When the PSP was first announced, I was excited. The PSP looked like it'd be really cool - nice big screen, powerful processor, useful features. Once the initial buzz wore off, though, I realized I'd never really have a use for a portable console unless it was truly innovative (eg the DS, with a different control method and dual screen action) or cheap enough that I could play it on the can (there's a Game Boy Colour that rarely leaves the confines of my bathroom - I just got 115800 points on GB Mr Do while putting off writing this month's column). When the PSP was actually released and I saw the price of the bloody thing, any thoughts at all of getting one were rapidly obliterated.
I've made half hearted attempts to keep up with the games coming out for PSP in case any of them were interesting enough to make me change my mind, but few did. One of Sony's selling points, at least to developers, was that it would be remarkably easy to port games from PS2 to PSP - unfortunately for PSP owners, the developers took that a little too much to heart, and PSP has been plagued with way too many PS2 ports. Not all the PSP games out there are PS2 ports, though.. most notably, I remember wavering on buying a PSP just so I could play Grand Theft Auto Liberty City Stories, a sequel of sorts set in the same city as GTA III.
As you might have guessed from the title of this month's column, as it turned out, I didn't need to get a PSP after all. Whether it be because sales weren't good enough on PSP, or it was just viewed as easy money to do a PS2 port (considering PS2 has an enormous installed base worldwide - either you or someone you know owns one, trust me on this), some companies have been porting their games back from PSP to PS2.
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
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The plot: Set three years before the events of Grand Theft Auto III, but still in Liberty City, these are the same kinds of shenanigans you've come to expect - accept missions from various people, or go out and cause your own mayhem. There are some differences in the ways you can get around the city, and there are now motorcycles available to ride. Don't ask why, when there weren't any in III.
The verdict: It's a shame that the engine wasn't really updated in any way, as it looks a little primitive nowadays, but it's still a fun game - if you liked the Grand Theft Auto series, think of this as an extra mission pack, as that's essentially what it is.
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Enhancements?: Actually, you lose some features - in the PSP version, you could customize the soundtrack, and it had a multiplayer mode for up to 6 players through the PSP's WiFi ability.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
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The plot: Amazingly enough, this is in the same city as Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Also unsurprisingly, it's set a few years before the events of that game. In Stories, you're controlling Victor Vance, Lance Vance's brother, a soldier in the US Army just transferred to the fort at Vice City.
The verdict: It's excellent, but then I'm biased, because Vice City was always my favourite GTA game. Vice City Stories is not only more of the same, but the soundtrack is even better (how can you go wrong when you get both "Everything Counts" by Depeche Mode and "Blue Monday" by New Order? Not to mention the triumphant return of the hilarious radio chatter on the various stations), and there's some terrific new features: first of all, you can swim. It's not quite the same as San Andreas in that you can only swim for a limited time, but it's still a welcome addition.
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The other major addition to Vice City Stories' gameplay is the empire building aspect - somewhat similar to the gang wars of San Andreas, incorporating the property buying of Vice City, and reminiscent of The Godfather for PS2 (and PS3, and Xbox, and Wii) - in Vice City Stories, you can make scratch by buying various businesses, after killing off the controlling enemy gangs.
Enhancements?: As with the Liberty City Stories port, you lose the multiplayer feature, but Rockstar actually added some features for the PS2 port, including slightly improved graphics and draw distance, and a significant amount of extra content, including more unique jumps and rampages and some extra vehicle missions.
Tokobots Plus
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The plot: The plot's quite intricate, well, at least as far as these things go - the PS2 version has quite an impressive introduction sequence with multi-character voiceovers. You're a kid called Bolt who wants to find treasure hidden in ancient ruins, and he does so with the help of a group of Tokobots he controls, cute little robot dudes that you can use to attack in various ways, or to act as ladders to climb around the landscape. It's a third person jump, stomp and collect 'em up with some interesting puzzles and kid-targeted anime stylings.
The verdict: Seems like fun to me. The control method is pretty straightforward, and the initial mission introduces you to it easily enough - about the only complaint I have is that the camera can be unwieldy at times, but you can manually control it with the right thumbstick, so it's not a showstopper.
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All right, I have two complaints - the voice used for the girl navigator character is very, very annoying after a very short time, a kind of stereotypical American girl accent that makes me want to set fire to an orphanage. I have a similar reaction to the music of Billy Joel, drinking brown rum, or anything made by Disney.
Enhancements?: Apparently the PS2 version has some extra treasures hidden throughout the game, and the controls are a little easier to work - the PSP doesn't have two analog sticks, so presumably the camera was even worse on the PSP version.
Mercury Meltdown Remix
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The plot: It's a variant on the Marble Madness / Super Monkey Ball / Kororinpa theme, but with a twist - you control a blob of mercury, and this can be split up in a level. There are certain types of gates you have to pass through which require you to have a certain amount of mercury on a pressure switch, and some areas require your blobs of mercury to be certain colours, as well as the usual problems and pitfalls - falling off the edge, getting attacked, cursing profusely and hurling the controller at people, places or things in a blind rage.
The verdict: Mercury Meltdown Remix is certainly fun enough, especially if you like the ol' move-thing-around-maze genre, but I found that it got a little too complex for its own good. Marble Madness used to be the high water mark, then Kororinpa came along and totally grabbed my attention
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for hours at a time, but after playing Mercury for a while, I just got tired of the complexity - perhaps I'm overselling it, it's not exactly rocket science, but in my humble opinion, they threw too much into the mix. As well as the standard game, there are some party games included - bring your pointy hats and beer keg, kids, it's time to get busy. I should also note that the graphics seem particularly ugly and/or primitive - this kind of game doesn't lend itself to God of War-esque beauty, but by the same token, it doesn't have to look like a blurry SNES game either.
Extra features: There are two entirely new areas in the PS2 version, as well as the "Remix" title being earned by the inclusion of levels from the original PSP game, Archer Macleans' Mercury, to which PSP Mercury Meltdown was a sequel.
Lumines Plus
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This isn't actually out yet in Australia, so I can't give you my opinion, but if it's half as fun as the mobile phone version, I'm sure it'll be a blast. Lumines is terrific, I've reviewed the mobile phone version in a previous column. According to the internet at large, it's going to have some extra skins and a few other features, so who knows, it might be worth picking up.
Have I mentioned the other advantage of these PSP to PS2 ports is that they're cheap? I've only paid $AUS40 each for the GTA games (the others in the series all started at $AUS90 or 100 here initially), and $AUS20 each new for Mercury Meltdown Remix and Tokobot Plus. That's not very much at all.
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