12/05/05 >> GripShift (Sony PSP)

Genre: Racing

 

 

 

 

 

For anyone thinking about getting this game needs to go buy it or rent it and give it a try. You will not be disappointed. So far this is the most fun I've had with a PSP game within the first 5 minutes of playing it. I know the PSP is overloaded with racers but don't let that fool you it really is much more then a racer and one of the most unique games released thus far. As a testament to how good this game is, we felt the need to write this review before we've actually finished the game proper.

 

Presentation
The presentation is superb and I really like the cell shaded graphics of the menus. Load times are fantastic while playing but it does make you sit through 4 logo screens when first starting the game. It has auto-save which I think is a must in all PSP games.

 

 

Graphics
The Graphics are really crisp and nice. Some games are to dark and hard to see when playing in a well lit room such as untold legends but this game doesn't have any such issues it is always bright and crisp and looks gorgeous on the PSP screen.

 

Sound
I like the soundtrack; its fun and doesn't take itself to serious and jumps around genres and is always pretty funky. The sound effects are good all around.

 

 

Gameplay
This is what makes the game. All the rest just leads up to this as it should with any good game. It's all about the gameplay. The handling is spot on. At first it seemed a little to loose (later cars handle much tighter), but it doesn't take long to get used to it. I really like how the controls effect you while flying in air as well it's just a kick to go flying right from the start to the finish and skip nearly the whole track flying through the air to get Gold. I've only done it on one level so far but there was no other way to get Gold on that level till I figured that trick out.

 

 

Another thing I really like about the gameplay is the fact that every track you do there are three separate goals for you to complete and usually you will have to race through the track 3 different ways to accomplish those goals. That alone gives this game a huge amount of re-playability. Also the 2 goals getting all stars and a gold medal are usually obvious but the 3rd goal getting the GripShift Icon is almost always tricky. You might have to go through half the track just to turn around so you can hit a bump from the opposite direction to get thrown onto a platform you couldn't get on going through the track normally.

 

This really is an Action, Platform, Puzzler, Racer and they pulled it off with flying colors. This game is great; go get it. We highly recommend it without hesitation.

 

 

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Game Score: 9.0

 

Reviewed By: Staff