GamesRadar - PSP Previews

50 Cent: Bulletproof G-Unit Edition hands-on (50 Cent: Bulletproof G-Unit Edition)

Jul 7, 2006

50 Cent: Bulletproof is coming to the PSP this September, and we got the first crack at a nearly finished version of the rapper-themed shooter. If you weren't a fan of Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson's video-game debut last year, though, don't turn up your nose just yet - the handheld 50 Cent: Bulletproof G-Unit Edition is a completely different game. Instead of another third-person shooter, G-Unit Edition is more of an urban Untold Legends. All the action happens from a fixed, overhead perspective, ...

Ace Combat X - multiplayer hands-on (Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception)

Jul 14, 2006

The Ace Combat series pretty much embodies the best parts of screaming through the skies at mach speeds and showering targets with body-roasting missiles. Until now, this experience has been limited to single-player or relatively bland, split-screen versus matches. Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception introduces four-player dogfights with dozens of options for customization. While we've already covered each multiplayer mode, earlier this week we actually spent some time with the Dog Fight, Base ...

Pre-E3 06: Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception (Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception)

May 9, 2006

There's only been one handheld Ace Combat game in the series' 11-year history. It was for the Game Boy Advance, and was basically an overhead, bland-athon shooter. With the console-level power of the PSP, it looks like we may finally get to experience the same rabid-dogfight intensity of the PS2 Combats - shrunk down to a smaller scale, of ...

After Burner: Black Falcon - multiplayer hands-on (After Burner: Black Falcon)

Feb 13, 2007

It struck us as kind of weird when we first heard that publisher Sega had handed off its classic After Burner franchise to Planet Moon, the oddball developer behind Infected, Armed and Dangerous and Giants: Citizen Kabuto. And now we've seen the result of that decision: cow-themed jet fighters with giant, milk-spraying udders. Granted, the cow jets are just part of After Burner: Black Falcon's "Mad Cow" deathmatch mode, in which one player becomes the Mad Cow (hence the new paintjob) and ...

After Burner: Black Falcon buzzes the tower (After Burner: Black Falcon)

Dec 18, 2006

"Do you feel the need - the need for speed!?" If your answer involves dubs, vinyls, or Brooke Burke, you need to go to the video store, or to the Netflix, or wherever you whippersnappers get your movies these days, and rent Top Gun. Keep it real, son. Cars don't go fast. Jets go fast. First released by Sega as an arcade game in 1987, After Burner capitalized on the fact that fighter pilots were widely viewed as totally freakin' awesome, thanks in no small part to Tom Cruise and the Cold War. ...

Alien Syndrome (Alien Syndrome)

Mar 28, 2007

Segas on a roll. Skipping the obvious Monkey Ball gag, its clear that with both Sonic and the spherical simians scoring decent ratings, Sega has found a suitable format for their solid brand of game making. And it looks set to continue in this RPG re-imagining of the 1987 game of the same name. Players select one of five classes - Demo Expert, Firebug, SEAL, Sharpshooter or Tank - each with allotted skills and abilities. Demo experts fumble with a pistol in their hands while the big booms will ...

Alien Syndrome - first look (Alien Syndrome)

Feb 14, 2007

When will space marines learn not to investigate mysterious homing beacons on isolated spaceships? Once they get there, of course all the corridors and hallways will be dark except for the glimmer of light that faintly outlines the creature thatll devour them in one, or multiple bloody gulps. Except this time, youll be the one kicking all that ass. We recently got a chance to see the PSP version of Alien Syndrome, a revival of the classic Sega arcade shooter in which youll play as the tough, ...

Astonishia Story (Astonishia Story)

May 31, 2006

Who doesn't love graphics and gameplay that hearken back to the Super Nintendo days? Lots of people, probably. But there's a healthy audience out there for RPGs done in that classic style, and UbiSoft is angling for their dollars with a North American release of the Korean PSP title Astonishia ...

ATV Offroad Fury Pro - hands-on (ATV Offroad Fury Pro)

Oct 10, 2006

Sophomore series ATV is tearing the track up a little this year by adding MX bikes, buggies and trucks to the vehicle mix. If that's not enough, you'll also get a fleshed-out event list, clever point-to-point races, and PSP-to-PS2 online connectivity. The majority of our hands-on time with ATV Offroad Fury Pro was spent on the point-to-point tracks, Baja-style, sending all four vehicle types around wide open maps and hunting down secret routes. While not as big as, say, actual Baja, these ...

E3 06: ATV Offroad Fury Pro hands-on (ATV Offroad Fury Pro)

May 12, 2006

When we first saw this mud-and-oil gear grinder, we'll admit we wondered if the PSP really needed another ATV game. However, after spending some time with it, we'll grant that this one really looks to bring something to the table - now, the question we're asking is whether the PSP will ever need another ATV game again. The first hint of what's in store is right there in the name: ATV Offroad Fury Pro. Notice there's no number? That may be because the 64 tracks feature a healthy dose of ...

