Title: Tiny Blobs Bring Psp To Life
prophecy girl - June 17, 2006 03:29 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
By Neil McGreevy BBC Many will be those quick to hail Sony's latest effort, LocoRoco, as a w**k of original genius. But lurking underneath LocoRoco's pretty façade is a cocktail of Yoshi, Katamari, Vib Ribbon, Kirby and Marble Madness. It is also the best PlayStation Portable (PSP) game to date. Globally, it is no secret that DS sales have been edging out the PSP. Nintendo's sublime understanding of what makes a good portable game has trumped Sony so far in the software stakes. In a market where most decent PSP titles are scaled-down versions of console franchises, LocoRoco is that rare beast. It is a game designed completely from the ground up for the machine; a proper handheld experience that is perfect for short joyous blasts. Blobbing around Gameplay is simple. Guide your fat gelatinous blob to the end of each meandering level, finding secrets, battling the odd enemy and picking up compadres en route. LOCOROCO Format: PSP Graphics: 8 Sound: 9 Gameplay: 9 Enduring appeal: 8 Overall: 8.5 Rather than controlling your LocoRoco, players tilt the PSP to coax the blob to the goal. It can also split into a gaggle of tiny blobs to traverse tight spots. The game offers a rich, multilayered trifle of platforming and puzzles. Each cheery screen is a w**k of design genius that would not look out of place in a Lemon Jelly video. It populated by such bizarre characterisations and pitch-perfect obstacles that you half suspect that Nintendo's Miyamoto has been moonlighting at Sony Towers. Music also plays a huge part in the game's success. Each level rings out to a rich score peppered with your blob's babblings. Pick up enough of the musical oddities and they will play choir to the music, building in harmony as their numbers swell and changing in tone depending on the type of LocoRoco you are using. Travelling companion A w**k of undiluted Japanese whimsy, this deserves to be a massive success. But it will no doubt join the cultish ranks of Vib Ribbon, Katamari and Ico. Everything gels perfectly and, due to its simplicity, that PSP bugbear of heavy loading times is not even an issue, making this the ideal travelling companion. It is not all perfect. The controls can feel sluggish at times, while the overall pace is just a little too sedate for its own good. Minor quibbles aside, LocoRoco is a PSP essential and the perfect antidote to the current overkill of driving and shooting fests. This is the best game Nintendo never made. Story from BBC NEWS: |
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rob - June 17, 2006 03:40 PM (GMT)
:ermm:
Dan Brown - June 17, 2006 11:46 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE (prophecy girl @ Jun 17 2006, 03:29 PM) | ||
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C'mon really...this isn't going to save the PSP.
Give it a year and Sony would have wished they never had tried to enter the portable market.
PSP could have been great but alas no, the variety and amount of games is poor, most of the games are ports or are games that you can play on a PS2 anyway, the DS offers something new. Loading time on PSP and battery life are not suitable for portable gaming, UMD format is an expensive unwanted format, the MP3 quality on PSP is very poor especially through the headphones and The DS is also much cheaper.
Sony failed....games I think has to be the main problem, they need more quality titles and a better variety.
prophecy girl - June 18, 2006 05:15 PM (GMT)
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| Pocket pleasers hit the spot The BBC's Neil McGreevy takes a look at some of the latest portable offerings for the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS. DR KAWASHIMA'S BRAIN TRAINING (DS) Doctor Kawashima's brain training has taken Japan by storm with its medley of simple touchscreen tasks designed to tone your thought pecs. Born from the scribblings of eminent neuroscientist Ryuta Kawashima, who argues that activities like reading aloud, solving simple maths problems and memorising stuff help increase blood flow to your brain, the title has shifted 2.4 million copies in its home country. The daily gaming regime tasks players with an increasing number of challenges that use the DS's unique hardware for handwriting and speech recognition to improve your smarts. From joining the dots to reading lofty literary passages, Brain Training simply chucks task after task at players, which does get repetitive after weeks of play. But as it is more of a bullworker for the brain than a proper game you cannot really complain, especially when you are intellectually transformed from Steven Seagal to Stephen Hawking. Fans of Sudoku will also find 1,000 of the number-crunching puzzlers included. Although different enough to be well worth a look, Brain Training is rather like paying for the privilege of sitting an exam again. VIEWTIFUL JOE: RED HOT RUMBLE (PSP) In this portable port of the chaotic Gamecube combat fest, a healthy dollop of Japanese quirkiness sees the titular Joe battling for leading man status in an upcoming brawler by knocking seven shades out of opponents made up largely of characters from previous Viewtiful titles. These button-mashing vignettes take the form of various free-for-alls within miniscule arenas. And boy does it look good. The sheer amount of cel-shaded visual trickery going on at any given moment is incredible, while the pumping techno speaker-fodder gets the adrenaline going. With so much happening, gameplay becomes little more than mindless button-abuse as you struggle to even keep up with where your character is on-screen. Ultimately this is a technical marvel. But unless you have the metabolism of a speed-addicted hummingbird dipped in Red Bull, you will never keep up with the candy-coloured chaos. APE ESCAPE: ON THE LOOSE (PSP) Our closest relative from the animal kingdom has starred in many a decent game, not least Sony's perennial Ape Escape franchise. This 3D platformer involves sneaking up on more than 200 super-smart simians, cracking them over the head with a club, then bagging the cheeky monkeys. Being little more than a port of the original games, it is hardly ground-breaking. Yet bagging those damn dirty apes is as addictive as ever. While fans of the PlayStation outings will miss the second analogue stick, this has all of the charm of the original, miniaturised into a title that is surprisingly well-suited to gaming on the go. The graphics hardly push Sony's portable powerhouse, looking more like PSOne fodder at times, while camera issues continue to mar the series. But all-in-all, this is a quality slice of monkey business. Story from BBC NEWS: |
Phillip Culley - June 18, 2006 05:29 PM (GMT)
There was only one game I was ever bothered about on the PSP, and now I've got that on the PS2 :)
At least it's now one less thing to worry about now!
At least it's now one less thing to worry about now!