Filed under: Mega Man, Fan Stuff

Don’t you want a new Mega Man game for PSP? Make it happen! A new Capcom poll asks fans which platform should be graced with a brand new Mega Man. Considering this is PSP Fanboy, you should know what to pick. Please use the handy guide, pictured above, when considering your vote.

[Via PSPHyper]

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Filed under: Tales of…

If you love 2D gaming as much as most RPG fanatics who buy handhelds do (seriously, it’s practically the only medium left to see it on if you don’t count Nippon Ichi’s continued support of 2D niche titles on consoles), then you’ll probably salivate over the Tales of Rebirth gallery we’ve compiled for you. Taken from the official Japanese website, you can get an idea of what to expect — a 3D map a la Symphonia with 2D battles a la Phantasia, Destiny, and Eternia/Destiny 2. While our review for Tales of the World wasn’t exactly glowing, we still stand behind the franchise as a decent RPG experience and Rebirth might be the best Tales experience next year. Enjoy the gallery!

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Filed under: Reviews, Tales of…

Games in the Tales franchise are about a dime a dozen anymore, but did you know back in the day they sold incredibly poorly and were incredibly niche? I know that, because since the very first Tales title hit US shores, I was hooked and looked forward to every sequel, until they started to seemingly grow on trees. The latest title to make its way to our PSP is Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology and we’ve got quite a few things to say about this game: how does it stack up against the other titles, what does it bring new to the table, and most importantly, does it suck? This review hopes to cover all these bases and more.

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A more appropriate way to title Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology would be Tales All-Stars. It’s not so much a new Tales game, rather, it pulls a weak story together about a creature destroying worlds and you, the main character, born from the Life Tree to put a stop to it. Inexplicably, in this world you are born into, different characters from a plethora of Tales games make appearances to team up with you and explore a handful of dungeons. The characters are part of a group named Ad Libitum (get it?) and their purpose is to help people, via quests. Yep, a quest-based, dungeon-crawling Tales All-Stars. The absolute best way to describe this game would be a mix between Grandia Xtreme and Final Fantasy XII, plus all the Tales battle-system treats we’ve come to moderately enjoy. It’s a weird mix of games and the result is shaken, not stirred.

Let’s take it from the top. You create your own character, which I like. You give them a gender, a hair color, a voice, and a class, basically. I actually have zero complaints with the character creation system because, while not the most intense creation system known to man, it works. An added touch is the fact every piece of equipment you buy will change your appearance — a perk we can’t pinpoint in history, but mostly recognize the touch from Legend of Legaia. It’s a fantastic touch and bravo to Namco Bandai for implementing it. The class system is only as varied as most MMORPG’s out there: Thief, Warrior, Mage, and Priest to start with, then the addition of elite classes later on like Fighter or Swordsman. Switching classes comes with a price: your experience level resets for each class, much like the love-it-or-hate-it MMO Final Fantasy XI. You keep your experience level for each class, but every one will initially start you back at level one.

As I said, the game is much more of a Tales All-Stars game, so right away long-time fans are going to get a much bigger kick from the title than RPG or Tales newbies. Having Stahn fight alongside someone like Raine or Lloyd is entertaining, even more so when odd conversations happen between characters from different games. It’s a lot of fun for vets of the franchise, but it gives nothing to new players to really latch onto. The story is weak at best, but most of the Tales games have had similar stories … except for Tales of Destiny. The writing style and tone of that game is very distinct from the later installments. They loved exclamation points. But that’s another discussion for another day.

Visually, the game is average. Tales games never have pushed the limits of any system and Radiant Mythology is no exception. If the game were set in, say, high-res 2D, we’d sing a different tune, but they chose to keep up with the battle system from Symphonia and Abyss — a strange 2D/3D hybrid that only works some of the time. As far as memory serves, no Tales battle system has really done it for me beyond Tales of Eternia (that’s Tales of Destiny 2 in the US). The side-scroller formation was unique and refreshing, but now it just feels like a stale Star Ocean rip off. And I don’t like Star Ocean. Horrid dialogue. Oops, another discussion for yet another day. Outside of battle, though, the camera actually works well in dungeons. I hardly had to recenter it, or use the awkward R-trigger+D-pad to rotate it. It was strange to have to swap between the nub and the D-pad from the field to battle, but that’s a minor gripe at best.

