Toughest Tasks in Gaming History - Volume Seven

With this being Labor Day here in the United States, it seems like a prime opportunity to talk some laborious challenges in gaming that will definitely prove your e-cred. After all, we all know that e-cred is obviously the most important type of cred there is. But seriously, all kidding aside--these five gaming tasks will get your heart racing, thumbs sore, and temper flaring with how difficult they are to properly achieve. The weak and squeamish need not apply, as it's time for Toughest Tasks in Gaming History - Volume Seven!

Check out past installments of the Toughest Tasks series and let the community know which ones you've managed to tackle!

Volume One
Volume Two
Volume Three
Volume Four
Volume Five
Volume Six

Becoming "Infallible" - Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout (PS4, PC) 

We begin with a game that's been perfect for a pandemic--words that I never thought I'd have to utter on this blog in my lifetime--it's Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, a PlayStation Plus extra from last month turned gaming phenomenon. As the name implies, Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout features multiple rounds of elimination-style games where the aim of the game is to be the last player standing out of the 60 that start. With each round, there is a threshold of qualifiers, and that number becomes smaller and smaller until the final round where only one player can become victorious.

Becoming the winner against 60 players is already a challenge as it is, but in order to achieve the name of "Infallible", a player has to become the number one player five episodes in a row. In essence, this means surviving the first four rounds of each episode AND ultimately winning the fifth... FIVE TIMES.

Getting this challenge done legitimately means you're one of the toughest Fall Guys around, as there is an intrinsic randomness to the game already. You can't control what other players do, and they're most likely gunning for the top spot as well, if not the "Infallible" achievement too. Good luck winning just one episode or luck out and somehow get a second episode win, but there's nothing more deflating than having a streak of four wins end in a crushing elimination.

Earning the 100% Ending - Paper Mario: The Origami King (NSW)

Paper Mario: The Origami King released in July, and was overall a terrific, humorous, and clever take on the Paper Mario series. I found myself yearning to play through the game, discovering what surprises the game had in store for me, thoroughly exploring each and every area for secrets and collectibles, and even liking the battle system overall. However, even as a lover of the latest Paper Mario game, there was one thing I just couldn't bring myself to do as I lack total patience: earning the special 100% ending. I won't spoil the contents of said ending, so no worries there.

Regardless, in order to get this final touch to The Origami King's ending, you must get every collectible trophy in the game. Most of them are happily and enjoyably found throughout the game world, but it's the ones for reaching certain milestones that are the hardest to acquire. Easier milestones for trophies include collecting a certain amount of coins or participating in a specific amount of battles.

The most challenging of these milestones, however, revolve around specific mini-games and events in The Origami King. I'm talking specifically about a late-scenario game show-esque event that requires you to do a perfect run of it, as well as a battle training mini-game that also necessitates a speedy and perfect run as well. Without getting into the nitty gritty of both, I can just say that if you aren't a fan of the ring-based battle system in The Origami King or get stumped easily, this won't be a pleasure cruise for you. The game show itself requires not just a photographic memory (or constantly taking screenshots to remember precise details), but the ability to quickly maneuver all three rings to provide answers in a timely fashion. Not easy, and certainly nothing that is worth getting too fussed over. I happily viewed the little extra in the 100% ending on YouTube instead, and I'm sure plenty of other players did the same.

Getting 200% Completion - Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (NSW, Wii U)

Ah, SuperPhillip Central has seldom been a site to rest on its laurels, so let's not stop at 100%--let's double it up! For many players, even the most seasoned of platforming fans, the terrific Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is an already difficult game when they're just running through it normally. But, when the adventure has been completed, and the Snowmad villains have been forcefully removed from DK Isle, that's when Tropical Freeze really heats up as a platformer.

