasers and missiles which can target your enemy and blast them to kingdom come. You have to make sure you use your shield, which is also powered by filling the meter, otherwise you could be blasted from behind. This game is also about a battle of wits and reactions. It’s hard to recognise what you’re being attacked with and how fast you can react to that. Although you can boost within the game which comes in handy, it took me a while to get the hang of drifting. I was forever flying off the tracks as I vaguely attempted to drift my way around the corners. The game isn’t as responsive as I had hoped it would be, which left me feeling a bit short changed. Although the PSP version tries to recreate the kart racing experience, the controls are a little difficult and sometimes stiff.

It could be argued that the most important aspect of this social kart racing game is the online capabilities. The sharing of created content is fairly simple and straight forward, and racing against other players is well implemented, both locally and across the net.

Modnation Racers is impressive on the creative front, but falls flat on it’s face when it comes to the driving. The racing feels a little flat, there’s never that true element of speed when going around the tracks, and the drifting was a real cause for concern. I love it when games that are made on the main console make the transition to the handheld, but there is always a down side to having your favorite game go portable. I did enjoy playing Modnation Racers on the PSP, but it wasn’t everything that I was expecting. In the end it just didn’t make the grade.

★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess

Bazaboy — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 10:32:53 +0000

They also took my car keys!

Developers Mediatonic have a great game in the shape of Monsters (probably) Stole My Princess. The game is not only part of the PSP Minis Range, it is probably one of the most enjoyable games so far in the range, which does slowly seem to be giving us more enjoyable titles of a higher quality as time goes on.

In this game the player takes control of The Duke, a cute, if you will, little vampire, reminding me personally of The Count from Sesame Street, as he searches for his missing princess, who he immediately assumes has been kidnapped by monsters… probably.

The stages are set over vertically scrolling levels through which The Duke must chase a single large monster, believing that the creature is the one who has his princess. The monster is continuously moving upwards through the stage and so the player must follow by hopping from platform to platform using a series of jumps and double jumps, the aim being to catch the monster and double jump onto him, causing him damage. This process must then be repeated twice more for each monster, for a total of three attacks. On the third hit you bring him crashing to the ground. On top of this, your three attacks must be carried out before the monster reaches the top of the stage. A handy bar at the side of the screen lets you know how far away that is and how close you are to the monster. So, although you are not technically against the clock, if you mess up one or two of your jumps on a stage, you will be pretty hard pushed to catch up. The game constantly keeps the pressure on the player.

You can take down the monster using the quick and simple way of just hitting him the three times. But, taking much more skill, is building up a combo which enables the player to take down the monster on their third hit using a devastating attack and rewarding with a higher score. The combos are built up by hitting as many platforms as possible on their way up through the stage, without hitting any that you previously touched. The more of them you land on, the higher your combo and the more devastating an attack you can unleash on the monster.

What this game has over many of the other games in the Minis range, is that it is so well put together, both visually and sound wise, with both the levels and the monsters well designed and nicely portrayed in the game, along with the music throughout the levels, which is spot on. About the one and only downside to the game is the story mode, which covers only six stages, and each of those you will be able to complete within two or three attempts. The whole story took me only an hour or so to finish and although it was enjoyable enough, it just seemed to be over all to quickly. You can, of course, replay the stages and, in doing so, improve your score, which leads to you being awarded medals – bronze, silver or gold depending on how well you do.

But the short story mode really should not put you off, as it is not the whole game. For a further challenge, and what keeps you coming back for more, is the Score Attack mode, which is more of the same basic gameplay. Selecting a stage, the game then sets you a target score to achieve before taking out the monster. This means strategically planning ahead of yourself to land on as many platforms as possible to build up your combo, so you can achieve that score target, which always seems to be just out of reach, making it so much sweeter when you do eventually hit it. This mode kind of puts the story mode in the shade and also ensures that there is enough of a challenge to keep you playing over and over again.

With the Minis range increasing in both game choice and quality since its introduction, it’s not easy to pick a favourite. But Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess is, without a doubt, one of the best currently available, sitting head and shoulders above its current competition. The simple pick up and play game style, combined with the addictive challenge of the score attack mode, is more than enough to keep you coming back time and again. For the low price of £3.49, it makes this game from Mediatonic a must own for any PSP user.

Mediatonic’s Monsters (probably) Stole MY Princess is available to download now from the PSN Store for the price of £3.49.

★★★★★★★★½☆

Hysteria Project

GG Goblin — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 10:20:32 +0000

Creepy goings on.

Hysteria Project, from Sanuk Games, originally appeared on the iPhone a while back. It has now crept its way onto the PSP as part of the Minis range, and it has brought a rusty axe with it.

Hysteria Project plays like an interactive movie. The player awakens in a dark and creepy room with both arms and legs bound with tape. With no idea of why you are there, or who is responsible, the player has only one real choice of what to do. Get out quick, before something really bad happens.

So, the player has a decision and is presented with a number of choices. Make the correct choice and watch as your hapless victim moves through the next real life acted scene, to the next decision. Of course, the wrong choice will result in a grizzly end to both the character life and the game, putting the player back to a previous decision.

At times, the player will also have to affect things on screen directly, by hitting certain buttons within a given time. When you first start playing, this can take you by surprise and result in a rather unfortunate accident with an axe (well, they will never find the body, so it could be an accident). There are even a couple of little puzzles within the game, which add a bit of variety.

The scenes are filmed well and set up a suitably creepy environment that will be familiar to anyone who enjoys “lost in the woods” style horror movies. Putting on a pair of headphones and turning down the lights will certainly add atmosphere to the game and have people leaping from their seats.

Whilst very enjoyable, and certainly different from the currently available games out there on the Sony handheld, Hysteria Project suffers from a fundamental problem. Once the game has been played and the player is safe, there is really not much to entice the player back to play again. As I said earlier, it is like an interactive movie and can be thought of as such. A movie has to be really good for me to sit through it more than once, but Hysteria Project does not quite reach that level, being more of a B movie. That being said, the full game will last over an hour and, at a price of just £1.19, actually provides decent value for money.

It takes a bit of getting your head around, but if you can try to see this as entertainment, rather than a game, then it is likely to impress, especially given the high chance of a sequel. But from a game point of view, Hysteria Project doesn’t offer enough gaming and will likely disappoint. At just £1.19 though, it is worth trying and making your own mind up.

★★★★★★½☆☆☆

Manic Monkey Mayhem

Bazaboy — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 10:58:55 +0000

Monkeys throwing bananas at each other. What could be better?

Manic Monkey Mayhem, from developers The Code Monkeys, has been released on PSP as another title in the growing list of games in the Minis range and it get’s automatic bonus points from me for being based around battling monkeys who fight by throwing bananas at each other.

The game starts with the player creating a profile and choosing the monkey they wish to use throughout the game. Each of them has a little back story but, truth be told, there is no difference between them, other than fur colour, with all of the monkeys having the same abilities and powers. Once you have your monkey ready to go, you move onto the game itself, which actually has a decent selection of game modes for a Mini. There is a decent, lengthy campaign mode which is what I will concentrate on here, as the other modes are more or less versions of the stages which you will play during the campaign. It begins with a bunch tutorial stages where you learn the many techniques and moves you need to perfect to win the war of the primates.

The game basically revolves around your monkey standing on a podium and then throwing bananas at the other monkeys, or breakable crate targets, sitting on surrounding podiums, depending on the goal of whichever stage you are playing at the time. The controls are many and playing through the tutorials you wonder if you will ever need them all. But come game time you find yourself making use of all of them by second nature, be it turning and aiming using the analogue nub, dodging incoming fire using the d-pad or using the shoulder buttons and face buttons to fire, re-arm or jump from podium to podium.

Matches throughout the campaign are varied, including the likes of group death match, one on one death match, target breaking or scoring the most points out of all the monkeys in a free for all. The game modes all use the same basic game play in that you stand on a podium, any empty one is fair game if you can hop onto it. Then you aim at your target, be it monkey or crate, before holding down the X button to fill a power gauge and releasing to launch your fruit across the screen. This is where the skill comes in, judging the power of your throw to reach your intended target. Although this is occasionally put aside when you are given the, oh so fun to use, banana bazooka. It is a shame that these are few and far between.

