I’m a huge fan of games that have tactical combat. I’ve been playing these types of games since Ultima III, Ogre, and Pool of Radiance. But other than Dragon Age: Origins, I haven’t seen a game with good strategic combat in years.

Dungeons & Dragons: Tactics was released four years ago, in 2007. But having only recently picked up a PSP, I’m just coming around to it. The reviews weren’t great – the game has a metacritic score of 58% – but having now played the game for a bit, I’ve found that I enjoy it. The game is similar in many ways to the PC game Temple of Elemental Evil. Both are based on the Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 ruleset, and both allow you to control a group of characters in turn-based combat.

When creating my first party, I immediately went to my favorite two synergies. Firstly, a dual-classed sorcerer/monk. This would allow me to create a sorcerer who could cast shield and mage armor, and then dual class him into a monk, which would allow for a monk with an insanely high armor class. But as it turns out, there is no multiclassing in D&D Tactics. So I went for my other favorite: a fighter with a spiked chain and the whirlwind attack feat. The spiked chain is the only reach weapon in the game that can attack adjacent enemies. If you’re totally surrounded and make a whirlwind attack, you can theoretically attack 24 enemies in one turn. That has probably never happened in the history of the game – more realistic is attacking 4-5 enemies – but it’s a cool advantage to have. But as it turns out, neither the spiked chain nor the whirlwind attack feat exist in this game either. The ruleset in this PSP game is far more divergent from actual D&D 3.5 rules than was Temple of Elemental Evil. Nevertheless, I’m having fun with it.

After starting with a paladin-led party and getting stuck in the game’s fourth scenario, I restarted the game with a new party, taking care to have more toe-to-toe warriors and more characters with the heal skill. My new party consists of a high-dexterity dual-wielding fighter, a polearm-wielding orc barbarian, a monk, a cleric, a gnome sorcerer, and a dwarven psionic warrior with an insanely high armor class.

Creating these custom characters and micromanaging their inventories might be annoying for some people, but I enjoy it. It hearkens back to the old infinity engine games: Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale. Good stuff.

Moving the party around environments between fights is sometimes annoying – I can completely understand the UI complaints of the game reviewers who bashed the game’s interface. Yes, it could have been better. But all-in-all, this is the kind of game I enjoy playing, and I foresee myself playing it to completion.

So often, I’ll have fifteen minutes at the end of an evening, and I don’t want to start playing Bioshock 2 or Metroid Prime. It might take half of the time I’ve got just to start playing one of those. So what casual games am I currently digging?

Chime Super Deluxe (Playstation 3)

After the Playstation Network came back up following the crash, I grabbed a Playstation points card so that I wouldn’t have to store my credit card info on Sony’s servers. While my main intent was to use it for Beyond Good and Evil HD, I tried the demo for Chime Super Deluxe and found that I really enjoyed the game. And it’s got multiplayer, which I know that my wife and I will enjoy, even if she does kick my ass at the game.

Chime Super Deluxe is a musical block placement game. The blocks don’t fall like Tetris – instead you’re given an irregularly-shaped game board and charged with filling as close to 100% of the board as possible within the alotted time. The music plays, and a vertical line (“the beat line”) moves slowly from left to right. As it passes over the blocks you’ve placed, completed square groupings (“quads”) of blocks are registered in the grid in time with pleasant musical cues, and each quad adds to your completion percentage. Create enough quads between passes of the beat line and you get a bonus.

It’s a very zen gameplay experience, and the music is enjoyable. I hear that there’s even a PC version of the game somewhere out there that includes Jonathan Coulton’s Still Alive as one of its songs.

Plants vs Zombies (Android)

I’ve played Plants vs Zombies a lot. I played it when it came out on Steam and got 100% achievements over the course of two playthroughs. Then they added additional achievements and I played through the game again to get all of them. Recently, they released an Android version of the game, and Amazon’s Android app store gave the game away free for one day, so I snagged it. I’m currently midway into my second playthrough, and I haven’t yet begun to put much of a dent in the game’s achievements.