As you play the game, you’ll start taking on quests to drive the story ahead. These quests work a lot like quests in any game with quests — take the job, talk to the client, complete the task, report to client, get reward. It’s tedious since you can only take one job at a time and a lot of them are complete throwaways. “What’s that, you want three rocks? Lucky for you, I have fifteen. Let’s go do another job with the same parameters, but different items!” Yep, a lot of jobs are item collections. Other tasks include delivery (in dungeons or just around town), or extermination (”We’re overrun by Generic Monster R! If we kill 4, we should magically be fine!”). Nothing spectacular, but there’s not really much else to do. Our gripe is that for the first few hours of the game, you can’t form a party. You’re on your own and it can really, really suck if you chose a class other than Warrior or Thief. Once you can form a party, though, things pick up and the game gets radically easier.

Tales All-Stars is an interesting game if you’re really itching to see some of your old favorites again (although I’m damn sure Reid worked better with an axe than a sword), even if you can’t change their equipment. If you haven’t played a Tales game, but are interested in the mechanics behind it, you should stay away from this iteration. It shows what I feel is the weakest battle system (next to Legendia), a paltry storyline, an annoying quest system and a dungeon crawl where the dungeons aren’t even randomly generated (a blessing for some, an ailment for others). Do I dislike the game? Hell no; I can hardly put it down long enough to write this review and it certainly makes me want to play the old games again. Do I recommend the game to people who aren’t as avid an RPG fan as me? Hell no again.

Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology is a good game for long time fans, giving a large selection of characters from the best Tales games. Making your own character into what you desire is the most fun aspect besides some of the more challenging battles. Though the other RPG’s on the PSP aren’t stellar, this game ranks right up with the better ones. Pick it up when it’s cheap to get some quick action, but don’t expect anything to blow you away, even if you’re a long-time fan.

PSP Fanboy Score: 7.0

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Filed under: Fan Stuff

Next time you’re in the Netherlands, you may want to carry a PSP around. These models were part of Amsterdam Fashion Week, and were seen showcasing Sony’s handheld, Go!Cams attached. While we’re not sure if owning a PSP will make hordes of models flock to your side, we say it couldn’t hurt to try.

[Thanks, Robert!]

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We’re pretty sure that no one calls the PSP a failure anymore. In fact, over the past few months, as more and more games release on our handheld, we’ve seen less and less flame comments from rabid DS fans — maybe they realized that two handhelds can happily coexist?

Courtesy of GamePro, here’s a list of the ten worst selling handhelds of all time. Thankfully, Sony’s PSP is nowhere close to being on the list:

• Gizmondo (<25,000 sold)
• Zodiac (<200,000)
• Game.com (<300,000)
• Lynx (<500,000)
• Nomad (1 million)
• NEC Turbo Express (1.5 million)
• Neo-Geo Pocket (2 million)
• GBA Micro (2.5 million)
• N-Gage (3 million)
• Game Gear (11 million)

PSP has sold at least twice the amount of the Game Gear, and with the redesign coming out later this year, the system will sell plenty more. (Too bad the Neo-Geo Pocket didn’t do as well …)
[Via digg]

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Filed under: News

During a recent EA share holder meeting, EA let slip that they are currently working on Godfather 2. Frank Gibeau of EA Games said “The appeal of those types of games is growing as the demographics start to open up for that older demographic. We make products like Godfather 2, Army of Two, Crysis- a lot of products that appeal to that older customer”. No platforms were listed for the Godfather’s return, but given EA’s tendency to go multi-platform in a big way with most of their titles, it’s likely Godfather 2 would end up on PSP. The question is, do PSP gamers care? Did you like the original Godfather? What would you like to see improved in Godfather 2?

[Via Gamasutra]

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We’re pretty sure that no one calls the PSP a failure anymore. In fact, over the past few months, as more and more games release on our handheld, we’ve seen less and less flame comments from rabid DS fans — maybe they realized that two handhelds can happily coexist?

