$20 for The Best Arcade Racer Around
The game doesn't do anything special in the way of many game modes. It has the standard single race, Timed lap, and tournament. The one odd ball mode is called zones. In zones you go around a track for as long as you can. You earn points for doing rolls, and hitting speed pads. As your points increase you clear different zones. Each zone is faster than the one before it. This continues until you destroy your ship from crashing too much. The speed gets very very intense. Each zone has a different look. The whole time the track has a different acid trip look to it in this mode, and with it constantly changing it is a real trip. You don't want someone with epilepsy in the same room.....or someone with a pacemaker. This is easily my favorite single player mode. It really forces you to drive better. As the speed goes up the controls never faulter. They are as sharp and precise as you could ever wish for.
The game does have a steep learning curve. It is far from easy. Once you get about half way through the game the challenge really steps up. Not that there are ever real big gaps in the difficulty, but at that point you really have to do well to keep going. For newcomers the game offers a pilot assist function. This will help prevent you from crashing. It is almost like auto pilot. If you taped down x and walked away your ship would drive itself just fine. That is one reason why I don't like it. I want to steer the ship myself. Though some will need it. The game doesn't present you with challenges that feel impossible. Each time I felt like I can do it I just have to shave off x number of seconds, or I can take that turn better.
Great weapons selection. Sometimes it seems to keep giving you weapons that you don't want though. That isn't always bad. You can heal your ship by absorbing weapons. Some heal more than others. I love the tactical choices that it gives you. Do you heal yourself or risk it and try to hit the guy in front of you. The same is true for speed pad and weapon pad placement. You are usually given a choice of one or the other. Is it more important to get that little bit ahead or do you need the weapon. It brings that much more thought to the game. I also love looking for spots where a speed pad may open up a hidden chance to do a barrel roll for an extra boost of speed.
The tracks are stunning. In 1080p there are some real jaw dropping moments in the game, and it never ever slows down. Locked in at 60fps, incredible. Yes the tracks all came from the PSP titles. That is ok. I don't own a PSP. I haven't played any of the tracks before, so they are all new to me. Even if they aren't new to you, they are all very well designed tracks. $20 is less than the cost of both PSP games.
This is a game that I would have paid $60 bucks for and wouldn't have complained. Don't believe the Gamespot score. That guy couldn't accurately review a game to save his life. Buy the game and I'll see you online (which was done very well with smooth transitions and very little lag if any).