Sonic:R Storyline, Update on the Demo…

Sonic Blast, a SONIC fansite, has been posting frequently about Sonic: Rivals, the latest incarnation of the popular Sonic the Hedgehog video gaming series. The latest has been touted as a driving game–a la many of the 16-bit Sonic games. But, with GameSpot giving it a 6.9, and it averaging only a 69 on Metacritic, one is to wonder whether the game is worth the $40. They post a very catchy storyline. I’m not one for spoilers, so I haven’t read it, but I’m sure that if you’re a concerned Sonic fan who owns a PSP, this will help you make up your mind to buy Rivals. I want this game, desperately, and I don’t believe GameSpot simply because they always underrate games, such as LocoRoco, for one.

Updating you on my Christmas demo experiences: the Christmas demo is very well planned. But, the map is very complex. Not necessarily a reccomendation for a LocoRoco newbie whose never played the game before because many of the maps used are hard to navigate. Clearly, though, worth the wait. I haven’t completed it–simply because I’ve been awfully busy these past few days, but I will tonight/tomorrow and have some comprehensive reviews. I dunno how to do pictures, but I will surely ask around. (Thanks to our blog readers and new readers for giving us an awesome 2,000+ views in the past 5 days to hype our demo!)

Tsutomo Kuono in Austria, YourPSP has Christmas Demo…

YourPSP, the European PSP site that set up shop nearly a year ago, always gets demos before the US, doesn’t it? The Christmas Demo is available in English (and any other language spoken by European countries where the PSP is sold) at the site. You must, though, have firmware v3.02 and an account at YourPSP (..which also means you need a European PSP..).

Tsutomo Kuono, the creator of LocoRoco, was in Vienna, Austria, where he drew LocoRoco at a shop in the city. One of the beautiful drawings is shown below, but three full-size photos are after the jump. Enjoy!

Ratchet & Clank: SM Preview, More Sonic:R Reviews

GameSpot has an exclusive preview at Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters, the newest PSP infrastructure game coming this Spring. Size Matters is based off of the successful PS2 series, but the online gameplay is enticing many PSP players who feel that 2007 will be a great year to own a PSP. Finally, a non-shooting, non-sports game that has infrastructure!

In addition to the single-player game, we were able to try out some of the multiplayer offerings, which will support both ad hoc and infrastructure play. Besides the expected deathmatch, team deathmatch, and capture-the-flag options, High Impact has put together something new for R&C multiplayer fans: the Iron Lombax Challenge. We were able to try out two of the variations of the new mode…

They also have a review of Sonic Rivals, giving it a 6.9/10 or “fair”. They tout the game’s graphics and music, but they don’t like the storyline nor do they enjoy the shortness of the game. They also had a very interesting look at the AI, which they didn’t like so much.

The artificial intelligence in the game also isn’t very good. Your rival will always be either right behind you or right in front of you, no matter how well you’re doing. It works just like the rubber-band artificial intelligence prevalent in many traditional racing games. If you start to slow down and do poorly, your rival will do the same. If you freeze your rival with an ice blast, he will be slowed momentarily but will inexplicably catch up within seconds.

Talking about other PSP games, The Elder Scrolls Travels: Oblivion is coming to the PSP April 16, 2007. But, I’m hyped about Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas, which arrives January 30, 2007. It’s the latest incarnation in the Rainbow Six series. It was originally expected to arrive this week in stores, but it was delayed. Even so, the XBOX 360 version received very good superb ratings, so I expect the PSP and PS3 versions to do the same when it hits stores early next year. You can expect me to be all on this one.

A Christmas demo is coming later :).