PSP Backlog

STATUS: Unfinished

It is what it is... a time waster. But a fun one!

STATUS: Unplayed

I've wanted to try the psx original for a while, but between the two of us, is there really anything new or different in ANY Ape Escape game?

Probably not. So I'm going with portability.

STATUS: Unplayed

STATUS: Finished
TIME TO BEAT: 4h

[EDIT Dec 2011]
Played through all the levels and final boss, its a nice little racing game. No way I'll go back and pick up all the extras and unlockables, but I do find myself playing a track again here and there for a better score, so who knows…

STATUS: Unplayed

STATUS: Finished
TIME TO BEAT: 10h30m

[Jul 2011] Not bad! Great A+ graphics and it's nice that the gameplay closely matches the old Drac X on SNES but (obviously) better. I knew Rondo was hard as hell (hadn't played it until now), but that's no excuse-this game is TOUGH... I spent entire nights sleepless, angry that I had been forced to restart so many #*!#*@# levels over and over and over... usually because one little stinking bat flies in the way at exactly the wrong time, boofing your jump or stealing that last bit of health just before you can get a refill. GAAAH! My total playtime is literally *triple* what it would have taken without the cheap deaths and dastardly enemy hide-y holes.

Honestly, the bosses weren't all that difficult. Once you've survived the gauntlet and made it to the end of each level, having a boss you can toast in only a couple of tries is a nice reprieve.

Stop moving and spitting fire or I'm gonna kill you

Secret areas, branching, alternative paths, this game is what all 16-bit CV's wanted to be, complete with pixel-perfect parallax scrolling. There's no need to write up a full review; if you've played a Castlevania game before you'll know what to expect- and you'll like what you get.

Add in that you get 2 complete games as unlockables, and this one is a no-brainer for fans. One nitpick- why is Richter so bad compared to a girl ? He SUCKS. I only played as Maria as soon as she was unlocked.

STATUS: Finished
TIME TO BEAT: 8h

[Sept 2011]
As I mentioned I got a PSP Go just recently and grabbed a big pile of games at what might prove to be considerable peril to my relationship and bank account... but perhaps the best game I've played so far is a freeware game. Crazyworld...

I have tons of love this little gem, kinda RPG, kinda Metroidvania, kinda 16-bit and kinda not... hard to describe, but an amazing game and worth a replay for sure, someday.

CS is certainly not blazing new ground, it's a platformer with RPG elements and some adventure mixed in for good measure. Where it shines is the way it all comes together, there's none of the typical pretenses developers throw in just for difficulty or time padding. Save stations are plentiful, NPCs don't blabber for too long, enemies respawn so you can almost always keep your health and weapon strength high. This was so lovingly designed by a gamer to be something you want to play just to have fun, which is severely missing in oh-so-many games anymore. There's a character named Curly Brace- that's some funny nerd humor, right there. I don't care who y'are.

Yippee Ki Yay

There's so many nods to old SNES/Genesis platformers, and if you loved those back in "the day", you'll find CS to be almost a Greatest Hits of all the things that made classic games so good.

Best Mechanic: as you lose health you also lose weapon strength- yes, you can easily refill both, but essentially it means you're not able to just keep shooting away in a firefight. Blastermaster love? Check.

Best Level: Outer Wall. I don't know if it was the clouds rushing by in the background, the fact that you're finally outside, the philosophical decision you have to make (the answer is obvious), but I couldn't take my eyes off the screen all the way to the top... Kid Icarus call back? Check.

There it is, the world outside

Best Part: Totally open world, with backtracking aplenty. I explored quite a bit and STILL didn't even get 75% of what the game had to offer; I left weapons and upgrades undiscovered, characters hanging without resolving their fates, and sadly wasn't able to unlock the real final level. I was so busy being blown away by the final mid boss and main antagonist fights... just to find out there's a bulletstorm still awaiting me. When someone told me there was even more to play, I was floored. Awesome, awesome twist, and just one more way this game deserves all the support it gets.

I leave with this: Cave Story is insanely fun, engaging, challenging, and gets called the best indie game ever because it truly might be... Even though the retro feel is classy in it's own way, imagine this redone with DKCR style graphics... Cave Story 2, c'mon!

