All PSP Reviews

Fading Shadows (Review)

May 1, 2008

Part ball puzzler, part fantasy epic - but all tedious - Fading Shadows shows what would happen if a budget version of Lord of the Rings collided with a broken pinball machine.

You control a beam of light and must guide an orb (which is actually a boy’s soul sealed in a teardrop, apparently) through castles, swamps, dungeons and other medieval environments. To conquer these terrains, you’ll use the orb to hit switches, ...

Family Guy (Review)

Oct 26, 2006

One of the things that make Family Guy so riotously funny is how the salty jokes come fast and furious over the span of each half-hour episode. Stretch those same laughs over 8 hours or so of generally humdrum gaming, and the whole affair gets diluted to the point where fans will find themselves reaching for the DVDs instead of the game controller. Oafish dumbass dad Peter takes a hard one to the noggin and becomes convinced that the citizens of Quahog are disguised henchmen of TV's Mr. ...

The Fast and the Furious (Review)

Jun 22, 2007

Its been more than a few years since the original The Fast and The Furious film got high-speed-wannabes all hot and bothered. Despite some attempts, though, nothing substantial materialized for fans of the films on the gaming side for quite awhile. Finally, a title based loosely on the Tokyo Drift sequel appears on our shores, first on PS2 in March and now on PSP. However, despite a seriously ambitious amount of cars, tuning options, and races, this TFATF fails to totally electrify the gearhead ...

Field Commander (Review)

May 24, 2006

If you're already itching to get your bloodthirsty hands on the turn-based war machine that is Field Commander, youre likely familiar with Nintendo's Advance Wars series. Though they both share many traits, there's enough grim-and-gritty action to make this title stand apart from its Saturday-morning-saturated competitor - glitches and all. Each mission begins on a tiled map, decked out with cities, mountains and various weather effects. Your goal, most of the time, is to wipe out the enemy's ...

FIFA 08 (Review)

Oct 19, 2007

Oct 19, 2007 EA's FIFA 08 on the PS2 was a real triumph thanks to a combination of crisp passing, believable AI and surprisingly sophisticated team shape and player movement. Basically it felt just like you were outside playing real soccer, with jumpers down for goalposts and so on. FIFA 08 on the PS3 on the other hand, felt like a game feeling its way around football's complexities and was a disappointment. Fortunately, the PSP game shares most qualities with the PS2, resulting in game ...

FIFA Soccer 07 (Review)

Oct 26, 2006

It's funny - and kind of sad - to watch an American sports fan try to wrap their brain around the international soccer league model. In the good old U S of A, our sporting franchises focus on one path to glory - play a season, make the playoffs, win a ...

FIFA Street 2 (Review)

Mar 20, 2006

Bring soccer to its basest form by removing it from the manic arenas and abundance of regulations and what do you have? Well, fewer fatal riots for one, but more importantly you'd get FIFA Street 2 on PSP. It's rebellious against the Fédération Internationale de Football Association to a fault, but unfortunately that's far from its only foul. What FIFA Street 2 boils down to is three guys and a goalie per team, trying to score a handful of goals first while still notching some ...

FIFA Street 2 (Review)

Feb 24, 2006

Don't get your hopes up - there might a brand new FIFA Street 2 about to hit PS2 (with buckets of new features) but you've played this one before. This is the first FIFA Street. That's right, another direct port and therefore, despite an update of squad players (Peter 'Timmaaah' Crouch is in), FIFA Street 2 is almost identical in every way to its precursor. Oddly, one of the main changes is that there aren't any sliding tackles. So rather than lining up a crippler from behind, you only get to ...

Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition (Review)

Jun 22, 2007

Final Fantasy's 20th anniversary: it's here. In 1987, Japanese gamers were treated to the original entry in the series. We're acknowledging this chiefly because we're forced to cut the company some slack here: this is the fourth remake of Final Fantasy released since 2000. Fortunately, it's also the best. Let's start off with stuff you don't know. Final Fantasy looks incredibly clear and sharp on the PSP, with bright and inviting graphics that easily outclass all prior versions of the game. ...

Final Fantasy II Anniversary Edition (Review)

Jul 24, 2007

In an awfully nice way of putting it, Final Fantasy II has never been much of a series favorite. But at least in the past it was packaged with its superior predecessor – most recently 2004s Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls for the GBA. With that option staring you in the face, why would anyone with a GBA or DS (roughly 98% of the Earths population, at last count) spring $30 for this 20th anniversary edition PSP stand-alone? Well, theyre not too overwhelming, but there are a few ...

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (Review)

Oct 8, 2007

Oct 8, 2007 Nine years ago Final Fantasy Tactics chronicled the life of Ramza Beoulve, one of the sons of the late king Balbanes, and his role in The Lion War. Today it does the same thing by keeping the core of the game the same, while carefully adding features that keep with the original tone. There are a couple of new character classes, several beautiful cutscenes, the game is displayed in eye-catching widescreen (16:9) and just about every line of dialogue has been retranslated to give a ...

FlatOut: Head On (Review)

Mar 12, 2008

Liked the Destruction Derby games on the original PlayStation? Then you’ll get a kick out of this. Featuring smashable cars, tracks littered with physics-enabled objects and upgradeable motors, Head On is, like FlatOut on PS2, an unashamedly silly racer that mixes preposterous minigames, regular races and arena-based derbies to entertaining effect. It looks great. The framerate is super smooth and the courses are large and detailed; the ...

From Russia With Love (Review)

Apr 4, 2006

Half-assed handheld ports of console games are nothing new, but with the advent of the powerful PSP, we kind of thought those days were coming to an end. No such luck, if the PSP version of From Russia With Love is anything to go by. In adapting the console game of the same name, it cuts out the driving, many of the gameplay nuances and nearly half the levels, leaving us with a passable, short James Bond shooter that we're still expected to pay $40 for. If all you're looking for is a ...

Full Auto 2: Battlelines (Review)

Mar 26, 2007

Did you ever have that friend who showed up to school one day wearing a gold medallion, studded leather jacket, and a cap spun around in a desperate and misguided attempt at social reinvention? A true pal wouldve taken that friend aside and explained to him that true “cool” is in the way you are, not in the way you appear. We kind of feel like giving Sega the same intervention regarding Full Auto 2: Battlelines on the PSP. What was pulled of with limited success on the PS3 feels ...