Daxter for the PSP is one beautiful platformer that not only looks amazing, but plays great as well!
First of all, this is the best (if not second best) looking PSP game so far, hands down! The Jak and Daxter games have always had great graphics, it's definitely justified in this game. It really shows what the PSP is capable of in graphical power. The environments are rich in color and surprisingly detailed. The animation in this game is top notch. Addtionally you can't really tell if load times exist in Daxter. Which is very good considering the graphics would consume enough power. The way the game transitions from cutscene to gameplay is almost seamless.
Gameplay wise, Daxter is just solid. You won't find anything extraordinary in this game. It won't re-define the platforming genre but it stands alone to make it a great platformer. Daxter has a main weapon of some sort of gas gun bug spray thing. Eventually you'll recieve two upgrades to it (flamethrower and sonic boom) and that's the only projectile weapon Daxter has. Each of the upgrades has its own uses for certain puzzles and fights. Additionally, Daxter can use his bug spray to glide in the air for a matter of seconds. It definitely helps with getting to hard to reach spots. You must recharge your bug spray gauge by running through little green blobs. Daxter other weapon is an electrical fly swatter. When you use it you'll just be mashing the square button most of the time. You can gain new moves as you play along. I didn't really use them, they were just cool to look at. It tries to replicate the free roam aspect of Haven City like in Jak II, but they're isn't much to explore. It felt very slimmed down. The missions themselves are very intriguing nevertheless.
Daxter has great value. They're are minigames you'll have to play in order to advance in missions. There are also "Dream Level minigames" that Daxter can play when he sleeps. They're really humorous as they take themes from films like "The Matrix", "The Lord of the Rings" and even "Braveheart"! The entire game is funny as Daxter seems to be a true comedian. The other characters he interacts with add plenty of humor as well! After you finish the main story there is some replay value to keep you going. An essential part of the Jak and Daxter universe was collecting precursor orbs. There are 1,000 of them to collect in this game. You might not get all of them in a first stride you can go back and try to collect the rest. Also, there's plenty of secrects and cheats to unlock so have fun with that.
Daxter is a PSP game that looks amazing, plays solid, and has good value. It does replicate characters and worlds from a Playstation 2 franchise, but it's far from being a port. The game stands alone as awesome. It's not a perfect game. A couple of minor flaws so don't be discouraged at all. It's a bit on the easy side and it could've been somewhat longer. It'll take you about 12-17 hours to finish the main story. The boss fights are cool, but they're fairly easy. The camera can be annoying sometimes, but you'll barely recognize it after a while. Overall Daxter is a game that shouldn't be missed. If you were skeptical becuase you couldn't play as Jak, don't worry. Daxter is very interesting and hilarious fuzzball and can stand as a hero on his own. This definitely a PSP classic. If you love your PSP or just need a great (possibly the best) game for it, pick up Daxter. You'll be very impressed and have a fun time with it!