In the unlikely event that you’re totally unfamiliar with Plant versus Zombies, it’s a tower defense game in which the zombies shuffle from right to left, heading towards your house in five lanes. You plant sunflowers to produce sun, the resource you spend to create more plants. Peashooters and cabbage-pults attack oncoming zombies, wall-nuts block them, and squash do as their name would imply. There are dozens more plants, and many types of zombies. Nighttime fogs obscure the field, the backyard’s pool requires that you place plants on lillypads to stop scuba zombies, and defending on the slanted roof prevents direct-fire attacks. The game’s got more complexity than you might think.

I had some issues with PvZ for a while, but I was able to fix them by backing out updates for Google Maps on my phone. It’s a ridiculous and insane solution since using my phone as a GPS is far more useful than playing Plants vs Zombies, but I’ve written to Popcap about the situaton. What can I say? I like the game.

Pixeljunk Monsters Deluxe (PSP)

I have a confession to make. I have an unnatural zeal for Pixeljunk Monsters. After having a slightly above-average reaction to the demo in 2007, I purchased PS3 game, and then the expansion. I played with Linda. I played alone. four years later, I was still playing. I completed every level of the game with Linda. I got 100% of the game’s trophies separately in single-player. Then I found the PSP game, which included an additional dozen or so levels and a game that included extra enemy types and new towers. I’m playing Pixeljunk Monsters on the PSP a lot, and I love the game. My obsession has grown, and it’s nearly the only thing I ever do with my PSP. I do own more games for the device, I just don’t play them.

Hoard (PS3)

Hoard is a fun game, and I still play it, even if I don’t play it as frequently as I once did. I’ve gotten gold medals on all of the Princess Rush levels and on all but two of the Treasure levels. The Hoard levels are all insanely dificult – staying alive for five minutes is a challenge I haven’t yet completed. But with levels that top out at ten minutes, it’s fun to play when I’ve got a few minutes to kill.

WordFeud (Android)

I’d been playing Words with Friends on my phone for a while, but I switched to WordFeud. I like the bonus tile layout better, and having an avatar image is nice. I only wish that they’d disallow you from trying words an infinite number of times until you find one that works. Games with more than two players would be nice as well.

What casual games do you play?

Free Month of Playstation Plus

Is there anyone who actually had a subscription to Playstation Plus? I mean anyone who’s not a games journalist. I understand that people who wanted to report about what the service actually does subscribed just to let the rest of us know what the heck the service was actually good for. Strange that I haven’t heard much.

Looking it up now, it seems that you get early access to demos and some betas, a free subscription to Qore (the PSN thing that nobody subscribed to before Qriocity was around for nobody to subscribe to) and discounts on some PSN content. You also get limited play time on certain selected games. So basically, Playstation Plus was created as a clearing ground for PSN games that don’t sell. You pay Sony every month, and they’ll let you play the worst of the worst, but only a little.

Movie Rentals for One Weekend

I’d forgotten that “renting” movies from PSN was even an option. One time they made Godzilla 2000 available for free for a few days, and I downloaded that, but the movie was so bad that we didn’t make it halfway through. I expect that most of the PSN offerings that they’ll make free are of the same quality. Besides, I’ve got Netflix and Hulu. Will PSN actually make anything available for free that I can’t already get through either of those channels?

Free Playstation Home items

I tried Playstation Home once. It was terrible, slow, and frankly kind of boring. Does anyone still use it?

A Free Game

So here’s the only thing on the list in which anyone will have any interest. Let’s take a look at the five games on their list.