The simple aim of the game when it comes to death matches, is to be the last monkey standing by knocking the others off their podiums until their life’s are up. Other game types can involve breaking a set number of crates within a time limit or a point scoring round in which you have to be the monkey with the highest score at the end of the round.

And again, like a few other games in the Minis range that I have reviewed for the site, the variety in the stages is a good thing, as it means although the controls are the same, you are at least given a different goal for each stage and that is always welcome when it comes to these games.

Challenge wise, playing through the tutorials and the first of three parts of the campaign does not prove to be much of a challenge at all. But it does acclimatise you well to the game, before the second and third parts of the campaign ramp up the difficulty. Even then the most challenging of stages shouldn’t prove too much trouble to any experienced gamer. A few stages may need to be played more than once but can usually be beaten relatively easily, even through the third part.

The graphics take on a cartoon like quality and, although these suit the game perfectly, they still look a little messy in places. Overall they look pretty good, doing what they need to do and the cartoon looks are pretty much spot on for the game itself. I mean, really, who does not like a cartoon monkey. This goes for the sound also. With a game that revolves around fighting monkeys, it would be pretty tough to get the sound wrong and the developers didn’t disappoint there, with squealing and yelping monkeys everywhere.

All in all, The Code Monkeys Manic Monkey Mayhem, these guys must love our primate friends, is not an overly inspiring game but it is fun enough to keep you entertained for a few hours at least. Unfortunately it is not enough to keep you coming back time and again for more, being average at best on all fronts. The one thing the game does have going for it, is that it has those fighting monkeys and, as we are all aware, that is never a bad thing.

Manic Monkey Mayhem from developers The code Monkeys is available to download from the PSN store for the price of £3.49

★★★★★½☆☆☆☆

Lego Batman

Bazaboy — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 10:44:06 +0000

Why so serious?

Lego Batman is part of developer Traveller’s Tales ever expanding and popular Lego series. I have been a fan of playing both the Lego Star wars titles and Lego Indiana Jones and, barring the developers changing the format completely, which thankfully they have not, it should be a forgone conclusion that this would be just as enjoyable as the others. But how good is it and how does it play on the Sony handheld console?

Unlike other games in the developers Lego series, Batman does not follow any of the movies starring the Caped Crusader. Instead it goes with an original story in which Batman and Robin are tasked with returning fifteen of Gotham City’s most wanted after they have escaped from Arkham Asylum during a mass breakout. Always taking a light hearted comical look at things, the cut scenes especially being most humorous, these games never fail to bring a smile to the face. Like the previous Lego games, Batman is broken down into stories and chapters. Each of these stories revolves around one of the major villains in the Batman Saga, The Riddler, The Penguin and The Joker. In each of the five chapters of these stories, the main villain is joined by another known cohort, such as Two Face, Catwoman and Mr Freeze, amongst many others, and it is down our two heroes to battle through each chapter, which then ends in a fight with whichever villainous sidekick is along for the ride, before sending them to the asylum.

One of the things I have loved about the Lego series is that, as you play through the story mode, you get to control many of the characters belonging to the licenses. Because of this, I initially thought this may play against the game as there would only be a handful of characters available to play, other than the two main heroes. Batgirl, Nightwing and even the likes of Commissioner Gordon are in the game, but it is still a pretty small list of hero characters and the game handles this in two ways. Both Batman and Robin have different suits that they can wear throughout the game, which give them different abilities for the solving of puzzles. Robin has a magnetic boots suit that allows him to walk up certain walls for instance, and Batman’s glider suit allowing him to jump across wider gaps than usual amongst others.

The other way the game solves the lack of playable characters, is that it also lets you play as the villains. I do not mean as you do in the other Lego games, play through previous chapters in free play mode. Instead the bad guys and gals have their own story mirroring the hero tale. This means that, in all, the game has six stories and thirty chapters, along with a huge cast of playable heroes and villains.

The gameplay is pretty much identical to Travellers Tales other Lego games and this is no bad thing, if it is not broken don’t fix it. Sure, like each new game in the series, Batman brings a few new things to the mix. One of the most notable is the Batarang. Both Batman and Robin can use this ability by holding down the square button, which brings up a targeting reticule that the player can then move around the screen, targeting up to five destructible objects or enemies at any one time. Then, upon releasing that button, the Batarang is thrown and smashes all of the targets. This is along with a new grab and throw melee move which is ideally suited to the Bat’s physical combat style.

Other than these, and a few more small additions, Lego Batman stays loyal to the tried and tested style of the Lego games. It is a side scrolling platform game with the player controlling Lego mini figure versions of the popular characters, solving puzzles that are not too taxing, and smashing through Lego built scenery and evil henchmen, both of which reward the player with Lego studs. These are used both as a score indicator in the chapters and as a type of currency, which can be exchanged in between chapters at the players hubs, either the Batcave for the good guys or Arkham Asylum for the bad, for extras and to unlock the characters you have met in game for use in free play mode.

Also making a welcome return from the other games are the vehicle stages, which do a good job of mixing things up and allowing the player the chance to play in vehicles such as the Batboat, Batwing and of course the Batmobile. These stages play out similar to the others, only a lot faster and more action packed, much more like a shooter game rather than a platformer.

Graphics wise, the developers have done a fine job of bringing the game to the handheld console, retaining the style of all the previous Lego games, and the PSP seems to handle it more than admirably with only a few small barely noticeable glitches. One of only a few problems with the game arises during the games cut scenes. The syncing of what you are seeing on the screen and what you are hearing is a problem that can be so bad at times that the sound starts playing when it should, but the video sticks on the first frame, sometimes for so long that you begin to think that the game may have frozen up. Then, just as you are about to give up, the video begins and the sound has already finished. It is a bit of shame because, although you can still follow what is happening, the cut scenes in the Lego games are so nicely done and full of humour, to have them out of sync like this makes them not quite so enjoyable. Although it is a small problem, it does not detract too much from the fun of the game.

The sound in the rest of the game is pretty much spot on and, although the game is not based on any of the films, the Batman theme used in the game sounds very much like the music used in one of my favourite Batman movies, Tim Burtons first attempt, as is the music used in the background of the Arkham asylum hub, which I am sure was used in the same movie. The rest is more or less the series trademark Lego blocks being dropped, scattered and smashed. Other than that, game does not call for much more.

Overall, Travellers Tales have managed to continue their success with this series and will probably continue to do so with Harry Potter coming later this year and a third Lego Star Wars game in the works. This just goes to prove how popular these games are. The cut scene problem aside, Lego Batman proves no exception to this case and if you are either a fan of the Lego series or of Batman, this game is definitely worth checking out.

★★★★★★★★½☆

Lego Batman is available to download for the PSP for the price of £15.99

Rengoku: The Tower Of Purgatory

Bazaboy — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 10:59:59 +0000

Android action and the meaning of life?

Rengoku: The Tower Of Purgatory, or as I will refer to it from now on, Rengoku is a third person action adventure game on the PSP from developers Hudson Soft. The story revolves around an android named A.D.A.M. as he questions his existence and, in doing so, battles other androids on his journey to the top of the eight floored tower, in search of the answers to why he is here and the meaning of it all.

The game adopts the third person over the shoulder perspective that seems to be favoured in many PSP adventure games nowadays and why not, I say, when it seems to work so well. The player takes control of A.D.A.M. and guides him through every room on each floor which, after beating an end of level boss, unlocks the door to the next floor of the tower so the player can progress. I recently reviewed another game from Hudson Soft on the site, Dungeon Explorer, and one of the problems that plagued that game rears it’s head once more in Rengoku. That problem is that every floor of the tower looks almost identical. This would not have been such a huge problem if the rooms had actually looked interesting. Instead, what we are given is numerous empty rooms with extremely plain, nondescript textures on the walls, ceilings and floors. The contents of the rooms are limited to piles of breakable crates and enemy androids. It really makes you feel like you are making no real progress through the game as you trudge through the levels that appear no different from the last.

