Welcome to Gaia! ::

Game Review

Lumines (2005)
Company: UBISOFT
Players: 1 to 2 players
Rated: E for Everyone

If you are into puzzle tetris-like games look no further, Lumines is what you�ve been looking for. Featuring great gameplay, fantastic music in sync with your actions and the simplicity to pick up and play escalating to almost impossible to play levels, this game is a must to every PSP-owner.

The Game

It�s pretty straightforward, you must group same colored 2x2 squares by rotating falling 2x2 bicolored squares. While you�re playing, a vertical line called the �timeline� will constantly cross the screen horizontally, removing all the same colored squares you�ve grouped as it passes, that way, the more same-colored squares you make before the timeline crosses, the more points you earn by getting combos. There are also special single-squares that will make all the adjacent same colored single-squares disappear when you make a 2x2 square that contains this special square.That�s basically it, pretty simple huh?.

There are several single player modes: Challenge (no time limit), Time Attack (make as many squares as possible within a time limit), Single-skins (same as challenge but the background doesn�t change) and Vs CPU modes (you play vs several bizarre characters in the same way as multiplayer). In the multiplayer mode the screen is divided into two and the more squares you make the larger your field becomes (and smaller your enemy�s) so the one who has no space to put the falling squares losses. As you clear levels and beat your high scores new skins and characters will be added to your library so you can use them on the single-skin and multiplayer modes.

Something you can�t stop noticing when you are playing Lumines is the music and backgrounds. The music is different for each stage and it goes in sync whit your actions becoming faster when you make combos and slower when you are doing bad. The backgrounds also respond to your game play shining in response to your actions. This two particular features make the game a really interactive and different experience.

The Result

This game is the best puzzle since Tetris, and equally as good, if not more so(don�t punish me ohh Tetris Gods!), and will make you spend hours playing it, the only down side is that it will become boring to non-puzzle people. One of the best relesed yet on PSP and in time I think it will become a classic.

DigitalAlchemist's Game Reviews



For those soccer fans out there, the announcement of a FIFA release this early was pure joy after most of us skipped the launch soccer game World Tour Soccer. FIFA promised to come with all the features from its consoles counterparts and ready to exploit the PSP's power.

Impressions & Gameplay
I gotta say that although I like the FIFA series, I'm loyal to the Winning Eleven series which I enjoy the most, so I thought of buying FIFA just to keep me soccer busy while Konami releases Winnin Eleven PSP.

Once you start playing FIFA PSP, It's hard not to notice the looong loading times required to load every single menu, and the fact that every menu item shows like a constant response delay between hitting the button and going to the next menu. The menus look neat, in a familiar way for those used to FIFA, the profile creation lets you choose your favorite team as well as your fav rival for the team chosen, which lets you have your profile rooting for your favorite team all the time.

After surfing around the menu, I decided to go and play a quick match to get a grip on the controls and the overall gameplay. Great matchup, Barcelona vs Real Madrid, the game loading is long but not long enuff to make you go mad, so far , it's cool. It's when you finally see the intro sequence that you start noticing that something's a little odd; it's really pretty straighforward to notice that the framerate the game is played at is really slow.

Once the game starts, things starts going more smoothly, with players showing great movement, really great ball physics and a familiar FIFA gameplay that should get you right down to business. Graphics are beautiful with just a little less detail than its console version. The stadiums look incredible for a handheld and the commentary work is fairly decent with the same english dudes doing the talking. After so many good impressions, however, things can get really annoying when a ball is heading out of bounds; that's when the game freezes a little bit, like a small pause that you can notice every time the ball is about to go out of bounds. It's not that annoying when you get the ball out around midfield, but it's really disappointing to have this small pause in a close to the goal shot; you're in the middle of a dramatic play, only to have the game freezing with the ball flying just right by the goalie.

The gameplay, although flawed by inconsistent framerate and annoying pauses when the ball is going out of bounds, still manages to be really fun and very similar to that found in the console versions.

Controls
Everything in FIFA is well-adapted to the PSP control scheme, except for the recently introduced "First Touch" System, which lets you tell the direction a player will take just after receiving the ball. In the console version, this can be achieved by tilting the right analog stick to the desired direction, but in the PSP version you have to release the analog stick (which you use to control player movement) and then use the d-pad to choose a "First Touch" direction, which makes this task a really hard one for people with just 1 left thumb.

I hope to get more used to this way to use the "First Touch" and juke moves with the D-pad as I keep playing, but so far, it's a shame not to be able to perform this moves easily as they can help you outperform your opponents.

Overall
I have to say I had mixed reactions about this game. For one part, the gameplay and graphics are really good from what we expect from a FIFA game, but unfortunately the game feels like you're running it in a very slow computer rather than a PSP; if I hadn't played WipeOut I could say it was acceptable to have this kind of response but after seeing how well WipeOut handles the menus and gameplay without slowing down, I gotta say that EA Sports delivered a faulty product to the gamers (as they usually do).

If you don't have a problem facing the fact that you're playing a game that was not polished by EA and if you learn to ignore its little annoyances like the inconsistent framerate, the out-of-bounds freezing and its slooooow menus, then you can actually have a great time playing FIFA soccer.