B-Boy - hands-on (B-Boy)

May 23, 2008

For years now, the "dancing" genre has been dominated by Dance Dance Revolution and its many knockoffs, all of which require players to hop around, rhythmically stomping along to music while a dull cascade of arrows floats by. But it wasn't always that way, and B-Boy - a breakdance sim released nearly two years ago in Europe and only now headed for a US release - is a throwback to a time when dance games were more about rhythm than legwork. It aims to do for breakdancing what Tony Hawk's Pro Skater did for skateboarding: make it accessible to people with zero fitness or leg coordination. ...

Beowulf - first look (Beowulf: The Game)

Jul 31, 2007

Right off the bat, publisher Ubisoft's adaptation of Beowulf - based on the upcoming Robert Zemeckis film, which in turn is based on a centuries-old epic poem - commits an unpardonable sin in the eyes of literary types. You might already be familiar with the story's progression: Beowulf, a mighty Scandinavian warrior, battles and slays a man-eating monster named Grendel with his bare hands. He then beheads Grendel's vengeful, horrific mother and - finally - dies fighting a dragon some 30 years ...

Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light (Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light)

Jun 8, 2006

At first glance, you wouldn't think a handheld system that gets four hours per battery charge would be a good place to put a ton of time-chomping RPGs. But that's not keeping a deluge of the classically crafted games from appearing on the system, and the sword-and-sorcery realm of Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light looks to offer more of the turn-based battling fantasy nuts crave. The inner-workings of Blade Dancer are just like any other RPG - explore 3D towns, dungeons and the vast wilderness in ...

Blokus Portable: Steambot Championship (Blokus Portable: Steambot Championship)

Dec 17, 2007

Dec 17, 2007 Weve learned a valuable lesson from Blokus Portable: Steambot Championship; award-winning board game plus anime-style action-adventure game equals pretty damn decent portable game. With the promise of competitive online play (in 2-player ad hoc matches), this little hybrid may have a lot more to offer than your average puzzle game married to a platformer - if you dig puzzle games, that is. Chances are you havent heard of Blokus (unless you belong to Mensa), but you might have ...

Bomberman [PSP] (Bomberman [PSP])

Jun 14, 2006

Bomberman fans turned off by their hero's gritty new look on Xbox 360 have nothing to worry about - on the PSP, the little guy is back to his old bomb-tossing self. In Bomberman, he'll skip around the same flat grids he always has, dropping timed explosives to clear debris and pop open whatever cute monsters are dumb enough to get in his way. But while the look and basic gameplay will be familiar, we saw plenty of new stuff when we sat down with the game recently. There's a new plot, for ...

Brooktown High Senior Year - hands-on (Brooktown High Senior Year)

Feb 2, 2007

Ever think back to your high school days and wonder what might have happened if you had gotten up the courage to ask that special someone out? Maybe you're thinking forward to your high school days, and musing on what might replace recess in your daily schedule? Or perhaps you're in high school, looking fraternize outside of your social caste without fear of vicious reprisal? Whether you're looking to relive, pre-live, or alterna-live high school, Brooktown High is the place for you. In ...

Burnout Dominator - updated hands-on (Burnout Dominator)

Feb 23, 2007

Say you're playing any RPG or platformer, and your oversize-coated, boybandish hero is whacked with a mace over a cliff, sent tumbling down a ravine, finally grinding to a halt in a briar patch. Funny, but never a cause for celebration. So why is it, with so many racing games out there, that rolling a muscle car at 90 miles an hour is, time and again, one of the most satisfying experiences a gamer can have? Anybody who's spent a legitimate amount of time in a game like Grand Theft Auto knows ...

Burnout Dominator - hands-on (Burnout Dominator)

Feb 14, 2007

Well come straight out and admit it - Burnout is GRs favorite racing series, period. Sure, we occasionally like to amble along in a Honda Civic with tweaked rear suspension in Gran Turismo 4, do a couple of laps of Tokyo in Project Gotham 3 or hurtle through a deadly canyon in NFS: Carbon but nothing, nothing quite sends the adrenaline coursing through our veins like a sweet signature or revenge ...

Burnout Dominator - hands-on (Burnout Dominator)

Jan 19, 2007

Developer Criterion is slaving away on Burnout 5 for the PS3 and Xbox 360 right now, but if you're one of the millions of speed freaks still rocking the PS2 or PSP, some last-gen love is on the way in the form of Burnout Dominator. Due out in March, Dominator promises a "pure racing experience" that'll take the crash-happy series back to its high-speed ...

Call of Duty: Roads to Victory (Call of Duty: Roads to Victory)

Feb 27, 2007

As far as first-person shooters go, PSP owners have been left in the cold as of late. But all is not lost; Activision and Amaze Entertainment are bringing up the rear with an exclusive installment of its uber-reputable Call of Duty series, Roads to Victory, to make you recall a time when supporting the war effort was the bees knees. So why have developers been shying away from portable first-person shooters while happily cranking them out on consoles at a rate of nearly two per day? The ...