Echoes Review

It's time for another review of a fantastic Mini. For this one we travel back a bit, to one of the first Minis ever to arrive on the PSN, with Echoes.

Echoes is a Mini which is different from many others on the service, in that it isn't a copy of an old game, shoehorned to work with the Minis service. It is totally its own game, and it's a very unique game too.

Echoes is hard to explain. The concept is that you play as, what appears to be, a sombrero, and you have to run around collecting crystals from around a level. Which sounds easy. Until you find out that when you collect a crystal, the "echo" of your movement remains (hence the name), and if you hit your echo, you lose a life. It's nowhere near as simple as it sounds, believe me. In the way of controls, the game couldn't be simpler, requiring only either the analogue stick or the directional buttons to move, and the X button if you wish to slow down. The simple controls are a very good thing, as in some of the later stages where you have echoes literally everywhere, the last thing you want to be thinking about is where you fingers are and what button you are supposed to be pressing.

However, despite the trickiness of the game, it is incredible fun, and it is one of the single most addictive downloadable games i have ever played, not just from the Minis service, but from the whole of PSN.

In terms of how the game looks, it is not impressive, but this doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. The art style is very simple, with you playing as a hat, the crystals appearing as blue circles, and the echoes appearing as more blue circles. It couldn't be simpler in the graphics department. However, when a game is this brilliantly addicting, the looks of the game don't really matter. They aren't enough to detract from how great the game is, and that is all that needs to be said.

There is also a surprising amount of variety throughout the game. Though from the premise it sounds like it will get rather boring very fast, the developers have managed to make each level fresh and fun. Levels contain power ups like "Time freeze"and "crystal magnets" to help your progress through the game, and the new and interesting level designs help to keep you on your toes throughout the game's impressive  number of levels. The game still even feels fresh enough to keep playing to try and beat your best time, and obtain the games "medals".

Something that i don't often mention in these Mini reviews is the game soundtracks (well, apart from when they are stupidly annoying), but in Echoes, it does really need mentioning, as it is almost as good as the gameplay. It's a very simple track, with the same thing repeating itself over and over again for the most part, but it is also very catchy and suits the style of the game very well. Props to the developers for creating a soundtrack which matches so brilliantly with the game.

Overall then this is definitely a Mini you should be buying. It's one of the most simple, but most addictive games on the Playstation Network.

Echoes

Check out more gameplay videos on our Youtube account

Tetraminos Review

This is another one of the newest Minis on the European Playstation store. Going by this is from the same studio as Brick Breaker (which was a Breakout clone), i bet you can't guess what Tetraminos is a clone of...

...Yeah, Tetris. However, it's Tetris with a few simple, and quite helpful improvements. As you will notice in the gallery and gameplay video, Tetraminos adds a sort of "shadow" to the gameplay. By this i mean the game shows you an image of how the block will land and add the the current blocks, helping you to easier select the best position for the block. However, this helpful addition comes at the cost of being rather confusing - as you will probably think when you see the gameplay, it often becomes rather confusing as to which is the "shadow" and which is the actual block (no matter how strange this may seem). Eventually however, it is easy to get used to the addition and easier to keep track of which is the actual block. Though this seems like a rather simple feature, it is indeed very helpful at planning places for your blocks.

It is also good to see that this take on Tetris includes different difficulties, which is simple, but something that a lot of these games fail to implement.

As well as the simple "Classic" Tetraminos, which is the Tetris we all know and love, there is an added "Obstacle" version of the game. This mode adds a simple block in the middle of the Tetris grid, which must be avoided as the blocks are falling. Although this sounds like a negligible addition, it actually makes the game more devilishly tricky than normal. It's one thing to be able to make a block in Tetris; but it is other to be able to do this whilst avoiding a block on the way down! However, there is one small thing; the block acts as any normal block in the Tetris world does, i.e. it dissapears is in a full line. This was unexpected from me; i expected it to be a permanent feature, as something to permanently avoid, rather than something that could be removed every so often. However, it's good to see a differentiation of the classic Tetris, rather than just a total rip off of the game everyone has already played a thousand times before.

All in all this is a nice little Mini. It's Tetris, which everyone knows and loves anyway, with a few simple additions which are good enough to keep it fresh. The core game is still Tetris, and that's brilliant. As one of the cheapest Minis available, this is definitely worth a look.

Check out the gameplay screens and gameplay videos below.

Tetraminos

Brick Breaker review

Brick Breaker, a new Mini on the European Playstation Store, is a Breakout clone. The game doesn't even attempt to hide this, making it the main point in its description on the Playstation Store. The game itself makes no attempt to hide it either, as the game is very much a clone of Breakout, with little to no differentiation whatsoever, as far as i can tell.

