Welcoming the newest Mascot to the tasty family … Snesly, who now alongside Mr Tasty will be a constant and familiar face to all you loyal tasty folk. Expect to see more from these tiny tasty people and with more soon to arise on the not too distant horizon.
Plus a quick update as you know I like to keep you all in the loop, having hit a lil’ Snagfoo with PS3 Gameplay capture, I will be moving onto some earlier games back to the Gamecube and too the PS2 for a while as I attain the required splitter I need. Look forward to hearing more exciting tales in my gaming adventures in the very near and dear future my chums.
Another Pokemon review here just in time for Pokemon Legend Arceus release in a couple of days, and safe to say it’s not even close to being the last one. Aren’t you all so lucky? Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are remakes of the 2007 original DS titles. On the surface they are the same game, even bypassing the slight changes that came from Platinum which I’d argue is one of the best Pokemon games of all time and eras, up there with Crystal and Emerald.
We once again return to the Sinnoh region and this time artistically it’s a fresh full fleshed out chibi style, which at it’s core is an updated version of how it used to look, just not as flat in places. For me I actually like that they went with this style for the remaster instead of the slightly more realistic approach of the Sword and Shield. It makes the world feel bigger than originally it was and makes for how it should’ve looked back in 2007. All the while making the terrain edges of the map feel like there is a bigger world out of the linear path you tread on your journey. What has let it down is the unevenness of the graphics as they aren’t as crisp and whimsical as the Links Awakening Remake. Which looks incredible! Some bits like the water graphics look better than the world around it, and even has better physics on it when using surf than a lot of other minute details. Then when you enter a battle the chibi style is dropped and becomes fully rendered like Sword and Shield. This makes for the battles to seem larger and more engaging which is good but it’s an odd choice. Not to mention everyone’s floors are highly shiny and reflective, for no real reason, always making the inside of buildings seem peculiar.
Gym battle against VolknerThe new HM system.
The gameplay is as fun as it ever was, and brings back the more traditional style of gameplay which the series has slowly been shifting away from. It does bring back the full party EXP share, and this seems way more giving than normal as well. Fielding a high level team for the entire game is of no worry. You will always be way above, level wise which is and isn’t a problem depending on where you stand with it. Also one use TM’s make their return, rather then the unlimited uses of later games. This also brings back HM’s but you no longer need them to be taught they are added to your Poketch and can be triggered as long as you have the relevant gym badge and a wild pokemon will do the move for you. Which I think is a welcome addition as before you would always have to catch a shitty low levelled Pokemon to become a HM sap and have to waste a valuable slot on your team to use flash once, creating a deep inconvenience.
To make the game feel more personal as well, once you reach Veilstone you can go clothes shopping and change your style up and dress your character how you want, instead of the same clothes all the time. You can have a Pokemon of your choice follow you around as well. The size and quality of the walking animation is to be deservedly questioned. I mean having a only 5 foot Deity of time trundling behind you is a strange at the best of time, instead of the towering behemoth it’s supposed to be, but even more strange that no one seems to give a shit a legendary Pokemon just ate some poffins in front of your house. This probably comes from what I can only assume is the booming economy in the world of Pokemon, from everyone giving you fairly expensive TM’s, items and even team galactic paying you once you’ve beaten them. Cause nothing says world domination then a battle wagered moral compassion. Everyone is just too happy most of the time it would seem.
The Floaty God of TimeCan use the touchscreen to spruce your dirty gym badges up.
One returning feature that did make me very happy as I spent a questionable amount of time on this back in my youth is the explorer kit. This along with Dive are two things that have needed to be brought back since before the 3DS titles started to drop. This time the underground system has been expanded. As you run around doing the usual digging for gems, and occasional fossil you now have little caves that act like an overworld with wild pokemon walking about. This can allow you to catch slightly rarer Pokemon without being in the habitat of them and makes for easier shiny hunting if you are into that.
Digging for them gems is a fun pass time, when furiously stabbing the screen.The cave overworld is a real nice touch.
A certified 8/10 a Highly Tasty Game.
You can see the moment I finally beat the absolute shit that is this Garchomp.
