Friday, April 14, 2006
GripShift? Who knew?
Phew. E3 has already exhausted me, and we're still a month away. I've spent every spare moment of the last week making sure we're at the right events and booths to have some kickass coverage (and fun, naturally) - anyone wanna do some G-Pinions PR, for, uh...college credit? Back massages?
I'm pretty far into Tomb Raider, and hey, it's fantastic. I'll give it the full review treatment once I'm done with it, but I will say I'm pleased that I'm taking an Oblivion break to play it. That right there should tell you how right they got it this time.
The game I really want to talk about today is GripShift. For the PSP. Crazy huh? I find it hilarious that I own such a state-of-the-art system to play Lumines, Exit, Katamari and this bizarrely fantastic puzzle racer. And LocoRoco, soon enough. So GripShift sells itself as a Puzzle-Platform-Driving-Action game, right smack on the box and in every loading screen. And it is. It's Super Monkey Ball meets Crash Team Racing meets the floaty physics of Jet Moto. The tracks are short, often set up almost like 3D Mario levels, with all sorts of platforms and moving pieces to deal with, and always a million edges to plummet off of.
Three goals are presented in every level as well, none as simple as they seem. Get a gold medal requires getting to the finish line in time while crossing any extra checkpoints, which often involves making huge leaps of faith or sliding off an edge at a certain speed just right. It's the kind of challenges that seem completely impossible the first couple of tries, but subsequently more attainable as you think outside the box. Once you visualize the solution, it's just a matter of insane skill and reflexes to get it done. The second goal is getting all of the stars scattered throughout each stage - usually a bit more straightforward, but can certainly get insane when you're racing the clock and having to go way out of your way and then somehow get back on track. Lastly, each stage also has a GripShift logo floating casually in an insanely unattainable location. You'll often have to go down half the track collecting turbos, then turn around completely and try to find jumps on your way back to the start - AND finish within the time limit.
It really is very easy to compare to Super Monkey Ball, or even Marble Blast Ultra; it's 100% brains, then 100% skill, in that order. The controls are very floaty with full "Mario physics" in effect (being able to change direction or accelerate midair), but once you realize it's not really a racing game they are perfect for the challenges at hand. Other nice touches? Customizable cars, replays, licensed but somehow likable rap, and blazing fast loading times in between retries (much more essential than it sounds). Oh, and full screen anti-aliasing, something no other PSP game has pulled off (at least at GS' release). I haven't even touched the level editor either, which I understand is intuitive and thorough, and allows for the creation of levels not dissimilar from the games'. Hell, there's even multiplayer if you can find enough other people awesome enough to own the game. Lastly, it's only twelve goddamned dollars. What else can I say?
I'm pretty far into Tomb Raider, and hey, it's fantastic. I'll give it the full review treatment once I'm done with it, but I will say I'm pleased that I'm taking an Oblivion break to play it. That right there should tell you how right they got it this time.
The game I really want to talk about today is GripShift. For the PSP. Crazy huh? I find it hilarious that I own such a state-of-the-art system to play Lumines, Exit, Katamari and this bizarrely fantastic puzzle racer. And LocoRoco, soon enough. So GripShift sells itself as a Puzzle-Platform-Driving-Action game, right smack on the box and in every loading screen. And it is. It's Super Monkey Ball meets Crash Team Racing meets the floaty physics of Jet Moto. The tracks are short, often set up almost like 3D Mario levels, with all sorts of platforms and moving pieces to deal with, and always a million edges to plummet off of.
Three goals are presented in every level as well, none as simple as they seem. Get a gold medal requires getting to the finish line in time while crossing any extra checkpoints, which often involves making huge leaps of faith or sliding off an edge at a certain speed just right. It's the kind of challenges that seem completely impossible the first couple of tries, but subsequently more attainable as you think outside the box. Once you visualize the solution, it's just a matter of insane skill and reflexes to get it done. The second goal is getting all of the stars scattered throughout each stage - usually a bit more straightforward, but can certainly get insane when you're racing the clock and having to go way out of your way and then somehow get back on track. Lastly, each stage also has a GripShift logo floating casually in an insanely unattainable location. You'll often have to go down half the track collecting turbos, then turn around completely and try to find jumps on your way back to the start - AND finish within the time limit.
It really is very easy to compare to Super Monkey Ball, or even Marble Blast Ultra; it's 100% brains, then 100% skill, in that order. The controls are very floaty with full "Mario physics" in effect (being able to change direction or accelerate midair), but once you realize it's not really a racing game they are perfect for the challenges at hand. Other nice touches? Customizable cars, replays, licensed but somehow likable rap, and blazing fast loading times in between retries (much more essential than it sounds). Oh, and full screen anti-aliasing, something no other PSP game has pulled off (at least at GS' release). I haven't even touched the level editor either, which I understand is intuitive and thorough, and allows for the creation of levels not dissimilar from the games'. Hell, there's even multiplayer if you can find enough other people awesome enough to own the game. Lastly, it's only twelve goddamned dollars. What else can I say?
// posted by Nick @ 9:58 PM 
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