When Diner Dash was introduced to PC gamers a long while back, it was a game that gave you a peek at the life of a busy restaurant owner/waitress trying to keep her eatery afloat while satisfying all her hungry customers. Its appealing gameplay style had that old school charm and its fast-paced puzzle gaming action made serving food so much fun. Diner Dash: Sizzle & Serve has come to the PSP as well as the Nintendo DS for those who have been waiting for a portable version of this enjoyable game. Still, on Sony’s handheld, the game just isn’t as appetizing as the DS version of the game.
This week brought Virtual Toys Wiiware title Yummy Yummy Cooking Jam to the PSP. So the big question is how a motion controlled game converts to the PSP’s more traditional controls. Obvious care and attention would be needed to make it work. Unfortunately, cooking Jam needed a little more time in the oven.
On first impressions the game idea seems pretty neat, though from there it just goes downhill. Being in charge of different restaurants ranging from a pizza joint to a taco place are all a little too similar. You run through all the same motions in each of the restaurants all the while hoping for something more. The game could have been so much fun if only they changed a few minor things.
The Gauntlet provides an entertaining way to understand the game, its concepts, and its high-level strategies. The mode takes the player through scenarios that address specific combat fundamentals, from weapon ranges, Ukemi (a way to get up off the ground safely), to character match-ups. A player must find a solution in a matter of seconds, sort of like a WarioWare minigame, in which you need to be thinking fast. Gauntlet highlights include Astaroth's scenario, an ingenious mission dealing with his mix-up strategies based on poorly-anticipated Ukemi, as well as Tira's and Ivy's missions, both accessible and fun ways to learn the characters' effectiveness at different ranges.
EA Sports' boxing franchise makes its handheld debut with Fight Night Round 3 on the PSP. Rather than attempting to cram a full port of the PlayStation 2 version of the game onto the smaller format, EA Chicago has built an entirely different game, specific to the PSP. The incorporation of some of the better elements of the console versions of Round 2 and Round 3, along with the addition of some all-new features, makes the PSP version a competent boxing game that doesn't make too many sacrifices for the sake of portability. Unfortunately, the sacrifices that are made will be sorely obvious to fans of the series, and the resulting experience is somewhat disappointing.
Released just in time to cash in on the theatrical release of Shrek the Third, Shrek the Third for the PSP is more compelling as a brand marketing bullet point than it is as an actual video game. Unsurprisingly, the PSP version of Shrek the Third is little more than a straight port of the console version, though with fewer multiplayer options and dumbed-down presentation. While there are certainly worse movie-license games out there, Shrek the Third still feels slapdash and thoughtless. Its function to entertain is overwhelmed by its function to make money.
Angry Birds is probably the most successful game the mobile market has seen, and it's not hard to understand why. Designed for short bursts of gaming, Angry Birds is simple and fun -- fling a bird with the on-screen slingshot to destroy the structure in front of you and attack the evil pigs living in and around said structure. Get points, destroy stuff, and be entertained.
He's not the darling of the gaming industry that he once was, but there's no denying that Pac-Man is probably one of the most recognizable video game characters around today. Just as long as there are consoles and handhelds out there to make games for, you can be sure that this yellow ball with eyes and a smile will make new appearances every generation. This brings us to Pac-Man World 3 for the PSP, a 3D platformer that takes the console game of the same name, and puts it in the palm of your hands.