It’s a very fun game still, using all the same old Pokemon formula which has had a nice glow up and quality of life enhancements. Even having two features that are touch screen as seemingly every other switch game has forgotten that is possible. This all adds up for a stellar remake that falls a tad flat as it does absolutely nothing new, I mean this isn’t a bad thing as it is a remake but for a full priced remake you expect a little bit more, adding the fan favourite mega evolutions would’ve been a nice touch. Or even if it just looked a little bit better graphically. None of this takes away from the fun of saving the Sinnoh region and once the National Dex is unlocked you have a island which does allow for many past Legendaries to be caught. So all in all it’s well worth revisiting these classics remade anew.
Well where to begin with this review. It took me a bit longer than usual to sit down and complete this game. Having originally owned it since it came out in 2019, and put it down around chapter 5. This time though I made sure to just stick with it and I’m so glad I did. I haven’t enjoyed a game as much as this since Ghost of Tsushima back in July 2020. Initially it does come off as a UPS simulator game but it’s so much more than that. Especially as the game progresses and the story opens up. With BB – The baby in the Jar. All the side character’s back stories, and the terrorist/Mules that are out to hinder your progress.
For the seventh generation consoles it easily boasts some of the best graphics it has to offer, and being upped to the PS5 it looks even better. The world is highly detailed and even so on the graphically rendered characters who are predominantly based on really people. Sam Porter Bridges is played be Norman Reedus, Fragile by Lea Seydoux, Cliff by Mads Mikkelsen to name a few. With the biggest change coming from the dual sense additions, with all the haptic feedback coming through, so every step on all the different types of terrain you’ll traverse all individually feel unique. What adds to this is the speaker on the controller as well, from the crunching of the snow, or the sound of running water in the streams you can cross.
The game takes place in a sort of post apocalyptic style world. The world is riddled with voidouts where a giant BT appears and basically nukes an area killing everyone on site. You as Sam have the task of crossing the country linking everywhere up via the chiral network to rebuild the nation of America. Without going into too much detail and ruining the story for those who have yet to play it, BT’s are Beached things and are creatures that come from the Beaches that everyone get’s when they die which opened up with the first death stranding. Which bought along with it the timefall, which is a rain storm that ages everything it touches. So Sam as a porter is tasked in delivering parcels to those that need it whilst reconnecting the broken world.
The second area and the main base of the game initially seems huge due to all the walking, but as you head up to the mountains you get into a snowy setting complete with snow storms. With the gorgeous landscapes with the mountains in the distance, they’ll you will eventually have to tackle and the finer details of ruined highways and desolate buildings in a rusted grassland.The game online functionality means that any thing other players have built will pop up in your world which once connected everywhere up to the chiral network become available to you, making your life easier. Which is great as with the timefall degenerates everything it touches, including the cargo you carry on your back.
All the upgrades and unlocks in this game are designed to help you and make your life easier. Everything works off likes, any building/centre that can be connected to the chiral network awards likes on deliveries they recieve, with them having a max of a 5 star connections with Sam, as they increase it unlocks new blueprints which could be better boots, new weapons, vehicles or even exo-skeleton type legs which make you run faster. Or even interviews, new music. And as you go on about your day you get mail which along with the interviews fills in more details of the world. The best thing to build and invest early on as soon as you can at chapter three though is roads. With certain terrains being a nightmare to drive over having a near direct route to use can be nothing short of a life saver. This goes along with timefall shelters as naturally there isn’t many areas to get out of the rain and it does constantly get worse as the game progresses. The only thing worse than the rain is the snow which is worse in every way.
In an odd sense this is one of the only games I’ve played that comes off peaceful as you play. This is due mainly to the excellent music score and in game music player thats available to you. Which is strange as at any time the BT’s could drag you into a tar pit and make you fight a catcher with is basically a giant tar/liquid Squid or lion like creature. Not to mention the mule areas which are basically weaponized theives after your cargo, and they will mercilessly track you down if you ping in their territory.
In terms of story it doesn’t start to get too spicy until chapter 9, this is the point where everything you’ve done and unlocked starts to all interlink and make sense. As BB (the bridge baby you have which is a baby in a jar which is connected to the beach so they can allow you to see the BT’s which are otherwise invisible to you.) gives you intermittent flashbacks which all tie into the main story of it all which is rescuing Amelie (Sam’s sort of step sister) at Edge Knot city the furthest away Bridge station in America. The main story is highlighted by the Mo-capped and acted performances for most of the main characters, which in my opinion is what really carries the flow of the game as it is a rich story driven experience, and at times can plod along a tad, as it isn’t the most action filled game in existence, this doesn’t mean it lacks action though. This is exemplified by chapter 3 which is by far the longest chapter and the game doesn’t really get going until you’ve completed the final delivery for that chapter. Even still you can still get into shootouts, boss fights and the war sections are super impressive, and the stealth mechanics to try and avoid the BT’s all add for a varied game across the board.
