Mega Man: Powered Up (PSP) Retro Review (2026)

It's time for something a little extra special as we approach the end of MEGA MAY.

While Mega Man: Powered Up is a remake of the very first Mega Man game, this review is essentially a remake of the very first review I ever wrote. This was before SuperPhillip Central even came to be back in June 2008! And while I only published my original Mega Man: Powered Up review on SPC in 2009, the review itself is indeed older than the site, debuting around 2006 or so! 

Here's the old review as posted on SPC in all its "glory" (for lack of a better term)! We all have to start somewhere, and I'd like to think I've become a better writer and moreover a reviewer since then.

That all notwithstanding, I wanted to revisit one of my favorite Mega Man games, and in turn, that found me revisiting my reviewing past. All the same, here's my 2026 review of Mega Man: Powered Up!

Powered Up, and ready to Rock.

It was at one time where in every direction you looked, boom! There was a Mega Man game in sight. We didn't know how good we had it, really, as nowadays, Mega Man releases are limited to the sporadic retro collections and the even rarer brand-new release. One Mega Man game that hasn't been included in such a retro collection is one that definitely has fallen through the cracks over the years: Mega Man: Powered Up, a PlayStation Portable release.

Mega Man: Powered Up is a remake and somewhat of a re-imagining of the original Mega Man. The most apparent difference is the chibi aesthetic applied to the game, but there is a lot more added to this spirited remake. In fact, there is SO much more to it.

Right away, upon starting the game and a save file, you get the choice between three difficulties: Easy, Normal, and Hard. Easy provides additional makeshift platforms to allow the more challenging jumps in the game to be less stressful and difficult. Normal is the default difficulty, of course, and how someone who isn't a beginner with the Blue Bomber should enter the game. Finally, Hard Mode adds to an already challenging game by boosting the damage Mega Man takes from enemies and hazards. 

See how a boy became a Mega Man in Powered Up's brand-new opening stage.

Mega Man: Powered Up introduces an opening stage, not present in the OG Mega Man game. This is a glorified tutorial, sure, but it also shows how a boy named Mega became a super-fighting robot named Mega Man. It also shows the comically evil Dr. Wily stealing all of Dr. Light's robots to be commanded under the balding villain. 

Levels feel more compact due to the PSP, but they're just as enjoyable.

From there, the traditional Mega Man way reveals itself. That is, you select between one of eight Robot Master stages to begin with. Each stage houses its own theming, locale, challenges, hazards, enemies, and of course, at the end of a given stage, the Robot Master you must do battle with in a boss fight. Due to the wider real estate of the PSP screen, as well as the larger character models incorporated into Powered Up versus the NES original, stages are more compact and scrunched in appearance. They're still designed similarly across both games, but visually they're a little different due to the above reason.

Special effects like these cute explosions add to Powered Up's chibi-style charm.

The original Mega Man only included six Robot Masters before the standard eight would be featured in future installments. Mega Man: Powered Up adds two brand-new Robot Masters into the fray: Time Man and Oil Man, each with their own stages. Whereas Time Man's stage takes place in a clock tower with electric pendulums to avoid, as well as the possibility to frustratingly fall to a previous level of the stage, Oil Man's stage occurs in an oil refinery, complete with slippery puddles of oil that will send Mega Man falling on his butt if he's not careful.

Oil Man and Time Man are the new Robot Masters on the block, 
and their stages are just as wonderfully designed as the original Robot Master stages.

The Robot Master battles that occur at the end of each of the eight initial stages are more complex than the NES original. Each battle plays out similarly at the start to the battles seen in the original Mega Man, but as a Robot Master's health enters low territory, a new move will be added to their arsenal. From Cut Man throwing a massive boomerang, to Bomb Man chucking a big bomb with a large, explosive radius to it, these moves add some fun, albeit dangerous curve balls to those who think they know the OG Mega Man like the back of their hand.

Cut Man's living on borrowed time, so his desperation attack cuts to the chase!

Furthermore, and one of the coolest additions to Mega Man: Powered Up among a host of many awesome additions, is the ability to play as all eight Robot Masters, each with their own unique abilities. Bomb Man tosses bouncing bombs, Fire Man launches pillars of flames, Ice Man lets loose freezing chunks of ice at foes, etc. These Robot Masters become playable if you defeat them as Mega Man with his Mega Buster only instead of any special weapon. 

Playable Robot Masters like Bomb Man? It's an absolute blast!

Yes, true to the series's penchant, defeated Robot Masters give Mega Man their primary special weapon. For instance, Guts Man's Guts Arm allows Mega Man to lift up certain blocks and chuck them away at baddies. These can be cycled through with the PSP's shoulder buttons or selected from the pause menu, in case you'd rather take a breather and select a weapon when you're not inundated with enemy attacks. 

Also, true to the series's penchant, there's generally a recommended order for taking on the Robot Masters due to all of them being weak to a given other Robot Master's special weapon. Whereas Cut Man's Rolling Cutter slices through Bomb Man's bombs (and Bomb Man himself) with ease, Ice Man is no match for and gets quite the shock from Elec Man's Thunder Beam. Though, I found the order to fight the Robot Masters initially didn't matter since I wanted to unlock each Robot Master as a playable character. Thus, I took each on with Mega Man's Mega Buster exclusively. You can imagine how much of a challenge this could be, however!

The playable Robot Masters each have their own version of the game's story to play through with different voiced dialogue as they meet each other Robot Master in their stage, which was something I did not expect but was positively surprised by. Furthermore, the stages in general have all-new areas and alternate paths that only specific Robot Masters can reach.