Enter Hard Mode: the final obstacle between a player and their 200% save file. By beating every level in Tropical Freeze, this mode unlocks, offering the same level designs and bosses featured in the base game. There's a banana slamma' of a difference, however, and that's that you only get one heart to work with in each level. Get hit, and you're dead. With no checkpoints and no offerings from Funky Kong to help you out this time around, this is one Kong-sized challenge. This is especially so with the rocket barrel levels and the boss battles, the latter of which were already difficult and lengthy affairs as they were! Regardless, if you can manage to beat the game via Hard Mode, not only will you be rewarded with some cool, extra concept art, but you can proudly proclaim that you're the top banana of the platforming bunch.

Achieving All Pure Platinums - The Wonderful 101 (PS4, NSW, Wii U, PC)

Platinum Games titles are well known for generally having scoring systems included, and some mighty big rewards for mastering the various gameplay systems involved. The Wonderful 101 and its recently released Remastered version are no different in this regard. The top rank in the game is a Pure Platinum, earned by being rated highly in three categories: Time--how quickly you clear a given mission, Combo--how many consecutive hits you deliver to enemies in a mission, and Damage--how little of which your team of Wonderful Ones take in a mission.

Just doing one Pure Platinum run in a given level (that is, getting all Pure Platinum ranks throughout a level) is tough enough. Try doing it for every level in the game on every difficulty. Throw in the designers' "wonderful" way of changing up the gameplay systems from a standard action game to superfluous stuff like shoot-em-up segments or Punch-Out!!-like boss battles, for instance. On top of that, so many levels in The Wonderful 101 are so lengthy that it can be agonizing to have to repeat a Pure Platinum run attempt just because you took a hit in one particular mission, especially if it's near the end of the level. Still, if you're able to come to terms with the highly complex, deep, and ultimately rewarding combat of The Wonderful 101 and manage to succeed with this truly taxing gaming task, you are definitely "one-stoppable".

Becoming a "VS Master" - Everybody's Golf (PS4)

Golf is a sport of patience and persistence. You'll need both to get the most difficult trophy in the happy-go-lucky golfing world of Everybody's Golf. The "VS Master" trophy requires you to beat every "Versus" character in match play, not once but twice due to their "revenge" versions. Many of the characters are challenging enough to compete against, especially when there are specific rules tied to them, such as taking stroke penalties for landing in the rough or in a bunker, for instance. The difference with the "revenge" variants of Versus characters is that if you lose against them, they will not be able to be re-challenged for literal days.

Furthermore, some Versus characters are secret, and they only challenge you after completing certain in-game tasks, such as sinking a specific amount of birdies, completing a certain amount of tournaments, and so forth. The hardest of these without a question is sinking not just one condor (which is one condition to unlock a secret Versus character) but THREE (which unlocks another). Only a handful of holes in the entire game offers the opportunity to sink a condor, and these require specific weather and wind conditions to have a shot in Heck to get a hole-in-one on these aforementioned handful of Par 5 holes. While free play is certainly an option to practice and pray that your driver is true, it's still immensely based on luck to score three condors, much more actually beating the challengers that come your way. As you can see, this is one gaming challenge and trophy that separates the pros from... well, "everybody" else!

Bad Levels in Gaming History - Volume Seven

WARNING: Mild spoilers for the following games:

• Unreal Tournament (Multi)
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)
• Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (GEN)
• Mega Man X6 (PS1)
• Whomp 'Em (NES)

Besides technical problems like screen tearing, poor performance, clunky controls, and a host of other issues, another problem that games can suffer from is bad level design. It usually isn't even the level design of an entire game, perhaps just a level itself. As you'll see with this edition of Bad Levels in Gaming History, even some of the better games out there can suffer from one or two annoying, tedious, or just not-fun levels. 

Ocean Floor - Unreal Tournament (Multi)

With the alpha of Unreal Tournament's newest incarnation available for PC players to fool around with, it seems like a smart chance to talk about the first UT game. Assault in Unreal Tournament is a fantastic mode which has one team serving as the attacking team and one team serving as the defensive team. The attacking team has to complete a series of objectives, usually to encroach on the defensive team's turf or destroy something important. Meanwhile, the defensive team obviously enough has to prevent the attacking team from accomplishing their goal(s). Both teams get a chance to serve on both sides, and the team that completes the attacking part of the mission the fastest is the one that is determined as the winner.