Ultimately this game was designed to make everything you do help later on in game. As on the chiral network to aid in your deliveries as everything is connected to the same grid, everyhting is battery powered. So for easier traversal you can make; bridges, genertors to charge up on the go, timefall shelters, pop up safe houses,ziplines and even parcel catapults. These all stay where they’ve been built but can corrode over time so resources will have to be used to fix them again. You can even leave little signs up which affect you as well, from likes, restoring stamina even a boost when driving. But the most helpful would be the little warnings to show your in BT territory or it’s a place of heavy timefall.
I would write up about the negatives but from how much I enjoyed my play through I hardly found any massive ones to mention. Theres a few small iffy things, shooting isn’t as crisp as it could be, driving can be a bit off especially in the trucks and occasionally some tedious deliveries. But I found the story so engrossing that it didn’t bother me enough to stop wanting to play. With the ever expanding improvements on all your equipment and new equipment you could build, the game never stumbled or got harder as such just smoother.
Honestly I’d certify this game nothing short of a 10/10, real fuckin’ Tasty.
This game in my opinion is just shy of a masterpiece of gaming up there with the likes of the Witcher 3 and God of War 2018, it’s visually impressive with a rich interesting story which could’ve only come from Hideo Kojima. A really unique and fun game to play and get accustomed to all of the interesting mechanics, which over time only add to the overall experince. It’s also fairly hard to write a review on this game without spoiling any of the story as everything is so interwoven that culminates perfectly in the last two chapters that any small detail could give too much away. I can’t recommend this game enough though if you haven’t played it yet.
P.S – I forgot to record any game play for pics as I was too busy playing it, so if you Google it I’m sure you’ll be able to see a lot of what I was on about.
A new review for the new year, and obviously not one of the previously mentioned games. But rest assured they are still coming. This time round it’s the juiced up version of Gear Club Unlimited 2, the Ultimate edition for the PS5. Originally a Nintendo Switch exclusive back in 2019, they re-released this updated version with all the previous DLC and add-ons that had dropped for it.
On the surface this game is identical to the switch game. The same map, cars, events and cartoon character dialogue that gives the game a bit of a story. With the added bonus of decent load times, as the Switch’s can drag for a few minutes on the inital load, on the flip side though the graphics have been amped up cross the board. The cars look more polished and shinier. The smaller details of dirt flecks and sparks on collision are richer and more noticeable. The in game world in races seem bigger. I think that comes from better draw distances, more foliage and the open roads being seemingly wider. Where it looks best though is in the visually improved car garages and the performance workshop. This is where the hardware really shows its power boost over the switch. However for even last gen game on PS4 it’s still not all round up to scratch, still looking outdated on the scenery as you whizz round the races. One thing it does particularly badly is the lighting especially out of a tunnel , it’s so bright as you exit it you feel as if your car is being birthed by God themselves it’s so blinding. And I’m not one to moan too much about frame rates as more often than not it doesn’t really affect gameplay that much for me, but in gear club it can be choppy as fuck. Randomly stuttering in a corner or shadows appearing whimsically like the sun is playing peek-a-boo for shits and giggles.
The switch version’s D3 Garage.The PS5 equivalent.
The A.I on opponents does feel improved as well, but again not in every aspect, if your car’s performance level is lower than the top three it can pose a more engaging race. But once you’ve upgraded your car enough you just shit on everything. The main opponents in the A,B,C,D ranked races which also locks the cars you can buy by rank difficulty within the races are sporadic to say the least. With the same car, one race you’ll leave them hundreds of yards behind then the next you’ll struggle to catch up, even if you car is better. They run like a scalextric with random boosts dotted around and only for them. They are also not affected by the dirt and snow like you which obviously slows you down if you go off track. The main gammy part for me though is the car turning, your car is just so rigid in turns it’s mad. Not to mention the odd aggression of the other drivers, who will just ram you into oblivion if you are on the racing line.
