Despite the large amount of delays into 2010 that we saw, there are still more than enough games coming out that I'm satisfied with what I've seen and played so far this fall. The PSP especially has had a good lineup of quality games so far this holiday season that probably hasn't been true for the system since maybe 2007. That includes two of the reviews in this post, which include quirky games like XSeed's Half-Minute Hero and Atlus' Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble that adds nicely to the big-named games that surround their releases. On the PS3, Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time is one of the few Sony-published games in their unusually thin holiday lineup for this year, though there is a lot of quality in the two games they've put out so far. Let's move on to the reviews themselves.




"Half-Minute Hero does a great job of being a refreshing experience that combines unique takes on four very different genres to tell an epic story into one of the most interesting PSP games we’ve played in a long time. Just getting through all of the modes can take a good 15 hours that doesn’t include the bit of replay value in Hero 30 with alternate bonus levels and filling the Goddess Room with the things you find in the game, which is definitely worth the $30 that this will cost you. With the ton of sequels, spin-offs, and ports that the PSP is receiving this year, Half-Minute Hero easily stands out as a great original title that will probably fly under most gamers’ radars."

Half-Minute Hero received a Buy It recommendation. You can read the full review at Smashpad.




"Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble offers a pretty good ride, but it doesn’t really hold up that well when you factor in that it’ll cost you $40 for what you get. Unless you find yourself to be really enjoying the game when you finish it in about nine hours, there’s no reason a rental wouldn’t suffice for most people unless you prefer to wait for a price drop to a more reasonable cost."

Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble received a Rent It recommendation. You can read the full review at SmashPad.




"Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time does a great job of capping off this Future trilogy arc with the best mix of gameplay that the series has ever had. There is definitely a feeling of this being more of the same at times, but enough has been added to the formula to keep that from being a big deal as a negative. Anybody with an interest in the Ratchet & Clank series would do themselves a service by picking this up, though those that haven’t been convinced by playing any of the previous games will probably not be converted to fan status by what A Crack in Time has to offer."

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time received a Buy It recommendation. You can read the full review at SmashPad.

Upcoming
I've still got a big plate of games to work on beyond just finishing up those three games in the past week or two. On a bit of a backlog is Loco Roco: Midnight Carnival for the PSP, which is good if you want co-op Loco Roco but seems a bit light (18 levels) when you could get the other two Loco Rocos for a few bucks more and get a lot more levels (at least more than 20). I've also got some adventure games to play through with Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space and Episodes Two through Four of Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures on Xbox Live Arcade, which should be a tall task in the face of the other stuff I'm working on, too. As for games I've been playing before they're out, I have LittleBigPlanet on the PSP and Buzz! Quiz World for the PS3, though I can't say anything until the 17th and the 9th, respectively. You can probably guess what those games are like if you've played their predecessors.

Break Time
Not everything I play is for review, so I'm adding this space to write a bit about the stuff I'm playing on my own time. I got Fallout 3 Game of the Year Edition recently, which has been really good so far though I haven't played much. It's destroyed my Xbox 360 hard drive, so I really need to get a new hard drive at some point despite not wanting to pay the ridiculous prices. I bought Super Stardust Portable on the PSP when it was on sale for $4.99 last week and I've been enjoying it a lot, which plays pretty closely to the PS3 version though it seems like it's better to aim and then move around to take out enemies rather than go for precision. I also bought Team Fortress 2 on Steam when it was $2.49 for the better part of a day, but I haven't had the time to play it yet. I'm looking forward to getting some of these reviews done and being able to spend some time with the games I have been neglecting during the lull in releases for the second half of the month and into December. Knowing my luck, XBLA and PSN will get some great releases that will keep me busy. I wouldn't mind PixelJunk Shooter seeing a release in a few weeks.