• Dead Nation
  I’ll be honest. I’d never have been interested in this game if it wasn’t free. But if I’m able to get two of these games then I’ll likely pick up Dead Nation. It allows for online multiplayer, which I’ve only ever done before with HOARD. So maybe I’ll contact my brother for some co-op zombie hunting.
• inFAMOUS
  I played inFAMOUS about a year ago, and it’s not a bad game. But it seems obvious that this game was included primarily to sell the uncoming sequel. I won’t be choosing inFAMOUS since I already own it, but it’s not a bad choice for someone who hasn’t yet played.
• LittleBigPlanet
  Similarly to inFAMOUS, LittleBigPlanet has a sequel, and I’m sure that they just really want to sell copies of LittleBigPlanet 2. Still, not a bad choice. The two games are so similar that (to me) there’s not much of a difference.
• WipEout HD + Fury
  I had to look this one up. Turns out that it’s a racing game, which explains why I’d never bothered to learn anything about it. I’ve got no interest in racing games that aren’t named Audiosurf or MarioKart, so I won’t be downloading WipEout HD.
• Super Stardust HD
  When I first got my playstation, I downloaded the Super Stardust HD demo, and it struck me as a very well done bullethell shooter. I’m not very good at games like this, and I figured I wouldn’t get much further in the full game than I had in the demo, so I eventually uninstalled it. But now that it’s a free game on a list of slim pickins, I’ll probably download it.

In addition to the above Playstation titles, those who own PSPs can choose from the four games below.

• LittleBigPlanet
  The PSP version of LittleBigPlanet isn’t going to be as good as the primary PS3 version, and so it might be better to select another game from this list. And as much as my wife and daughter love LittleBigPlanet, I’m not a fan.
• ModNation Racers
  I tried the PS3 demo, and my opinions of this racer are pretty much the same as my opinions of most racers. Pass.
• Pursuit Force
  After reading about Pursuit Force, I’m marginally interested. Since they’re allowing two free games and I’m not interested in LittleBigPlanet PSP or Modnation Racers, I guess I’ll be trying it out.
• Killzone Liberation
  I’ve heard marginally good things about Killzone Liberation. I’m not a fan of shooters on handhelds, but it’s free, so I’ll be trying it. Can’t be worse than that PSP Tenchu game.

Looking at the PS3 game list, we can see that only two of the five games were ever full-priced retail releases. And those two both have sequels. I suspect that many people are in the same boat as me, owning both of those. Many people may also own the other less expensive downloadable titles. So for many, this customer appreciation program is even more of a sham. I’m not going to pretend that Sony’s outage ruined my life, and I’m not going to claim that they were grossly negligent in their security. But it was inconvenient for me even though I don’t play games online, since I couldn’t stream Hulu, and Netflix was incredibly spotty. If they want to issue an apology by awarding people games, at least they should compile a decent list of choices. I certainly didn’t expect them to give us Beyond Good and Evil HD for free, although that would have been awesome. Let’s look at some of the games they might have offered.

• Assassins Creed
  With three sequels, Assassins Creed is now an officially old game, in the same league as inFAMOUS. It seems natural for them to have included it. But I guess that Ubisoft is too DRM crazy to allow anybody to have anything for free ever. It’s too close to piracy. If Ubisoft had let us have Assassins Creed, they’d have had to phone us every 5 minutes while we were playing just to make sure that we weren’t lending the controller to a visiting friend.
• Borderlands
  It’s not a new game, so why not? Gearbox has already earned the bulk of their money on this game. It’s already downloadable on PSN, and including it would have exposed a lot of people to Borderlands who may not have already tried it.
• Dead Space: Extraction
  This would be a great way to try to get more people to use Playstation: Move. If more games used Move, I might be interested in dropping the substantial cash on the 3-part controller you need to use Move.
• God of War Collection
  Of all the downloadable games on PSN, this would be the one I’d most likely choose if it were free. I’ve already played the games on my PS2, and I’d be unlikely ever to revisit them, but the addition of trophies might make it worth going back and replaying.
• Hoard
  One of the three PSN games that I will likely never uninstall. I’m working my way through Hoard’s “medals”, which are like sub-trophies. Get enough medals and you get a trophy. The game is a lot of fun.
• Pixeljunk
  I know there are plenty: Racers, Monsters, Eden, Shooter, Shooter 2. Although I’ve got a huge affinity for Monsters, these are all good games.
• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time HD
  I tried the game in its PC incarnation years ago and hated it. But even the HD version is no longer new, and would make a good option for a freebie like this.
• Prototype
  I actually think I liked Prototype a bit better than inFAMOUS. To be honest, they’re basically the same game. But Prototype had better gliding mechanics and I preferred running up walls to slowly climbing them.
• Trine
  One of my favorite PSN games, and my only platinum trophy. It would be a gem of a freebie, and a good promo for the forthcoming sequel.