However it’s not all doom and gloom, the game itself is pretty fun. With every track being different, with different surfaces to tackle, and a variety of different modes; laps, sprints, last man standing and time trials. The driving itself isn’t too bad either with decent handling and responsiveness that comes along with a good racing line to follow if you need it, and with good assists options you can opt to turn off or up. I’d recommend turning off steering and brake assist leaving the lowest option for anti-skid on because of how upgrading works too much power will make you kick out on certain tracks. The highlight of the game for me, being the workshop, which you can customise your own garage like a working race team. You buy different upgrade stations, so performance for engine, tyre workshop for brakes and tyre’s obviously. Rally station to make you car rally worthy, so on and so forth. There is one big but though, each upgrade is expensive as is the actual part upgrades, I mean some paint’s will cost you $48,000. You don’t start winning big money until the C3 championships. So upgrading can be a ball ache. Even with the optional events dotted around, as you have to spend to upgrade older cars you were using. It takes a while but it does even out . In game there are over 50 fully licensed cars. Which isn’t a lot for certain racing games but the selection is good, with the like’s of; BMW,Mercedes,Porsche,Pagani,Bugatti etc. You will never not have a nice looking super car at your disposal. With a modest amount of customisation available to you, you get make your cars more to your design, unless it’s a special livery in which case you can’t do shit.
Dull and not as polished on the switch.Much better lighting and clarity within the PS5.
The game comes with online multiplayer, clubs which give you timed events to participate in and get specific rewards usually decals for your car so nothing major. The two big DLCs that come with it are the Porsche series which works a little differently and you are given a car to use, and at the end of the championship it gets auto-upgraded dependant on where you finish, with the final one being the grand prize of a Porsche 911 type 930. You also have the endurance tracks that adds the Le mans course and another upgrade station to make your cars track racers instead and through that you can win the Ford GT40. This is more like a simulation then the rest of the game. Think Gran Turismo light as you have tyre wear and fuel consumption.
A tad fuzzy and grainy in comparison to the shot on the PS5A nice action shot if I do say so, showing off the motion blur and better landscape on the PS5.
The only other in game option you get is off-road racing which to me should be a separate part of the game with it’s own dealerships and cars, as at the moment it works by paying to have a Separate rally upgrade list and spec for the some car you are already using. It just doesn’t make sense to me, when you could be running rally championships with the ability to mess with your cars set up which to me would be a fun extra.
Overall I’d certify this game a very strong 6/10, Suitably Tasty.
For me this polished version is the ground level that can be built upon for the future entries of the series. Increase the amount of car’s available, add an arcade type option so you can set up your own races. Improve the smaller parts of the game engine, frame rate, lighting and add to the performance shop make that a real sim like game in it’s own right, as building up your own team and getting the right upgrades would be welcomed addition to the racing genre. As it stands, it’s a fun racer that’s easy to pick up and put down at a whim, with slight balancing issues with opponents and how much upgrades cost. Fix that and add to the replay value along with more customisation options especially in the rim/body department and honestly this could easily turn into a great racing franchise.
A belated Happy New Year to you all and many good wishes for the future. I’d have done it sooner but, meh.
On the subject of the future, here at Tastygaming, much is on the horizon. As we speak I am reviewing about 100 games at the same time as I seem to have an undiagnosd attention disorder it would seem, well potentially. Anyhow I have obtained many useful gizmos and gadgets, nearly completing the basic requirements I need to expand this adventure. With more news on that coming imminently.
I am working on games from the PS5, Switch, GBA, PS3 and I’ll probably be on the PS2 and Xbox in no time at all as well, because why the fuck not. I personally don’t believe in reviewing a game if I don’t complete it or sink many, many hours into it, which mixed in with my job and life makes for a much slower progress then I’d like. Also makes for an absolutely sickening amountof backlogged games, unstarted, unfinished and unloved.
But fear not, as a sneak peak treat I’ll throw some juicy names out of upcoming reviews for you, my loyal readers, to be excited for and get those loins tingling. Another Pokemon game, Brilliant Diamond to be precise, Death Stranding directors cut – utter masterpiece of a game, but that is for another time. Like 2 weeks I’d guess. And not forgetting Golden Sun, and Dante’s Inferno. Much for me to get my teeths sunk into.
