PSP Roundup
Some of the minor players on the PSP stage.
Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai 2
- Publisher: Atari
- Developer: Dimps
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the sequel to Shin Budokai provides more of the same: sumptuously cel-shaded one-on-one beat 'em up battles, though this time they're wrapped up in an adventure mode which sees you flying around above rudimentary cities chasing enemies before the real action starts. And the real action takes quite a while to start, because there's so much story to get through, which, if you're not a Dragonball fan, will just be a lot of rudimentary waffle involving senzu beans, time travel and about a million characters who won't mean anything to you.
But then, if you're not a Dragonball fan, why would you want to play Shin Budokai 2 at all? The game's alternative vision of the Dragonball canon is clearly designed for diehard devotees, as is the flashy but superficial beat 'em up that forms the heart of the game: it acquits itself reasonably well without ever reaching the sophistication of a proper beat 'em up, and it's particularly susceptible to button-bashing. But it's super quick, and super stylish, and it looks pretty when you're winding up one of your wide array of over-the-top special moves, and that, really, is what Dragonball fans will be looking for.
A card-based power-up system ought to add a lot of depth, though it all feels a bit superficial in practice, and there are all sorts of multiple paths, alternative endings, and various different play modes (including arcade mode, ad hoc multiplayer, and Z trials). So there's certainly more here than most Dragonballers will be able to shake a senzu shaped stick at. But with more than 26 different games based on the Dragonball series, including the almost identical original Shin Budokai, it's difficult not to feel that this is a Dragonball too far.
6/10
Marvel Trading Card Game
- Publisher: Konami
- Developer: Vicious Cycle
The unimaginatively titled Marvel Trading Card Game is based on Upper Deck's Vs. battle system. Which means it's based on a proven set of game mechanics. Like Magic: The Gathering, to which it owes an obvious debt, the basic structure is fairly simple: draw cards from your user-created deck, and take turns with your opponent to put those cards into play as various characters from the Marvel universe, who are then free to attack and defend, or power themselves up with equipment or plot twists. And like Magic, that simple structure, combined with the open-ended nature of deck design, creates a deep and absorbing challenge.
Unfortunately it suffers from a fairly heavy-handed attempt to digitalise it: long load times, no mid-game saves, tiny text, and a slightly confusing interface are among the minor frustrations. More major frustrations include a pretty useless tutorial, which will probably leave newcomers resorting to trial and error to work out the rules as they go along, and AI that lacks nuance. The biggest complaint, however, is simply that it takes too much time to unlock new cards, so you're left with an underpowereduninteresting deck for too long. Indeed your first encounter, against a fairly standard weenie deck, serves only to demonstrate the inadequacies of your starting deck, and a sense of frustration endures because the deck design element of the game continues to feel undernourished throughout.
Nevertheless, there is a comprehensive suite of online modes, including the ability to pay cash for new cards, and trade and play with other players (including owners of the PC version of the game). It's still hampered by the ill-considered interface design, but it's also still characterised by deep and absorbing game mechanics with the result that the game is, in spite of itself, pretty entertaining stuff.
6/10