STATUS: Unplayed

STATUS: Finished
TIME TO BEAT: 6h15m

So I have this on BB Playbook, not PSP. But it's going here for lack of a better list.

[DEC 2011]
Oh holy crap do I love this game. Save for figuring out the controls (I couldn't turn around to save my life... literally), but it's a very, VERY strong entry in the DS franchise. Great graphics, the sound is out of this world, and the game manages to get your heart pumping and hands sweating just as good as any console version. Well, done EA!

Now this is next gen mobile gaming... just, wow.

It's a tad short, first playthrough was only 6.25 hours over the 12 levels, and you do spend a lot of time walking down barren hallways, but the game is perfect for Dead Space, from the opening sequence right through to the boss. Best mobile game ever: confirmed.

STATUS: Unplayed

This whole series just seems too overly gory and ridiculous. Graphics, however, are simply stunning.

STATUS: Unplayed

STATUS: Unplayed

STATUS: Unfinished

Opened a few tracks, I'm surprised how amazing this game looks, it's a beautiful, beautiful game.

STATUS: Occasional Play

[DEC 2011]
I'm not good at tower defense games, and I can admit that openly without shame. I like 'em, but I suck at them. HIoPNB is essentially a tower defense game turned upside down, meaning not only do you play as the "bad guy", but you defend an underground lair that can only go deeper.

Game is OK, nothing special but nothing bad either. Good for a quick 10-20 minute game when that's what you need.

STATUS: Finished
TIME TO BEAT: 6h30m


To borrow a phrase: "Doctor Jones, we've heard a lot about you."

Indeed! But not much of what we heard was good. Turns out that was accurate.

Rugged action adventurer? Check. Vaseline smeared over camera lens? Check...

NOTE: This game is nothing (NOTHING) like Tomb Raider or Uncharted. It should have been... it could have been... but it's not. I mean TR and Uncharted are basically shameless copies of the Indiana Jones franchise, and they're both GREAT games- so making an IJ title that reclaimed the throne should have been easy, just copy the great things about those games. Turnabout's fair play!

But that didn't happen. On a surface level, this game is a brawler/action game hybrid- Indy just beats the living crap out of as many enemies as possible whilst trying to find the next clue or uncover hidden relics. The majority of the brawls require a bunch of QTE's and well timed button presses. Not game breaking, but not fun after the first 3 hours of wash-rinse-repeat.

As to the IJ universe, well, there's some good ideas here, but they're muddy and presented so incoherently at times you'll wonder where the other pages of plot went, there's gotta be several minutes of important plot details laying on a cutting room floor somewhere. In just the first few minutes you're welcomed by a near-smorgasbord of mix-n-match iconography, ancient references and mythology strung together in a way only Indiana Jones could decipher. Levels are literally 3-7 minutes of respawning bad guys trying to distract you/take your health while you look around for ways to complete whatever objective you were given. That repeats for basically the whole game... so get used to it.

For fun the game throws in some puzzle levels here and there, but sadly those are also plagued by an endless horde of baddies coming from every nearby closet and door, making the 1-2 times that you're alone solving puzzles feel strange and out of place. The puzzle levels are usually small, maybe one or two rooms to explore, and repeat quite a bit- "find the wheel to turn a valve!"

I'm alright with that. Once. After that try a NEW puzzle idea!

Indy's world, despite looking quite vast, is really just a series of small rooms and closets where enemies hide together like clowns in a Volkswagen, waiting to emerge

I didn't find the game's plot as lacking as some reviewers have; it may be hard to follow at times and completely unbelievable, but I can live with that. I enjoyed that the game has plenty of locations and situations that Indy would have gotten himself into, and that's a plus. I *hate* seeing beloved characters get pawned off to do stupid things that are completely out of the realm of possibility and leaving fans scratching their heads... Things like, say, dodge giant man-eating ants and chainsaw trucks while in the pursuit of a crystal alien skull. That would be stupid.


At least Staff of Kings isn't that bad.

STATUS: Unfinished

Meh, it's a Lego game. I gotta stop getting these.

