Metal Slug Anthology

Comprised of all six Metal Slug games, Anthology is a welcome addition to an ever expanding PSP catalog and to my ever growing game collection. I' ve always loved SNK games, The King of Fighters and Metal Slug games specifically. I' ve spent countless hours playing the arcade versions of the games included in this weighty compilation and this is one PSP game that i' ve been anticipating since before it' s announcement.

Like Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max - Metal Slug has 4:3 and fullscreen 16:9 display with the widescreen mode slightly squishing of the top and bottom parts so that nothing is cut off. This is less noticeable than in Street Fighter though, probably because the Slug games feature out-of-proportion characters anyway. The game features a third ' original pixel' option that reduces the screen size to something akin to the Gameboy Advance.

The framerate is solid for the most part, dropping only during the games busiest moments. The games sounds fine and looks fantastic on the PSP' s sharp screen. The colours appear to have been replicated perfectly, something which i always look for in arcade ports, ...and no sacrifices have been made to the animations to fit all six games on a single UMD.

My only complaints are that the menu' s (main and ingame) are awfully basic and that the initial loading times from booting up the game, navigating menus (it loads inbetween) and from selecting your character to actually being able to play are strangely lengthy. I don' t know why and i figured a game like this would load like lightning but it doesn' t. The load times are easily among the worst on PSP, and that' s saying something.

But load times aside this game is awesome fun and easily recommendable to fans of the series and newcomers who want a side scrolling blaster alike. SNK have long held the title for coolest two dimensional animation and revisiting the series eleven years after it exploded on the arcade scene, the original is still technically superior to the vast majority of two dimensional games.


Chili Con Carnage

Carnage is simply a re-worked handheld version of last years Total Overdose which was released on consoles and PC, and while Total Overdose pretty much sucked, the handheld revision kicks ass.

Total Overdose came off as being a little too simplistic for my liking. Simply put, it paled in comparison to other new games released around the same time, both technically and from a gameplay standpoint. The game has however found a new home on Sony' s handheld.

It took me about ten minutes to adjust to the games control scheme and at first i didn' t like it whatsoever. After three quarters of an hour i had it mastered and had decided that it was actually perfect for the nature of the game. It' s a shame no other control options were made available but once you get used to it it becomes second nature.

The game, if you haven' t played either version, is as much about combo' s as say the Tony Hawks or SSX games. It' s very forgiving which is understandable given that the PSP' s controls aren' t quite as comfortable as a console pad proper but it' s insanely fun and that' s what matters most. In fact, as forgiving as the game is, it' s certainly not without a challenge. Said challenge comes from having to perform each kill differently to achieve the maximum points, just like repeating the same trick in a Tony Hawks game will reward you with less and less points to more you do it.

The gameplay borrows heavily from The Matrix inspired Max Payne and slow-mo dives and bullet dodging are the order of the day. The number of available " moves" outweighs those in Max Payne and it' s possible to run up and cartwheel off walls in a very Matrix-esque fashion. Throw in reversals of certain moves, a variety of close-quarter combat kills and a large selection of weapons and what you end up with is a game that has a seemingly endless amount of combinations with which to deal death and destruction.

The story is very cliche but extremely amusing and so i won' t spoil it for anybody that hasn' t played the game yet. The voice acting and cutscenes are excellent and the characters throughout are over-the-top eccentrics brimming with hilarity.

Graphically the game is superb with great lighting, vibrant colours and cool explosions. The character animations are more than acceptable and the framerate is extremely solid. I' d probably say that the game looks a fair bit nicer than Vice City Stories, an already great looking game.

Story mode levels are split up by a series of challenges whereby you have to achieve set goals, usually it' s a ' kill X amount of enemies in a single combo' type affair. There is a freeplay game mode which allows you to play as a hefty number of secondary characters that you' ll meet throughout the main game, each of which needs to be unlocked by completing levels and challenges in the story mode. There are two multiplayer options too but i haven' t yet tried them out and so can' t comment.

I can' t really think of any cons. The loading times are fast and the game is technically solid. I' d definitely suggest picking this up even if you didn' t like Total Overdose.


Tony Hawks Project 8

After being suitably impressed by Underground Remix upon it' s US launch i thought and hoped that Project 8 would not only be just as good but also improve upon hawks first PSP outing. I figured it certainly had to be better than the Xbox 360 version of the game, a title i find unplayable due to excessive framerate issues. So, after a couple of days playing the game i can honestly say that it is and isn' t better than Underground Remix and it is and isn' t better than the next-gen console version of Project 8.

The game plays out very much like the console version. You play through the same levels but complete slightly different goals. In addition to the main game there is a ' Classic mode' which features an additional 8 levels from past series entries. That plus 14 multiplayer modes adds up to more content than the 360 version of the same game. Nice!

The biggest worry i had was that the framerate would be poor and while it' s not perfect it' s definitely better than i' d expected and 100% better than the 360 version. There' s some slight ghosting when moving at speed and some minor slowdown during busier levels and big crashes but nothing that affects the playability of the game.