In typical Breakout fashion, and as you all should know, the aim of the game is to move the "paddle" along the bottom of the screen (using the D-Pad) in order to hit the ball and break all the boxes. The formula is well known and unchanged from classic Breakout games. Another thing that remains unchanged is that, every once in a while (actually probably a little too often, a broken block with spawn a power up, which will either help or hinder you, the player, in breaking the blocks you see on the screen. The power ups are mostly pretty much as you would expect, with multiple balls, extra lives, and increasing the size of your paddle. However, the are also power-ups (if that is the correct term) that make the ball much smaller than normal, making it harder to hit it, and power ups that make the paddle smaller (even getting ridiculously small if you get too many of these). My favourite of the selection of power ups though, is one that turns your paddle into a turret, adding a gun onto it, allowing you to shoot the boxes (using circle) as well as using the ball. All of these power ups run only until you drop the ball.

As any breakout game should have, Brick Breaker has a nicely wide variety of levels on offer that will keep you entertained for quite a while considering the fact that this game is a Mini. This is probably one of the most "pick up and play" of any of the Minis that i have ever played, and this is a great thing. You can start it on the commute in the morning, put it down for a few hours, and pick it right back up where you left off, on the way back home again at night.

There are downsides though. The Mini is fun, yes but it just doesn't feel fresh. Maybe this is because of years of different Breakout clones, but this just doesn't seem to do anything new, but rather does old things very well. Which is by no means a bad thing. If you are a lover of this sort of game, you will definitely like Brick Breaker; however, the feeling of de ja vu is inescapable. Although the fact that this is one of the cheapest Minis available right now is a good enough reason to push the de ja vu to the back of your brain and enjoy a brilliant little Breakout clone.

As said, this does not do anything new at all, aside from a couple of different power ups...However this does not mean to say that it isn't fun, because it is, and what it does do is done very well indeed. The controls are responsive and the paddle never feels too slow as it often does in this type of game, and the amount of different levels is bound to keep you satisified for quite some time. Even when you have finished playing the main mode, there is an added "dual paddle" mode, whereby there is a paddle both at the top and bottom of the screen, and you have to stop the ball falling off both ends. This again, however, feels very samey, and doesn't really do anything new.


In the end, Brick Breaker is a very well done Breakout clone, which does everything well without bringing any innovation to the idea; not that that was to be expected, from a Mini.

Check out the gallery below. Also, as a first, check out the video (it's bad quality i know, i'm sorry. I'll try harder next time!)

Brick Breaker

New Minis this week

Hey guys. Another week of playstation store updates, and you know what that means; new minis!

So, new to the Playstation Network this week, we have


US Playstation Store

Kahoots is now FREE to Playstation Plus users


European Playstation Store

Brick Breaker (£2.49/€2.99)
Labyrinth (£2.49/€2.99)
Tetraminos (£2.49/€2.99)
(None of these are available in Russia)


That's it for this week. Fairly small update on the Minis front, but Kahoot is a real gem worthy of a download if you are a US Playstation Plus user. Check out the review.

Young Thor Review

"Young Thor" is the newest Mini from the great minds of Frima. It has a simple story; The "Norns" have been kidnapped by Hel, ruler of the underworld. Thor, the God of Thunder is the only God who would dare to take on Hel and release the Norns. Thor has to make his way through Midgard to take on Hel, and release the Norns.

The controls for the game are also very simple, as you would expect from a Mini. It is very God of War in the way it controls, with the square button being used for quick attacks, and triangle being used for heavy attacks. There's also the option of using the circle button for a special magic attack.

Young Thor is, perhaps, one of the simplest Minis  to get used to. You've played it many times before, in other guises. The controls and HUD are reminiscent of God of War, the checkpoints reminiscent of platformers like Crash Bandicoot. However, Young Thor manages to borrow elements from these games without seeming like a complete mish-mash of other games, as it is done so well. Also, though the combat and platforming are very simple, they never fail to be rewarding; especially when a mighty hit from your weapon results in the enemy flying towards the screen and hitting with a satisfying "thump." Levelling up also never fails to be satisfying. Despite the combat appearing deceptively simple at the very beginning of the game, it does in fact become pretty difficult in the later levels, requiring you think think about what you are doing, and if it really is the best way to get passed the area you are in. There was one point, in only the second level, where i had to spend a good 10 minutes of constant dying and respawning at the last checkpoint. In fact there is one point midway through the game which gets incredibly annoying with constant deaths and respawns. For some this will be a complete turn off, but for me it added a lot to the gameplay experience.

It's not only the combat that is satisfying; platforming is a massive part of Young Thor, and it is easy to see that Frima put a lot of effort in to getting it right. There are many parts of Young Thor that are dedicated solely to platforming (maybe with one or two enemies scattered about). Though these may be simple to fans of the genre who have been playing it since they were knee-high to a grasshopper, these parts always manage to be fulfilling.

The variation of enemies is as wide as your imagination, with Young Thor fighting everything from normal soldiers, to spider, angel things and strange giants in his quest through Midgard.