Too Little Too Late?

It’s easy to scoff at the offer, but I suppose that Sony wasn’t really required to do anything here. They’re not going to lose any money by giving this stuff away, so it’s ultimately just a PR move. Hardcore gamers will likely already have these games. Those who aren’t might not ever realize that there was any freebie to be had.

Yes, I could name any of those as plausible reasons why I just went out and bought a PSP. But the truth is that I bought a PSP because I’ve finally one-hundred-percented Pixeljunk Monsters after having played the game consistently for three or four years, and I need a new version of the game. So when I bought my PSP, guess which game I picked up with it? My copy of Pixeljunk Monsters Deluxe cost me five dollars. W00t!

In general, I’ve found the PSP port of Pixeljunk Monsters to be the same game as on the PS3, but harder. They’ve eliminated (or at least locked away) the fire tower, which was absolutely essential to rainbow many of the game’s levels. With a shielded monster, your only option becomes the Tesla tower, which in the PS3 version had a range of about 4 pixels. They’ve now made the Tesla and ice towers more effective, which is nice. That ice tower was damned useless in the PS3 version, but after about 15 attempts to rainbow the medium-difficulty level “smile”, I’m beginning to feel that three or four ice towers may be my only chance to stop those damn spiders. They haunt my dreams. Okay, no. Not really.

Although I currently only own the one game for the system, I’ve done a bit of research, and I’m going to lay down the other PSP games that I’d like to try at some point. It’ll be hard in my mind for the PSP games to compare with such amazing DS fare as Phantom Hourglass, The World Ends With You, Elite Beat Agents, and the Professor Layton games, but I’ll give it a go.

God of War: Chains of Olympus

I’ve played the first two God of War games on my PS2, and although the second wasn’t nearly as good as the first, I did enjoy both. This PSP title is on my list when it comes to PSP gaming, but not at the top. What? Oh yeah – I guess it is at the top, but I’d kind of put together this list as a best-last thing, you know? Smartass.

Patapon 2

Until I installed the demo on my PSP, I’d had no exposure to Patapon. It was a rhythm adventure game, and the third game in the series just came out, which means that some people must like it. I gave it a brief try, and was surprised to find that the demo allowed me to save my game, which I have done. It’s intriguing, and I’ll go back to finish the demo at some point, at which time I’ll decide whether it’s a game I’d like to buy.

Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony

I loved the original Dungeon Siege, but could never get into the second title in the series. Still, I’m interested in this portable version. I just really enjoy the whole improve-skills-as-you-use-them approach to leveling. I haven’t read reviews or watched gameplay videos yet though, and I’ll need to do the research before I decide to buy it.

ClaDun: This is an RPG!

I’ve heard glowing praise for CalDun: This is an RPG!, but before I pick up the game, I may have to wait until I’m in the right mindset to spend hours wandering in circles and stabbing boars. From what I read in Kotaku’s review, ClaDun has a very intricate “magic circle” party system, and very quick two-minute dungeons. Color me intrigued. Hmm… intrigued must be one of those new colors in the Crayola 256-pack, alongside Sunburnt Cyclops and Booger Buster.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

The reviews I’ve read make this game sound almost like more of an interactive movie than a game. Apparently, there’s no combat. Zero. None. Still, running away from enemies can make for good gameplay. I actually quit Penumbra: Overture because I was forced to fight enemies rather than running. Shattered Memories is rated higher than a lot of the other games in the series, and the primary criticism seems to be that it sticks too closely to the formula established in previous Silent Hill games. Well, guess what? I’ve never played all the way through a Silent Hill game! I started the original title back in my PS1 days, but never progressed far. All I really remember is running around in the fog and listening to static on a radio. So maybe this is a good entry point for me.