"Its THUG all over agian"
Imagine, Tony Hawk and Bam Margera going head to head. Where they go around the world, in a competition of "who can create the most havoc?" Sounds kick a**. Now imagine going along with them. In THUG2:Remix you play the role of a newbie skater whos lucky enough to be part of a team on the "world destruction tour". You will be able to play along other pro skaters, secret skaters, and guest celebrities. As you complete the goals listed for points in this wacked out tour to create chaos. Your newbie skater, is all yours. You can customize him to make him look as crazy as you want him to be. Theres also a list of goals for stat points where you must complete these to up your skaters ability. "How well he can grind", "How long he can stay in the air" and etc. Even the board he rides is all yours, for you to freely customize, with an abundance of tags and clipart. This game packs a whole lot into the UMD. Everything from the console version here, and more! 4 new levels, and up-to 4 player wireless option.
This is exactly what it aimed to be. A honest to goodness port of THUG2 for you on the go.

Graphics: Looks alot like its console brother. But there are some compromises so it could be on the psp.

Sound: This is a premium skating soundtrack. But its not all rock, its got rap, funk, and other music genre's to please all sorts. The feel of the soundtrack just screams "Underground".

Controls: Even with the L2, R2, and second analog stick missing. This THUG port plays very well, and has all its combo's in-tact.

Replay Value: This UMD is packed. It will be spinning in your psp's for a long while.

Overall: Those looking for some THUG on the go just got there prayers answered.

Welcome, kiddies. When one thinks of the Metal Gear series, action, espionage, strategy, brilliant story, and heart pounding suspense all come to mind. The newest installment in the Metal Gear can also be described like its predecessors, kind of. Metal Gear Ac!d is a card game, so it's much harder to have the same level of action and suspense, but the strategy element is the same, if not, greater than the others. Well, let's get to the review.

For a quick review, goto the bottom of my post.


Sneaky Snake. Claymores are deadly, and flattening against the wall helps keep you out of sight.

Gameplay - Of course, the gameplay is nothing like the other Metal Gears, so that will turn some people away, and on top of that, it's a card game, which will turn even more people away. The levels are grided and have depth, like a numbed down Tactics. All the memorable MG tactics are still here, crawling, hanging, flattening against walls, knocking, CCQ, and shooting grenades. Your base move is 3 squares, and most cards can be used to move. Weapons are either of equip or use type, meaning you can use them on the spot, or you have to equip and load the weapon before attacking. There are four other types of cards, including action, support, item, and character. Actions can add accuracy, or block attacks, and everything in between. Support cards include hanging, climbing, lowering the cost of user or ally, and evades. Items are pretty much self explanitory, all different kinds of rations and healing items, and even certain types of magazines that "entertain" the soldiers. Character cards are by far the best. Call upon Cyborg Ninja, or even Solidus Snake to help out during battles. The pace of the battles are slowed down a lot, and the action is lessened by a small degree, however the depth of battle is much greater.


This is what moving looks like.The grid isn't present at all times like other strategy/card games.

Gameplay - 8

Sound/Music - The music is traditional MG music. There is, of course, the panic music and codec sounds that have been in the MGSs. The music can get very repetitive, due to the battles tending to be on the long side. The sound is crisp and clean. Everything from the gun shots, to the explosions, to the simplistic sounds are nice.

Sound/Music - 8.5

Graphics - Definately where this game excels. Not quite PS2, and out of PlayStations league, it's almost dead in the middle. Everything is pretty well detailed, the character models look extremely well, along with the environments. And the explosions are truly beautiful. Everytime a grenade goes off, it's like the first time all over again.


The graphics are much better than the first MGS, but not quit up there with MGS2. It's still beautiful though.

Graphics - 9

Story - The story is pretty deep, but not as deep as the other stories. Ac!d doesn't really tie into the Solid series, due to a completely new cast, sans Snake. I haven't beat the game, so I don't know if there is anyone else, but I doubt it. The basic story is that a plane is hijacked, and Snake is working against the clock to save lives, as always. The new cast adds to the freshness, but it's the basis of the other stories.

Story - 7.5

Overall [NOT AN AVERAGE] 8.5

For the hardcore MGSers, you may not like this game, but for those who liked the turnout of PSO3, and/or like to give all games a try, this is a great game to pick up.

Quick Review - For you lazy asses biggrin

Gameplay - Card Game. Very involved and deep. Slower pace than the other MGs.
Sound/Music - Simply stunning. It's like ear candy...or something like that.
Graphics - Crisp and Clean. The best asset of this game. Visuals are great.
Story - Same old, same old. Race against the clock. Stupid terrorists.


I had to throw this one in. Snake with Dual HF Blades is just too kick a**.