The gameplay and level variation is also pretty massive. Though gameplay is mostly incredibly linear, there are a few opportunities to explore, with some hidden areas along the way containing small bonus pickups such as "invincible for 20 seconds" or "Damage X 2 for 30 seconds" etc. Scattered along the linear path there are also new weapons and items to help you in your quest through Midgard, which is nice to see in a Mini.

There are a few niggles though, despite the overall brilliance of this Mini. There are a few points in the game where you are placed in a forcefield, whereby you cannot proceed until you have defeated all of the enemies that spawn in there. Whilst this is not a major problem at all, it seemed strange to me that i was being forced to fight, and it seemed like a way for Frima to artificially expand the length of the gameplay without adding anything extra.

Another bad thing about this Mini is, though it is mostly brilliant, occasionally awful level design. At one point in the third level i had absolutely no idea which direction i was supposed to go in, due to the way this part was designed. In cases like this, it would have been helpful that at least have some kind of signposting to help players find their way around.

Not to get bogged down with the negatives of this Mini, there is actually a lot of game here for your money. When you finish a level, you get a stats screen, before moving on to the level select. Here, not only can you select the next level of progress in the story, but each level on the same row is a variation of the same level. In all there are 13 levels to play through, which is, in my opinion, one of the best value for money you can get for any Mini. Even when you have finished the main story there are still many other variations to go through the get extra XP.

From a graphics point of view, even considering and taking into account that this game is a Mini, the details are actually pretty superb, as are the backgrounds. Okay, this isn't going to steal any medals from Uncharted in the graphics department...but it's definitely not ugly, in any sense of the word.

So, overall, is Thor worth your money? Definitely. As i have said this is one of the best values for money you will get from the Minis service, and it's good to see Frima breaking new ground with a Mini, making it longer and more interesting than any i have played so far. If you only have the money to ever buy one Mini again (or even one PSN game again) make it Young Thor. Sure, there are some niggles - the difficulty spikes being one of the more major of these - but none of this is enough to detract from the great fun and value for money that this game offers

Young Thor

Minis pass 1 million downloads!

It has been announced that the Minis project, which we all love so much, has been a success so far, with total downloads now having exceeded the 1,000,000 figure.

Sony recently announced the news on the Playstation Blog. They also helpfully included a nice roundup of the 10 most popular minis on the Playstation Network.

Here's the top 10 Minis by downloads. Click them to check out my reviews of them. 

1) Age of Zombies

2) Monopoly

3) Fieldrunners

4) Zombie Tycoon

5) Bloons

6) Spot the Difference

7) Pinball fantasies

8) Mahjongg Artifacts: Chapter 2

9) Yeti Spots Pengu throw

10) Breakquest

It's great to see some of these Minis up here; for example, Age of Zombies at the top makes me happy inside. Clearly not only one of the best Minis, but one of the best games on the whole of the PSN, it definitely deserves to be at the top of the most downloaded list. Similarly, titles like Fieldrunners, Zombie Tycoon and Bloons very much deserve to be among the top downloaded Minis. However, one thing i can not get over is the fact that "Yeti Sports" is in 9th position. Really? Wow, there must have been a lot of unhappy customers there. Well, that or my opinion is entirely unique.

In related news, as a result of the massive mildstone, SCEE are holding a special "thanks a million" Minis promotion on the Playstation Store. Check it out.

Source: Playstation.Blog EU

Hysteria Project review

First off, it is the cheapest Mini available on the store. So bare this in mind while reading this review!

Right, so this isn't your regular type of game. No controlling characters or hitting high scores in this game. Instead, it is a live-action sort of game (sort of like Heavy Rain). You make a decision, and then the consequences of that decision make up the game. Presumably the game changes based on all of the different decisions that you could make. There are also QTEs thrown in there which, if you miss, will cause you to be caught, and end the story there for you.

You start off tied up in a room with no idea how you got there. You have to escape from the mad killer who has taken you and is now chasing after you.

The atmosphere in this game is set up very well indeed actually. The music really adds to the mood, as does the character's blinking - which doesn't sound much but it really makes you feel like you are in the game. The game does an absolutely fantastic job of making and keeping the right mood - i was on the edge of my seat.

All good so far. Unfortunately, something just had to let it down didn't it. The resolution (at least on the PS3, which i played the Mini on) is absolutely terrible. It is so incredibly blocky that, at times, you can't actually tell what you are looking at. Also for some stupid reason, the developers thought it would be a good idea to half the game every few minutes to flash a big red box that says "saving" in front of you, which REALLY brings you out of the experience and reminds you that you are, in fact, playing a game. Another obvious downside is that this Mini is always the same. Once you've done it once, you've done it a thousand times - the reply value is next to 0, really. And in itself the Mini is pretty damn short - i believe it took me around half an hour to finish.

The game ends with a cliffhanger and "To be continued..." so obviously there will be more Hysteria Project to come.

Despite it's downfalls, i would still thoroughly recommend this if you like FMV games. Though it could be improved, this game is really very good for the small price you pay.

(Pictures coming soon)