Nearly all of the maps of Assault in Unreal Tournament are well designed for this type of setup. All but one, in my opinion, and that's the Ocean Floor map. Even if you're just playing against the AI, you can easily get wrecked regardless of what side you're on.

The attacking team starts in a base overlooking the underwater complex which houses a series of four terminals that must be destroyed. You have to leap into the ocean, swim through the depths, and reach one of two entrances into the complex where auto-turrets and most assuredly your enemy awaits. Die, and you have to spawn all the way back at your base, being forced to slowly swim back towards and into the underwater compound.

On defense, the offense from the other team can be instant. Facing the AI, you can quickly find yourself with all of the terminals destroyed before you get a chance to blink. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but that's what it feels like. Ocean Floor is one of the only maps in Unreal Tournament that feels heavily lopsided in favor of the attacking team over the defensive team. It's what makes it a disliked map of mine that otherwise has a cool setting and architecture.

Water Temple - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)

Now, now. Weapons down, ladies and gentlemen. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is without a doubt my favorite video game of all time. It is just a ticket to masterful game design... well, except one place in the game, and that's a dungeon that even the director of the game has apologized for.

Yes, I'm referring to the Water Temple, a dungeon within Ocarina of Time that suffers from two annoyances that pop up multiple times throughout Link's journey through its depths.

The first is the need to raise and lower the water level of the dungeon on various occasions to make the floating platforms rest where they need to. A bigger pain in the rump was the need to constantly switch between having the Iron Boots equipped and having them unequipped to Link. This process was further made aggravating by having to enter the pause menu to equip and unequip respectively. When you're being forced to equip the Iron Boots so much to sink down into the watery depths, the time wasted adds up.

Both of the Water Temple's main problems were rectified in what I consider the definitive version of Ocarina of Time, the Nintendo 3DS remake. Not only are the paths to the places where the water can be raised and lowered displayed with color-coded lines leading to them, but now the Iron Boots are like any other item that can be put on and taken off with a tap or touch of a button. Now, that's progress! It makes what was an otherwise overlooked part of Ocarina of Time's Water Temple design no longer an issue.

Carnival Night Zone Act 2 - Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (GEN)

While Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is one of my favorite entries in the Blue Blur's long line of video games, there is one particular sour spot that gets my girdle bunched up. THIS:

It's an ugly note in an otherwise near perfect gem of a Genesis game. Carnival Night Zone as a whole has a multitude of red and white barrels throughout it. However, the only one that is absolutely necessary to pass is near the end of Act 2. Nowhere in either act does the game display how to pass them. What occurs, then, is that players will try an assortment of tactics to pass by this dreaded stopping point for many a-player. The most popular is to jump up and down on the red and white barrel. Seeing a tactile response in the barrel beginning to bounce up and down, it only makes sense to continue this strategy.

However, one who continues this practice will cruelly never get that their incessant jumping on the barrel is for naught. It's simply not the right way to get passed this obnoxious obstacle. Instead, what you're supposed to do, as part of one of the most counter-intuitive gameplay mechanics I've witnessed, is hold up on the d-pad and then hold down, alternating between the two.

Few ever solved this unassuming puzzle on their own. Instead, they called a Sega hotline for game tips. I'm quite certain the developers of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 intentionally made the solution to the red barrel of doom so obscure and obtuse just to get extra money from suckers like me who called their $1.00 a minute hotline! Okay, maybe not, but it was indeed a place in the game that was needlessly vague in helping the player learn how to pass the obstacle on their own. A simple design decision like throwing a sign in the background would have made this preventable problem go away. Then again, as they say, hindsight is 20/20...

Gate's Laboratory - Mega Man X6 (PS1)

Instant death. That's what the final stages of Mega Man X6 award its players with after eight long stages that were just as awkwardly crafted and sometimes designed in such a way that are just offensive flat out.