STATUS: Unfinished

See Also: Lego Batman

STATUS: Unfinished

What a looker! I can't believe I waited this long to get into LBP, the game is fun, challenging and cute at the same time. I'm using the PSP for some Silent Hill and Tomb Raider right now, but after those I think LBP is up.

STATUS: Unplayed

I've played this on PSX, hoping this version is a little better and updated.

STATUS: Unfinished

I think I might prefer the Wii version, but I don't own that... so PSP it is!

STATUS: Unfinished

Stupid, awesome, fun!

STATUS: Unfinished

I never beat this when I had it for PC YEARS ago, and I've always felt a little guilty about that... maybe I'll do better this time.

STATUS: Unfinished

STATUS: Unplayed

STATUS: Unplayed

STATUS: Unplayed

STATUS: Occasional Play

[Aug 2011] Eh, it's a serviceable attempt at a portable Rock Band. I've only unlocked like 5 songs, though, and I have no idea why I can't open more or get more cities.

STATUS: Unfinished

Nov 2011]
Cool little game, reminds me a lot of the old N64/GCN titles (well, maybe those are more 'recent' than 'old' since I didn't play them until the last couple of years). I'll come back to it soon enough, but more awesome games have leapfrogged into the front of the line for now.

STATUS: Finished
TIME TO BEAT: 6h45m

[Jan 2012] What a ride... Just finished this up last night, and it's one seriously amazing experience, truly the best use of a video game to express tension and story interactively- but still third person, very, very well done and 'cinematic'. The game is really nothing like the original, you're in Silent Hill and you're looking for your daughter, but the way the game unfolds, plays and guides you is completely different- in fact, it's different than pretty much any game you've played before.

I started this game without having finished the original Silent Hill for PS1, so I had no idea what to expect or how this relates to the whole Silent Hill legacy. Come to find out, it doesn't matter at all- this game was stellar on its own. Scary in just the right ways, constantly tense, and the deep story is crafted amazingly well, with symbols and hints to the ending hidden in plain sight around you all the time, things you won't recognize until you've finished the game. SH:SM manages to put these elements together without being pretentious or complicated, doing things that most video games rarely even attempt and even fewer have managed to achieve.

Let's start with controls- these are great. Although the Wii version has realistic flashlight control via the Wiimote, the PSP makes up points by being able to shake off monsters with button presses rather than motion controls. You only have a flashlight and a phone, and both work very well on the PSP. Something I liked that many may not: Harry has to pull out his phone to check the GPS, which is the in-game map. During the nightmare chase sequences it's quite easy to get lost, and although a waypoint is added to the map to help guide Harry towards the exit, you have to bring up the phone in real time to see it... meaning you put yourself at risk of being tackled by the monsters. It's frustrating, time consuming and cumbersome; exactly as it should be! Talk about adding tension and realism, it gets the job done perfectly.

You can't fight 'em, only run. And they're fast...

The game revolves around Harry being constantly lost or confused (or both), and SH:SM is always immersing you the gamer in his disorienting experience. The world changes around you as you play; characters come and go unexpectedly between chapters, and might age or change appearance the next time you run into them.

Areas you traverse are often open at first but blocked when Harry tries to re-access them, and to keep the tension high, the game swaps you between your real world and a nightmare, icy incarnation of Silent Hill at specific moments during the story. While the nightmare world is similar to the real world but covered in ice, paths to move between buildings or areas are completely different. Doors that open in the real world are locked or missing in the nightmare while extra doors have appeared, leading to serious confusion when deciding which way to run to escape the baddies.

The nightmare world ice effects are great, and the transitions between worlds is done perfectly.

Graphics are very good (although lacking some of the detail of the Wii/PS2 versions), the voice acting is amongst the best I've heard (tops is still Dead Space for me, but this is close), and the soundtrack is spooky, well timed and matches the mood of the game at every step. There's not a lot of memorable themes or catchy hooks in the OST, and I prefer that. I played the game with headphones on, and when the music kicks up it blends so well with the ambient sounds and environmental noises )like running on snow or Harry's breath) that you barely notice they're independent pieces. The whole audio picture is seamless, made all the better by a nice set of 5.1 headphones.