Courtesy of GamePro, here’s a list of the ten worst selling handhelds of all time. Thankfully, Sony’s PSP is nowhere close to being on the list:

• Gizmondo (<25,000 sold)
• Zodiac (<200,000)
• Game.com (<300,000)
• Lynx (<500,000)
• Nomad (1 million)
• NEC Turbo Express (1.5 million)
• Neo-Geo Pocket (2 million)
• GBA Micro (2.5 million)
• N-Gage (3 million)
• Game Gear (11 million)

PSP has sold at least twice the amount of the Game Gear, and with the redesign coming out later this year, the system will sell plenty more. (Too bad the Neo-Geo Pocket didn’t do as well …)
[Via digg]

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Filed under: Reviews, PaRappa the Rapper

We all have fond memories of PaRappa the Rapper when he first arrived on PlayStation 1 a decade ago. Now, our beloved rapping puppy is back on the PSP. However, nostalgia doesn’t make a good game. Although PaRappa fathered the modern music game genre, it simply doesn’t offer enough content or gameplay to compete with modern games.

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The problems with PaRappa the Rapper on PSP are clear from the get-go, many of which aren’t forgivable considering its full retail price. Were the game a downloadable title off the PlayStation Store, its flaws would be far more forgivable. Unfortunately, players are expected to pay full price that is barely enhanced over the original.

In terms of presentation, we were frustrated by the presentation of the cinematics. These endearing and charming sequences tell the story of PaRappa’s quest for love, and they certainly retain much of their appeal. Unfortunately, the video is bordered on all edges, and still remains poorly compressed. We wish that Sony could’ve remastered these sequences to take advantage of the full resolution of PSP’s magnificent screen. Rather, we’re given video that takes up less than half of the PSP’s screen … it simply doesn’t look good.

The menus are hard to navigate as it strays far from conventional design. Instead of having a universal forward and back button (usually X and O respectively), the game has players navigating to specific options and then pressing a context-sensitive button. Certainly, not very intuitive.

The actual gameplay leaves a lot to be desired, as well. Each level has PaRappa following the lead of a rap master. PaRappa must repeat the button presses that appear on top of the screen. There are a couple of problems inherent with this style of play: firstly, the PSP’s widescreen isn’t utilized to give players viewing room for the button commands. In the later songs, the game abruptly throws buttons at the player, with absolutely no lead time. We don’t mind games that test reflexes, but this feels more like memorization than actually following a rhythm. Were the full width of the screen utilized, we think this problem might’ve been resolved. In addition, there isn’t immediate confirmation of whether or not your button commands were timed right. Rather, at the end of a sequence, an audio signal will tell players of their performance. Without immediate response from the game, it’s hard to know where the player failed. Modern music games, like DDR give players a clear, constant signal of their performance.

The gameplay hasn’t aged very well, but the music has — the various songs in the soundtrack are still enjoyable, retaining a simple charm. Unfortunately, there isn’t too much to listen and play through. Even novice gamers will be able to beat the game in about half an hour — the half a dozen songs in the game feel like a tease, making the game much too brief. At $30, the game simply doesn’t offer enough music. Sure, players will be able to download additional tracks, but they’re slight variations of the same music in the game — don’t expect to download brand-new levels. These alternate mixes don’t carry the same weight as their originals, and don’t provide nearly enough “newness” to the game.

Overall, we recommend against buying PaRappa the Rapper on PSP, at least at the price it’s currently being offered. If the PSP game included the sequel on the same UMD, it would’ve been a much better value. However, with less than an hour of antiquated gameplay, we can’t say PaRappa offers much. If you’re looking for a music game on PSP, might we suggest the sublime Gitaroo-Man Lives! instead?

PSP Fanboy score: 4.0

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Filed under: Loco Roco

In an interview with Joystiq at Develop conference, LocoRoco director Tsutomu Kouno confirmed that a LocoRoco sequel was certainly going to arrive on PSP, in addition to the recently unveiled PS3 “extra chapter.” Kouno revealed to Joystiq that “I’m thinking about a sequel for the PSP right now. I got a lot of feedback from players that they bought a PSP just to play Loco Roco so I feel like I have to make a sequel for them.”

The full interview will arrive on Joystiq later this week.

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Filed under: News, Video

First there was LEGO Star Wars, and it drew acclaim for being a licensed game from the light side. Then LEGO Batman was announced, and LEGO fans got a smile on their face bigger than the Joker’s. Now LEGO game fans can look forward to LEGO Indiana Jones. The teaser above certainly showcases the charms of Indiana Jones, while keeping the silly demeanor of the previous LEGO games. Our favorite part of the trailer had to be Indy’s varying stubble. That’s one gritty LEGO man.

LEGO Indiana Jones hits stores next summer. Check out the official website for more info.

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