Half Minute Hero

I remember Frank talking about Half-Minute Hero years ago, and I remember being quite jealous. After reading about the game’s various modes on Wikipedia, I’m really interested. It’s an RPG, it’s an RTS, and it’s a shoot-em-up. I might give this one a try sooner than I’d originally intended.

Tenchu: Shadow Assassins

I’m interested in Tenchu despite its poor ratings, mainly because I loved the original PS1 game. I found it cheap online and have already ordered the game. Please don’t suck. Please don’t suck. Please don’t suck. Please don’t suck.

Dungeons and Dragons Tactics

D&D Tactics really sounds like a cult game. People love it or hate it. In reading about it, one person wrote that it was much like Temple of Elemental Evil. Say no more; I’m sold. Create chararacters using the D&D 3.5 ruleset and conduct strategic battles? Yes, please. I’ll have my spiked-chain wielding fighter with whirlwind attack and my multiclass sorcerer/monk up and running in no time. There are some sanity-challenged vendors on Amazon selling this game for $70, but I found a copy online for less than twenty. Expect a report soon.

Keepers is a weekly segment in which I discuss games I’ve played that I’ve seen fit to keep after playing. I’m a self proclaimed pack-rat and collector, but if I ever had to sell my gaming collection to feed my family these are the games I’d hang onto. If my wife let me, anyway.

Valkyria Chronicles for the PS3 is one of those games that no one saw coming, and then no one bought it. For those that did though, they found an amazing SRPG with some gameplay twists never before seen in the genre. Think of the standard grid based SRPG and then think about controlling your characters and combat like a FPS, and you kind of have the idea. On top of that you add gorgeous watercolor styled graphics, an engaging storyline with tons of characters you actually care about, and you have what I feel is the best SRPG ever made. I have been slowly replaying this game on Hard mode to earn all of the medals, characters and in-game achievements. Sega has also released two brand new DLC campaigns that have kept me coming back to this game nearly a year after I finished it for the first time.

Sega will also be releasing a PSP-bound sequel next year and there is a pretty decent Anime to be found on the YouTubes if you’re interested (subtitled of course). I’m really looking forward to adding both to my Keepers shelf in the future.

The premise of Half-Minute Hero sounds sounds simplistic but essentially the goal is to save the world from the Evil Lord in 30 seconds. Doesn’t sound like much of a game from that description but I assure you, there’s much more to it. The game is broken up into three main chapters and with some challenge stages that can be played separately. Each chapter is made up of several episodes, and yes the goal is to complete each one in 30 seconds. Every episode is set up so that it feels like you’ve played an entire game, the credits even roll after you complete an episode. The next episode starts up with a recap of what you just accomplished and then sets the stage for the next Evil Lord you must defeat.

I suppose the best way to describe the gameplay is to say it’s a mini-RPG, with minimal user input. You can acquire gear and weapons with your standard RPG stats, and each item nicely affects your performance. You are then dispatched to defeat the Evil Lord and the 30 second timer starts ticking away. However, there are a few caveats to the time limit. Time stops when you enter villages or towns. You can also buy more time from
the Time Goddess (who is wickedly funny) but your funds have to be closely managed between purchasing healing items, buying the necessary weapons and gear or extending your time. You may not always have the money to extend the time limit and will have to hustle or watch the Evil Lord destroy the world when time runs out. Of course, the Time Goddess has ways of putting you back in the action but this makes every episode require a different set of strategies. Do you buy more time or pick up that Fly Swatter that will let you defeat insect enemies in one hit? So many decisions, so little time…

Once you set out on your adventure, you’ll run around on the world map looking for the Evil Lord and will then bump into any number of random encounters. Combat switches to side view and is automatic (hey, you really can’t do turn based or hack ‘n slash in just 30 seconds) so you’ll plow through enemies or be kicked back to the world map. You’ll also level up based on these encounters, sometimes 2-3 levels per fight, which is required for when you face the toughies at the end of each episode. There may also be side quests that have to be completed before you can tackle the Evil Lord, almost requiring that you buy extra time. Defeating the Evil Lord pops up a flag on his castle, Super Mario Bros. 3 style and then you’ve saved the world. For now.