If you are intending to follow me I should pre-warn you that I do love me a Pokemon game, as with racing, Monster Hunter and JRPGs, so expect many of those to be played and reviewed on here. With the new final fantasy IP, Gran Turismo 7 out in the coming months I am to be a busy boy. So strap in and hold firm my tasty ones, 2022 has come and by the God above, it’s the year of the tasty!
The day has finally come, it may have taken weeks, nay, months to finally finish and review this game. But the day has finally come. Everything here is moving a bit slower due to work and the looming shadow of Christmas on the very near horizon. So strap in this will probably be a long one, sorry, well I’m not really that sorry.
Pokemon Colosseum for me is still a childhood favourite, I’d even go as far as to say it’s my favourite Gamecube game, and that still holds even after replaying this past week.
This game does many of the same things as any other Pokemon game, but it does differ majorly as soon as you get to your first battle in Outskirt Stand in the Orre region which is only used in this game and XD Gale of Darkness. For starters this game all battles are double battles.
Starting with the two best Eevee evolutions, Umbreon and Espeon.
You don’t get to pick your starter Pokemon this time round, you start with a level 25 Espeon and 26 Umbreon. With the former being your best friend throughout this game. When you hit that sweet level 36 and unlock psybeam, life will truly become good.
Throughout the battles, as the area zooms in giving the world a bigger feel, and the battle seemingly more epic., the animations on the pokemon themselves are what really shine. Some of the moves still hold up animation wise, others not so much. But the movement leading up to the attack and the ragdoll on impact real sell the fight.
The game officially starts when you reach the first proper city, Phenac city. As you meet up with Yuki as I named her from the list but canonically known as Rui and you as Wes. Where you are informed she can see strange shadows coming off pokemon. Which leads onto runnig into the villians of the game. After a brief cutscene with Miror B and fighting his Peons. It gives way to the coolest feature of this game, Pokemon snagging. As there is no open/wild areas in this game your Pokemon party will be packed out by stealing others. As in a twist from the opening scene it turns out you stole the Snag machine from team Snagem and you use to be a member of them. What a twist, right? The snag machine turns a normal pokeball into a thieving type ball, this works on all the different variations that unlock as the game goes on.
Miror B, the first hurdle of the game and absolute monstrosuty of a person.The snag animation is just the absolute balls, it just looks slick as fuck.
I’d love to put in some vids here but alas, at my websites current level I cannot, but one day soon I shall be able too and who knows I may return to add them in, but probably not. Anyhow, the game furthers parts of the story through news updates on the flashing Tv’s which helps along the plot and what’s what. Another part what differs massively from the usual Pokemon formula is that this game is slightly more realistic and dark. The world is more detailed then usual and the fact is Shadow pokemon are artificially created when they close of the pokemons heart which allows them to attack people. And on top of that you just dead-ass steal other people’s pokemon mid battle.
This brings up a point i’ve never understood, it’s that you fight other trainers and the pay you for winning, fair enough. But the bad guys of each region also pay you when you beat them and foil their plan, it’s an odd morale compass the villians of the pokemon world have. But here they pay you after stealing their pokemon also, and their like, ‘oh well better luck next time.’ The fuck?. Not to mention the casual breaking and entering of all the homes you do and if you are lucky enough the owners are home and they reward you for trespassing. Truly weird.
Anyways shadow pokemon work differently in battle they don’t have an exp bar to begin with but they have a shadow count down bar or doorsto it’s heart. This depletes over time from walking,battling, and when they enter hyper-mode and you call them to snap them out of it,dropping a big chunk off.
Hyper mode here is fundamentally useless. All shadow pokemon start with one move shadow rush, standard damage but recoil damage on the user. Hyper-mode just makes it harder to hit but increases critical hit chance of it. You can only properly heal (purify) shadow pokemon in one of two ways. The first in Agate village once all the doors have been unlocked you can cure them and then they remember a new move, replacing shadow rush. They they then work/level up as normal, even evolving. Or number two use one of three in game time flutes which summon the mythical creature Celebi to purify any shadow pokemon regardless of their status. I’d recommend using them on the three legendary Beasts; Entei, Raikou and Suicune.
Celebi and Suicune. Unfortunately you can’t catch Celebi a cutscene friend only.
Now for the drawbacks, graphically not many I’d say. The walking/runninng animations are a bit wooden. People and stuff are oddly pointy but that’s more stylistic i’d assume. Gives it a more Manga style to the characters. Some of the pokemon look funky as anything, I’m looking at you Machop.