Gate's Laboratory is a series of three stages that fill players with nothing in the way of fair difficulty, instead going for total cheapness. It's as if the developers and designers of Mega Man X6 had to be coaxed into creating the game kicking and screaming, and their ultimate revenge for this dishonor was making Mega Man X6 hellishly difficult in a myriad of unfair ways.

Spikes lining the walls, requiring pixel perfect jumps to avoid them? Got 'em. Enemies just placed at random locations and in great numbers? Got 'em. Blind jumps that only a psychic would know about? Got 'em. Finally, multiple challenging bosses that don't give you any sense of accomplishment in beating them? Yep, you guessed it. Got 'em.

It says something about Gate's Laboratory 2 when it's actually quite possible to be unable to progress in the level if you're the wrong character in the wrong armor. There is a jump that many call a leap of faith that is impossible to make if you're playing as X and you're not equipped with the correct armor. That alone speaks the loudest about Mega Man X6's problematic level design, and Gate's Laboratory stages are a crash course in bad design.

Final Level - Whomp 'Em (NES)

NES games are known for being something called "Nintendo Hard", and up until the final level in the Mega Man-inspired Whomp 'Em, the difficulty of the game is rather fair. When you reach the final level that our Native American hero has to deal with, you'll be asking for a dreamcatcher to catch this nightmare of a level so you won't have to ever contend with it ever again.

Let's start where we should-- the beginning. You're in the sky with several clouds serving as the platforms of the first part of the level. Some of these are storm clouds and will unleash on our hero a shock to his system. That's not all, however, as there are columns that must be maneuvered around, too. Oh, and don't forget the enemies that can come out of nowhere and pass through these otherwise solid objects.

After a vertical section of scaling small and short cloud platforms, the second floor of this final level is made up of columns of ice, more clouds, and more enemies that can quickly come out of nowhere to damage you. To add to the player's misery, falling down at this section of the level means you have to start from the first floor, going through that hot mess all over again.

By the time you reach the third floor of Whomp 'Em's final level, the game throws in an entirely new gimmick with no time for preparation given to the player. You have to immediately learn how to propel yourself with the protagonist's primary weapon, a staff, through an area with no gravity. This is all the while defeating or completely avoiding enemies. Very hard to do when you haven't mastered a totally brand-new game mechanic that is thrust onto you.

Then, there's the final boss, which is weak only to one weapon which takes off a bar of health each and every time you use it. If you don't decide to use the boss's weakness against him, prepare for an incredibly difficult battle, as the boss will use near impossible attacks to dodge.

No matter how you slice it, Whomp 'Em's final level is a blight and a horrid note to end on for an otherwise competent and capable Mega Man clone. It is marred by poor design, unfair challenges, and a mechanic that comes out of nowhere for the player to be forced to somehow master.

SPC Quickies - Volume Seven - PSParty

Ah... the SPC Quickie... Was it good for you? This is where we take games under the microscope for some rapid-fire reviews. Today we're looking at my PSP collection and judging these games in paragraph-sized, bite-size reviews. My PSP collection is pretty big, so this might take awhile, folks. So sit back, relax, and let's get to the Quickies! But first, games are rated from 1-5. 1 being the worst, and 5 being the best.

(Some games were left out of my collection as I have not played them enough to review them--even half-assed.)

Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles - Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles is made up of three games in one. You have the classic Rondo of Blood, Symphony of the Night, and the main attraction, the Rondo of Blood remake with updated sound and visuals. Some player may not like the old-school controls of Rondo of Blood, but they felt adequate enough for the game. For three games for the price of one UMD, this one hell of a deal that action-platformer fans should not pass up on! 5/5


Daxter - He's back, and he hates bugs! Daxter takes place between the events of Jak getting captured in Empire City and the wisecracking ottsel (otter plus weasel) rescuing his bound buddy. The game shows the events leading up to Daxter saving Jak from his imprisonment. To help start off, Daxter becomes a bug exterminator, routing out pests within the city walls. With his trusty bug gun he can spray enemies into submission as well as use it to hover across chasms, Super Mario Sunshine-style. One of the best platformers on the PSP, Daxter is a great investment for fans of the genre. 4/5

