A lot of people condemned the original Assassin’s Creed’s repetition as its worst aspect. Wrong. Player character Desmond Miles, with his idle chit-chat and regular naps that too-often interrupted the flow of the game proper, was actually the lamest aspect of the action/adventure free-running killathon. PSP-exclusive sequel Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines scraps these nonsensical sci-fi interruptions altogether.
It’s been said – mostly by us, but also by the rest of the English-speaking internet – that the world has had enough of those “one guy versus an army” hack-and-slashers. After all, a few three-button combos and thousands of nearly identical grunts aren’t exactly a recipe for a lasting, nuanced experience.
In LocoRoco Midnight Carnival, the cute blobs and bright and breezy soundtrack remain but the tweaked gameplay strikes a bum note all too often. Never mind humming along to the song of the Loco Rocos, you’ll be too busy filling the air with colorful cuss words.
The major change here is the addition of boinging, a new super jump activated by holding and releasing the shoulder buttons as you land.
Play LittleBigPlanet PSP, and you’ll get the disconcerting feeling that someone’s woolly little mitts have been rifling through your dreams. From fleeing an angry dragon to playing movie stuntman to riding a surfboard away from a great white shark, these are experiences fantastical and familiar.
So, if F1 2009 on the Wii has been created for father-son gaming and presented in a fashion that caters for the differing skill levels of both, F1 on PSP is obviously for the motorsport fan on the move. We’ll assume that it’s a particularly long journey if you’re attempting the full 70+ laps.
Who decided that Marvel’s lineup of classic super heroes had to be transformed into grotesque Cabbage Patch Kids to be cool? Hardcore comic nerds will cry heresy over Marvel Super Hero Squad’s squat interpretation of our favorite X-Men and Avengers, though the game isn’t meant for them; it’s aimed at an infant audience. The kicker?
Armored Core is one of those franchises with an abnormally high concentration of hardcore devotees. That means that if you scour the internet, you're bound to come across reviews praising the series for its allegedly compelling combat and seemingly endless garage of mech-building parts.
This is not one of those reviews.
Star Wars! Truly it’s the game license that keeps on giving, providing a universe that, even now, is capable of providing fresh stories and experiences. Elite Squadron further stripmines the Clone Wars era to tell the tale of two clone brothers, X1 and X2, one of whom (somewhat predictably) falls to the dark side.
Football Manager is back, polished, and addictive as ever. Yep, just polished, sadly – a sure sign you’re not witnessing a revolution. Nevertheless, with the introduction of several new features – coupled with an overall refinement – FM10 is still PSP’s top management title. The AI has been sharpened, so the live action is more believable – dreadful players no longer score 50-yard screamers.
It’s unsurprising that an anime series as popular as Naruto has spawned so many games, but what is surprising is how few are actually any good. Akatsuki Rising doesn’t buck that trend. An uneasy mix of brawler and RPG-lite, it never reaches the heights of Naruto’s better games (Naruto Ultimate Ninja and The Broken Bond).
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