Not only that, but unlike the original Mega Man, where once you beat a stage, you couldn't return to it, Mega Man: Powered Up's stages encourage you to replay them with obtained special weapons and Robot Masters due to the fact that they contain brand-new items in them called construction kits. These come in pink and yellow forms (enemy and scenery packs, respectively), and these unlock new customization and construction options in Powered Up's coolest feature: the stage creator.

Construction kits are housed and hidden in all manner of locations in levels, encouraging replays.

Yes, with packs earned throughout Mega Man and his friends' adventures, you can create your own stages within Powered Up. It all starts with choosing a specific enemy pack and scenery pack and then letting your imagination take over. The included tutorial is a great help, and the tools to design your own stage are really intuitive, too, and easy to use. You can even select which character or characters you can play as, which Robot Master awaits at the end of your custom stage, include how much health your playable character starts with at the beginning of the stage, what special weapons they have to utilize, and of course, you can give your stage a name. At the time of release you could even share your stages online and play others', which was a mighty cool aspect of the game.

Make your own masterpieces come to life in Mega Man: Powered Up's in-depth stage creator. 

Mega Man: Powered Up is an immensely meaty Mega Man game. With the dozen or so replayable stages to play and beat on all three difficulties, including as each Robot Master (and the game keeps track of this for completionists out there), the in-depth mega-cool stage creator, a slew of special challenges focusing on different special weapons and abilities, and a multitude of unlockables, Mega Man: Powered Up will keep you playing for a looong time. 

It's also a dang difficult game. Despite taking a lot of influence and inspiration from later Mega Man games, what Mega Man: Powered Up does not give the player is that of E-Tanks. Those wouldn't be introduced until Mega Man 2. These health-restoring tanks made a lot of future Mega Man games more manageable, but in Powered Up, they're not present at all. Thus, while you do have an inviting, cutesy chibi anime aesthetic with Mega Man: Powered Up, the difficulty of the game couldn't be any less welcoming comparatively to the art style!

Mega Man: Powered Up is positively flooded with chibi-style charm!

That said, the challenge is always fair. Sure, sometimes you'll be thrown for a loop and a given stage or boss might present a "gotcha" moment to you, but through determination, perseverance, patience, and little bit of rote memorization, too, you'll find a way to overcome the myriad challenges and obstacles thrown in your path. 

All of the additions, from the lovely art style, voiced characters, stellar presentation, awesome remixed tunes, to the gameplay inclusions like playable Robot Masters, new areas and alternate paths in familiar stages, and the superb stage creator, prove that you can teach an old robot new tricks. And you can do so in a mega magnificent way, as Mega Man: Powered Up does. The level of difficulty might be off-putting to a fair amount of players, but for me, I absolutely adored nearly everything about this re-imagined remake. It's a damn shame the game was not a success for Capcom, as I would have definitely loved to see later installments get the remade Powered Up treatment.

[SPC Says: A-] 

MediEvil: Resurrection (PSP) Retro Review

Earlier this year, Sony officially shuttered Guerrilla Cambridge, which particularly hurt us at SuperPhillip Central since they made what we consider the best handheld FPS ever made with Killzone: Mercenary. Before that, however, the team, under the name of SCE Cambridge Studio, worked on an early PlayStation franchise known as MediEvil. Since the news of Cambridge closing, SuperPhillip Central wanted to look back at one of the studio's earlier works. What we ended up agreeing on was checking out MediEvil: Resurrection, an early PSP release. Here's our retro review of that game!

Make no bones about it, there's some wicked fun to be found here.

MediEvil originally released on the very first PlayStation, and it soon saw cult classic status among owners of Sony's big break into the home console market. It seems only fitting that the same game that was part of Sony's establishment as a first-party for their first home console would be a part of Sony's first-party offerings for their first handheld system, the PlayStation Portable. While many years have passed since MediEvil was first released, MediEvil: Resurrection shows that what was wonderful on the PS1 isn't as great now.

That notwithstanding, something that remains just as great now as it did then is the brilliant dry English humor that MediEvil; Resurrection exudes. The dialogue is a positive delight to listen to, though for some it might enjoy its own presence and prattle on a little too long at some points, occasionally outwearing its welcome. The characters each possess different quirks to them, all voiced excellently. There were no pulled punches on the script.

The script and story itself begins with an evil sorcerer named Zarok, who was assumed to be defeated, rising up and using his sinister mystic arts to arise ghosts, ghouls, and zombies from the kingdom of Gallowmere's local graveyard. In the process, he resurrects Sir Daniel Fortesque, who is well known as the hero who put a stop to Zarok's plans in the past in a mighty war. In actuality, Sir Daniel was a coward who was taken out early in battle by a stray arrow to the eye. Newly awakened and mocked by both a genie living in his empty eye socket as well as various gargoyles who all know the truth, Sir Daniel sees Zarok's revival as a way to prove to himself and all his doubters that he can be a true hero, deserving of the townspeople's respect.

Zombies and a cemetery go together like peanut butter and jelly... though not as delicious (like, at all).

MediEvil: Resurrection stands as an action-adventure game. Levels  are quite pleasant to look at with their visual design and artistry, something that should be very much commended, but on a level design basis, there is a lot of linearity to be found. Well, that's not totally true. To be fairer to MediEvil, most levels have some degree of secrets to be found, but at the same time you're pretty much doing the same thing in each level: beating up enemies, solving simple environmental puzzles, hitting switches to unlock doors, and getting runes which are essentially the fantasy genre form of keycards to open specific gates.

While levels aren't massive endeavors that take an hour to complete, they do take 10-30 minutes to complete. Unfortunately, there are no checkpoints to be found in them, meaning that if your health meter runs out and you have exhausted your supply of health potions or vials that serve as spare health, then you must restart the level. Thankfully, you can save your progress mid-level, so if you do die, you can just load your game from that point. That said, you're stuck at whatever health amount you were at, so sometimes it's just better to start fresh with full health.

