Super Stardust Portable review (PSP)

Before Sony announced the PSP-3000 at E3 this year, the internet was rife with rumours that the next hardware revision for Sony's pocket wonder would feature the hallowed right thumbstick. Most PSP owners will tell you that this feature has been at the top of their most wanted list of things they'd like to see implemented to the machine. However, E3 came and went and all we got was a brighter screen. Which is no bad thing in itself but it seems we're going to have to wait another couple of years at least.

Why am I telling you this? Well, because although an excellent addition to the PSP's arsenal, Super Stardust Portable could have been so much better with the left thumbstick to steer, and the right thumbstick to shoot. Why? Simply because using the four facebuttons for quick diagonal changes is a right royal pain, cumbersome, and doesn't allow for the lightning change of direction that Super Stardust Portable requires.

But I'm getting ahead of myself: if you haven't played Super Stardust on the Amiga or Super Stardust HD on PlayStation 3 before then I'll break it down for you. The aim of the game is to navigate around planets in your spacecraft destroying falling debris and shooting any enemy craft that stands in your way. You have four types of laser for the four types of meteors that fall from the sky. Easy, right? Not so, as as soon you shoot up the molten rock, it splinters into tiny pieces that flail around the screen all ad-hoc and unpredictable. To make things worse, the aforementioned alien craft have you in their sites, and when I say "their" I mean there can be up to 10 or more on the screen at once.

Hard House

To help you navigate your way around the planets and get out of harms way you have a boost button, which cuts through the debris and flings you to a remote, and hopefully clearer part of the planet. You've also got some smartbombs, but these babies are limited - like precious diamonds - so knowing when to use them and thus trying to push yourself to see how much you can take on at once, it what gives the game that edge-of-your-seat allure and keeps you coming back for more.

You're accompanied by a tasteful, up-beat soundtrack that is full of energetic strings and some deep rhythmical tones that helps keep your focus rather than something out of place and in your face. The graphics are stunning, too, but not in the way you think. You're not getting perfect rendered meteors and spaceships with layer upon layer of shading etc., but what you are treated to is splash after splash of colour that both delights the senses but rather cannily distracts you at the same time. It's almost as though the contrast is turned up to the max just to throw the player off that little bit more.

What you're left with then, is a game that is full frontal and in your face and it's down to you to keep your head amongst the chaos and blast your way to glory. The longer you go without dying, the higher your multiplier, and in true old-school tradition, it's the highscore that it's all about. Go on the internet, take a screenshot with your mobile phone, link your PSP with a friends': however you can let everyone know you've got a higher score than they have, the better. It really is a game your PSP was made for then, right?

Tax Your Reflexes

Well the answer is yes and no. Yes for all the reasons listed above and no because of the reason listed in the very first paragraph. If you're faced with a game that's going to tax your mind, senses and reflexes as much as Super Stardust Portable then you need the controls to be as responsive as your brain, and this is where the PSP falls behind its PS3 counterpart: you simply feel at odds with the controls and its they that are holding you back. With all that's going on you can suddenly notice that meteor fragment has come from seemingly nowhere and you're going to need to change direction fast. Well, you've got the left thumbstick here so no problem - a quick flick and you're away. However, if you're completely surrounded with no smartbombs and you want to quickly change the direction that you fire in, a multiple key press just isn't quick enough, I'm afraid.

However, the game's as cheap as chips and at less than a tenner you can't go wrong. Despite the criticisms levelled at the game in this review, it doesn't stop it being excellent value for money and something every PSP owner must experience: it's fun, visual and audibly impressive and is perfect for a quick blast to and from the shops on the bus. Although it isn't perfect, it's more down to the hardware than it is the software, so I'll let it off just this once.