The crates that fill some of the rooms are not just set dressing. They can be smashed to reveal pickups, be they canisters that replenish your health, or one of numerous weapons that can be picked up throughout the game. The weapons are one of the things that Rengoku has done quite well. The very first room on each of the eight levels is a small room with two teleporters, one to the floor below and one to the floor above, which only becomes active once that floor has been cleared. Also in this teleport room is a device which can be activated by tapping the X button. This opens up the menu system with one of the options being equip. From there you can attach weapons or enhancements to various points of your androids body. The most important of those being the weapons, be it melee or ranged weapons such as swords, pistols or shotguns, amongst many others. One of the funny points to this is that you can attach a gun to your androids head and he then walks about in the game with a gun barrel poking out of the top of his head. You may think, at the beginning of the game, that it is being overly generous with the weapon drops but not long after that you soon realize that this is not the case. When you are beaten in a fight, you lose all of your equipped weapons, so you should try and stockpile them when you have the chance.

Controlling A.D.A.M. in the game can be kind of hit and miss. In general its fine using the analogue nub to move around. It does the job, but can feel a little stiff and awkward at times and the fact that there are no controls to look around does not help. Another problem being the lock on and dodge system. Locking onto an enemy is not the problem itself, you simply face in his general direction and tap the left shoulder button. While you are locked onto a bad guy, you can dodge or charge at him by tapping the direction you wish to on the d-pad and this is where the problem lies. You have to move your thumb from the analogue control to the d-pad to do what could essentially be done using the analogue pad already. Because of that, I found myself ignoring the dodge controls altogether. Once I had locked on, I preferred to stay on the analogue nub and dodge by backing away instead. Using the analogue nub for both may have worked better, moving as normal and dodging when locked on, as it just feels a little awkward moving from one set of controls to the other depending on what you are doing at the time.

The controls for attacking on the other hand are spot on and, bearing in mind that you can have three weapons equipped at one time, it could have led to another control disaster. But it is well handled using the face buttons with triangle representing the head attachment slot and the circle and square buttons representing the appropriate hand. This means that you can easily use any of the weapons you have equipped with a tap of a single button, negating the need for a weapon selection control. So in general, the controls are pretty good but with a minor problem which, if you can overlook, is not a huge problem.

The game does offer a challenge, with some of the fights proving tough enough to make you think twice about rushing in arms flailing. Instead, it pays to think about what weapons to use and when to attack. But the challenge it offers in these fights soon begins to lose its appeal when you realize that nothing new is going to happen, and that you are going from room to room fighting what is essentially the same bad guy over and over again. So, although the fights are a good challenge, the repetitive nature of them soon gets a little boring.

Graphics wise, despite the game looking the same throughout, other than changing the colours, it doesn’t look all that bad. The same can be said for the androids themselves. Sure, they all look pretty similar apart from differing colours, but again they actually look quite good. It is not the best looking game out there but it’s far from the worst. The same can be said for the sound, it is not great but it does what it needs to do.

So overall Rengoku is pretty much a run of the mill action adventure game .But with the fights being the same over and over, much like the scenery with one room looking almost identical to the next, it falls a little short. With more variation in the fights and scenery, this could have been a much more enjoyable game. As it is, what you get is a pretty uninspiring third person action game with the negative points outweighing the positive. To sum it up, Rengoku is not a terrible game but there is a lot of room for improvement.

Rengoku The Tower Of Purgatory is available for download from the PSN store for the price of £8.69

★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

Dungeon Explorer

Bazaboy — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 10:10:37 +0000

Dungeon Explorer on the PSP, from developers Hudson Soft, is an action role playing game involving swords, sorcery and monsters. Checking out Hudson Softs website before writing this, I found that this is actually a sequel to a popular 1989 PC game of the same name and gameplay style.

The gameplay is a typical single button bashing, hack and slash affair. No matter which class you choose to play and whether you use swords, bows or magic in combat, it‘s the same single button attack. When choosing your class, you are afforded a limited choice of customization options, such as name, race, gender, hair and clothing colours. Although these are limited options, they still offer more than enough choice to give your character a little originality. The game itself has a pretty simple story but, with no speech within the game, it is reliant on the subtitles. I do not mind reading subtitles in a game, but for some reason in this one they seem long winded and a little poorly written. The simple story plot is explained in an extremely long and overly complicated way. It’s not that the story is terrible, it is a basic monster invading the peaceful lands and the hero must battle them to protect those living there, but it just seems that the telling of this simple story has been made overly complicated. This makes for a lot of needless reading for a story that could probably be conveyed in half the time.

The actual game side is pretty fun, barring one or two small things, and involves you picking up quests from an adventurers guild. The quests come in two different forms. General quests involve you carrying out simple tasks, like escorting residents of the town to certain places while fighting off hordes of monsters and ensuring your companion survives. Special quests are basically the same thing but are also used to continue the main storyline. This is where the games main problem arises. Although the action side of the game is fun, more about which in a moment, the small problem is the repetitive levels. Unfortunately I do not mean levels that look similar to the last. What I mean is that you will find yourself playing through the exact same levels, fighting the exact same monsters numerous times under the guise of different quests. Escort this person, test this armour or learn to use such and such a skill. All of these and more will see you walk along the same forest road to the same dungeon entrance and through said dungeon fighting the same creatures in exactly the same place each time, no matter how high a level your character is. You have to wait patiently for things to increase in difficulty. No matter how well your game plays, having the player go through the same stage, fifteen to twenty times in a row, can become pretty tedious.

The main action sections of the game would probably be a lot more fun, if it were not for the aforementioned repetitive nature of the levels. The combat, no matter which class you chose to play, is more or less the same. A single button tapping affair. Moving your character towards the enemy with the analogue nub and tapping the attack button repeatedly to strike, fire or cast. Potions for healing and mana are assigned to other button presses, along with a few magic attacks. The controls are easy to get the hang of and lead to an easy to use combat system. The role playing elements come from the fact that, as you kill the monsters, you are continuously earning experience and levelling up your character. This allows you to raise attributes as you see fit. This can, however, lead to the point that you become so powerful you can run through the enemies without much trouble, as I did at around level 10.This means that you can more or less rush through the dungeons and, as you find yourself battling the same monsters for the fifteenth time in a row, you realize it has become a bit of a laborious task.

You are, of course, rewarded with gold for completing the quests. You can spend this on improving your armour and weapons, further improving your character’s combat skills. Although the role playing side of things, such as gaining experience, levelling up and equipment upgrades, are well done, coupled with the fun hack and slash combat system, it is not quite enough to save the game from the repetitive nature of the actual dungeon explorations. The developers could so easily have changed this from a so-so game to an enjoyable romp, solely by adding more variety and dungeons.

On the plus side of things, the games graphics and sound do a reasonable job and, although far from being stunning on either front for a PSP title, the scenery, characters and monsters are all well represented. The same can be said for the sound. The music is fitting for the setting of the game, as are the sounds of the combat and magic.

So basically, what you can expect from Dungeon Explorer is a decent looking, simple yet fun, sword and sorcery action game with a few role playing game elements thrown in. But, sadly, these few good points are not quite enough to make up for the repetitive nature of the gameplay, quests and dungeons. The fights that begin as fairly challenging, do not improve in difficulty as you yourself level up. This means that you eventually find yourself trudging through quests and wading through creatures that you can kill in two or three seconds. That’s not to say that it’s a terrible game, and fans of the original PC Dungeon Explorer will probably get a kick out of this version, purely for nostalgic reasons. Other than that, what you have is a pretty mediocre game without much on offer to keep the average gamer occupied for any great length of time.

