Burnout Legends is an amazing game that successfully brings the thrills and high standards of the series to the PSP.
Just like Burnout 3, Burnout Legends offers two career modes, the Tour and Crash. Tour features races in the different aforementioned modes on tracks around the globe with up to three other CPU opponents. Crash, which was introduced in Burnout 2, is a mode in which you try to rack up the most damage by crashing your car in different scenarios. For a handheld game, it's amazing that there are a full 100 Crash Events, just like in Burnout 3. However, the score multipliers from Burnout 3 are gone. Based on your performance in each Tour or Crash event, you are awarded a gold, silver, or bronze medal. In total, there are 175 events to earn medals in.
If you've played Burnout 3, you'll feel right at home with the menu interfaces and game modes, as they haven't changed. Even the rewards system, i.e. Trophies, Signature Takedowns, Special Events postcards, and Crash Headlines, remains intact.
Burnout has always been about thrilling speed and outrageous crashes, and thankfully, none of it has been lost in the translation to the PSP. What's amazing about Burnout Legends is how so similar it plays to Burnout 3, which appeared on both the Xbox and Playstation 2. Very few sacrifices were made by Criterion in the translation to the PSP. Gameplay is virtually identical to Burnout 3, from the boost rewards during races (Grinding, Air, Perfect Lap, Trading Paint, Grinding, etc), to the GUI elements that appear when you perform a takedown. The boost bar works the same as in Burnout 3, filling up by drifting, oncoming, air, and other boost rewards. The boost bar can be extended up to four times the original length by performing takedowns, which include aftertouch takedowns, introduced in Burnout 3. The car selection is massive, and the Compacts, Coupes, Muscles, Sports, Super, and Specials return, along with Legends and Collectors cars. Most cars are unlocked by playing through the career mode. However, to obtain all the Collectors cars, it's necessary to beat human opponents in challenge races.
The graphics are amazing for a PSP game, but framerates are not as smooth as its big brother, and it's missing some effects, like the motion blur when activating boost. Even EA Trax is incorporated into Burnout Legends, but the music selection isn't as good nor are there as many tracks as there were in Burnout 3.
It's amazing how Criterion Games managed to cram so much onto a UMD, and how they managed to bring Burnout 3 nearly intact to the PSP. Burnout Legends successfully brings the thrills and high standards of the Burnout series to a portable system, and is a must have game for driving fans with a PSP.