Something for the Weekend, Sir? Games Out - Friday 13th October
Brick’Em All DS, Ridge Racer 2 PSP and more
So, what are we playing this weekend sir? There’s some choice handheld entertainment hitting the shelves of your local gaming emporium today, with two of SPOnG’s recent favourites finally available: Brick 'Em All for the Nintendo DS and Ridge Racer 2 (RR2) for PSP.
Ridge Racer 2 is arguably the best PSP game since, err, Ridge Racer and Brick’Em All is just the best version of Arkanoid/Breakout that we’ve ever played. Hey, who said originality was important?
Ridge Racer 2 is basically, as you would expect, a notch better than the first Ridge Racer on PSP. But it’s a considerable notch, with nearly three times as much playtime, tons of new cars and racing modes and enough courses to keep you happy and blissfully unaware of your previously hellish commute till way into 2007.
The old 'skool' techno soundtrack is back, with remixes of classic Ridge Racer tunes from yesteryear. SPOnG has to admit that the minute we picked up the game the hairs on the back of our neck went up. This game needs to be played with headphones on with the music turned up LOUD. RR was a truly seminal title on the original PlayStation, and it’s lost none of its fun, immediacy or just-one-more-go-ability on its second PSP outing. Perhaps the best PSP game of 2007.
As for Brick 'Em All, there’s not too much to say really. It’s Breakout/ Arkanoid but done better than ever before. You smash all the blocks using the standard racquet and bouncing ball and make use of up to 30 different magical accessories that affect the balls or bat in various ways. So, the ball might slow down making life easier, or your bat might shrink down but at the same time allow you to scoop more points.
Brick 'Em All has 240 levels (yes!) and is Wi-Fi enabled (not Wife-enabled, as we recently discovered but that's another story for another time!) and it’s hardcore.
As to what else is on the shelves today, the biggest release of the week is Vivendi’s much-hyped Scarface. Movie cash-ins are always a difficult proposition, so we inevitably approach them with caution. SPOnG should have a review up early next week, so we’ll reserve judgement until then.
Let us know in the forums what you’ll be playing this weekend. Oh, and it’s only two weeks to go until Pro Evo 6, which we’ll be getting our sweaty mitts on next week for a full preview.
Ridge Racer 2 is arguably the best PSP game since, err, Ridge Racer and Brick’Em All is just the best version of Arkanoid/Breakout that we’ve ever played. Hey, who said originality was important?
Ridge Racer 2 is basically, as you would expect, a notch better than the first Ridge Racer on PSP. But it’s a considerable notch, with nearly three times as much playtime, tons of new cars and racing modes and enough courses to keep you happy and blissfully unaware of your previously hellish commute till way into 2007.
The old 'skool' techno soundtrack is back, with remixes of classic Ridge Racer tunes from yesteryear. SPOnG has to admit that the minute we picked up the game the hairs on the back of our neck went up. This game needs to be played with headphones on with the music turned up LOUD. RR was a truly seminal title on the original PlayStation, and it’s lost none of its fun, immediacy or just-one-more-go-ability on its second PSP outing. Perhaps the best PSP game of 2007.
As for Brick 'Em All, there’s not too much to say really. It’s Breakout/ Arkanoid but done better than ever before. You smash all the blocks using the standard racquet and bouncing ball and make use of up to 30 different magical accessories that affect the balls or bat in various ways. So, the ball might slow down making life easier, or your bat might shrink down but at the same time allow you to scoop more points.
Brick 'Em All has 240 levels (yes!) and is Wi-Fi enabled (not Wife-enabled, as we recently discovered but that's another story for another time!) and it’s hardcore.
As to what else is on the shelves today, the biggest release of the week is Vivendi’s much-hyped Scarface. Movie cash-ins are always a difficult proposition, so we inevitably approach them with caution. SPOnG should have a review up early next week, so we’ll reserve judgement until then.
Let us know in the forums what you’ll be playing this weekend. Oh, and it’s only two weeks to go until Pro Evo 6, which we’ll be getting our sweaty mitts on next week for a full preview.
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