Dungeon Explorer from Hudson Soft is available to download for PSP from the PSN Store for £8.69

★★★★★★½☆☆☆

Rocket Racing

Bazaboy — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 11:01:07 +0000

Rocket Racing is part of the ever growing PSP Minis range and comes from Halfbrick Studios, who are the people behind some of favourites in this range. I have played three games from the developer, including this one now, and I have to say each of them has been a lot of fun. But Rocket Racing is by far the best of the bunch.

Rocket Racing is a futuristic racing game that is, I think, best described as Wipeout viewed from above, with boost pads and minus the weapons. Other than that the games play differently, but Rocket Racing is, in its own right, just as much fun to play. The actual vehicles in the game are all the same, except for the colour to differentiate between them. This keeps the racing down to the players skill, rather than the vehicles.

The craft is controlled simply by pressing X to accelerate and releasing to slow down, along with turning left or right. Where it does throw a spanner in the works though, is that it encourages racers to ignore any racing line they may expect would work best, such as hitting the apex of the turns like your instincts would tell you to. As a racing game fan, I found this was quite difficult to adjust to, having to force myself to go wide for turns at times. But when you get it right, it is so rewarding. The reasoning behind this is that the tracks are walled off, inside and out. So when coming into a turn, you aim for the outside wall and when you turn, your vehicles rocket engines fire against the wall, which in turn gives you a huge boost of speed. Once mastered, you can grind all the way around turns in this manner, slingshotting you out of turns carrying a lot of speed. This is tricky to master, but so rewarding when you do so.

For part of the Minis range, this game offers up a wide range of racing types, with modes such as Campaign, Grand Prix and Quick Race. The campaign mode though is the best bet, as it gives you a bit of everything. I say that because these races are not just 4 vehicles with first over the line winning. In the campaign mode you work through a series of grouped events, which range from straight races to objective races. These could involve anything from building up a certain amount of points by grinding along a wall, going through set checkpoints dotted around the track before the race finishes, finishing a race within a set time limit, catching an opposing craft a set number of times or even a mixture of any of these objectives.

Each group of races finish in a Grand Prix event, in which four events from the previous group are raced again, against another three competitors with points being awarded for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Winning this overall lets you move onto the next group of races. These Grand Prix events are available to race from the main menu also. In campaign mode, some of the races in the event groups are extremely tough, some of which I have to yet to beat, meaning the game gives you plenty to do along with offering up a decent challenge, a lot more so than some of the other games in the Minis range.

Not only does the game deliver on the fun and playability front, but it also looks and sounds perfect. The tracks all look bright and colourful and they even have advertising boards dotted around, giving it a real racing track look. These boards themselves do their best to sell Halfbrick’s other titles. A nice little touch. The sound, although the game does not really call for much more than a rocket thrust and the occasional bump on the walls, is well handled.

To be honest, I find it hard to find any fault in this game at all. So if you are looking for a Minis game for your PSP and have an interest in racing games, this is a definite buy. Although there are better full price games out there for the handheld console, Rocket Racing is, without a doubt, one best Minis out there for the PSP.

Rocket Racing is available to download from the PSN Store for the price of £3.99

★★★★★★★★½☆

Ice Road Truckers

Bazaboy — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:44:13 +0000

So, being a huge fan of the television show of the same name, The History Chanel’s Ice Road Truckers, developed by Slitherine, was one PSP Mini that I was interested in trying out.

But unfortunately I expected something a little more than what I was actually given. Granted, this is a PSP Mini title, so to expect a full on simulator would be a bit too much. But what we are given is little more than a truck racing game, where the player has to drive, within a time limit, from point A to point B. The actual gameplay makes me think of a lesser version of MotorStorm on snow and ice, with four simple controls – left, right, accelerate and brake. The roads making up the stages are all pretty straight forward to drive upon, with the occasional hazard making you slow down to avoid, such as other trucks lying at the side of the road, snowdrifts or other vehicles every so often, which you must overtake.

The game does very little to convey the dangers that the men and women in this profession face and instead, the game has the player doing things that you would never see on the show that it is inspired by, such as racing their chosen rig along icy roads at speeds in excess of 60 miles per hour, jumping the trucks over crests and drifting around turns.

Again I understand that this game is from the Minis range on the PSP and so to expect anything overly complex would not have been realistically viable. But I would have liked to have seen something a little more involving than accelerate, brake and turn. For instance, at certain points throughout the game you come across thin ice sections of road which, while driving on them, enforces a maximum and minimum speed limit. These small sections are few and far between and, in my opinion, if the developers had made more of the game play out in this style, while maintaining the point to point time trial, it would have been much more realistic in respect to the show, forcing the player to take care on the various surfaces and such.

The visual side is give and take, with the scenery being the best part of the game. But even then, the game can be a little messy at points. The textures of the ice roads are actually pretty good, along with most of the snow. But there are a few points at which the graphics get so messy that you do not even know where you should be driving. The vehicles themselves are pretty simple, but there is no problem whatsoever in telling that they are supposed to be trucks. Sound is kept to the bare minimum, with really only the engine and the occasional squealing tyre, which made me question if a tyre makes that sound on ice or mud. If you listen carefully, you will hear the sound that every ice road trucker dreads, the creaking and cracking of the ice below your truck. This would have been cooler and more atmospheric if you were not hammering along at 60mph.

With fifteen tracks and five trucks to choose from, you would think that the game would offer a little challenge. But, sadly, you can more or less complete each route in first place on your first run through each stage. So, to sum it up, despite me being a fan of the show and wanting to enjoy this, I found myself instead playing a mediocre truck racing game that did not present any great challenge or enjoyment. Again I point out that, as part of the PSP Minis range, I was not expecting a highly detailed game, but I was looking for something that gave a little more to convey the feeling and nature of the show itself. I would love it if the developers gave it another go and sat down and watched the show before producing a game that tried to capture the essence of the show, rather than making it a run of the mill racing game.

★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

Slitherine’s Ice Road Truckers is available for download from the PSN store for the price of £2.49.

Alien Zombie Death

David Hollingsworth — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:35:23 +0000

Alien Zombie Death. Not only does this game have an awesome name, it’s also my first PSP/PS3 minis game. But is it any good? Does it have what it takes to recreate that old school shooter feel on a modern-day console?

Alien Zombie Death is an old school, side-scrolling shooter. You jump around between platforms killing waves of aliens, zombies, and all sorts of weird monster things. It’s not just you and your gun however, there are many power ups that spawn onto the level. Collecting these will give you different special attacks or points. One such weapon is the rocket power up and it is probably the most devastating. Once you pick it up, simply shoot and it will lock onto the nearest enemy. But make sure to get the most out of it before the timer runs out. The two standard gun power ups are also pretty damn good. One allows you to shoot objects that would other wise be unkillable, like the spinning blades etc, and the other upgrade allows you to shoot enemies on platforms above and below you, with a sort of tri-shot.

At its heart this is a game about getting high-scores. You do this by killing the enemies and collecting the multiplier power ups. The faster you pick up the multiplier bonus, the higher it goes. This all sounds easy but it’s really not, because enemies will jump on your platform and other misc enemies will get in your way, like the spinning blades and electric. The different enemies also come with their own unique challenges. Some will walk around, others will fly and some will shoot at you.

The game’s progression is simple in design. Each planet has certain goals which award medals. These can be for killing X amount of one type of enemy or by getting a certain score. With its high score nature, the levels don’t end as such. When your lives run out, you die and then do the level again, or you can go to the next planet with the medals you have earned. The game features quite a nice amount of content for a minis game. Its addictive nature and old school style will have you coming back for more.

Alien Zombie Death is a great first experience with the minis for me personally,and it has certainly opened my eyes to what these little games can offer if they follow a simple formula. With easy to use mechanics, pick up and play and addictive gameplay, you are onto a winner. Alien Zombie Death is a great little game and the score system will have you challenging your friends to high score competitions. It’s a great feeling, knowing that you have the highest score on this manic shooter.

★★★★★★★★☆☆

This review was written by David Hollingsworth, editor of GeekMandem

Age of Zombies

Bazaboy — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:38:14 +0000

Join Barry Steakfries as he travels through time, defeating zombies. Like you do.

