Playstation

PS2 Hardware - Controllers, Memory Card, Multitap, etc.
Playstation One - PSOne game comments
Connectix Virtual Game Station - Games I've tested on this PSX emulator for the Mac

Here are some random thoughts on various PS2 and PSP games. I'm not trying to provide complete reviews. If you're looking for those, checkout metacritic. These are just some things that I liked or disliked about the games.

Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade (PSP) - A game in the mold of Diablo, it's virtually perfect for the handheld system. It's a great game for pick-up-and-go gaming. The typical leveling up, search for better equipment, and endless battling with a variety of interesting monsters makes for addicting short sessions. Highly recommended for fans of the genre.

Dynasty Warriors (PSP) - Rather than being able to run around the entire battlefield, the PSP version limits you to smaller tactical areas that must be won in order to traverse the area. Once won, you need to pick the next area to head into from the tactical map. If there are no enemy units in the area, you pass through unimpeeded. Each tactical area is won once the enemies' morale drops to zero. Conversely, you lose if your morale drops to zero. That being the case, you can win an area by avoiding all the tough officers and beating on the peons until their morale is gone.

Another difference in the PSP game is that your bodyguards are now secondary officers that grant special abilities. Some abilities are triggered during battles and others are always in effect. Not picking the right officers can be disastrous. For instance, on battlefield healing is only available from secondary officers. The other way to heal is to return to a friendly supply depot. However doing so, eats up some of your "supplies" (which is actually the clock time that you have to complete the entire stage). So healing at supply depots can cost you the game as you won't have enought time to complete the mission. That, to me, is the most difficult part of the game - making sure you have enough "supplies" (time) to finish the stage.

All in all, a great port for fans of the console verison of Dynasty Warriors.

Star Wars Battlefront 2 (PSP) - While not graphically as good as the PS2 version, it's a great game for Star Wars on the go! Want ground battles against stormtroopers? Check. Want space battles against Droid Starfighters? Check. Want to be Jango Fett hunting down Jedi? Check. (Mos Eisley assault mode). And to top it all off, there are 3 new challenges exclusive for the PSP - Imperial Assassin, Imperial Enforcer, and Rebel something-or-rather. One mark against the game, however, is the fact that after boarding an enemey vessel in the space battles, you can't leave the hanger. (PS2 version allows you to run around inside the enemy ship and wreck some havok).

Tokobot (PSP) - A cute platformer for the PSP. I originally bought it for my wife to play, but she found it a little complicated. The effect of the action button depends on what formation you place your tokobots in. With three formations and the option to link hands or not, fast thinking and quick fingers becomes the order of the day. Catchy music and cute graphics make it a fun game is you're looking for a platformer with more than just a jump and action button.

Kingdom of Paradise (PSP) - This "action RPG" got pretty good reviews overall on metacritic.com. It takes place in an asian fantasy setting, with the main character as an outcast from one of 5 different martial arts sects. Combat consists of rapidly pushing only two buttons - one to select a preset combo and the other (multiple times) to execute it. Eventually, you're able to create your own combos. The addictive part of the game comes in collecting enough moves (through defeating enemies) to create a cool combo. However, once you've created that combo, it all comes down to rapidly pushing just one attack button. Enemies all look relatively the same (swordsman or archer with poison arrows) except for the boss battles and the occasional super powerful monster roaming in the wilderness. Overall, I think RPG lovers will enjoy it, but others may not.

Lego Star Wars - Clearly aimed at the younger audience, it's still a lot of fun for grown-ups. It's impossible to die in this game - when you take too much damage, your Lego character falls apart, but immediately reconstructs itself. However, everytime that happens, you lose some of your accumlated Lego "studs" (these act as cash that you can use to buy upgrades or other characters). There are a couple of stages where if you crash your vehicle or miss a jump, you end up repeating the section over again, but overall you can complete the stages without too much trouble.

The game is much more fun with two players. That way you can both laugh at the cute cut-scenes and other animations as they happen. The game easily allows for the 2nd player to drop in and out of the game as they feel like it. This is yet another game that Star Wars fans shouldn't miss. (Note: it becomes very addicting to try to collect all the hidden canisters strewn through out the levels - I was much more hooked into finding all the hidden things in this game than in other games I've played).

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith - Billed as the ultimate Jedi experience, I'd have to say that it was a fairly entertaining game. As some reviewers have stated, the game is very linear and can get monotonous at times, but that's easily countered by trying to dispatch your opponents with style and panache. If you're a simple button masher, getting through all the levels probably wont' be very exciting. The entertainment value comes in mixing in various "eye-candy" combos with the occasional force power (push, lightening, etc).

Also, if you can get a couple friends together, it's a lot of fun to duel each other once you've unlocked all the characters (you can find the cheat codes to do that at gamefaqs.com). Again, try to duel with style (shunts, deflections, varying combos) or else it can turn into a simple button mashing session. If you don't have friends handy, you can duel the cpu as well.

Overall, a very fun game if you're a Star Wars fan. Others may want to just rent it or skip it.

Ace Combat 4 - If you like flight combat games, you must get this! Very similar in structure to the other games in this series, but the graphics are simply phenomenal! During the replay sequences it at times looks like video of real aerial combat.

However, the best thing about the game was the introduction of a story line. It's told through voice-overs during anime still frames. But it's so well done that I found myself really getting pulled into the game emotionally. And that's a first for vehicular shooter type games!

Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing - If you like cart racing games, this one is great! The controls take a bit of getting used to, but once you do, it's a blast. Basically, since you're controlling a "hovercraft" type vehicle, the controls seem a bit loose....but once you realize you have some control over your altitude when you become airborne, it becomes a hoot to try to keep your craft near the ground for maximum speed. At some points (like the underwater race), you have complete 3-D movement.

Personally, I think it's too hard of a game for little kids, but I won't know for sure until my nephews try it out. :)

The Bouncer - Despite what many of the print and internet reviewers say, I thought this was a fun game. I think the biggest fault is the relatively long load times. While many people complained about the short time to complete the game, if you realize that it's basically a fighting game (a la Ehrgeiz), then taking a half hour to finish the game (if you skip all the cinematics) is pretty standard.

Anyway, the true fun of the game is four person brawling after all the characters are at "S" level. Of course this means having to buy extra PS2 ("Dual Shock 2") controllers. But it makes for a great party game.

Star Wars: Starfighter - I think this game was a bit over rated by the aforementioned print & Net reviewers. While it's true that the game gives you the feeling of being in a huge battle (ground lasers blazing into the air, wingmen covering your tail, tanks covering the ground, starfighters filling the air), occasionally there are noticeable slowdowns which detract from the emersion of the game.

That being said, the game is loads of fun. After you've unlocked all the secrets (including Darth Maul's Sith Infiltrator), it's quite a hoot!

DOA2: Hardcore - One of the things no one ever seems to mention about this game, is that while the moving camera makes for great spectator viewing, it often messes up your controller input. (What once was your front is now your side, etc.)

Another negative is that the "jaggies" (no anti-aliasing) is readily apparent if you're playing on a very large screen.

Overall, this games still rates as a "thumbs up" though.