PS Vita Game Reviews
Review Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment (PlayStation Vita)
Sleepy hollow
In an age where we have Project Morpheus lurking right around the corner, Sword Art Online, the popular Japanese anime about gamers entering a virtual gaming world, has resonated with many viewers – especially the gaming crowd. Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment makes its way onto the PlayStation Vita in the form of a third-person...
Review Gravity Crash Ultra (PlayStation Vita)
Worth the weight?
Gravity has its uses, nobody can argue that. If it disappeared right now, the entire bungee jumping industry would collapse overnight, and there’d probably be some other, less important side effects as well. In some cases, gravity actively works against our goals, highlighted best by Gravity Crash Ultra, and by the many bumps,...
Review Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds (PlayStation Vita)
Deal breaker
Originally released last year for the Xbox 360, Phantom Breaker was a fighting game that, while never seeing a Western release, generated a decent following in Japan. Having spawned an arcade and a PlayStation 3 port, it also served as the inspiration for a 2D brawler named Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds, which, after appearing on the...
Review Metrico (PlayStation Vita)
Graph-ical grunt
Metrico is the first effort by fledgling Dutch studio Digital Dreams, but you wouldn't guess that by looking at it. Featuring incredibly striking art design, and seemingly solid gameplay, it looks like the work of a much more mature developer. But is this algebraic adventure a balanced equation, or is it using the wrong formulas?...
Review Table Top Racing (PlayStation Vita)
Micro machines
There’s something enjoyable about viewing the world through the lens of tiny eyes. Codemasters’ legendary Mega Drive adaptation of Galoob’s popular Micro Machines toys cottoned onto this, allowing you to race around workbench surfaces and cereal encrusted breakfast bars. Table Top Racing, a PlayStation Vita port of Playrise...
Review Magical Beat (PlayStation Vita)
Rhythm stick
The goal of Magical Beat is simple to learn, but incredibly difficult to master. It’s a bit of a mix between Lumines and Tetris, where you have to drop blocks known as beatons to the beat of the music. There’s a Beat Sync Gauge which provides a metronome and information on the current tempo of the track, but it’s much easier to...
Review DayD Tower Rush (PlayStation Vita)
Dino-bore
You can’t swing a cat these days without hitting several tower defence games, and as a result it’s become increasingly difficult for new arrivals in the genre to stand out from the crowd. DayD Tower Rush is one such title, which, after trying its luck on iOS last year, has decided to peddle its mix of dinosaurs, time travel, and...
Review The Ratchet & Clank Trilogy (PlayStation Vita)
Screw loose
If the well of original PlayStation Vita content is drying up, then its fountain of high-definition re-releases is overflowing. The Ratchet & Clank Trilogy is the latest in a long line of PlayStation 2 compilations to nonchalantly sidle onto Sony’s struggling handheld system, following closely in the slipstream of the God of War...
Review Farming Simulator 14 (PlayStation Vita)
Old MacDonald had a more exciting farm
Ever since the days of Rollercoaster Tycoon and Sim City, we’ve seen an abundance of simulator-style games. Some of these have been decent, while others have been downright baffling – Street Cleaning Simulator, anyone? However, in spite of their quality, these types of games have had more of a home on the...
Review Child of Light (PlayStation Vita)
Summer child
It took longer and was more brutal than a rap battle between J.R.R. Tolkien and George R.R. Martin, but Child of Light has finally made it to the PlayStation Vita. Those of you who have been desperately waiting to see what all the fuss was about can, after almost three months, join Aurora on her rather poetic quest to save the world...
Review Atelier Rorona Plus: The Alchemist of Arland (PlayStation Vita)
Mix it up
Shop keepers are an important part of almost every RPG, but they very rarely get the attention that they deserve. They focus a bunch of effort into putting together a nice collection of weapons and potions, and do they even get a spot in the final cutscene? Were they even asked? In Atelier Rorona Plus: The Alchemist of Arland, you’re...
Review Monster Monpiece (PlayStation Vita)
Cover-up girl
It’s fair to say that Western support for the PlayStation Vita has dwindled in the past year or so, setting the stage for several Japanese ports to step up and plug the hole. None, however, are more questionably sexualised than Monster Monpiece; a card game where leveling up monster girls by rubbing the handheld’s touchscreen in a...
Review Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse - Episode 2 (PlayStation Vita)
Be kind, rewind
Broken Sword 5: The Serpent’s Curse has been made possible due to the generosity of franchise fans courtesy of a successful Kickstarter campaign. The only catch with this funding drive was that the game would be split into two episodes, with the intention to get the package into the hands of backers as quickly as possible. This...
Review Mind Zero (PlayStation Vita)
Never mind this one
Without a doubt, Mind Zero appears to be a genuinely high quality JRPG. It has an enticingly sleek art direction, an atypical twist on its familiar gameplay, a diverse cast of characters, and a promising story premise, so we were naturally impressed by the brainpower that must have gone into the game. But as we delved a little...
Review ZRun (PlayStation Vita)
The running dead
The endless runner and the zombie are seemingly at opposite ends of the video game spectrum. The former is reserved almost exclusively for smartphone-fuelled exercises in mediocrity, while the latter is usually deployed only in the hardest of hardcore horror games. With ZRun, Beatshapers has attempted to reconcile these two warring...
