GamesRadar - PSP Reviews

BattleZone (Review)

Nov 22, 2006

Atari's new, handheld BattleZone isn't related in any way to the phenomenal action-strategy PC games; it's more of a modernization of the arcade shooter from the early 1980's. Focusing on multiplayer action, it's can be fun with four humans facing off or teaming up against each other, but it suffers from a batch of annoyances that keep it from reaching its lofty ...

Ben 10: Protector of Earth (Review)

Oct 30, 2007

Oct 30, 2007 Following in the cel-shaded footsteps of Dragon Ball Z and Naruto comes another cartoon-turned-game, Ben 10. And like those, this is an all out beat 'em-up featuring cartoon children. Playing as Ben Tennyson, you own an alien device called an Omnitrix - a watch-like object that when activated can transform Ben into all manner of interesting beings, each with their own unique abilities. Among his repertoire of alter-egos is a four-armed beast that's strong as a box of bears. ...

Beowulf: The Game (Review)

Dec 11, 2007

Dec 11, 2007 If you've played many movie tie-in games before, you won't be surprised that Beowulf is more for fans of the film than for gamers. While the poem is epic, the game isn't even legendary. For the most part, it's a fairly simple button-mashing hack-n-slasher... or whatever you call a game where you sometimes slash things with a sword, but also punch and kick them like some pissy 4 year-old. Which you'll do quite often, since the local swordsmith couldn't make a sword that lasts more ...

The Bigs (Review)

Jul 3, 2007

As a portable experience at two-thirds the price, The Bigs on PSP does a good job masking the flaws of its next-gen counterparts. The irritating repetition and overall shallowness is less of an issue with the ability to easily wake up the PSP for a few quick games on the go. That and the fact that the awesome visual style still look great on PSP makes this the version to own… if you do choose to own it. The Bigs can be fun in short bursts, but like any game with that ominous caveat, its ...

Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light (Review)

Jul 18, 2006

When you buckle down for an hours-long RPG quest, you automatically prepare for a certain amount of repetition, inconvenience and drawn-out tasks. Your rewards are usually an exciting battle system and engaging storyline that balance out the other shortcomings, making the tedious moments fly by. Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light is the exact opposite in every possible way. After a good seven hours of running from seaside town to fog-laced woods, you're still killing the same monsters, talking to ...

Bliss Island (Review)

Apr 5, 2007

Bliss Island delivers on two levels: nonsense and quantity. The nonsense is generated by basing the game on the exploits of Hoshi the Zwooph, a ball of blue fluff that can blow air out of his trunk. The quantity bit comes from the 80-plus games Hoshi and his freaky friends appear in. Theres an air-blowing target game, a racing one, others based on football and Breakout, and so ...

Blokus Portable: Steambot Championship (Review)

Mar 7, 2008

Blokus Portable: Steambot Championship proves that neat ideas don't always make neat video games. Originally a board game, the goal is to fill a grid with as many of your Tetris-style blocks as possible while forcing the other players to hold onto theirs. You do this by placing your shapes so that no edges run parallel to one another, but so there also are no whole gaps on the grid between them. The end result will usually look something like a ...

Bomberman Land (Review)

Feb 19, 2008

Contrary to the way most companies handle multi-platform releases, Hudson likes to make sure that every version of Bomberman Land is unique. Unfortunately, that's bad news for PSP owners. This rendition of Bomberman Land is basically just a fleeting collection of single-player minigames packaged together with a multiplayer battle mode that's similar to the one that was included with the PSP's previous Bomberman game.Other installments of the ...

Bomberman [PSP] (Review)

Sep 11, 2006

Bomberman diehards can rest easy, interested new comers have a great game to start with and the PSP's library now has a solid title that actually makes use of the game-sharing feature. The little man who could - by bombing - has made the transition to PSP very nicely, but has brought his baggage with him: single-player is a stone around a strong Bomberman neck. The good news, the big news, is that the game's fast and addictive multiplayer is mostly ...

Bounty Hounds (Review)

Sep 18, 2006

Blizzard created a magic formula for fun with Diablo, which turned out to be one of the most addictive games ever made. It was kinda simple and repetitive, yes, but it kept millions of players hooked through a slow but steady trickle of character upgrades. A stronger sword here, a tougher armor there... hours flowed like water. But as effective as this formula is, in the wrong hands it can go awry. Case in point is Namco Bandai's Bounty Hounds, which usurps Blizzard's recipe wholesale but ...

Brave Story: New Traveler (Review)

Aug 9, 2007

Based on the Brave Story manga, Brave Story: New Traveler is a classic, Japanese-style RPG set in the fantasy world of Vision. As you progress through its 11 well-paced chapters, you'll remain engaged in its simple yet fun battle system, which features a clean menu system and your choice of Japanese or English voiceovers. Add in charming characters and fresh dialogue, with a sprinkle of smart pop culture references, and there's not much to complain about here. The battle system is ...

Brian Lara 2007 Pressure Play (Review)

Oct 23, 2007

Oct 23, 2007 We feel your pain. We know that if you're a cricket fan, until now you were stuck for any games to play on the move. First comes Pressure Play 2007 then next month International Cricket Captain hits the shelves. Should you hold out? To counter the obvious problem of a sport that can potentially last days featuring on a handheld, the developers have included a handy Pressure Play mode, which basically acts as a Scenario mode - you're given a challenge like "win the match in the ...

Brooktown High Senior Year (Review)

May 25, 2007

Just like the lovable-yet-undateable best friend character in every single teen date movie, Brooktown High: Senior Year has a heart of gold and a fatal flaw. Actually, it has several flaws, but the big one is that it recreates the erratic conversations and neurotic mood-swings of the teenage psyche too well. In other words: these babes are all crazy, and the bros aren't far ...

Brothers in Arms: D-Day (Review)

Dec 13, 2006

Just about the time that you stopped being able to distinguish one World War II shooter from another, the seminal Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 came along and single-handedly jolted the genre back to glorious life. Featuring - gasp! - actual military tactics, it (along with follow-up Earned in Blood) offered an exhilarating (if often painfully difficult) experience while placing itself shoulder-to-shoulder with the more established Call of Duty and Medal of Honor ...

Burnout Dominator (Review)

Mar 5, 2007

This is a weird Burnout. Its like Burnout: Year Zero, or Burnout Returns, a kind of re-imagining of the series that ignores the more recent developments. Lots of the innovations introduced in 2005s Burnout: Revenge have been dumped, modes have been dropped, and features last seen in Burnout 2 have been brought back in as replacements. So what we were expecting to be a half-assed rehash of recycled tracks is, in fact, a right awesome Burnout game. The first big reintroduction is the Burnout ...

Bust-A-Move Deluxe (Review)

Apr 28, 2006

Bust-A-Move's brand of bubble-shooting gets ported from platform to platform almost by default, seemingly immune to innovation. The PSP version shakes some cobwebs loose, adding some new tricks and a haunted-house theme that contrasts with the ever-present blank-stared cuteness of the twelve cartoon characters. For those who've never played a Bust-A-Move before, the concept is simple: Aim a crossbow to launch colored bubbles into a playing field that's full of them, matching up three or more ...

Buzz! Master Quiz (Review)

Sep 4, 2008

Buzz without the plastic buzzers? It won’t work, surely? Well, the results are mixed. The hard part – making the game fun in both single and multiplayer – has been nailed by Sony perfectly. PSP’s face buttons are mapped to answers, so buzzing in is easy, and thanks to the ability to play via WiFi (or better yet via Gameshare Buzz with four mates) the game stays faithful to its social roots. ...