However, MediEvil: Resurrection most feels dated through its combat. Sir Daniel is no master of offense and as a character is quite the clumsy one, but the developers didn't exactly have to make him play clumsily as well. A surefire tactic when facing one enemy is to observe them, attack when an opening is there, retreat, attack, retreat, repeat. Unfortunately, you're seldom ever facing off against just one enemy. It's usually a group of ghouls or whatnot you're taking on. Sir Daniel's swipes, whether it's a sword or a club, swing rather wildly without much precision. This makes attacking with any sort of continued accuracy a pipe dream. It also results in many cheap hits to Sir Daniel. As health is very valuable in MediEvil, due to the rarity of health items found in levels and the cost of health vials from the gargoyle shopkeep who appears occasionally throughout the game, this becomes a problem rather quickly.

With better combat, Sir Dan could make these frogs croak much more easily.

In one level based in an asylum, it's basically room after room of hordes of enemies. Simply staying put and mashing on the attack button isn't a smart stance of survival as enemies will attack from all sides. Plus, Sir Daniel can't swing his weapon repeatedly with any consistent speed. So then, you try to run away from enemies, but as soon as you turn around, they're on top of you. Thus, the main means I used to take out foes for this and every other encounter I was faced with, I held down the Square button to unleash an attack that spins Sir Daniel's torso around, slicing all enemies around him. This proved to be a better solution that worked rather well, making the overall game an easier experience.

Ah, the enemy mob, a scorn to every MediEvil player!

Then, there's the camera, which is set a bit away from Sir Daniel, making it a tad difficult to see how far he is in relation to other enemies. You can reset the camera behind Sir Daniel with a tap of the R button, but this is a small Band-Aid to a foot-long gash. It's hardly a remedy. The camera gets quite spastic in indoor sections, especially cramped ones.

Despite these issues, I still felt lots of enjoyment playing through MediEvil: Resurrection's campaign. Perhaps a lot of that was the aforementioned humorous story and dialogue, but a lot of it was also slowly building up an arsenal of more powerful weaponry to take on enemies and bosses with. You see, a totally optional task in each main level has you filling an icon of a chalice, seen at the top right corner of the screen. As you defeat enemies, the chalice fills more and more. Once it reaches 100% and you have found the actual chalice to hold that energy in, usually hidden rather well in the level, you can beat the level and enter the Hall of Heroes. Here, one of the actual heroes of the war that saw Zarok's defeat, will give unto Sir Daniel one of their weapons, be it a crossbow, hammer, sword, or something else. Unlike most other weapons in MediEvil: Resurrection, these weapons don't degrade after use, so you can use them as much as you want. They are also much stronger than regular weapons, resulting in faster encounters with enemies.

New to Resurrection that the original MediEvil didn't have is a full-fledged level for the Pumpkin Gorge as well as some fun mini-games to pass the time. These include activities like a Whack-A-Mole inspired game, two different shooting gallery games, as well as more combat-oriented ones where Sir Daniel is tasked with protecting the ringing of a central bell from a mob of enemies spawning from all directions. These games can be played via wireless connection with a local friend. The games are worth playing solo as well, however, because the strongest weapon in the game is only unlocked by completing them all.

Pumpkin Gorge is a full level in Resurrection while it was just a brief spot in the original MediEvil.

MediEvil: Resurrection is a marked improvement graphically over the original MediEvil, offering more complicated textures and environments. The frame-rate can chug to low numbers on occasion, but it's overall not too much of a bother. Load times are about 10-15 seconds between entering and exiting levels, but you at least get a witty British narrator saying something funny about the level you're about to enter, such as "Dan's Crypt; A good place to go to find a dead Dan..." or something to that effect. The music is absolutely riveting, delivering a whimsical Danny Elfman-inspired score. Just as hum-able too!

In many ways, MediEvil: Resurrection is an antique from a long gone generation of early 3D games with its clunky combat and camera. In others, it's still an enjoyable adventure filled with delightfully dry humor, charming characters, and levels that while linear offer plenty of clever ideas. It's a game I thoroughly liked despite all of its obvious problems. I certainly did have some bones to pick with MediEvil: Resurrection, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't dying to have some more from the game after I completed it.

[SPC Says: C+]

Ultimate Ghosts 'N Goblins (PSP) Retro Review

The final review of the month of July is a retro review for a PlayStation Portable game, a re-imagining of the Ghosts 'n Goblins series from 2006. It's Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins, and here is my review.

Fun for all the right reasons, challenging for all the wrong reasons.

When the PlayStation Portable originally came out, Capcom was one of the biggest third-party proponents to the system, releasing everything from Mega Man to Monster Hunter on the system. As the success of its titles wasn't to the publisher's liking on the PSP, Capcom soon invested much less game-wise to the system. However, before just contributing loads of Monster Hunter games on the PSP, Capcom released a new version of its classic Ghosts 'n Goblins series in the form of Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins. While an overall worthwhile game to play, Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins shows that a developer can stray too close to antiquated old school sensibilities.

One of the biggest problems with Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins is how controlling Arthur feels as antiquated as back in the '80s and '90s. Arthur's jumps are extremely stiff, not even allowing the player to control the undead-slaying knight while in midair. This makes for an amazingly frustrating experience, especially as there are many times when precision jumping is required. Furthermore, Arthur can only attack in four directions whereas enemies can in from all 360 degrees. Arthur's movement is slow and prodding, even when he attacks, and while it's nice that Capcom decided to stay true to the Ghosts 'n Goblins series' roots, this would have been one area where improving the controls to something out of the year this PSP sequel was released instead of back in the '80s would have been very much appreciated. Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins is always difficult as a game, as you're ambushed constantly by hordes of monsters; it didn't need to be artificially more frustrating because of its controls.