Story:
The game starts as a group of "special" kids (special meaning the insane type), go to a museum on a feildtrip!The group of kids consists of Pandora (a gothic looking girl that is always getting into trouble, and carrys the Pandora Box),Stigmartha (the brains of the group, and my favorite), Seep (bassically a legless/armless talkin corps in a giant testtube on wheels),Dead Guppy (a dead fish), and Death (main charecter,duhh)!
Anyways, they go to the museum and death opens a mysterious box that unleashes a ancient evil that sets free demons all over the town and steals the souls of Death Jr.'s friends!Death doesnt want to let his dad (Death) to find out about his mess so he trys to fix everything without his dad knowing.
So to get ur friends souls back, u travel to favorite areas of town that that person Hangouts at! The objective is to get through a level and get one of the three peices of a puzzle that will give back a charecters souls!

Gameplay:
The game bassically plays like a cheesy verson of Devil May Cry! You have a syth that can be used to do wicked combos and break objects! You also have a small arsenal of firearms to use including:Twin Pistols, Shotgun, Chain Gun, Rocket Launcher, Freeze Thrower, Flame Thrower, Electric Gun, and my favorite....
C4 HAMPSTERS!
When using firearms, only the twin pistols have infinite ammo! The other weapons require ammo found in levels of the game! When firing the guns, DJ can either lock-on to the nearist enemy with R or he can shoot in First person (while standing still) with L!

Graphics/Enviroment:
The graphics for the game are so-so! There not really all that good! The game tends to go in crappy camera angels that leave you questioning where your opponent is! The enviroment on the other hand is really good! Most anything can be broke and blood shoots from most of the enviroment! DJ's syth also comes in handy when the levels are filled with a deadly substence u have to fly past! DJ can use his syth as a helichopter propeller and glide acroos areas! He can also hook onto wires and "Zipline" acroos areas!

Sound:
The soundeffects are slick and sound great! The game music is ok! Its sounds like a mixture of Marilyn Manson effects and the Creepyness found in The Adams Family!

Difficulty:
The game starts off easy and then gets chanllenging quick! The game loves to try to piss u off with cheap bosses and even cheaper enemys! They dont fight far!
It usualy goes in this pattern:2/3 kammakazes that run at you and blowup, 2/4 big dudes that can stomp the crap out of you, and 5/6 little bastards that shoot stuff at you and runaway!They have strength (and cheapness) in numbers! You MUST have patience when u play later in the game, unless you want to scrap peices of your broken PSP off the wall!

exclaim arrow Overall all the game is good!I would give it a 9/10!
I still think the $35 price for i was crap,but if u dont feel like buying it, at least rent it!
exclaim WARNING:I just completedthe game and it took me less than 2 days to beat (but i was playing it nonstop)! Keep in mind its a bit on the short side....but still great exclaim

Spiderman 2

Graphics: This is my first PSP game (I didn't get it by choise, the store was all sold out of PSPs unless I got a certain bundle, PSP,Spiderman 2 and Metal gear ac!d...Don't worry, tomorrow I'm exchanging them for Lumines and Ape academy) So I don't have much of a frame of refrence. It looks fine, there are plenty of diffrent levels (even some nice outdoorsy ones, and classic green grids for the traning mode) and the FMV's look great - only the likness to the actors in the movie isn't always great.

Gameplay/Controlls: OW OW OW. Alot of this game requires you to use the "Dodge" move, which is hold L+Direction+X. After a little while, my left hand really started to hurt, and that was only the first boss fight!

Other than that, the controlls are quite friendly. R to webswing, Triangle too fire a web, square to punch, X to jump and circle to kick. The analoge stick moves you around and the D-pad moves the camera. Down on the D-pad centers the camera behind you which can be a real pain in the a** if you've just turned a corner, want to keep moving AND need to see where you're going. You've gotta stop moving, press down, then start moving again.

Other than a camera problem every now and then, the only other problem would be corners. Spidey can walk on walls and ceilings, but if you walk from a ceiling to a wall, the camera turns and sometimes the controlls don't. The end result is a kind of weird dance untill you get fed up and decide to jump down.

I did have fun playing around web swinging and "Zipping" along hallways and air vents! I also like the move where you're able to throw an enemy. I killed many a bad guy by throwing him off of the roof.

With a devil may cryesk rating system (Well, the higher the combo the higher the points) you gain hero points. At the end of each level you can visit the store and unlock useful things like "Strength 2" "Web recovery 2" et cetra et cetra. Unless you're 4 and have no fingers, scoring is easy and unlocking all the moves only takes a once through the game run.

Sound: Some of the music in this game was supprisingly funky! It has alot of that kind of "Fighty-fighty Crystal method//Juno reactor" type music. The sound effects where pretty much like in the movie, and the charactors voices are all done by the movie cast.

Other stuff: There are unlockable extras in the store which try to add a little replay value. They..fail quite misarably. Once you complete the game, you get the level select function. You need to go back and earn 10000(or something) hero points to unlock the movie theater, where you can watch the movies from the start of each level! Great, right!? Wait..if they're at the beginning of each level and I have level select....Hmm.

The other extras are story boards and production art for the game's levels and FMV's which are kind of dull unless you're a hard core fan. Also, with the amount of hero points I had left after finishing the game, it took about 20 minutes to unlock the rest of the stuff.

The end part: Spiderman two would be good for hard-hard-hardcore spidy fans. Unless that applys to you, I'd leave this one for your little brother.

The pictures(Feel free to edit them out if they're too big!):