Age Of Zombies from developers Halfbrick is a game that places the player in the role of Barry Steakfries as he battles off hordes of zombies through differing time periods.An evil genius at the start of the game creates the zombies and then sends them out on their time travelling search for flesh and fresh brains. Our hero, after shooting said evil genius, then follows through the time portals to battle the hordes of undead.

And so the player controls our hero through numerous different time periods, such as prehistoric times battling caveman zombies, the 1930’s fighting gangster zombies during the prohibition, or fighting Zombie mummies in ancient Egypt amongst others. Our Hero Barry, excellent name by the way, is a tough talking, no nonsense taking, action hero, the shoot first, ask questions later kind of guy. At times he mindlessly blows away characters informing him of the zombie plague, which is quite humorous, as is the whole game with tongue firmly in cheek from start to finish.

Surprisingly, as part of that humour, the games dialogue is a little on the cheeky side. Although stopping short of actually dropping the F bomb, the game does seem to see how far it can go without resorting to Mr Steakfries effing and blinding his way through his adventures. It instead resorts to the occasional s**t or disguising the language, such as naming a character King Shattingbricks. The tough talk is far from offensive and both it and our heroes one liners, which he informs us he gets from a handy book entitled “cool stuff to say in case you ever travel through time to fight zombies”, are an endless source of hilarity throughout the playing of the game.

The time periods in the game are split into three stages each, with an increasing number of zombies in each and ending the third stage with a suitably themed boss, such as my personal favourite, the zombie T-Rex, and the aforementioned King Shattingbricks, a mummified pharaoh. The zombies themselves in each stage start off in a slow trickle but before to long they are swarming towards our hero in huge packs, meaning to survive you have to constantly be on the move as well as on the fire buttons to keep them at bay. Should you make the mistake of standing still for too long, you may find yourself cornered by twenty or thirty flesh hungry zombies. Your default handgun has infinite ammo, so you can be as trigger happy as you like with it. But with it’s slow rate of fire, no matter how much you shoot, the zombies will still edge closer. The player has to make the best use of the scattered weapon pickups, including everything from a shotgun, to flamethrower, to minigun, combined with grenades and mines. This ensures that the player has plenty of hardware to wage bloody warfare on the hordes of undead.

Anyone who has played either Burn Zombie Burn or Zombie Apocalypse know exactly what to expect when it comes to this game. The gameplay is basically the same, with the player using the analogue nub to move around and the face buttons to fire in the corresponding directions. This leads to the only problem I have with the game, the reason that the other two similar games play so well on the PS3 is that they use both analogue sticks for moving and directional shooting. This is something that, in my opinion, Sony should have taken into account when designing the PSP-Go. A second Analogue nub would have been a natural progression for their handheld console, as directional shooting with the face buttons, although carrying out the job adequately, at times it feels a little awkward, especially when you want to fire diagonally. If you can overlook the small issue with the controls Age Of Zombies is a pretty fun game to play.

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Retro Cave Flyer

Bazaboy — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:38:56 +0000

More fun in the form of a PSP Mini.

Retro Cave Flyer, from Big Head Games Limited, plays like an up to date mix of two old games, Choplifter and Lunar Lander. This is another PSP Mini with a simple yet addictive concept. The player flies a little spacecraft using three simple controls. Tilting the ship left and right, combined with the use of the thrust, gives the player the ability to both move quickly or carry out the small precise movements needed for some parts of the game.

The aim of the game is to explore various cave systems on a planet in search of lost scientists who are in need of rescuing. This means flying your ship to the surface and below it to find the hapless researchers, who are rather handily waiting on landing platforms. The player has to touch down so that the stranded boffins can join you in relative safety of your ship. It’s down to the player to rescue all of the scientists on each stage before running out of fuel, which diminishes when you use the thrust control. The shields reduce if you hit the walls of the caves or land badly. Both fuel and shield bars can be replenished on certain landing platforms, designated by a green gauge. At first you may not even need to use these, or find yourself using them only to improve your high score, but on later stages strategic use of the refuelling platforms is a necessity and can be the deciding factor as to whether or not you can finish some of the stages.

The challenge in the game comes from controlling your thrust and steering to the smallest degree. With the player at times having to guide the craft through caves, some of which are barely wide enough for you to fit, the smallest tap of the controls can be either perfect or disastrous. The first eight or nine stages in the game are not too much of a challenge and most players will be able to get through them without a problem. However, from this point onwards the stages get a little more complex, with some resembling mazes rather than caves. With the refuelling points few and far between, it becomes a real challenge for the player, requiring you to plan your route ahead, taking into account where the scientists are and when it best benefits you to use a refuelling point.

Initially there are twelve stages which unlock one at a time as you complete the previous one. Once you have completed the first twelve stages, you are switched to expert mode and from there on in things get a tougher yet again.

Overall Retro Cave Flyer is a pretty enjoyable game for the PSP. Perfectly suited to the style of gaming that the Minis are designed best, picking up and occupying the player for a spare few minutes. The game is especially enjoyable if you are an older gamer and can fondly remember the games that inspired this title. Even if you have no recollection of those games, it is still a highly enjoyable Mini for your PSP, combining a simple retro style of gameplay with a more modern look and sound.

Despite the fact that the initial ten stages are a touch on the easy side, as you progress further into the game it eventually gives the player much more of a challenge. On top of that I have found myself playing stages over again knowing that I can attain a higher score. This gives the game a bit of replayability, that is if you can get through all the stages in the first place. Not only is Retro Cave Flyer fun to play, it also gives players a good challenge. Retro Cave Flyer is available from the PSN Store for £2.49.

★★★★★★★½☆☆

Half-Minute Hero

Bazaboy — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 15:53:40 +0000

Fancy saving the world as a princess, hero or mighty wizard, from an army of evil lords, and all in only thirty seconds?

The first thing I can say about Marvelous Entertainments Half-Minute Hero is that it’s ideally suited for the PSP, with the game constructed from numerous small chunks of game play. This makes it perfect for both long gaming sessions or playing for five minutes and then coming back later, without fear of disrupting the games story.

The game has charming old school 8 bit styling, reminding me of adventure role playing games of the 80’s, the original Zelda and Final Fantasy games in particular. This look seems to suit the game perfectly and is part of the reason that this is a lot of fun to play. The game itself feels inspired by the same old RPGs mentioned, as well as looking like them. But one of the main differences is that after every stage the credits roll. You can fast forward through if this sounds a touch tedious. Your characters level is also reset to one. This style of play gives the player the feeling that, instead of experiencing one huge RPG epic, they are playing a series of adventures combining into one long story arc.

The other main difference to the game play is that you are constantly against the clock, with thirty seconds being the magic number, hence the title Half-Minute Hero. Because of these facts, it’s tough to place the game into a genre. it is part strategy, part RPG and part action game, and all of these elements come together to make it a really enjoyable experience. The game also has a lot of humour thrown in, poking fun at its own story and even the game itself proving that Half-Minute hero is not taking itself to seriously and making sure you always have a smile on your face.

The story mode of the game is actually split into different chapters, with each spanning thirty stages. Different playable characters are available in each with the Hero, Evil Lord and Princess open to play from the start and the Knight and Wizard unlockable further into the game. I do recommend playing through them in order as the story makes small references to previous chapters.

Each of them also has their own playing style. For instance, the hero is a traditional smack them with a sword kinda guy, whereas the evil lord summons creatures to do his bidding for him. The Princess, on the other hand, is carried around on a throne by her guards while firing her crossbow. Because the actual gameplay differs greatly for each of them, I will discuss each of the first three separately to give an idea of what you can expect from the game.

Gameplay with the hero is what you would expect to find from a traditional Role Play Game. You start out with a world map, from which you choose your stage, unlocking them as you go. You can also go back and replay previous stages to try and better your time and improve your rating for that stage. On selecting a stage, you get a brief introduction and a series of dialogue boxes setting up the story for your selected stage before the thirty second timer starts. The goal for each of the hero stages is to reach a castle in the play area and defeat the evil lord within.