Yikes. This doesn't look like it is going to end well for Arthur.

Thankfully, this edition of Ghosts 'n Goblins comes complete with multiple difficulties for beginners as well as those who hates themselves. Novice/Standard mode gives you a number of lives to use, multiple hits to your armor, and the ability to re-spawn nearby from where you die, whether if you take damage while Arthur is in his skivvies or fall into one of the many bottomless pits in the game. Meanwhile, Ultimate mode is a nightmare-level difficulty where no matter what level of armor Arthur is wearing, one hit results in him breaking out into his boxers, and death means you have to start back at the beginning of the level you're currently in. Novice and Standard modes are recommended for all players, as there is still a great level of challenge posed. The inclusion of a helpful save system, allowing you to save your progress after each level, gives this hard game more semblance of fairness.

Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins has the boxer-toting knight Arthur setting out on a quest to take down the kidnapper of a princess, a nefarious emperor of the Dark Realm. The tale is as simple as "beat the big bad, save the princess", and the narrative doesn't expand from the opening cutscene, but that is just fine for a game of the platforming genre, especially one hearkening back to the classics.

Starting off on his quest, Arthur has a suit of armor, the ability to jump, and an unlimited arsenal of lances to throw. Upon coming in contact with an enemy, Arthur's armor falls into a pile off his body, revealing nothing but him in his vulnerable heart-covered boxers. Taking damage then results in Arthur turning into a skeleton and falling down into a collection of bones. However, there are multiple levels of armor to be collected, granting Arthur the ability to be hit more than once before entering his skivvies. In addition to that, the ability to double jump is earned early on in the game, a feature that you won't know how you lived without after getting it.

Even just down to his heart-covered skivvies, Arthur is brave against the forces of evil.

Besides using a myriad of sharp, pointy lances, Arthur can grab a wide assortment of weapons. When one is picked up, the weapon Arthur currently has is replaced. These range from old standbys like daggers and bombs to new weapons like rose whips and scythes that fly in a boomerang pattern, allowing Arthur to scoop up faraway items in the process.

From lances to whips, Arthur's arsenal can be ever-changing.

The five worlds of Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins throw the book at you in terms of challenge, sights, and obstacles. From venturing through the traditional Ghosts 'n Goblins-style graveyard teeming with the undead to exploring the inner workings of a castle, full of moving platforms and deteriorating staircases, Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins keeps you on your toes.

The initial time it takes to reach the final level for players will take but a couple of hours or so. Then, the game throws a wrench into things, making note that if you haven't collected 21 gold rings, a collectable that most players would think nothing of on their initial journey through the game, you aren't getting through the final door to face the game's boss. This results in you being thrown back to the beginning of the game, tasked with not only acquiring 21 gold rings (there are over 30 to collect, and collecting all of them gives you the best ending of the game), but acquiring various spells hidden in levels to acquire many of these hidden rings.

This can make for a tedious time for some players, as the idea of playing through the same levels repeatedly, picking up new spells and rings might not be the most appealing. Plus, many rings and spells are hidden in secret treasure chests that only trigger and spawn upon touching a specific space in a given level. Unless you're a masochist, very determined and unrelenting, you'll most likely need to take up a walk-through posted somewhere on the Web to find the locations of all the hidden "goodies" to be found in Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins.

One thing I haven't yet mentioned regarding Arthur's most recent adventure is that of the boss battles. These feats of bravery and strength have you taking on demonic entities both small and large, each with their own patterns to be on the look out for. Predictable, yes, but challenging all the same.

Speaking of bosses, this bony baddie is the first Arthur comes up against.

The presentation of Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins features 3D models and environments, bringing a sense of depth to the visuals. The amount of detail in the environments and levels is astonishing, and it's all done without looking or being too busy. The performance of the game is solid, offering seldom occurrences of slowdown. Meanwhile, the music features glorious remixed music from past Ghosts 'n Goblins games as well as all-new arrangements. Overall, Capcom went all out with the presentation of Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins.

Without question, if you're a lover of immensely hard old school games, Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins will give you lots to love and lots of monsters to maul. What it won't give you is tight platforming, controls that aren't stiff, jumps where you can always see where you're going to land, enjoyment from playing the same levels over and over again, and an easy time of things. This is where some gamers might absolutely love Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins for these things while others will only get the cold shoulder.

[SPC Says: C]

Review Round-Up - April 2016

Star Fox Zero, reporting in as SuperPhillip Central's featured game of the month.

It's the beginning of a new month, so why not take a look back at the past month's list of reviews? That's exactly what the Review Round-Up does, a longtime recurring monthly segment here at SuperPhillip Central.

There were a tremendous amount of reviews for the month of April on the site, all starting off with one of my favorite mobile games I've played so far, Adventures of Mana. It scored an A-, one of the best grades ever given to a mobile game thus far. Then, I tried out Lovely Planet on the Wii U eShop, but its cuteness couldn't save me from hours of frustration. Hence the D+ score. Then, another fantastic mobile game was enjoyed by yours truly, the iOS exclusive Goblin Sword, slashing its way to an A-. I then picked up some Pug's Quest, but its randomized level order soured me on absolutely loving the game, giving it an average C.

Apparently April was a month of PlayStation Portable goodness, with me checking out four PSP games: Bomberman (B-), Twisted Metal: Head-On (B-), Secret Agent Clank (B-), and Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron (C+). Aw, I couldn't keep up that B- trend!