The Biggest and by far the worst is the lack of any wild area. Every town or village you go to is generally trainer heavy to make up for that which makes sense. And all the battling I’m fine with but what is a problem is there is only 48 shadow pokemon to steal, some of which are an odd choice, and level locked until they are purified which doesn’t happen for over a third of the game. Meaning more often then not your team even if a good team are trash as every boss battle you reach they are likely 4/5 levels higher and will fuck up most your team most the time. Meaning you need to be well stocked up on health items. So you spend alot which is wank with the amount you tend to win form battles. Then comes, you can only save at PC which are at PC centres and sparringly dotted about, which is anoying paired with the item limit you can carry. So you need to swap stuff around from time to time. And the absolute worst is the snag/catch rates. My good God sometimes they are utter shit. You will sometimes have your team wiped trying to catch a Yanma, Stantler or even a Delibird so nothing even worth your time, and it will be sleeping and with 1 health and 5 ultra balls later it still won’t catch.
Level grinding is hard as well, as there is only one Exp share to be found in the game, and only a few rare candies. With the low exp you win from the same trainers over and over being underlevelled without random battles as normal makes for a bad time. The best place to do this though is Mt Battle which is 100 levels of trainers and if you are willing to purify all 48 shadow pokemon in game and reach the top you get the opportunity to catch Ho-oh. Which obviously cool being the second best Legendary behind Rayquaza, is pointless as by the point you’ve done everything in the game. Other then trading to one of the GBA pokemon titles it bears no real purpose.
Whilst probably still sitting as my favourite Gamecube still, and unlikely to be dethroned at any point it pains me to give this only a 7/10. So still certified Positively Tasty. For good animations, incredibly cool snag feature. Fun and varied battling in every area, admittedly sometimes hard but engaging boss battles. But ultimately drawn back at being needlessly level locked for a good chunk of the game,lack of pokemon, and hard level grinding due to lack of wild areas and I prefer the earlier games before all party members got battle Exp like in the newer games.
Towards the end of 2005 on September the 1st, Europe was finally graced with Sony’s answer to the Nintendo DS, who had complete dominance on the handheld market since debuting the original Gameboy back in 1989/90. I mean it’s not changed even now, Nintendo still rules the handheld systems. I think this shouldn’t be the case though, as the PSP overall across it’s various models still managed to sell somewhere in the range of 80-82 million units which if you ask me is fully impressive. This still pales in comparison to the 154 million the DS shipped, ranking it the second best selling console of all time.
Both systems counted as seventh generation consoles, so they were directly battling it out against each other. Ultimately Nintendo reigned supreme in the end, namely due to attracting third party developers making it easier to make games for them. This is a shame in hindsight as to me I prefer the PSP, it had far better games, out performed the DS in every aspect outside of having 2 screens and one being a touchscreen, and complete backwards compatibility. Maybe another small one could be, having the pokemon series, but that’s more personal bias.
The PSP, was more of a multimedia player if you’d ask me, having video and audio playback, the browser meant you had some internet capabilities, not the most adept browsing experience but not the worst either. Memory storage still worked like its console counterparts, but rather than the memory cards of the PS1/2 system it uses Sony’s own memory stick pro duo flash drives. The games came on UMD optical discs and were read from in the back of the handheld system. The UMD’s also released many, many film and tv series another feature it has over the DS.
The graphic capabilities on this did vary, but I’d say it sat somewhere between late PlayStation 1 games and early Playstation 2 games, with the odd stand out game. As all consoles get those games that hold up well even years down the line. This was down to it being at the time the most powerful handheld console to date. As for those specs I won’t be getting into them at this time, but you can trust me, I wouldn’t lie to any of my devoted followers, I only speak the truth.
Over the 10 year life cycle of this majestic beast, before if was finally laid to rest in December 2014, there were various improvements with newer models being released. The first was the 1000 model, and then came the 2000 then the 3000. They only made minor adjustments each time; slimmer, brighter, better screens, bigger internal storage to make the games boot faster. As the load times in game could be pretty dire sometimes. Certain games would lag in menus and during gameplay, it can cause stuttering, and frame rate dips. So these improvements were very welcoming. Then came the PSP-Go which again was smaller and lighter, and they decided to just overhaul the design completely, so the screen slid upwards revealing the controls, which admittedly weren’t very ergonomic. It also got rid of the UMD drive as it was marketed more of a digital version. The last model was the street, which was a stripped back model of the 2000/3000 design lacking WiFi, no microphone, brightness settings etc.