This is where the thirty second thing is a little misleading. Beating many of these stages within that time is near impossible. You would be hard pushed to even reach the castle within the limit, never mind beating the evil lord. As you walk around the stage you are randomly attacked by various animals and creatures. The combat is all automatic, with each encounter you are taken to side on view showing the Hero and any enemy encountered. The Hero then charges at the enemy dealing and taking damage until the battle is concluded and the player is rewarded with XP and gold. These fights generally don’t last too long and are over in a matter of two or three seconds. This is the way you level up, so that you are strong enough to defeat the evil lords. Reaching the castle and defeating the lord now sounds a little tougher than before.

Throughout the game you have a companion in the shape of the goddess of time. This is where the game becomes more about managing the timer rather than beating it. Dotted around the play area are towns and tents, some of which include a statue of said goddess. You can pray at these statues and, for a price, this will reset your thirty seconds. The towns also include shops that sell better weapons, armour, healing herbs and food stuffs. The player can also pick up optional side missions. So, with the ability to reset the timer at an ever increasing cost, it’s left to the player to manage those thirty second chunks in which you have to level up, carry out any side quests and make it to the castle and defeat the Evil Lords. Some of the stages you can breeze through but some others you may find yourself taking it down to the last second or less.

Personally, I am not a huge fan of the RPG genre. I have played and enjoyed a few before, but on the whole role playing video games are not top choice when it comes to gaming. However, Half-Minute Hero is only inspired by those sprawling epics and I think the fact that I was playing small manageable segments made the experience more enjoyable.

The Evil Lord Chapter takes the game in a more action game direction, while retaining the same half a minute time limit rule. Compared to the Hero Chapter, I found it a lot easier. The time goddess takes all of your gold to reset time but gold is easier to come by in these stages. You can basically take your time and reset it whenever you need to do so. Playing the Evil Lord is like playing a different game, using the same graphical style, taking it from the mini RPG to action game. You move around the world much like you do in the hero story, although the play areas are significantly smaller. Your aim here is to eliminate groups of bad guys. The Evil Lord himself does not attack, relying on his summoning abilities, with certain summoned creatures proving stronger against certain bad guys. So this section comes down to the player again managing their time and summoning the proper creatures for the right bad guy, to clear the stage and move onto the next. The way the time management is set up for this chapter, I found it a lot easier than the Hero story and I enjoyed the more action orientated gameplay style. The only problem is that I found myself looking for a challenge. Any experienced gamer could find themselves breezing through the stages as I did.

The princess chapter once again mixes things up with another new gameplay style. Playing as the princess is almost like a race of sorts. It begins again with the setting up of the story and then the stage select screen which, instead of a map, is replaced with characters in the game populating a castle, giving the princess missions to help save her sick father, which leads to the aim of the princess stages. Leave the castle, collect an object and then return to the castle walls.

Now you have to remember that she is a princess and therefore can not be expected to walk anywhere. For this reason she is carried by her soldiers. That is not to say that she is totally helpless, being fairly trigger happy with her crossbow. The soldiers carrying her only know one speed and that is full throttle, which makes it lucky that the play area for these stages is basically a straight left to right line along which you are carried at speed, guiding the soldiers up and down and tapping the opposite direction to slow them down if things get a little too fast, until you reach your goal. They then turn around and speed back to the castle. You are again playing against the thirty second timer. Sounds easy so far, right? Throw into the mix the array of creatures standing in your way, which if you hit, slowly knock away the soldiers carrying the princess. That’s where the crossbow comes in handy. It is your job, as the princess, to shoot any creatures blocking the path and therefore giving the soldiers safe passage. Once more the clock is always running, but thankfully the Goddess of time puts in another appearance, taking your gold and resetting your timer. Boy, our goddess friend sure does love money. This time, resetting your timer involves moving the princess and soldiers over red carpets, at the bottom of the screen, laid out by the goddess. Again, because the timers are so easy to reset in this chapter, I did find it like the Evil Lord section, fun to play but in most places pretty easy. With some careful time management, the stages do not prove too much of a problem.

With another three chapters to go after the ones I have discussed above, it is a fairly lengthy game and, when you combine that with the varieties of gameplay involved, you are definitely getting plenty of value for your money. On the negative side, some people may be put off because of the 8 bit style graphics. However, people who can see past this will realize that they are half the charm of the game. Another possible negative may be that some players will find the game a bit too easy and leave them wanting for a challenge.

But on the whole, Half-Minute Hero is an all round fun game to spend some time playing and, if nothing else, I found myself smiling and laughing playing the game due to the continuously humorous dialogue.

So if you are looking for a PSP game that can bring back memories of how games used to look, but still be a lot of fun to play, you could do a lot worse than giving Half-Minute Hero a go.

★★★★★★★½☆☆

PSP DIGITAL COMICS

Bazaboy — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 11:44:12 +0000

Comic books on the PSP? It be witchcraft!!

Before getting too deep into this review I feel I need to make it clear that I am not a huge comic book fan. I am more of a casual reader with a handful of graphic novels in the same genre and same license, that being Star Wars and a few random others.

For this piece I am reviewing the PSP app that allows the reading of the comics, rather than reviewing the comics themselves. But, for the sake of the review, I was reading Star Trek Year Four: The Enterprise Experiment, which was free, and 2000AD Prog #1647, which I purchased from the PSN store for £1.19, although prices on the store begin from £0.79 depending on the title. I do not purchase individual comics in real life, preferring to wait for collected issues to be released in graphic novel form, so it’s hard for me to compare prices. But the prices on the PSN Store seem relatively reasonable for what you are getting.

Okay, so the Digital Comic Reader itself is a free app which you can download from the PSN store and install too your PSP. Once installed, adding titles too your collection is as easy as heading back to the store, browsing through the available titles and buying, much like you would games and add on packs. There is usually a small ever changing list of free titles to pick up and books are available from publishers such as Marvel, IDW Publishing, Disney and 2000AD, along with a good selection of independent publishers.

On starting the application after making a purchase, it will automatically recognize books you have added to your collection. From the main menu you can browse through your books by genre, publisher, read or unread or even your full collection. Then once you have chosen a title from your collection, the controls for reading it are pretty well laid out.

You can zoom in and out on pages using the shoulder buttons and, when zoomed in, you can move your view around the page using the analogue nub along with using up and down on the D-pad to turn the pages. You can read your books using these controls to move around the pages manually. What is cooler than that is using the Autoflow feature, tapping right on the D-pad turns the page. with the next tap you zoom into the first panel on the page, giving a good look at the artwork before tapping right again. you then zoom in on the first piece of text on that panel with each subsequent press of the button moving through speech and text on that panel before zooming out again to take in the next panel. Flowing through the panels and text on each page using this method makes reading your books feel so simple and fun.

No matter how you choose to read them, using Autoflow or moving through the pages manually, you can still use the shoulder buttons to zoom in and out. Which brings me to the point that even zoomed in on the art closely the PSP screen handles it extremely well, keeping the image as sharp zoomed in as it does zoomed out viewing the full page.

Another small feature that is included is the ability to play any music you may have stored on your PSP while you are reading. It’s a nice little addition to the app.

So up to this point it has all been good and quite rightly so. For what it is and what it’s designed to do, it excels. But to me and a few friends, who are more avid comic book readers and collectors, the main problem is, and it’s the same problem I have with e-readers, that when it comes to reading, be it actual books or graphic novels, I much prefer the printed page over the electronic readers. Which is strange for me as I am a huge fan of gadgets and therefore should love and embrace these things. But when it comes to graphic novels, I would rather have the book in my hands. One of the small things is the smell of the ink on the printed page of a comic and that probably made me sound a little strange but it‘s one of those smells that I absolutely love.

I am sure there are more people like me out there who prefer to have the books in their possession, and the serious comic book collectors definitely would. On the other hand, for the casual reader or for those who are new to the world of comics this could be of great interest.