Final Fantasy - Just how many times can Square-Enix port this damn game? As many times as it's profitable apparently! The PSP version was given the Castlevania treatment with updated sound and visuals. All the turn-based RPG action that you can stand is here and accounted for. Those who played the GBA remakes, however, might feel gypped having to buy Final Fantasy I and Final Fantasy II separately. Regardless, there's plenty of old-school Final Fantasy fun to be had in this remake. 4/5

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions - Blame yourself or God if you miss out on this excellent tactical RPG. Spanning five chapters, dozens of missions, multiple character classes, and numerous pieces from one of the best soundtracks in gaming history, this PSP port of the PS1 original features new characters and items to collect. The endless possibilities here to creating the ultimate party will have you playing for hundreds of hours. A tactical RPG, Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions is a game not be missed by any PSP owner. 5/5

God of War: Chains of Olympus - The Gods may have forsaken Kratos, the ghost of Sparta, but this game won't forsake you. It's amazing how well the God of War franchise translated to the small screen. All of Kratos' repertoire of visceral moves are here for you to unleash on your unfortunate foes. Chains of Olympus is without a doubt one of the best action games on the PSP. The only real flaw, and it's a pretty big one, is the brevity of the main story. If you can handle that, you're in for one Hades of a ride. 4/5


Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories - Phil Collins. What more do you need? Phil mother$%#$ing Collins! Okay, well there are a lot of varied missions, and expansive city to explore, multiple locales to scoop out, a rich 80s world that's yours for the taking, and an awesome soundtrack to boot. Add in Phil Collins, and you have a game that is hard to resist. Unless you're not a Phil Collins fan which means we have nothing further to discuss! 4/5

Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure - Drill, baby, drill. No, we're not talking about 50 year old politicians trying to sound cool. No, no. We're talking about Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure for the PSP (what else?). With Parin's drill, she can tear through walls, enemies, and objects on her quest to save Monster Village and rescue the monster-napped denizens in this action-RPG. The visuals are passable but not too impressive, and the camera can sometimes get on your nerves. Other than that, a decent and worthy game for a PSP owner's collection. 4/5

Hammerin' Hero - Hammerin' Hero is a 2 1/2D brawler featuring some platforming here and there. It's a dog-eat-dog world in the Hammerin' Hero world where one hit means certain death. While this may frustrate some, it's a wonderful challenge for others. There's multiple costumes to utilize offering unique powers from a record-throwing DJ to a slugging baseball player. The cel-shaded visuals are colorful, the levels are short enough to make repeated visits and tries less frustrating, and the difficulty is definitely there. Not for everyone, Hammerin' Hero is one for the ages. 4/5

Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee - Swing for the fences! Wait, that's baseball. You'll go out of bounds if you do it my way... Nonetheless, the first handheld Hot Shots game features six courses to play through, and they're well-designed and masterfully-constructed. The characters all have their own personalities, and they can be custom-outfitted with costumes earned through winning challenges in the single-player mode. A great golf game, but not the PSP's best. 4/5

Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 - Open Tee 2, the obvious sequel to the original Open Tee, has much more to offer than its predecessor. There's double the amount of characters and courses (half of which are from the original Open Tee). The fun is as awesome as ever with the tried and true three click shot system. The game has a pleasant soundtrack to listen to, lush visuals, and a humor that the Hot Shots crew are known for. If there is a better portable golf game around, I've yet to see it. 5/5


Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier - Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier takes the undaunted duo to the edge of the world in search of eco, which is constantly running out in the world. There's three types of gameplay in Lost Frontier: Jak and Daxter together, Daxter by himself in werewolf form, and aerial plane battles. The variety is nice, and there's plenty of worlds to survey, precursor orbs to collect, and secrets to uncover. A decent adventure, but not for forty bucks, The Lost Frontier is worth a rental currently. 3/5