Review Hyperdimension Neptunia: Producing Perfection (PlayStation Vita)
Let's nep nep
The colourful lands of Gamindustri are once again under threat – not from an evil organisation or an enraged Histy, but rather by an influx of idols in the charts. One idol group in particular, MOB48 – a take on the insanely popular Japanese girl group AKB48 – have been causing a bit of a kerfuffle, having stolen all of the CPU's...
Review PlayStation Vita Pets (PlayStation Vita)
Watch dogs
Virtual pet games have got a bad name. We don’t mean the type of embarrassing monikers that you’re likely to overhear at a haughty dog breeder’s meeting, but more a downright abysmal track record when it comes to quality. Unsurprisingly, the House of Mario set the standard for portable animal interaction with Nintendogs on the...
Review Lemmings Touch (PlayStation Vita)
You got the touch
Lemmings is a lot like Tetris: no system is complete without an iteration of the iconic puzzle property. Ever since acquiring the rights to the franchise alongside legendary publisher Psygnosis, Sony has made it its mission to chaperone the series onto several of its systems, culminating in an EyeToy compatible edition and a...
Review Soul Sacrifice Delta (PlayStation Vita)
Grimm not grim
Soul Sacrifice Delta aims to tempt bookworms back to the brutal pages of Librom – the sarcastic yet helpful novella that just so happens to provide a portal into the world of sorcerers. Initially pitched as one of the PlayStation Vita’s saviours, Keiji Inafune’s original adventure didn’t quite reverse the struggling format’s...
Review God of War Collection (PlayStation Vita)
Fit for a mortal
It’s perhaps indicative of Sony’s current interest in the PlayStation Vita that its first God of War should be a port of a port. While the PlayStation Portable dined on two exceptional original adventures – both prepared by The Order: 1886 developer Ready at Dawn – the platform holder’s latest handheld is being forced to...
Review Demon Gaze (PlayStation Vita)
Should have gone to Specsavers
When Demon Gaze first burst onto the scene in Japan last January, it sold 25,316 physical copies in its first week alone, outselling Compile Hearts' Monster Monpiece which launched on the same day. Subsequently, PlayStation Vita owners outside of Japan rejoiced as Kadokawa Games’ dungeon crawling success story was...
Review No Heroes Allowed: No Puzzles Either! (PlayStation Vita)
Not badman
The world of free-to-play gaming may be fraught with peril, but that doesn’t mean that there’s absolutely no fun to be had. Retro inspired puzzler No Heroes Allowed: No Puzzles Either! represents yet another foray into this potentially deadly minefield by Sony. But is its classic gameplay enough to elevate it above the competition, or...
Review Muramasa Rebirth (PlayStation Vita)
Radiant revival
While most widely known as the family-friendly home console featuring a myriad collection of party games and fitness titles, the Nintendo Wii was also home to some of last generation’s better adult-oriented forays. Many of these titles got swept under the rug due to poor sales and a missing target audience, but some received much...
Review Starlight Inception (PlayStation Vita)
Failure to launch
The space combat genre seems to be making something of a comeback lately, with releases like Strike Suit Zero: Director’s Cut lighting up the dark corners of space. As such, it’s only right that the PlayStation Vita should get its own spaceship game, and Starlight Inception by Escape Hatch Entertainment is a Kickstarter project...
Review Ethan: Meteor Hunter (PlayStation Vita)
Rat trapped
Already available on the PlayStation 3 and via Valve’s computer-based Steam client, Ethan: Meteor Hunter features a plucky rat that’s bestowed with the power of time freezing and teleportation. Despite the zany premise, this side-scroller has already won one major award and been nominated for a number of others – but has this...
Review The Sly Collection (PlayStation Vita)
Anthropomorphic excellence
While the Jak & Daxter and Ratchet & Clank trilogies are widely regarded as the pinnacle of the PlayStation 2’s platforming fare, it’s Sucker Punch’s criminally underrated Sly Cooper series that stole this humble editor’s heart during the early-to-mid 2000s. Depicting the globetrotting antics of a light...
Review Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars (PlayStation Vita)
Born to try
Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars is one of the strangest games that you’ll ever play. Its premise – which, in essence, revolves around mating – provides an odd starting point, but get past this and you’ll find a surprisingly enjoyable excursion that’s only really let down by repetition and some unnecessarily sexual...
Review Dead Nation (PlayStation Vita)
The portable dead
Dead Nation was announced for the PlayStation Vita at E3 last year, and then was promptly forgotten about. A port for the PlayStation 4 came and went, offering the ultimate version of the zombie-filled twin stick shooter for fans who wanted better graphics and all of the DLC. Finally, almost as an afterthought, Housemarque’s...
Review Invizimals: The Alliance (PlayStation Vita)
Invizimal touch
Invizimals: The Alliance is the latest entry in the augmented reality game series from Spanish developer Novarama. Having made a name for itself on the PlayStation Portable, it’s apt that this new instalment’s made the jump onto the newest Sony handheld, giving kids of all ages the chance to hunt down more of those troublesome...
Review Football Manager Classic 2014 (PlayStation Vita)
Mid-league manager
That there is a Silver Trophy in Football Manager Classic 2014 that rewards you for participating in 30 consecutive seasons – or a couple of hundred hours of play – will be no surprise to fans of the franchise, many of which will have been glued to their computers for the past decade or so. This is a series that’s universe...