So to sum it up, the PSP Digital Comic Reader is an excellent app and does brilliantly what it was made to do. It all comes down to whether you prefer to have the printed page in front of you or you are content to read your books on a screen. If the later is you, then you should definitely have a look at this and hey, the app and a small selection of books are free. So I urge anyone, comic fan or not, with a PSP to at least give it a go. You have nothing at all to lose.

Spaceball Revolution

Bazaboy — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 11:44:49 +0000

Bouncing balls in space.

The first thing I have to say about Spaceball Revolution from Virtual Toys is that, like a lot of other PSP Mini‘s, the game has a very simple concept but at the same time is extremely addictive. The aim of game is basically to copy the highlighted squares shown making up a pattern in a small grid in the top left corner of the screen by manoeuvring a targeting reticule around the screen and firing balls at a similar grid in a larger scale on the main play area of the screen to light up or unlight the squares. Hitting the lines that make up the grid lights up all adjoining squares, so it‘s up to the player to figure out the fastest way possible to recreate the pattern, bearing in mind that you are against the clock for each stage.

In the challenge mode each level is made up of five stages and it all seems so simple at the start of the game with a manageable nine square grid posing no problems, so much so that you begin to wonder where the challenge is. Then, just as you find yourself asking that question, you get your first taste of the chaos that’s about too ensue as the game starts placing moving blocks between you and the grid which stop your spaceballs dead. It only gets worse from there on in. The obstacles soon get devious enough to permanently block some of the target squares, meaning you have to start banking your shots off the 3D walls that surround the grid.

Just as you are beginning to get the hang of playing around these new obstacles, another spanner is thrown into the works by doubling the number of squares that make up the grid and, as you may guess, from there on in things just get tougher.

At the start of each level, that’s between every 5 stages, there is a bonus level which entails using the same target reticule to shoot down flying saucers. This part does seem a little tacked on and unnecessary to me and breaks up the flow of the main game.

Another point is that experienced gamers may find easy and normal on challenge mode no problem whatsoever. I personally completed easy on my first try and normal on my third try. The real challenge comes when you go to the advanced difficulty setting, which I am still working on and can only imagine how hard Master difficulty will be once unlocked.

The free play mode from the main menu basically allows you to play any level that you have unlocked by playing through the challenge mode, providing a perfect way too practice any tricky stages that you may be having difficulty with.

This is one that puzzle game fans will absolutely love. Like most other PSP minis, the graphics and sound are basic but do what is expected of them. However, the simple game play and need to beat just one more stage keeps the player coming back time and again for more.

★★★★★★½☆☆☆

Zombie Tycoon

GG Goblin — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 13:06:08 +0000

Bwah-ha-ha, with my hordes of undead, I shall rule the world!

Zombie Tycoon, from Firma Studios, is a comedic, strategic, zombie overlord simulator. It is available to download for the PSP (and now PS3) as part of the PSP Minis range.

The story is of fairly standard fare. Evil scientist creates potion for bringing the dead back to life, tries it on himself, becomes zombie. I am sure we can all relate to that. Anyway, it is down to you, the player, along with suitably “Igory” assistant, Ernest, to build a massive army of shambling corpses and take over the world.

At the centre of the screen is a cursor, and it is this that can be used to control your zombies. Move the cursor over a target and interact. The player can control up to three squads of eight zombies. Each squad is assigned a button, square, triangle or circle. The X button issues commands to all of your zombies teams at once. Then simply move the cursor over a target and press the appropriate button to have that squad carry out your orders.

In the case of a building or citizen, this will mean attack. Buildings, once conquered, will turn into a putrid green colour to signify that they are under your control. The player will be presented with various maps to work through and conquer, with various objectives.

Should your groups of zombies get separated, it is possible to switch between squads using the right shoulder button. Control of clinics is important as they have a fresh supply of bodies to be turned into zombies to replenish your ranks. These new zombies can replace the ones lost to the brave citizens who resist your control, such as policemen, firemen and biker dudes.

Camera controls allow the player to zoom in on the action, although the angle of the camera is fixed. The game looks dark and menacing in a suitably cartoony way, and the zombies themselves are well animated and look great on the little screen.

One of the best features of this game is the ability to customise your zombies. As you take control of buildings and destroy the residents, items can be collected that can be used to equip your undead army. From weapons, such as fish and guitars, to clothing, such as hawaian shirts or bibs. These can all be equipped to your zombies and their stats will be increased, with each item adding to the attack power or defence of your living dead.

The controls of this game are well thought out and very simple to use. Moving your zombies around the map and interacting with the environment really is easy. Unfortunately the games objectives can be, at times, quite frustrating. There are no real checkpoints, so if the player messes up a mission, then it is back to the very start of that mission. One level involves preventing citizens from leaving a map. This is made difficult by the lack of intelligence of your undead minions. They are quite happy to let people walk straight past them, and even attack them, without doing anything. This made the objective really hard and, with no checkpoints, the player has to begin from the very beginning of the level.

Realistically, this game is a mini and cannot be expected to last forever. It is indeed quite short. But the game offers humour, excitement and RTS fun, in a small and polished package. For the price of £3.49, fans of zombies and RTS games cannot go wrong.

★★★★★★★½☆☆

LittleBigPlanet

TurtleGirl — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 10:03:17 +0000

Welcome to the world of LittleBigPlanet on the PSP. A mind blowing mini-size of the original Playstation 3 game from Media Molecule, with a few slight differences.

You’re invited once again as Sackboy to travel the globe and explore seven locations that are available. As beautiful it’s PS3 counterpart, LittleBigPlanet on the PSP still keeps it’s cardboard cut out world so that you can explore and discover the wondrous levels that it has to offer. Perfectly polished and well presented, the game gives you the same feeling as the original, it’s still packed full of fun and excitement, and keeps the full use of customization that we all found so generous. Stephen Fry’s narration is both superb and upbeat, in a way that catapults you back into the LittleBigPlanet so well.

Sackboy begins his amazing adventures Down Under, where you’re introduced to Bruce, an Aboriginy who points you in the direction of this new and amazing land. Here you can swing your way through the trees, jump into the pouch of a Kangaroo, and fly on magic carpets.

The Kangaroo at the beginning of the game gives an introductory insight for those of you who may not have played the original game. It guides Sackboy in the right direction, offering helpful and useful advice on how to proceed through the level, easing you newcomers into the Little Big Planet world.

Through the levels Sackboy can collect a large amount of bubbles that have rewards in, these can be anything from clothes to fully customize your sackboy, to stickers and construction items. The stickers can be positioned in certain areas throughout the levels that will either help you further in your quest, or reward you with a secret surprise. They are scattered throughout the game, with many being hidden very well, so keep your eyes peeled. Stickers can also be used to create more decorative backgrounds or for designing your very own LittleBigPlanet level.

Your little Sackboy and the world you’re exploring can be customized by using the Popit, which is like an in-game menu where you can access all your collected items. There are sections for stickers, Sackboy outfits and items, and the option to retry. The stickers are not only decorative and pretty in design, but they also hold the key to some switches and triggers within the game. The retry button allows your Sackboy to Spontaneously Combust, which may sound horrific – I can imagine Sackboy fur going everywhere as he explodes - but it allows players to travel back to a checkpoint, handy if you’ve become stuck in an area.

Customization of Sackboy is as much fun as ever with the clever design of materials that either make your Sackboy look very cute, or something quite menacing. You can choose to change whatever you wish about your Sackboy, from the colour of its hair, to decorating it with pretty hats. The vast selection makes you feel spoilt for choice, offering such a wide range of accessories to make your character look a little bit more exciting. I spent ages dressing my Sackboy in ancient Far Eastern outfits, to lavishly introducing it to a princess outfit. The choices are unbelievable and make it a complete enjoyment to experiment with. You can of course choose to save as many of the costumes you have designed or if need be, dare I say it. Make him naked!