LittleBigPlanet - LittleBigPlanet offers a different take on the franchise than its PS3 big brother. Instead of three tracks to jump through, there's but two tracks to traverse. Don't mistake this for a dumbed-down experience. Sony Bend crafted some diabolically clever levels, added some all-new costumes, and the online community is just as active as ever. LittleBigPlanet may not be as world-shattering as the original, but it's a competent game all on its own. 4/5

LocoRoco 2 - You really only need to know two buttons on the PSP in order to fully enjoy LocoRoco 2, and those are the L and R shoulder buttons. L tilts the world to the left, and R moves the world to the right. Pressing in both buttons at the same time makes your little, lovable LocoRoco leap into the air for some twisted platforming peril! Add in some addicting gameplay, fun minigames, and eclectic soundtrack, and you have one of my favorite, intuitive PSP games! 5/5

Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X - It seems remaking the sound and visuals for SNES games is a popular thing these days... at least on the PSP. I'm not going to complain, however, when they're terrific games like Mega Man X being remade and remastered! Run, gun, jump, and slide your way through twelve levels of X action, blasting away enemies, collecting power-ups, and just kicking all kinds of Maverick ass. It's Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X, and it's an awesome remake. 5/5

Mega Man: Powered Up - Speak of the devil, when we're talking awesome remakes, how about the re-imagining of the original Mega Man? Not only are there two more Robot Masters to take down in Oil Man and Time Man, but there's a brand-new cel-shaded chibi art style. Throw in the ability to create your own stages, a challenge mode, and an impressive remixed soundtrack, and you have a game that more PSP owners should have purchased! Darn you, evil-doers! 5/5

Metal Gear Acid - Snake. Stealth. ...Playing cards? You read right. This turn-based strategy game has a brand-new story and gameplay elements to it, and it overall succeeds in what it does. The thrill of earning a new card will make collectors want to hunt down them all. The special artstyle is quite nice, too, and the soundtrack is as capable as ever. Not a great game, but a good one. 4/5


Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops - From the guest review, "It’s not a perfect game, mind you, as I found myself having occasional issues with randomly dropping out of first-person view and having trouble entering a vent unless I crawled in just the perfect line, but for the most part, this game succeeds in its console to handheld transition. If you want a game that can give you a decent challenge and a good amount of playtime, then you should check out MGS: Portable Ops. It’s just the kind of stealth-action experience I was hoping for." 4/5

Motorstorm: Arctic Edge - It's spring now, so who really wants to think about winter all over again? We just escaped that madness! Well, you may want to rethink your position with Motorstorm: Arctic Edge. This hardcore, balls-to-the-wall racing game is high-octane across sixteen individual courses of varying difficulty. Each vehicle has a different path it should follow. For instance, a bike shouldn't go anywhere near deep snow while a big rig wouldn't be caught dead flying off a ramp. My only gripe is that the game becomes very unforgiving in later challenge levels. Overall, a game you can chill out to. 4/5

Pangya: Fantasy Golf - PANGYA! Yelled when one makes a perfect shot, Pangya is all about goofy golf at its finest. Like the title says, it's all about fantasy golf here. You can enter the shop to upgrade your characters with multiple different clothing options, new gear in the form of clubs and balls, and helpful items giving temporary stat increases. The game is a colorful mishmash of beauty, and the single-player modes will last players hundreds of hours. Good luck collecting every item there is in the game! 4/5


Patapon - Pata-pata-patapon. Pata-pata-patapon. The little black blobs of Patapon love rhythm. And let me tell you that rhythm's going to get you. Unfortunately, attacking enemies and taking down bosses with the same rhythms gets quite repetitive-- even for a twenty dollar game. Memorizing these monotone melodies is also a chore. It all amounts to a game that's not very fun if you're not rhythmically-inclined. 2/5

Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters - Size apparently really does matter as this Ratchet & Clank adventure is a tad on the short side. Yes, there's bolts to reclaim and upgrades to purchase, but you can't help feeling the game ends way too soon. Add in that sense of deja vu of "I've played a game like this before", and you're probably right. It's just another Ratchet & Clank game. Nothing more, nothing less. 3/5

