This is neither a fantastic game, nor a poor one. It's in the beautiful hiatus of 'above-average', let me explain why...
Much to my delight, it formed the perfect experience I was looking for with Sony's new gadget- nothing worth sitting for hours at a time on; but instead perfect quick-blast gameplay.
Sure, the graphics have since been proved unspectacular by the newer PSP games; but that's natural in any console's lifetime; so that isn't really neccassary to talk about.
What I will say in reference to everything but the gameplay is that the musical score is fantastic- surely my favourite I've yet come across, and the sound FX seem to create just the atmosphere the developers were hoping for- fantastical and slightly silly.
Gameplay-wise, it's an odd and interesting brew of standard hack'n'slash and a more traditional platforming style. Of course, the standard pitfalls (escuse the pun) of platforming gameplay rear their ugly heads (inch-off-jumps causing an infuriating return to the beginning, etc.) and the other gameplay style becomes derivitive and repetitive in equal measure.
Overall, this is neither a fantastic game, nor a poor one. It is in the beautiful hiatus of 'above-average'; so if you're interested in the slightest, pick this up now!