PSP Games #2

Platypus (2006)
By: Anthony Flack / MumboJumbo Genre: Shooting  Players: 1  Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Featured Version: Sony PSP  First Day Score: 107,745
Also Available For: PC, Mac, XBox 360, Many mobile phones (all downloads)

It has been a while since I looked at a PSP game here (seven years, apparently - jeepers!), so to mark my return I thought I'd take a look at this eye-catching (and rather strangely-named) title by Anthony Flack, an indie game designer from New Zealand. One might assume from its name that it's a curious platformer or maybe a puzzle game or something like that, but no, it's actually a horizontal shmup set in a lovely peaceful land known as Mungola. Sadly, the loveliness of this country is being threatened by those pesky oafs from the neighbouring Colossatropolis which has become so overcrowded that its people have begun taking over Mungola, destroying the peace, using up precious resources, and probably leaving their rubbish all over the place too.

Currently Playing...

It probably won't come as too much of a surprise to readers here at Red Parsley to hear that I spend fair amount of time playing video games. A vast majority of this time, however, is spent playing them for blog-related purposes (i.e. to review them or grab screenshots). This leaves me very little time to play a game simply for the enjoyment of playing it, but I do manage it now and then. The latest example is:

LocoRoco by SCE Japan Studio (2006) - Sony PSP

I had been without a PSP for over a year after getting rid of my original model with the intention of buying a more up-to-date model for emulation and stuff. It ended up taking me over a year but I finally received one, from my video game-hating wife no less! I was therefore rather pleased that I'd kept all the games I had bought the first time round and one of these - the game I bought a PSP for to begin with, in fact - was LocoRoco; the happiest game of all-time!

For the uninitiated, it's a crazy platformer, but almost certainly unlike any you've played before. Here you don't have control over any actual characters but rather the planet on which the game takes place! Using the shoulder buttons you can tilt it left or right, rolling the little LocoRocos around its surface, or press both buttons to jolt them into the air. Using this simple interface it's your job to guide the spherical creatures around their world collecting flowers and berries and all sorts of other stuff, but also to help them fight the evil Moja Troop. The result is a very unusual game but also a tremendously enjoyable one.

It's quite easy but there are tonnes of things to collect, all sorts of weird locales to explore, and millions of secrets to find. Add to that the immensely appealing graphics and catchy soundtrack (featuring a language made specially for the game) and you've basically got a happy pill in video game form! If you haven't played it yet, you really should - it's worth buying a PSP for (unless you're allergic to happy, cutesy games). I'm currently playing it all the way through again, from beginning to end, and I'm loving every minute of it! Japanese insanity at its best!

RKS Score: 9/10

See full review of LocoRoco here...
 

Puzzle Games #6

Lumines (2005)
By: Q Entertainment / Ubisoft  Genre: Puzzle  Players: 1-2  Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Sony PSP  First Day Score: ???,???
Also Available For: PC, PlayStation 2 (variation)
Download For: Xbox Live Arcade, iPhone

When Sony announced the launch line-up for their swanky new handheld console, I and many others were expecting the same old flashy 3D games found on their other systems to accompany it. This turned out to be a largely substantiated assumption, but there were a couple of surprises amongst the usual suspects. Just about the most un-flashy 3D-ish kind of game around must surely be that of 'falling block' puzzle games, perfectly playable examples of which can be found on the most basic of formats, but here was one nestled next to Ridge Racer and the like. Typically though, this isn't an ordinary falling blocks game even if it may initially seem to be.

PSP Games #1

LocoRoco (2006)
By: SCE Japan Studio  Genre: Platform  Players: 1  Difficulty: Easy
Featured Version: Sony PSP  First Day Score: Infinity
Also Available For: Nothing

There are very few games around these days that can make me want to buy them just from a mere screenshot. Maybe back in the days of Mean Machines magazine with its amazing shots of shiny new MegaDrive games, but today? Not for me. With that in mind, the chances of there being a game that looks so irresistible that I'll make me want to buy the system it's on just to play it? Surely not? It would have to be a very special game indeed. A game of untold wonder and magnificence. A game so enticingly unique as to awaken a primeval need to explore every facet of its being. Against all the odds, such a game did indeed cross my path. And so it came to pass, RetroKingSimon did unto that day purchase a PSP just to play... LocoRoco.

First Look PSP #1

Gran Turismo by Polyphony Digital (2009) - Sony PSP

When a game gets delayed over and over again, it's rarely a good sign, so considering this game was first announced when the PSP itself was announced at the E3 show in 2004, it must've had some major problems! When it finally did appear five years later however, its name still carried a lot of weight, and after seeing it running I was sufficiently impressed to buy it. The thought of getting stuck into an extensive championship mode while on the train or hiding somewhere at work was an exciting prospect so I gleefully loaded the game into my PSP (which required the usual firmware update of course... *sigh*), and it was nowhere to be found! That's right, Gran Turismo for the PSP has no Gran Turismo mode! I honestly couldn't believe this so I looked into it, but sure enough - there is no such mode here, just arcade or multi-player.