By the 75% mark I had no idea what's happening because of the dynamic way the characters and landscape evolve. Then suddenly, when I thought I had some level of predictability, things got even more obtuse at the amusement park. By the time I got to the lighthouse I had no clue what I was looking for, where I needed to go... and absolutely no idea what was about to unfold in the ending.

This is not Harry Mason. This is you after finishing the game.

This is a game that absolutely demands a replay. At roughly 6-7 hours playtime, and maybe less once you know where you're going and what to do (if that's even possible!), it's a small sacrifice to experience an amazing game like this.

FINAL WORD: The ending is perfect, and the moment the truth hits you, you realize what an absolute *masterpiece* the whole game has been, everything suddenly starts to piece itself together. I can see myself replaying this many, many times. 10/10!

STATUS: Unplayed

This was next in line after I finished Shattered Memories, but now that I've run through SM and the original PS1 SH, I'm gonna take a horror break…

STATUS: Unplayed

STATUS: Unplayed

STATUS: Unfinished

Don't know why I got this.

STATUS: Unplayed

STATUS: Unplayed

STATUS: Currently Playing
Time TO BEAT: 20h34m

What have I been missing? This is absolutely infinitely better than the old PSX version! Holy crap is this game fun, great to look at, and it does what I didn't think a Tomb Raider game could do: absolutely surpasses the puzzle/platforming/adventure game standard that TR set back in the 1990's when it first hit on PS1.

Remember this?


It looks better now

This game is so good, and since I din't remember the original game at all, for a while I tried to play the PSX and PSP versions simultaneously as a fun little comparison. By the time I finished Peru and 1 level of Greece on PSP, I didn't have the heart to simultaneously replay the PSX version- compared side-by-side, I'm amazed how poorly the old game controlled, how the blurry textures all run together and make finding important ledges and landing jumps very frustrating. Not that TR:A is perfect, there's still some missed jumps due to the camera swinging the wrong way (mainly in Greece, and even then mostly only the vertical areas where ledges are narrow), but the folks at Crystal Dynamics succeeded in remaking Tomb Raider in absolutely astounding form.

TR:A is beautiful, and every single level is better looking than the last

Let me get the good stuff out of the way first:

*Graphics are great, and really shine on the PSP Go's screen. There's jaggies here and there, and the shadow effects are minimal, but overall the graphics are beautiful. Lighting is flat out amazing, and the level of detail in the vine-filled catacombs and sparkling pools will make exploring every inch of each level a joy.
*Sound and music are top notch. You don't always notice the low rumblings and haunting murmurs in the background, but when you do notice, you realize how fantastic they fit the game. And when the awesome, fully orchestrated music kicks in, the result is instantaneous: your heart pumps faster, palms start to sweat and eyes scan the screen looking for signs of trouble. It's all so seamless, and fits the mood to a T with every note. In the class of SMG, it's that good.
*Controls, especially the camera (except those few times when it spins to some crazy angle for 'effect'), are tight and feel great. I wish Super Mario Sunshine had a camera like this! Only in rare situations did I find myself fighting the camera controls to make a quick leap or catch a tiny ledge just off screen- often because I was trying to head in a different direction for an artifact or some other item that wasn't pointing Lara towards the exit.

There's a few weaker spots here, but literally just a few. My biggest gripes were always due to missing jumps and grabs because Lara looked the other way, or was one step too far back/past the edge. I probably spent an extra hour per level due to running up to edges, jumping one step to soon and falling to my death, then restarting from the last checkpoint just to miss the same jump again. Enemies didn't help with those killer falls either; there's a few spots where you have just enough time to pull yourself up before the enemies swarm you, usually knocking you backwards and sometimes to your doom.

I'd love to play this again, the game is that good in every way. Actually, I'd love to play it on a big screen in full 1080p, but I'll take for PSP again... and won't be disappointed.

STATUS: Unfinished

Rented the Wii version a while ago, hated the controls but loved Tenchu from way back on PSX. We'll try this guy out.

STATUS: Unfinished

I might never finish this thing. It's possibly the hardest game I've ever played. Yikes!

STATUS: Unfinished

60 minutes in, but I think I like GT better

STATUS: Unplayed

STATUS: Unfinished

What can I say... I'm a sucker for racing games.