Aside from my deluge of PSP release reviews, I checked out Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, as a Better Late Than Never review, speeding its way to a C+. Next up, Disney Crossy Road delighted, getting a superb B+. Finally, the featured game of the month here at SuperPhillip Central, Star Fox Zero, barrel rolled its way to a B+ score.

May is shaping up to have quite a few interesting games reviewed, including looks at Fire Emblem Fates, Hyrule Warriors Legends, and Star Fox Guard. There will be plenty of surprises as well, so please look forward to the goodness I have to deliver here at SuperPhillip Central!

Adventures of Mana (iOS, Android) - A-
Lovely Planet (Wii U eShop) - D+
Goblin Sword (iOS) - A-
Pug's Quest (iOS) - C
Bomberman (PSP) - B-
Twisted Metal: Head-On (PSP) - B-
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (iOS, Android) - C+
Secret Agent Clank (PS2, PSP) - B-
Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron (PSP) - C+
Disney Crossy Road (iOS, Android) - B+
Star Fox Zero (Wii U) - B+

Run, don't walk, to check out SPC's in-depth Star Fox Zero review!

Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron (PSP) Retro Review

The month of PSP retro reviews continues with something from a long, long time ago in a galaxy far away. It's the PSP exclusive entry in the Star Wars Battlefront series, Renegade Squadron! Let's join Han Solo's ace team with this review.

Renegade squadron, begin mission!

Let's come to terms that the new Star Wars Battlefront isn't the game that everyone was wanting. It's seriously lacking content, and many fans of the old Battlefront games feel disappointed and let down by what EA offered this time around.

Thus, I decided to take a look back at a release in the Battlefront series that didn't get a lot of attention due to the fact it released on the struggling PlayStation Portable. This game is Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron, and considering the limitations of the hardware it was released on, the game is mighty impressive overall.

The main campaign of this PSP Battlefront game has you assuming the role of a soldier in the Renegade Squadron, a fighting force led by Han Solo within the Rebel Alliance that did most of its operations in secret. However, now that the Empire has fallen, an archivist for the Jedi has begun compiling information to shed some light on the Renegade Squadron's helpful but not well known assistance in the fight against the Empire.

Outfit your character with a blaster rifle, rocket launcher, or even a jet pack.

The campaign is the recommended first stop for first-time players of Renegade Squadron. It gets you used to the controls. You move around with the analog nub of the PSP, lock onto enemies with the right shoulder button, and shoot with X. Locking on to foes allows you to strafe them as well as roll to break free of their lock-ons onto you. Your secondary weapon is used with the Square button, while pressing up on the d-pad allows for entering and exiting the various vehicles used in the game.

Play in the Galactic Civil War era or the Clone Wars in Instant Action mode.

Your customized character (though the options for customization of your looks is rather limited) has 100 points they can use. Each weapon, health boost, command post capturing boost, and what have you costs a certain amount of points. Thus, it's important to ration your point values to your particular play style in battle. Want to take down AT-STs and other vehicles more easily? Then equip a rocket launcher as your primary weapon. Want to destroy multiple enemies with one shot? Then equip a thermal detonator.

The Alliance troops run into these Empire-infested ruins.

The campaign has eleven missions spanning both traditional ground and what was introduced in Star Wars Battlefront II, space combat. Missions have you taking on a wide array of enemies, taking care of different objectives, such as capturing, claiming, and holding strategic command posts, repairing and commandeering a turret, defeating a specific boss character, and planting explosives at tactical locations on the map. The campaign is short but sweet, offering about two sittings' worth of content.

Speaking of space combat, flying around is quite simple, and each ship allows you to press down on the d-pad to lock onto an enemy ship while you go into auto-pilot. If you're locked onto, you can break free by doing some skillful evasive maneuvering. You have both regular shots and homing missiles that both recharge after a brief period of time. In normal mode, the game can offer you the ability to auto-dock on home or enemy bases, while the elite mode requires you to dock your ship yourself.

"Bogey on my six! Or seven? I don't know! I never learned how to use an analog clock!"

The elite mode offers a greater, stiffer challenge than normal mode. Enemies are smarter (well, as smart as the AI in Renegade Squadron can be), deal and take more damage, and are much more aggressive than how they behave in normal mode. As the normal difficulty AI is a bit of a breeze to beat, switching to elite mode is recommended. This also makes it so in the campaign you have a limited amount of respawns available to you before the mission is deemed a failure.

After you've indulged in everything the campaign has to offer, Renegade Squadron contains a Galactic Conquest mode, a mixture of turn-based strategy and traditional Star Wars Battlefront gameplay. You purchase new infantry from the funds you earn every turn, move your forces to planets to confront and battle enemy forces, and try to take over all of the planets within the galaxy to win. The game does a poor job of explaining the rules (read: it doesn't explain at all), so you might find yourself wondering what in the world you're supposed to do your first go-round with this mode.

Instant Action allows you to pick a side, the Rebel Alliance or the Galactic Empire, and engage in traditional Star Wars Battlefront gameplay, where you run or ride around maps (since this is the PSP, the maps are much smaller than the home console entries), taking out enemies, capturing and holding command posts, and trying to whittle the enemy down in numbers. Victory is achieved by defeating every enemy or holding all command posts for a specific amount of time. This mode will have every Battlefront fan feel right at home. It's a lot of fun.

In Instant Action, you'll eventually get the chance to control one of the Alliance's or Empire's heroes.

Renegade Squadron isn't that much of a looker. The characters are blocky, the environments are filled with fog and low draw distance, and everything is rather bland in color. The frame-rate can slow to the speed of a Bantha, especially when the action heats up. Still, for a product of the PSP's hardware limitations, Renegade Squadron could run much worse. The sound is your typical "the Empire has taken a command post" utterances and John Williams-composed tunes, but it's pleasant to listen to all the same.