Resistance: Retribution - Sony Bend does it again. Taking the atmosphere and folklore of the Resistance series and translating it perfectly into a third-person shooter, Resistance: Retribution is full of incredible surprises. There's a cover system that works well (unlike some other popular third-person shoo-- Gears). Additionally, there's online multiplayer full of fun modes, an active community, and some of the most fun I've had on a portable online. 5/5

Sonic Rivals 2 - One could imagine what this game would be like if there weren't racing or catch-up AI. Instead the game would be a traditional Sonic game with the same level layouts and gameplay. It'd be a heck of a lot more fun is what it would be. That much is for certain. As it is, the sheer amount of frustration from the rubber-band AI is just too much to bear in Sonic Rivals 2. 2/5

Star Ocean: First Departure - The original Star Ocean popped up on the Super Nintendo pretty late in its life. It only was released in Japan, so it's a treat to finally be able to play the first Star Ocean with updated graphics, voiced cut-scenes, and updated music. While much more basic than its sequels, Star Ocean: First Departure is an interesting game to check out for RPG fanatics and curious PSP owners alike. 4/5

Star Ocean: Second Evolution - A port of the PlayStation One original, Star Ocean: Second Evolution was familiar territory for me, a fan of The Second Story. There's lot of same-y things here from the excellent battle system to the likable cast of character to the wonderful world and soundtrack. Like FFT, Star Ocean: The Second Story is one of the best period. New cut-scenes were added as well as a majority of the conversations being voiced. Overall, a tried and true installment to the Star Ocean series. 5/5


Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron - I loved the original Battlefront for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It was just fun, frenetic, and frantic-- all F words and all %%##ing (there's another F-word) awesome. Renegade Squadron on the other hand has some of the most headache-inducing visuals on the PSP. Combine that with odd controls and a glitchy camera, and you have a pretty poor experience overall. Recommended to true Star Wars nuts only. 2/5

Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology - Tales of the World is a compilation title featuring heroes and villains from past and present Tales Of titles. The game features fast-flowing, real-time battles in glorious 3D. There's plenty of quests to take on, monsters to defeat, characters to customize, and areas of the massive dungeon to explore. Not the best RPG that the PSP has to offer, but it's a fun little romp a definite buy for fans of the Tales franchise. 4/5

Tokobot - Tokobot is a game where skill and strategy go hand-in-hand. You play as a secret agent named Bolt attempting to enter a strange temple. He comes across a friendly group of special robots named Tokobots. They help him get safely through the various levels on his quest to get to the heart of the very temple. This 3-D puzzle/adventure game isn't without its problems. The main offender is the camera which can be problematic for sure. 3/5

Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth - The trend of porting PlayStation titles to the PSP continues with Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth. The first VP came out way back in 2000, ten years ago. The game is now very rare, so it's great that Square-Enix came out with a port for those of us who missed out on the original. New cut-scenes were added to this action-RPG, and the game is quite a blast to play. Recommended for RPG fans. 4/5

WipEout Pulse - More speed, more tracks, more racers, WipEout Pulse is the sequel to WipEout Pure, and it's the better game as far as I'm concerned. While the series has yet to reach F-Zero heights in popularity, the series is known for its fast, item-based arcade action. Pulse has players taking part in either online or offline races, competing in challenges to reach new grids full of more challenging courses and race types. If you have the need for speed, WipEout Pulse is here for you. 4/5


WipEout Pure - Pure as the driven snow, WipEout Pure is also all about fast-paced races set in the future. The sense of speed is unparalleled on the PSP with eight racers taking each other on at once. If you have an interest in arcade racing and own a PSP, WipEout Pure is the cheaper of the two handheld WipEout games, and it's definitely worth a purchase. 4/5

Interested in past editions of SPC Quickies? You know you want more! Check them out below!

Volume One
Volume Two
Volume Three
Volume Four
Volume Five
Volume Six