The game controls just like Underground Remix and series veterans should be able to start busting out advanced tricks and combos from the word go. The game features a wide selection of new moves and a number of changes to player animations. I can' t recollect whether you can get off the board in the 360 version but in the PSP game you can and you can also hop over low walls and fences quickly while on foot to carry on you combo seamlessly.

Graphically the game looks better than Underground Remix but there is some aliasing that makes some objects including the player looks a little rough around the edges. Some of the textures are a little muddy and bland but overall the game looks very good, and much better than the PSone originals.

Loading times, options and menus are just like the console games and overall it' s a pretty impressive package. If you like the series.


Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters

Firstly, let me just say that this game destroys Daxter. Every aspect is superior and given that Daxter is one of my favourite PSP games Ratchet & Clank blew me away. Or is blowing me away as i haven' t yet finished it.

The game looks just as good as the first PS2 game and some aspects look even better than the second game. The character models, animations, textures, lighting etc are all superb. The framerate is perfect and never drops and the controls have been expertly adapted from Dual Shock to the handicapped PSP. The analog nub moves Ratchet/Clank about, the D-pad enables you to move forward, backwards and strafe side top side - something that comes in super handy during combat. The L + R buttons turn the camera and the face buttons are mapped to the characters context sensitive actions.

The game plays out just like the console variants and if you didn' t know it was a PSP game before you saw or played it then it' s unlikely you' d be able to tell the difference. It' s that well formed. The game is 60% combat and 30% platforming, with the final 10% being made up by the games puzzles. Aside from running around killing things with large and larger exotic weapons, you' ll find yourself taking part in multiple hoverboard races and a host of mini-games featuring Clank which range from Starfox-esque space sequences to destruction derby-esque arena battles.

I haven' t finished it yet but so far the story is just as well written and the cutscenes are just as well directed as any of the console versions. It' s a handheld masterpiece!





Also, i figured i' d post links to PSP demos (Zipped)

Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror - 2.80 required - EN
http://www.us.playstation.com/media/.../UCUS98641.zip
Directory: UCUS98641

Medal of Honor: Heroes - 3.03 required - EN
http://www.anyo.org/pspfanboy_com/ULED90008.zip
Directory: ULED90008

Toca Race Driver 3 Challenge - 3.03 required - EN
http://www.anyo.org/pspfanboy_com/ULED90009.zip
Directory: ULED90009

Ape Academy 2 - 2.81 required - EN
http://dl.qj.net/index.php?pg=12&fid=11095
Directory: UCES00302

Ape Escape Racing - 2.80 required - JP
http://www.anyo.org/psp/UCUS98655/EBOOT.PBP
Directory: UCUS98655

Blocks Club - 2.80 required - JP
http://www.anyo.org/psp/ULJS00068/EBOOT.PBP
Directory: ULJS00068

Bounty Hounds - 2.80 required - JP
http://www.anyo.org/psp/ULJS00021/EBOOT.PBP
Directory: ULJS00021

Exit 2 - 2.80 required - JP
http://www.anyo.org/psp/ULJM05161/EBOOT.PBP
Directory: ULJM05161

Kazuo (Sudoku) - 2.71 required - JP
http://anon.psjp.speedera.net/anon.p...0530/EBOOT.PBP
Directory: UCJS10036

Killzone Liberation - 3.03 required - EN
http://www.anyo.org/psp/UCES00279-Demo.zip
Directory: UCES0027-Demo

Loco Roco (Christmas demo) - 3.02 required - EN
http://www.us.playstation.com/Media?id=15684
Directory: UCUS98662

Loco Roco (third demo, featuring another new level) - 2.80 required - JP
http://www.anyo.org/psp/UCJS10041-2/EBOOT.PBP
Directory: UCJS10041-2

Loco Roco (Halloween demo, featuring a new holiday-themed level, ala Christmas Nights) - 2.80 required - EN
http://www.anyo.org/psp/UCES00304-Halloween/EBOOT.PBP
Directory: UCES00304-Halloween

Loco Roco (original demo) - 2.71 required - EN
http://fp.scea.com/Content/sites/137/info/EBOOT.PBP
Directory: UCUS98662

Mercury Meltdown - 2.80 required - JP
http://dl.qj.net/Mercury-Meltdown-Ja...9078/catid/446 (click download)
Directory: UCJS10043

Moto GP - 2.80 required - EN
http://www.anyo.org/psp/UCES00373/EBOOT.PBP
Directory: UCES00373

Ridge Racers 2 - 2.80 required - EN
http://www.anyo.org/psp/UCES00422/EBOOT.PBP
Directory: UCES00422

World Tour Soccer 06 - 2.80 required - EN
http://fp.scea.com/Content/sites/155/info/WTS06Demo.zip (EBOOT in the zip)
Directory: UCUS98631


Instructions:

For all demos, to get them onto your PSP, simply download the EBOOT.PBP file of the demo you want to play, then create a folder in your PSP' s GAME directory, with the name provided under the download link. Then place the EBOOT.PBP file in that folder, and that' s it; you' re done. Disconnect your PSP and go to the Game section, then Memory Stick, and your demo should show up there.