Conquest is all about shooting down foes and capturing command posts such as this one.

Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron is good fun for the short time you'll probably be spending with the game. The removal of online multiplayer stings, but Ad Hoc is still available if you can somehow find another PSP owner with a copy of the game. The main campaign is varied enough in its objectives and short enough that it doesn't overstay its welcome; and the Galactic Conquest and traditional Instant Action play well, too. It's not a triumphant victory for the game, but all in all, Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron's mission is an overall success.

[SPC Says: C+]

Secret Agent Clank (PS2, PSP) Retro Review

Ratchet & Clank's remake on the PlayStation 4 launched a couple of weeks ago. While SuperPhillip Central can't cover that game just yet, the site can take a look at a game in the series that is quite underrated. It's Secret Agent Clank, and he's got the bad guys' number, for sure.

The Spy Who Clanked Me

When he's not essentially Ratchet's talking backpack, Clank moonlights as a secret agent. Seriously. He's got the tuxedo to prove it, too. When his friend seemingly steals the most valuable gem in the galaxy from a museum and gets placed in jail for it, Clank feels something is awry. Thus, he goes on a mission to clear his good buddy and find the real culprit behind the crime. What you get with Secret Agent Clank is the same trademark humor, wit, and hilarity of the series in well done cutscenes and story sequences. Many familiar characters make their return in the game, and overall, the story had me smiling and engaged from beginning to end.

Clank, your mission-- should you choose to accept it-- is to save your buddy Ratchet and clear his name.

The game name may be Secret Agent Clank, but Clank himself shares the spotlight with numerous characters. For one, there are Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal-style arena battles as Ratchet as he goes through hard times in the slammer. However, I found most of these portions of the game highly repetitive, even with some creative objectives like trying to keep Ratchet's towel on him during a shower battle sequence. Then, there are multiple outings as Captain Qwark who is having a biography written about him. Of course, true to the Qwark name, Qwark's tales of his heroics are highly fictional, taking credit for things that Secret Agent Clank had done.

They say you want to stand up to the toughest guy in prison. Ratchet seems to be that guy/lombax.

Finally, there are the faithful helpers to Clank when our robotic spy needs some inside help, the Gadgebots. There are a trio of helper robots that follow one another, solving environment puzzles, hitting switches to move platforms in position, and interacting with various devices to make progress. 

Captain Qwark is as wacky as ever in Secret Agent Clank.

Secret Agent Clank's gameplay sections offer lots of variety, too. When Clank isn't stealthily making his way past guards, using sneak attacks to take enemies down with their back to him (a randomized four button press done just in time will take them out; else Clank will notify the enemy of his presence), and navigating through laser fields, he can be seen snowboarding,  driving a vehicle down a sluice, solving Tetris-like lock-picking puzzles, and engaging in rhythm mini-games.

Sneak behind an enemy, and they won't know what hit them!

There is a lot of gameplay styles in Secret Agent Clank, and while this does keep the experience fresh, some of it simply feels like filler content to lengthen the game. I would have personally liked to see more of the traditional Secret Agent Clank gameplay: moving through levels, participating in enjoyable platforming, dishing out damage in combat, and things of that ilk. These parts of Secret Agent Clank were the most entertaining for me, as the while the stealth gameplay is rather basic, when done right, it's the difference between smoothly taking down foes and alerting an entire room to your presence, thus resulting in a precarious firefight situation.

Both Clank and Ratchet have an arsenal of tools and weapons they can use in their sections that level up upon continued use. As a weapon levels up, it gains more power and strength to take down gobs of enemies. Ratchet's repertoire of weapons is mostly made up of callbacks to past games in the series, but there are plenty of new goodies to take down foes as well.

Meanwhile, Clank's library of weaponry is all in the form of spy gadgets, whether bow ties that serve as sharp, killer boomerangs or cuff links that act as powerful bombs. There are a plethora of non-weapon gadgets Clank uses as well, such as a pen that can blackout points where lasers project out of them, jet boots that allow Clank to double jump and glide across large gaps, and a monocle that when an enemy has been scanned, Clank can become a hologram image of that foe, perfect for slipping past defenses. 

The Tie-A-Rang is not only perfect for taking out faraway foes, but it's also mighty fashionable.

I was worried how Secret Agent Clank would control with the lack of two analog sticks, or in the PSP's case, nubs, to utilize. However, the game handles rather well considering the input limitations of the hardware. You use the nub to control Clank usually, but you can also use the d-pad to strafe, excellent for maneuvering around foes and their fire without taking much in the way of damage. The shoulder buttons, normally used for camera controls, can be used in combination with the d-pad to always keep foes directly in Clank's sights. The Quick Select menu is easily accessed with a hold of the Triangle button, granting a safe way to swiftly switch between Clank's various weapons and gadgets.

Like typical Ratchet & Clank adventures, upon beating the 6-8 hour campaign, you have the option of replaying through the story with all of your current weapons, maximum health, and more. The difference here is that enemies deal more damage and have more health. However, at the same time you earn more bolts for use to purchase new, more powerful weapons. 

Clank can use the Blackout Pen to blot out some of these lasers.

Alongside the Challenge Mode, there are myriad skill points to earn, received by completing certain tough in-game tasks like getting through a portion of a level undetected, as well as Titanium Bolts to collect that are generally placed in well hidden locations. Earning skill points unlocks new cheats to use in-game while collecting Titanium Bolts unlocks new skins for Clank, Ratchet, and Captain Qwark.

