NEWS: The first 13 PSP Minis on the Playstation Store

Dan Sung — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:03:59 +0100

Puzzles, shoot-em ups, even football and all under 100MB

We were beginning to think it was never going to happen but, just like that, the PSP Go has arrived and, with it, the much anticipated PSP Minis.

There are 13 to choose from as of today, expected to grow to 50 by the end of the year. Each is no larger than 100MB and all are under ?4. So far, this is how they line up:

Alien Havoc

Price: ?3.99
Developer: CREAT Studios
Genre: Arcade

Old school action as you take on the role of an alien running round the mid-west and rounding up cattle to take on board your space ship and fly away with. Plenty of levels of fun throwing vegetables at the angry farmers trying to stop you.

Bloons

Price: ?3.49
Developer: Hands On Mobile Inc
Genre: Puzzle

It might not be as enjoyable to do it for real but there's an old equation that rings true for this game: Balloons + Darts = Destruction + Fun. Essentially, burst as many as you can and look out for special weapons.

Brainpipe

Price: ?3.99
Developer: Hands-on Mobile Inc
Genre: Arcade

Wander through the inner workings of your very own mind in your search to transcend human existence. When you're not focusing on the over-arching storyline, however, just enjoy a shoot bit of platform arcade action.

Breakquest

Price: ?2.49
Developer: Beatshapers
Genre: Break out

100 levels of vintage Archanoid-style blockbusting action featuring a glut of power ups and weaponry for a new generation.

Fieldrunners

Price: ?3.99
Developer: Subatomic
Genre: Strategy/Arcade

Heavily popular, heavy artillery tower defence game as played by thousands on the iPhone OS. Choose from a range of weaponry and different tower types to vanquish invaders across a series of levels.

Fortix

Price: ?3.49
Developer: Complete IT
Genre: Strategy/Arcade

Besiege the castle and the waiting dragons with power catapults and troops of all sorts as you battle to take back your ancestors' land.

Funky Punch

Price: ?3.49
Developer: Solus Games
Genre: Fighting

3D fighting game where dancing recharges your energy. Don't ask. Just play.

Hero of Sparta

Price: ?3.99
Developer: Gamesloft SA
Genre: Action Adventure

Hack and slash your way through this ancient Greek 3D action adventure as King Argos and wreak your hideous revenge with an assortment of weaponry at whoever gets in your way.

Kahoots

Price: ?2.49
Developer: Honeyslug
Genre: Puzzle/god game

Very much in the spirit of Lemmings, guide your little guys around from A to B by turning over blocks and putting in special spring-loaded bricks and other types of terrain.

Pinball Dreaming: Dreams

Price: ?3.99
Developer: Cowboy Rodeo
Genre

Silver ball classic from the Amiga days as ported onto the iPhone and now PSP Go too.

Puzzle Scape

Price: ?2.49
Developer: Farmind
Genre: Puzzle

Arrange, re-sort and align coloured bricks which when placed correctly will explode. Hmm, sound familiar?

Tetris

Price: ?3.99
Developer: EA
Genre: Puzzle

Which cave have you been living in?

Vempire

Price: ?3.99
Developer: Impressionware SRL
Genre: Puzzle/Strategy

Debuting on the PSP platform is this puzzle game with a strategy twist. Collected artefacts and minios to be used during the gameplay in the quest to become king of the monster empire.

NEWS: Top five PSP games to have in your collection

Dan Sung — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:55:01 +0100

Classics and soon-to-bes to download for your handheld gamer

With the PSP Go inches from the shelves and few first-timers about to get stuck in, we thought it be best to give you five ways to spend your spondoolics with maximum satisfaction. There's more games on the PlayStation store than you can shake a tree of sticks at so, if you're looking to start your collection or just checking that yours is complete, then make sure you've got the following:

5) Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords

Developer: Infinite Interacive
Genre: Puzzle/RPG
Price: ?15.99

Infinitive Interactive took mini games and turned them into the main event. As the name suggest, the action is set in the Warlords world. You pick a character with differing abilities according to morals, magic affinity and such, and take on a bunch of main and side-quests. They win you more experience and more gold that you then cash in for more content and more character customisation. The twist, of course, is that all the confrontations are taken care of in the form Bejeweled-type mini game duals to decide who the victor is. Perhaps someone could suggest the model to warring leaders of the world.

4) Wipeout Pure

Developer: SCE Studio Liverpool
Genre: Racing
Price: ?14.99

No PlayStation platform or device would be complete without one version of Wipeout or another and the pick for the PSP is Wipeout Pure. Bags of weapons, eight constructors and only one FX-300 anti-gravity race league. Despite being set 100 years later than the original game, the idea has been to get back to the old school magic. The pit lane has been dispensed with in favour of the ability to absorb your own weapons to boost your energy. The handling is also more as it used to be but, essentially, you know what it's all about - far out tracks, amazing music and Quake disrupting your way to first place.

3) Patapon 2

Developer: SCE Japan Studio
Genre: Strategy/Rhythm
Price: ?19.99

Essentially a strategy/god game with a twist, the name Patapon refers to both your loyal tribe of tooled-up eyeball warriors and also the drum beats you need to enter correctly to control their actions on the battlefield. This second version has added a four-way multiplayer option over Wi-Fi and has been described as a "must have" for any PSP owner, so you'd better go and must have it then.

2) Dissidia: Final Fantasy

Developer: Square Enix
Genre: RPG
Price: Released imminent

Celebrating over 20 years of the renowned series that has shipped over 85 million units worldwide, Dissidia Final Fantasty brings together the largest collection of FF characters ever in a fighting-styled game where players can choose their allegiance between good and evil. It's one of the world's most popular RPG franchises. Heroes and villains of the series collide in a war that threatens to tear the universe apart. Action-packed gameplay and character customisation move to another level with full-on blockbuster audio and visual presentation on the handheld. Lovely game.

1) Monster Hunter Freedom Unite

Developer: Capcom
Genre: MMORPG
Price: ?24.99

With a huge following in Japan and an ever-growing cult status over here, the latest incarnation of the franchise does not disappoint. Monster Hunters can prepare for the ultimate fight by customising their character and creating thousands of armour sets and weapons to assist them on hundreds of different quests to track down and slay the toughest bosses out there. Players can embark on hunts alone with their cat like Felyne companion or as a team in up to four-player ad-hoc mode to complete more challenging quests. An excellent and hopelessly addictive way to lose 100 hours of time without so much as blinking.

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NEWS: The first 13 PSP Minis on the Playstation Store

NEWS: Top five PSP games to have in your collection