The handheld itself holds and works like a DualShock in your hands with a screen wedged in the middle of the dual sticks. It does have a few draw backs. Only one analogue stick for me is the biggest meaning most games come with a fixed camera, or janky as fuck button controlling to ping it back behind your character. This isn’t ideal especially in games like Monster Hunter, Ratchet and Clank, where you could have more control to keep up with the action effectively. The Left and Right shoulder triggers as well. Not having the L2/R2 buttons that the PS2/3 had at the same time, some games didn’t port over as well or the specific version had to cut corners with it again like with the lack of the second analogue stick. These were fixed in the PS Vita the successor to the PSP. Which should’ve been the one to dethrone Nintendo, that article I’m sure will come in due course as I’m a big fan of the Vita and feel it didn’t get treated right by Sony itself. The only other nagging point i’d have is during gameplay when loading directly off the disc, the disc drive can be a tad loud, with the scratchy sound that emanates from it.
I think Sony really tried with the PSP, it upgraded the system several times, many firmware updates which all made it work better. Gave fans/collectors the opportunity to buy limited edition versions of it like the Final Fantasy or Gran Turismo special editions. It either ported or made PSP specific version of triple A titles for the system. Or just new entries in fan favourites like Daxter or Secret agent Clank, from Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank respectively. By the end of it’s life cycle there were 1,370 games which is nearly a 1000 less then the DS which was around 2,260 games. But I’d argue the DS has many games that are just trash at least the majority on PSP are big name games, and if they were on both systems the DS’s was nowhere near he level of the PSP’s.
This is another very strong 8/10 for me. So this console has been Certified Highly tasty.
To me this should have been the console to start the momentum shift in the handheld console wars, but Sony fucked itself with the Vita. It was an impressive technical piece of tech for the time, managing to bring impressive graphics to on the go gaming, with only mild set backs with load times, game lag and some shitty button controls.
Fear not my followers, I have been a tad quiet of late, due to various reasons, but I am still fully active in this blogging quest. This is just a quick one to acknowlegde i’m still here and to show what some of the new reviews could be of, whilst I finish work on my Pokemon Colosseum review (Finally!), and the PSP console one. With many more games in the queue already.
Gamecube, PS2 and PSP games added to my ever expanding library of goodness.
Whilst I continue my work behind the scenes, with the first part already completed by partnering up wth Geekshorde.com. I hope to bring you more good news coming up to the Christmas holidays.
These are my latest acquisitons that came through the post today, as I want my reviews on games here to be highly varied in that it’ll contain lesser known games, random potentially dog shit games and games I now have an excuse to pay ludicrous amounts for just to play.
Gran Turismo has long been Sony’s console flagship racing game, comparable to Microsoft’s Forza series. Gran Turismo first graced us back in 1997 on the PlayStation 1 and became the best selling PS1 game of all time. Skip to GT 4 on the PS2 then you move on to this handheld version of the franchise.
This game keeps faithful to the formula of the previous games, with a large selection of cars, over 830 to be exact. Which even by todays games car rosters is mightily impressive. This gives you the option of driving a complete shitbox Peugeot 206 around the Nurburgring or a high end super car like the Ferrari Enzo. The car list is vast but isn’t as varied as you’d hope it mainly just various Mazdas from what i can tell.
There are 35 different tracks to choice from, some are dirt and snow tracks which stop certain cars you purchase from being any use on them. Most tracks don’t come with the usual variations of them, only a couple have the short and long versions. This splits into the three different types of race you can do in game. You have basic laps, drift challenge and time trial. There is no single player campaign to be found which is interesting as many other racers on the PSP do. And arguably GT is the biggest racing name on the handheld system. The only different mode you can partake in is the driving school challenges that come it every GT game, but there’s little incentive in doing them outside of the credits you win as you don’t win a new car at the end of the tiered stages as usual.
I am fairly impressed by the graphics of this game, for the time they would’ve been pretty impressive for what it was. Even by today standards they aren’t horrendous. The car outlines are smooth, they seem to have a fair amount of detail, obviously nothing to high res. But a distinct improvement over many of the other racing games I have tested out or played recently on the PSP.