If you're familiar with Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters, then you probably know what to expect visual-wise for Secret Agent Clank. Like Size Matters, Secret Agent Clank puts the limited power of the PSP hardware to good use, offering nice looking geometry, a good frame-rate, nice character models, and an excellent field of view. The sound effects, especially for using the high powered weaponry of the game, gives every shot that added sense of impact. The voice work is as excellent as ever in Secret Agent Clank, and the music is very spy-like, offering jazzy riffs, high octane beats, and catchy rhythms.

Secret Agent Clank is overall a capable spin-off title that gives Clank the starring role he may or may not have been waiting for. Though the game offers a robust amount of gameplay types, not all of these have the same amount of entertainment as the main, most fun Clank platforming sections. If you're looking for a bite-sized adventure that plays to the strengths of the PSP hardware, then Secret Agent Clank should be your next mission.

[SPC Says: B-]

Twisted Metal: Head-On (PSP) Retro Review

It's Sunday night here at SuperPhillip Central, and my weekend was spent working on my game (I moonlight as a game developer) and playing some games, too. One of these titles was a game in my PSP backlog, Twisted Metal: Head-On, my first foray into the franchise. For those that don't get the review tagline, here's a commercial to get you up to speed.

Head-On: Apply directly to the forehead?

Twisted Metal was a series I had rested on for a long time. There was something about the grim, dark, and edgy setting that just didn't appeal to me. However, when I had the chance to pick up the PSP installment of the series, Twisted Metal: Head-On, I jumped on it, as the game was incredibly inexpensive. Though the online servers are long gone, this first introduction to the Twisted Metal series for me has me already scouring eBay for other games with the Twisted Metal. Head-On was just that enjoyable. See why with my review.

Doing some research on the Twisted Metal franchise, I've learned that the main theme of each game has one of a wide cast of characters each with their own motivations for joining the Twisted Metal competition, a destruction derby of doom where opponents blast one another with high powered weaponry until there's one vehicle left remaining. A man named Calypso runs the competition, and he gives the winner of every year's Twisted Metal anything they wish for. However, as all of the endings of each participant show, these wishes are granted in a monkey paw style way. For instance, to spoil one of the dozen or so character endings, one character wishes for Calypso to bring back her sister. Calypso agrees, but the sister is brought back as a reanimated corpse, which horrifies the other sister.

The opening arena of Twisted Metal: Head-On, Big Blue Stadium. (No relation to F-Zero, of course.)

The main mode of Twisted Metal: Head-On is the story mode. This pits your chosen character (each with their own vehicle stats like handling and armor) through eleven levels of destruction derby delight, aiming to destroy your opponents before your three lives run out. Sprinkled throughout the traditional levels are three boss encounters that shake things up considerably.

Levels in Head-On are sprawling environments peppered with hidden areas, usually found by destroying a destructible wall. In this globe-trotting competition, you and your competitors will be blasting one another from Greece to Roman Ruins, the ancient pyramids of Egypt to sky high Tokyo rooftops.

Each level aside from boss stages hide one secret teleporter that takes you to a bonus mini-game. These mini-games house a multitude of varying challenge types like ramming into a bunch of taxis to destroy them, a platforming obstacle course where careful use of your vehicle's jumping ability is required, and a two-lap affair where you drive in oncoming traffic, needing to avoid passing cars in order to stay alive. The catch with these mini-games is that in order to unlock content like new characters and deathmatch arenas, you need to beat them under a specific target time.

The arenas are full of places to have epic showdowns and have plentiful hidden places.

As stated, Twisted Metal is a competition where you man a vehicle and aim to destroy every other competitor before they can destroy you. You do this by driving around expansive arenas, picking up weapons that lay about the environments, and shooting them at foes.

There are a great variety of , weapons, such as homing missiles, napalm bombs that are launched in an arc to land on top of foes with their blast radius, and ricocheting discs that bounce off walls, to name a few. Each item you pick up has a limited amount of ammo, so you'll need to constantly scrounge around each arena to get more to use on foes. Health pick-ups are important to remember the locations of in order to heal yourself when you take a lot of damage. All of these sub-weapons are used by pressing the L button while you can whittle away a competitor's vehicle with the R button's machine gun, which every vehicle has.

Nothing like glorious destruction to help wind down one's Sunday evening!

Depending on your character, each vehicle has a special move that is exclusive to that vehicle. For instance, the Twister conveniently enough unleashes a tornado that consumes all nearby racers, while the Roadkill can launch a powerful boomerang that returns to its users, as boomerangs tend to do. Unlike regular sub-weapons, special weapons regenerate over a short period of time automatically.

Sweet Tooth unleashes his special weapon, a deadly scoop of ice cream.

A lot of game series from the original PlayStation and PlayStation 2 don't hold up as well control-wise when they're placed on the PSP. This is because the PSP lacks a second set of shoulder buttons and most importantly a second analog stick (or in this case, a second nub). However, the Twisted Metal series doesn't suffer like so many other franchises given a portable entry. Driving the massive number of vehicles in Twisted Metal: Head-On feels and plays great. You use either the d-pad or the analog nub to move and accelerate, holding up to drive forward, back to go in reverse. Double taps of the X button results in your vehicle jumping, while a double tap of the Square button performs a nitro boost for getting away from problematic predicaments. I never had any trouble with the controls of Twisted Metal on PSP, and I was initially worried that I would because of the history of other PlayStation franchises moved to the PSP.

Early on in my review I mentioned how the online servers are no longer up for Head-On. However, if you have friends or family with an extra PSP and a copy of the game, you can still play Ad Hoc. However, if you're really looking for the best version of multiplayer for Twisted Metal: Head-On, check out the PlayStation 2 port of the game. It not only has two-player split-screen, but you can play multiplayer without multiple copies of the game (and the need for only one system). It's a much more affordable way to enjoy Head-On.

