Another Reason To Break Out The Vita The Vita, despite being probably the best portable gaming unit currently available, is having a rough time of it. The technology is impressive to be sure, and some games, like Gravity Rush and Persona 4 Golden are great games to play regardless of platform, but those games are few and far between. The rest of the time, Vita owners have...

I'm conflicted. On one hand Earth Defense Force 2017 Portable is, technically, not a very good game — it has, as will be discussed below, terrible art direction and seemingly unfinished mechanics. On the other, though, it's nearly impossible to put down and is packed with an almost inexplicable level of charm. The first few missions of the game are exasperating. An ugly opening cinematic, complete with...

A Surprising Vita Must Have The JRPG hasn’t had a great run this console generation. Even former stalwarts like Square-Enix failed to live up to the greatness they were once known for. But even if the consoles are experiencing a dearth of quality JRPG titles, the same can’t be said for the portable gaming scene. Both the DS and PSP established themselves as new venues for fantastic...

Assassin's Creed is one of the biggest AAA franchises out there but while consoles enjoy the robust, full featured entries, more often than not handheld platforms get the shaft. Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation has ambitions to convey a similar experience to its console counterpart, but ultimately fails in its execution of key mechanics, a well-crafted story, or even a fun experience. A Complicated Lady There...

Prepare For Disappointment After past experiments with the Silent Hill franchise such as the PSP’s Silent Hill: Origins and the Wii’s Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, there were certain expectations in place for the Vita debut of America’s Most Messed Up Town. Now, with Silent Hill: Book of Memories the mighty Vita finally gets its turn to visit Konami’s infamous town. Only it doesn’t, really. And fans of...

Sackboy Returns Sackboy has been busy these last few years. First, in 2008, he battled The Collector and saved the residents of Little Big Planet. In 2009 he trotted the globe recruiting curators for a grand carnival. In 2011 Little Big Planet was again threatened, this time by the nefarious Negativitron and with the help of The Alliance, Sackboy was victorious once again. By now you'd figure...

Mobile Physics Gravity Rush was one of the more interesting titles previewed for the Vita when the hardware was first announced. It was one of the few completely original games, and one of the very few that were created by a Japanese studio. As a result, most people will be expecting something weird, different and off kilter. That’s exactly what they get when play Gravity Rush. They...

Round 2 So here we are again with the Metal Gear Solid collection, the classic series that started on the PS2 (if you only go by available games on this particular collection) and has moved on to the PS3, Xbox 360 and, to some extent, the 3DS. Now it’s on the Vita, and while it’s not fair to say that it’s the “crippled” version of the collection,...

Back In Your HandIt’s a twisty, looping path that Dungeon Hunter: Alliance has walked on its way to the Vita. What started out as a functional—if obvious—Diablo clone on the iPhone got a sequel on Playstation Network that has now been ported back to a mobile platform. Along the way it lost some Move functionality in exchange for a little touch-screen interactivity. Not that it makes much of a...

The Stars My DestinationStarDrone Extreme is the kind of game that needs little explanation. It’s a casual, puzzled based game designed to while away the minutes on a commute to work or school. It might not be the sort of thing that’s going to push the Vita to it the edge of its performance envelope, but in many ways, it’s the kind of game that portables were meant to...

When a semi-rebooted version of Mortal Kombat was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 last year it was a bit surprising to see just how good it was. Without completely ignoring the series’ dated 90s action movie trappings and increasingly dull sequels, developer NetherRealm still managed to wipe the slate clean and push their arcade classic into fresh new territory. The end result was a fighting game...

PlayStation gamers had a wealth of serviceable stealth action titles that they could pore through when the mood hit. Most notably, the Tenchu series offered a delectable mixture of stylish kills, addictive mechanics, and stories you wanted to see through to the end. Unfortunately, after the PlayStation age and the eventual shift of development duties to the team at From Software, the Tenchu series has been hit-or-miss. Reeling from...

Katamari Damacy is a video game delicacy. You either love it or hate it. Sometimes you have absolutely no idea how to approach it. And while that may repulse and repel some players, that's always been the reason I've been drawn to it. The Prince's zany missions to roll up as many items as possible to replace the planets his father, the King of All Cosmos, destroyed were delectable,...

The Nation In Your Pocket Sony may not be particularly imaginative with its launch line up of games, but it is making safe, successful choices. ModNation Racers: Roadtrip is another title added to the list of console franchises subjected to the “Vitafication” process, shrinking down to Sony’s newest portable wonder. The migration actually does a lot of things right and at an impressive level of quality, but...

The King Is In Good Shape Wipeout has been one of the defining titles in Sony’s library of games, being everything from a showcase for their hardware’s graphical capabilities to an ambassador of cool to the public at large. It is a series known for its demanding skill requirements and cutting edge style. Whenever you talk about the future of games, Wipeout always manages to sneak in...

he Dynasty That Never Ends By now there should be a noticeable running theme with any of the launch titles that are appearing on the Vita. A lot of these games are ports, or Vita versions of existing franchises that have established themselves on consoles. The important thing when it comes to these games is seeing how they stack up when compared to the full-fledged “console experience”...

Kaz Hirai Would Not Approve You know how new hardware always comes out with a quick smattering of titles that show off what the technology can do? And a lot of those games are quick knock offs of existing franchises some of which are decent and some of which are not? Ridge Racer falls into that latter category. There is a game here that is, fundamentally Ridge...

Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack has the interesting distinction of combining the quirky sensibilities of Katamari Damacy with elements of the adorable puzzler Loco Roco tossed in for good measure. Arguably one of the most original concepts to aid in the grand unveiling of the PlayStation Vita, this frenetic puzzler from indie developer DrinkBox Studios is one to watch, and certainly one of the Vita's standout launch hits....

The Asphalt franchise is unique in that it seems to have found a release in nearly every market -- iOS included. To see it ported to the PlayStation Vita is a strange sight, indeed, when mobile devices and even the DSi seem to have covered it pretty adequately. Nevertheless, Asphalt Injection makes an appearance on Sony's latest handheld with a concept that sounds fantastic, but execution that will leave...

From Square Enix's stable comes a rather unusual debut title for the PlayStation Vita: Army Corps of Hell. It follows a demonic overlord and his band of goblin ne'er-do-wells on a quest to take back the throne of Hell. Unfortunately, it does little to establish itself as a memorable launch title or a worthy spiritual successor to that of strategy classic Pikmin. This goblin-directing quest is an exercise in...