The amount of credits you win in this game is fairly giving as you can do up to 99 laps of the circuit you choose and every couple laps the amount increases, which makes buying cars slightly easier this time round. For all the cars you can buy the shop system in the game is kinda stupid. The game clocks in game days which go up on every time you complete a race. This gives you a daily deal of 4 different manufacturers to buy from. There’s no search function so you are always limited to what you can buy or just have to hope the car brand you want pops up the day you’ve got the credits for it.
Whilst the driving isn’t the best its also not too shabby, the handling is fairly decent overall. Each car does have a slight different feel to it and a decent sense of speed on the faster cars. I remapped the buttons so the left and right triggers are acceleration and braking respectively, and I prefer the D-pad on most courses, tough on some of the sharper turns and that the analogue tends to have it beat. The simulation aspect is near enough gone in the driving as well, you don’t need to worry about tire wear or pit stops for refuelling. But for an on the go, quick play sort of game it makes more sense even if you want to do one of the few courses that take like 6 minutes each on 99 laps.
One of the biggest downfalls of this game is the distinct lack of car upgrading. You only get the choice of a different colour on purchase and that’s the sum total of the customisation you can do. There is nothing else that can be done, which really does suck major ass. It gets rid of the fun of making any car you purchase truly your own. There is also no option to improve or upgrade your car, so it stays at the factory stats you purchase it as. Which makes the max 3 opponents you can race against slightly boring, especially if you select on the race options to race only against the same car as yours, it just becomes an never ending battle of first and second place with you always gaining the lead in the same corner.
7/10 Certified Positively Tasty.
A good selection of cars and tracks, with a good prize pool which allows for a sizeable easy to get car collection, only hampered by its lack of customisation and no single player campaign.
Where to start with this one, Need For Speed Undercover on the PSP, I had this game many, many years ago and unfortunately it isn’t as good as I remember. It’s still a fun little game, but comparatively to other games of the time it’s still lacking even for a handheld game.
The graphics aren’t the best but that’s to be expected, the jaggedy edges of the cars do stick out, however this could be more to do with the how far graphics have come, back in the day I imagine it was less noticeable especially as I came straight from the DS version which admittedly did just look like ass.
When it comes to the controls and physics it doesn’t get much better there either. The driving is janky at best, the turn capability of the cars ain’t great even with performance upgrades. The A.I is all over the place either your opponents are too hard to catch up to or miles behind. Not to mention when you ram the side of one of them or go into the random traffic it sticks to your car like a fly to fresh, hot sticky shit, ultimately fucking your entire race.
You’d be better to use the D-pad over the joy stick even if the driving is still as stiff as a corpse in a morgue. You will be constantly just slamming into the side of the map which doesn’t do any damage to your car, just slows you down a little. Sometimes even helping you around harder corners by proxy of the ricochet. The cops which are sprinkled throughout the game normally pose next to no threat to you, just a mild inconvenience.
There is some good points to be had though. Overall the game is pretty simple as a standard racer. There is no real open map, it has three sections which break up into mini stages which you need to complete a variety of different races. You have; the classic lapped circuit, sprint, knockout, out run, cop takeout, cost to state and highway battle. It makes the game more fun when everything is juggled into different bite size races, keeps it fresh with out clogging it down with the same three types.
By my count there is 45 cars to be had either through purchase or unlocked at various points which isn’t too shabby really. It’s not the most in depth but you can customise your cars as well, even with those sick mega low res rims, that just pop out in the menu. You can upgrade as well, it’s fairly simple, you have 5 options; engine,handling,chassis,turbo and nitrous. Once you’ve got nitrous you can use it as much as you want as long as you refill it during your race by doing dangerous things like collisions or driving into oncoming traffic. I’d say the last thing to one would be the feature of pressing circle, temporarily slowing down time for more accurate driving. No idea when you unlock this though, I must’ve missed the little tutorial for it as I did it by accident, making for a moment of pure joy as I drifted round a nasty little bend between the gaps on the pumps of a petrol station, like the pro driver I am.
I’d give the game 5/10. Certified Barely Tasty.
Even with the low score, at basic it is a fun little racer if you just treat it as buy a car, upgrade, race a little more, rinse, repeat. But it should be taken into account it is a 13 years old game, even at the time of release it was trying to compete with it’s full console hardwared brothers and sisters.
TastyRetroGaming 