You may not be able to play Head-On's multiplayer online, but Ad Hoc is still available for local matches.

However, since Twisted Metal: Head-On's PSP version is so cheap to buy nowadays, it's more than worth getting for its single player modes. Sure, single player can become repetitive if you want to earn all of the entertaining character endings, and there may be dust on the fenders and a lot of tread on the tires, but overall, Twisted Metal: Head-On was a fantastic introduction to the series for me. I can't wait to get to experience more titles in this destruction derby lover's dream.

[SPC Says: B-]

Bomberman (PSP) Retro Review

I have a special announcement coming in about an hour or so from this post, so please look forward to that. In the meantime, keep yourself occupied with this all-new retro review for the PlayStation Portable version of Bomberman. How does it hold up? Find out with my review!

Bombs away!

Like another popular 'Man in gaming, Bomberman once had so many games that were coming out at once that they were overflowing out of that poofy thing that comes out of his head. However, like Capcom's Mega Man, Bomberman's best days are seemingly behind him with no new releases in sight. Still, that doesn't mean I can't explore his vast library and entertain myself, right? That's exactly the point of checking out the PlayStation Portable version of Bomberman, simply titled... well... Bomberman! Is it a blast or a dud?

Bomberman's PSP outing features two main solo modes to enjoy. The first is Normal Mode, while the second unlocks after the former has been completed. This mode is Classic, and it pits you against 50 increasingly more difficult levels.

Normal Mode is essentially the same as Classic, save that it has 100 levels total spread across 10 worlds. Each world houses its own gimmick, whether it be the Jungle World's network of pipes that can be walked through, yet can also house enemies, or the Desert World's transporter system.

Be mindful of your surroundings, Bomberman. You don't want to blow yourself up.

The main aim of each of these modes is the same: to eliminate all enemies within each level and reach the goal, hidden in one of the bomb-able soft blocks. This is harder than you might think because the AI is relatively smart. Enemies won't just stand there while you set bombs up next to them. They might hide in a safe haven away from the cross-shaped explosion pattern of Bomberman's bombs. Not only do you have to destroy the soft blocks that stand in Bomberman's path in order to make it to the enemies in a level, but you have to blow them up without torching your own rear end.

Some enemies like these stone golems take multiple blasts to bring down.

Normal Mode also differs from Classic because in Normal Mode, you can collect different item icons from destroyed soft blocks, cycle through them with the shoulder buttons, and use them whenever you want. Some items stay with you as long as you stay alive, such as additional bombs that can be set on screen at the same time, bigger explosion patterns, and faster movement for Bomberman. Other items are only active for one level, such as remote-controlled bombs that explode with a press of a button or being able to walk through soft blocks. Then there are items that are just temporary like the ability to weather bomb explosions or granting Bomberman an extra hit from an enemy or bomb that would otherwise be a loss of life.

Whereas with Classic Mode, you have a set amount of lives to get through all 50 levels, and the items you collect are instantly bestowed onto Bomberman. Unlike Normal Mode, when you die, the effects of your collected items aren't removed, so it's very RPG-like in building Bomberman's stats.

The first nine levels of each world in Normal Mode are typical "destroy-all-enemies" affairs, while the tenth level pits you and Bomberman against a boss of some variety, These encounters are generally enjoyable with patterns you need to watch out for, and show a lot of creativity. These boss battles mix things up greatly as otherwise the PSP version of Bomberman might feel a bit too repetitive, despite the game changing up the obstacles and gimmicks with each new world you visit.

This spider boss spins webs of the explosive kind.

In each fifth level of a world, you have the optional task (well, it's mandatory if you want to reach the tenth world) of collecting a key. This spawns from doing a variety of tasks that is dependent on the world: defeating all enemies, blowing up all soft blocks, or bombing the goal (something I didn't pick up on in the ninth world, wondering where the heck that blasted key was!). Collecting all of the keys in the first nine worlds unlocks the final series of ten levels.

Carefully take down all targets and reach the goal to clear each level.

Any Bomberman game worth its weight in bombs has to have a compelling multiplayer piece to it. After all, that's what this franchise is most known for, it's extensive and explosive multiplayer. In this PSP version, you have the ability to play with up to four PSP systems either with multiple copies of the game or through game sharing. It's important to note that this multiplayer is only available via Ad Hoc mode.

Regardless, the battle mode in this PSP version is robust and quite customizable, to say the least. You can set the AI difficulty (for if you are just by your lonesome), how many rounds, whether revenge mode and sudden death are on, which items are to be included, and whether you wish to play in teams or not. The amount of arenas is sizable, though many feature the same environments. Still, if you're looking for an excellent on-the-go multiplayer Bomberman, you'll get that and more with Bomberman on PSP.

With four players (either human, AI, or a combination of both), Bomberman's multiplayer is a blast.

Bomberman's PSP game uses competent 3D models for its characters, enemies, and environments. It all looks rather nice, and I have no complaints. The game also runs at a smooth clip, so there's never any case of accidentally blowing yourself up due to any frame-rate hitching. The music featured in Bomberman fits each world it's played in, and many times it got me to bop my head along to it.

Overall, Bomberman on PSP delights with its single player modes, though limited in replay value. Its multiplayer is where the game truly shines in its longevity, offering a multitude of modes and options to customize your multiplayer matches however you see fit. For its cheap price nowadays, Bomberman is an excellent, explosive romp that is ultimately a blast. That concludes not only my judgment of Bomberman, but also the bomb pun portion of this review.

[SPC Says: B-]