April 16, 2010 -
The age of apps is upon us, PlayStation faithful. Riding the wave of popularity surrounding various app stores from Apple to Nintendo, Sony has dipped its toe into the downloadable content pool and found the water to be just fine. Developers, apparently, are just as excited -- no doubt in part because of the ease of porting existing projects from things like cell phones.
The result? A whole lotta bite-sized offerings that can be played on any PSP or your PS3 and downloaded directly from the PlayStation Store. Meant to be simple in approach, Minis are nuggets of pure game design, and accordingly they're usually priced quite a bit cheaper than full-blown games. Every week, we'll be taking a look at what's hit the Store and offering up a simple verdict on the various offerings:
Get it!! Worth getting at any price, these are keepers that should appeal to everyone and stand out as a strong recommendation.
Skip it!! Don't waste your hard-earned greenbacks on these piles. There are better offerings and we'll make sure you know about 'em.
Love It!! In any medium, there are bound to be absolute must-haves, games that everyone who owns a PSP would be missing out on if we didn't label them with our official "Love it!!" seal of approval. Though rare, we'll make sure you don't miss these gems.
PlayStation Minis Releases
April 15th, 2010 (More to come)
Monopoly
Developer: EA
Publisher: EA
Price: $4.99
Review by: Greg Miller
Believe it or not, I was once super-into online Monopoly. Into it to the point that I was actually ranked No. 46 in the world on the Case's Ladder for the PC game. My nights were spent hunched over a keyboard as I tried to grind opponents down with hotel monopolies on Connecticut Ave and get that elusive "hot" logo next to my name.
Frankly, I'm always up for a game of property trading, and the PlayStation Mini version of Monopoly hits the spot.
If you imagined a virtual version of Monopoly with little to no frills, you'd be imagining this Mini. You boot it up, choose one of the game's eight boards, grab a token, and get to rolling the dice. The view is from the top-down perspective as the dice roll, and as your token hops around the board, you get a closer look at the board as it crosses the properties.
From there, it's Monopoly. The Community Chest and Chance cards look good, there's a little animation for going to jail, and that's pretty much it. It's super-simple, which I love. I hate those versions of Monopoly that go through these goofy cutscenes or animations just for landing on Marvin Gardens. Here, you land on a spot and get the chance to buy the property or lose some money; from there, the game moves on. No fuss.
Although I'm a fan of the streamlined approach, it's a bit too much on the trade screen. When it's your turn, you're free to pull up the trade screen and attempt to make a deal with another player, but the screen is a mess of colored cards and tokens. It makes sense and is functional, but I could do for more detail.
Even though EA did a good job at keeping things simple, Monopoly could stand to lose a bit more. When you roll the dice, it's just like rolling dice in real life. You have to watch the dice tumble and slowly come to a rest. Sometimes, the dice will balance on their side a bit before finally falling. I want to skip this animation. Similarly, I'd love to skip watching the other players move around the board, roll the dice, and so on. These moments slow the game down and are generally boring. I lose interest in what's happening.
Of course, like all Minis, there's no ad-hoc or online multiplayer, but you can pass and play Monopoly with up to four players. That's a nice touch.
I love me some Monopoly, and this PlayStation Mini is a fine version of the board game. There are no eye-catching visuals or amazing advances to Monopoly as you know it, but this is the game you know and this is fun.
Sweet Reversi
Developer: SCE Studios Japan
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Price: $1.99
Review by: Anthony Gallegos
Chances are at some point in your life you've played Reversi (or Othello, as it's also known). A classic board game where players take turn placing colored discs in order to "trap" their opponent's pieces between their own -- stopping only when the board is full or the players can no longer make any more moves -- it's deceptively simple to learn, yet involves enough strategy that people hold world tournaments for it. Seriously. It's easy to find for free in various Flash versions, but the PSP is finally getting in on the action with the new PlayStation Mini, Sweet Reversi.
Sweet Reversi is only sweet insofar as it replaces the typical colored discs in Reversi with desserts. I guess it's supposed to be charming, but I can't say that trapping opponents' pies or cakes makes the classic game any better. Much like the classic board game, Sweet Reversi is incredibly simple, only offering players the option to play against the computer or to play with another player on the same system (with each player using either the d-pad or face buttons as direction keys and the shoulder buttons being used to place pieces). No twists on the classic Reversi formula are offered, there's no option to play multiplayer with more than one PSP, and you can't even pick the skill of the artificial intelligence you play against. If you've played Reversi before then you've already played Sweet Reversi, plain and simple.
It's not that Sweet Reversi is bad, it's just that it does so little to be distinct that it makes you wonder why they didn't just make it look like the classic board game. I'm all down for changing out the game pieces or coming up with unique themes, but I really would have loved to see the "Sweet" theme translated into a couple of new modes. Heck, I would have liked to have had options in the game, to, at the very least, be able to choose the skill of the A.I. I play against. If you're a hardcore Reversi fan, $1.99 and a few megabytes of your memory card are nothing for the fun you'll have with a portable version of this classic, but, for anyone else, I don't really see the appeal.
PlayStation Minis Releases
April 8th, 2010
Freekscape: Escape from Hell
Developer: Kidguru / Creat Studios
Publisher: Creat Studios
Price: $4.99
Review by: Daemon Hatfield
Get the hell out of hell -- that's your objective in Freekscape, a fun little puzzle platformer joining the PSP Mini family. You control a demon named Freek who doesn't enjoy being evil as much as the other beasts. He'd rather hang out with the good guys in Heaven, so after finding a holy trident, he's off to ascend to a better place. This is a 2D platformer, although characters and environments are rendered in 3D and the world will often twist and spin as you make your way through hell.
Freekscape's big trick is that Freek can spear enemies with his trident and then utilize their unique abilities. Some can be used as a pogo stick to reach higher platforms while others can be dropped over hot lava in order to create safe passage (apparently Freek's good heart has made him vulnerable to the natural environment of hell). In each level you'll need to figure out how to make use of the enemies wandering around so that you can reach the exit. If you're knocked off a platform or fall into lava, you'll simply respawn at the last checkpoint you passed, so you're free to experiment without worry of punishment. Freekscape can be tricky, but it's also satisfying when you finally figure a puzzle out. Like any good platformer, there are also plenty of jumping challenges.
Stab enemies with your holy trident to steal their powers. These guys can be used as a pogo stick.
You move from level to level on a world map much like you do in Super Mario World. After a few tutorial levels your path will branch, giving you some choice in where to go next. There are around 40 levels, some of which can take over ten minutes to play through on your first try. You are encouraged to return and try to beat your time in speed runs.
We are forced to use the PSP's analog nub to control Freek, which is unfortunate because you're only ever moving on a 2D plane and the D-pad would have been more appropriate. The D-pad is used to look around your environment, but it seems like these two functions could have easily been swapped.
There is a nice sense of depth to the 3D environments, but I almost wish Freekscape was a straight-up 2D affair. The levels and character models lack detail. Plucky surf guitar tunes set the mood for a lighthearted escape from hell.
Freekscape is an enjoyable puzzle platformer. It won't astound or amaze you, but stabbing monsters with a holy trident in order to exploit their powers is as fun as it sounds.
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