The LittleBigPlanet world still pays homage to the world of create, share, and play, with the opportunity to share your own creations, and even download levels on the community moon. This is what I feel makes Little Big Planet so successful. It continues to grow and maintain its original format, while expanding in-game content and the constant appeal of creating your own levels. This is where LittleBigPlanet exceeds and where many other titles may have failed. By continuously offering new content and additional levels the game will stand out among the rest, but that is not to say that it doesn’t have its flaws.

Firstly, while LBP PSP is a graphically astounding masterpiece, its cardboard cut out world does run into a few problems along the way. In its shrunken state the sprites do appear very tiny, which is why I sometimes couldn’t always see what Sackboy was doing. The lighting effects made the game dark in some areas, causing me to squint to make out what was going on. I also found the dynamics slightly off when my sack boy got stuck behind some of the background areas. It certainly became a little frustrating as I constantly tried to gain some control over my Sackboy as I failed to complete a jump and ended up throwing him over the side like some rag doll on a suicide mission. Believe me when I tell you I tried to keep reviving him as much as humanly possible, but he just seemed to fly in mid air with no direction.

With all this said though, LBP PSP is still a brilliant game! It would be a shame to beat the game up when the fun far exceeds the few issues I experienced. Overall, LBP is a fun and exciting game for the PSP. Not only will it have you fully immersed in the levels, you’ll be taken back by how much they have managed to cram into this mini version of the original game. You will have fun solving the puzzles, globe trotting around the 30 levels the game has to offer, dressing up and customising your little Sackboy, and the ability to share and create your own levels. LittleBigPlanet offers you a delightful trinket of surprises that will endeavour to enlighten your imagination over and over again.

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rock Band Unplugged Review

TurtleGirl — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 07:31:15 +0000

In Rock Band Unplugged your hands are the ‘Peripherals,’ allowing players to take direct control of the lead/bass guitars, drums and vocals. In addition, players can capture a deep and interactive Rock Band experience by taking their band on the road in World Tour mode, or by taking on the most extreme musical challenge imaginable in Band Survival mode. The game features 41 master recordings including nine songs new to the Rock Band music catalog that are all exclusive to the PSP system for a limited time, spanning all genres of rock, from punk and metal to alternative and classic rock.

I’ve wanted to play this game for what seems a life time and finally I had the chance to see what this game has to offer. First impressions of the graphics are pretty amazing. I love watching the band rocking out to the latest songs as they sway their guitars and instruments back and forth. Starting up the game gives you the options of quick play, tour, training, extras and music store. I’m a huge fan of Guitar Hero and Rock Band; I’m just not that great at them.

Tour – Here you can create a band, choose your band name and home town and Logo.

Training – Rock Band basics which is four lessons that teaches you the controls, notes, sustained notes and chords.

Getting Unplugged - These three lessons teaches you phrases, track switching and putting it all together.

Wow the crowd - This again is three lessons of playing solos and maxing your score.

Even if you’re an expert at this game I still suggest you try out the training mode. Even if it’s just to get a feel on how the game actually plays on the PSP. There’s nothing worse than going into a game and not knowing how everything is controlled. I’m also going to recommend that people give this game a chance. When I first started playing rock band, I was actually put off because it looked really complicated. Mainly because you have to control all the instruments of the band and my fingers could only tap away so fast. Then I put the game down with defeat thinking how could I ever possibly get the hang of this game?. Eventually I picked it back up and after an hour or so I was beginning to find my feet or should that be my fingers and then I couldn’t put it down for hours on end. It’s an addictive game, because not only does it bring you fantastic graphics, each song that you progress through goes on to unlock other cities and gigs. This provides you with new songs to rock out to and new genres of music to tap away to.

Extras – Band survival mode, warm up mode, modify game and credits.

Music Store – Here you can sign into the Playstation network and get more tunes. Rock Band Unplugged helps players keep on rocking by delivering the first PSP game to feature an in-game store for downloadable content. Harmonix will stock the music store with 10 tracks at launch, and additional music will be released on a regular basis. PlayStation®Network will power the in-game store, and players can use their existing PlayStation Network accounts to purchase tracks, similar to the Rock Band console experience. PSP system owners will also have the option of purchasing tracks via PlayStation®Store on the PC.

So I’ve been playing this game for a little while and I’ve been hiring new members of staff that will help me to succeed in my career or just make it worse. You’re given the opportunity to call the manager and hire new people throughout the game. I’ve been asked to do a benefit show next. I’ve accepted the challenge to play a benefit show, even though I won’t get any money, but it could double my fans. Is it a risk worth taking?. Definitely. If you want to unlock new songs in this game you have to take some risks. You may be brilliant or you may even lose fans. It’s up to you to play the best and be the best.

My fingers are feeling a bit sore. Maybe that’s not a good sign. You use the L and R shoulder buttons to shift from one instrument to the other. Admittedly I have only been playing it in ‘Easy’ mode, but I’ve tried ‘Expert’ and there’s no way on this earth I could play it that quick, it is ridiculously fast. I’m good, but I’m not that good.

In between different gigs you may be asked to do ‘Double or nothing’. If you finish the gig with an average of four stars or more, then you’ll get double the cash, but if you get less than four stars, you’ll get nothing. Gradually I am opening new gigs and locations while on my tour. I’ve been given the chance also to do ‘Battle of the Vans’. The owner of a local used car shack has offered to give me his most road worn van. How kind of him. Not sure I want a broken down van, but anyway. I have to prove that I’m going to be a big name and I have to play my best and then hopefully I can earn a van and get the hell out of my home town. The van may have 230,000 miles on the clock, but I’m not picky. If it get’s me from A to B then it’s a start. Yay..I just won a 1975 ECNOWAGAN van. I have no clue at this point what kind of van this is and whether it’s got four wheels or not. I’m just glad I can get my band around the cities now.

I can’t actually find fault with this game. Believe me, I’ve tried. I think this is an excellent game. I’ve played numerous rhythm type games over the past months, but I just couldn’t put this one down. It’s upbeat, some smashing songs, lively, full of great graphics and as of yet I have not grown tired of it. Yes it’s hard to get used to it when you first start it up, but Rome wasn’t built in a day. Give this rocking great game a chance, pump up the volume and have the time of your life.

I will rate this game a 9 out of 10, because it was everything it says it was.

2000s

AFI – “Miss Murder” *
All-American Rejects – “Move Along”
Audioslave – “Gasoline” *
Black Tide – “Show Me the Way” *
Freezepop – “Less Talk More Rokk” *
Jimmy Eat World – “The Middle”
The Killers – “Mr. Brightside”

Lacuna Coil – “Our Truth”
Lamb of God – “Laid to Rest”
Modest Mouse – “Float On”
Queens of the Stone Age – “3’s and 7’s”
System of a Down – “Chop Suey!”
Tenacious D – “Rock Your Socks” *

1990s

3 Doors Down – “Kryptonite” *
Alice in Chains – “Would?” *
Blink 182 – “What’s My Age Again” *
Foo Fighters – “Everlong”
Judas Priest – “Painkiller”
Lit – “My Own Worst Enemy”
Lush – “De-Luxe”
Mighty Mighty Bosstones – “Where’d You Go?”
Nine Inch Nails – “The Perfect Drug”

Nirvana – “Drain You”
The Offspring – “Come Out and Play (Keep ‘em Separated)”
Pearl Jam – “Alive”
Smashing Pumpkins – “Today”
Social Distortion – “I Was Wrong”
Soundgarden – “Spoonman”
Weezer – “Buddy Holly”

1980s

Billy Idol – “White Wedding Part 1″
Bon Jovi – “Livin’ on a Prayer”
Dead Kennedys – “Holiday in Cambodia”

Motörhead – “Ace of Spades”
The Police – “Message in a Bottle”
Siouxsie & the Banshees – “The Killing Jar”

1970s

Boston – “More Than a Feeling”
Jackson 5 – “ABC” *
Jethro Tull – “Aqualung”

Kansas – “Carry on Wayward Son
Rush – “The Trees”

1960s

The Who – “Pinball Wizard”

Name	Rock Band Unplugged;
Format	PSP
Release Date	19th June 2009
Age Rating	12years and over