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The Otaku’s Gaming Study #6 – PSP Game Mini-Reviews (Cars 2 and Geronimo Stilton in the Kingdom of Fantasy)

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The Otaku’s Gaming Study #6 – PSP Game Mini-Reviews (Cars 2 and Geronimo Stilton in the Kingdom of Fantasy) 1

Whereas last nights release of The Otaku’s Gaming Study focused on two Playstation Portable games that used augmented reality to lay its case, these two games which were kindly supplied by Sony Computer Entertainment Australia are based around childrens cartoon/animation series, namely Pixar’s Cars series and the Geronimo Stilton series which until now I hadn’t actually heard of. While I don’t like to spoil my reviews, I will tell you that between the two games, one will perhaps recieve the lowest score I have ever given out on this site while the other receives my standing ovation as a brilliant series that will appeal to younger fans of the genre. Read on to find out more through this review!

The Otaku’s Gaming Study #6 – PSP Game Mini-Reviews (Cars 2 and Geronimo Stilton in the Kingdom of Fantasy) 2The Otaku’s Gaming Study #6 – PSP Game Mini-Reviews (Cars 2 and Geronimo Stilton in the Kingdom of Fantasy) 3

When the original Cars movie by Pixar was released several years ago, I went to see it with a few of my mates and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. When Cars 2 was released this year, the movie sort of skipped past me and I never got to see it – so all I have to go for this games plot is what I saw in a couple of trailers and what was presented in the game – which from the looks of it was very little. I only spent a little time on this game, primarily to test each of the modes and I felt very disheartened about five minutes in when I saw the gameplay system.

When you think of Cars 2, you would expect something along the lines of Mario Kart or Sonic, Sega All-Stars Racing or ModNation Racing (Which was released on the console) where you are placed against a number of rival kart/car drivers having to do a certain number of laps while avoiding weapons, making use of speed ups and navigating the terrain freely in order to determine the best path for you to take in order to ensure victory. All of the above pertains to Cars 2 albeit more poorly implemented… but instead of being able to freely navigate the course you are limited to one of several lanes which me being a fan of kart racing games, took every bit of fun out of the racing element when the only proper way to overtake a foe is to switch lines, speed up then switch back. The weaponary is unimaginative and the entire system is bland in total. To add a bit of variety, they include a mission mode which I couldn’t get motivated into checking out too deeply and I couldn’t find anyone else with a game so I was not able to check out multiplayer – but I assume it would be the same as the 5-car single player racing mode.

This is not the worst designed game on the Playstation Portable, but it hardly extends past average in my books. There is a nice collection of characters which correspond to their Cars counterparts, the levels are not too bad but doesn’t offer that immersible experience most racing games have perfected over the years and it is just a game that looks okay without doing anything fancy. From what I can tell the voice cast is the same as the movie release which is a nice touch, alongside the main menu being narrated by someone with a brilliant British accent, but the music could have been improved. While this is the only version of the game I have played, I have heard better things about the console versions (PS3, Wii and XBox360) of the game (Example Review HERE) so if your kids MUST have something from the Cars franchise than you might want to consider picking it up….. but if it has to be for the PSP I say they might be better off going for the PSP version of ModNation Racers – a game I played on the PS3 and spent dozens upon dozens of hours on.

Story: E
Design: 
C
Music/Voice Acting: C
Gameplay: E
Replayability: E
Personal Opinion: E
Overall Score: E

The Otaku’s Gaming Study #6 – PSP Game Mini-Reviews (Cars 2 and Geronimo Stilton in the Kingdom of Fantasy) 4The Otaku’s Gaming Study #6 – PSP Game Mini-Reviews (Cars 2 and Geronimo Stilton in the Kingdom of Fantasy) 5

Fortunately while Cars 2 failed, Geronimo Stilton in the Kingdom of Fantasy succeeded in many ways (Including the most condensed title to fit onto the front of a UMD Disc). The game is based off an Italian book series by Edizioni Piemme and follows the protagonist Geronimo Stilton who works as a journalist for the newspaper “The Rodent’s Gazette” in New Mouse City. In this game, he is working on his new book when suddenly the power goes out, leading him to the attic in search of conveniently placed candles. He stumbles across a strange chest which leads him to a magic world where he must rescue Blossom, Queen of the Fairies while tailed by a new sidekick Scribblehopper who plans to make a fantasy novel about the Geronimo. As the game is aimed at children, I think the plot was brilliantly set out, and combined well with bright and colourful cartoon-like graphics that most should enjoy.

Given that this game is a puzzle game, in between the rather clever all-ages friendly plot you are presented with a number of different quizzes, puzzles and brain teasers which stand between you and your path to success. These are not all too difficult to keep with the target audience however the brain teasers can quite easily catch even the most logical thinker off-guard at times and result in an “Incorrect” screen. There is a moderate disadvantage to getting a puzzle incorrect, as you are rewarded with “Fantastic Guilders” at the end of each level – which you can trade in for items to give to other characters or do other things with… but getting a puzzle wrong or asking for help reduces the prize pool considerably. The game is spread over seven worlds each with numerous puzzles in each so you will not be left with nothing to do, and the creative story, designs and even the strong voice acting and music all play a role in delivering a brilliant childrens game for the Playstation Portable – and one that the console really needs!

Story: A-
Design: 
A
Music/Voice Acting: B
Gameplay: B+
Replayability: C
Personal Opinion: A-
Overall Score: B+

Sam
Sam
Founder of The Otaku's Study. I have been exploring this labyrinth of fandom these last fifteen years, and still nowhere close to the exit yet. Probably searching for a long time to come.

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