Graphically the game is very different from what you’d expect from a PSP game. You get a top down world map view ala The Legend of Zelda (yes, the NES version) and then combat is sidescrolling ala Super Mario Bros. (again, the NES version). If my hints didn’t already tip you off, the game is presented in an over exaggereated 8/16-Bit style. It’s done in such a way that you can tell they’re making things purposely blurry or pixelated to poke fun at the adventure games from days gone by. I really like it, cracks me up when you get close-ups of your hero or the Evil Lords and have to try to figure out what you’re looking at.

I really enjoy games that don’t take themselves too seriously and Half-Minute Hero surely knows how to make fun of its gameplay gimmick. About 10 episodes in, the game pits you against a crocodilian Evil Lord and admits it’s having a hard time coming up with new Evil Lords for you to fight. Sometimes after battles on the world map you’ll get the message “You > Evil”. Another of the Evil Lords is an afro’d wizard that stole a
ship’s sails for bedsheets, complete with groovy disco music in the background. Even the gear and supporting characters are all in on the joke.

For a handheld game, this one hits on all the right levels. You get some quick, fun gameplay, with enough adventure and RPG elements to keep you coming back time after time. For a game that sells 30 seconds of adventure, I’ve spent nearly three hours with it already and I’m still on the 1st chapter. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to save the world and the clock is ticking.

Handheld games are generally the least expensive on the market. Some sell for as little as $20 when they’re brand new. But as technology advances, prices increase. Today, it’s common to see handheld games going for $40 or more. Luckily, there are still plenty of bargains out there. This week, we’ll be looking at Sony PSP and Nintendo DS games available for under $20.

Nintendo DS

The Nintendo DS is a phenomenal handheld platform. While it doesn’t match the graphics or multimedia capabilities of the PSP, it has some truly fantastic games.

Lunar Knights
While I’ve not yet had the chance to play Lunar Knights, it’s been on my to-play list for quite a while. Essentially a dungeon crawler RPG, the reviews praise the game’s story enough to make me want to pick up a copy. Currently, I’m seeing it available on EBay for $16.

Arkanoid DS
Simple yet addictive, Arkanoid was the arcade’s evolution of Atari’s Breakout, a game I played on the Atari 2600 decades ago. For $15, it’s certainly worth a visit to EBay.

Castlevania
There have been many portable versions of the Castlevania franchise, and I’ve enjoyed many of them. Most recently, I really liked Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, but before that, Dawn of Sorrow was also an excellent portable game that made great use of the DS’s stylus controls. You can get Portrait of Ruin on EBay for $20, and Dawn of Sorrow for $15.

Elite Beat Agents
I won’t lie to you, Elite Beat Agents is a weird game, wherein you run through tapping rhythm games, leading the Men-In-Black-like agents to solve world problems through dance. Their missions vary from saving the world from aliens who want to turn everyone to stone to helping a babysitter impress her boyfriend. And the music featured in the game is very catchy: The Jackson Five, Earth Wind and Fire, Jamiroquai, David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, and a lot more. Definately worth dropping $6 on EBay.

Professor Layton and The Curious Village
With Professor Layton, Level-5 has found a way to bring a different kind of puzzles to the DS. Matchstick puzzles, sliding puzzles, and plenty of other visually-oriented logic puzzles and brain teasers. The game makes excellent use of the stylus, which is all but required to solve every puzzle. It’s also got a great hint system. And the game also features full-motion hand-drawn animation for many of the cutscenes, which is a very nice touch. It’s probably geared towards kids, but I enjoyed it from start to end, and I’ve got to admit that some of the puzzles kicked my ass. Luckily, most of the harder ones are optional. You can find Professor Layton for $20 on EBay.

N+
It’s got a name that’s so short it can get confusing, but N+ made a big name for itself on XBox live arcade. Recently, it’s come to the DS, and it sold brand new in stores for $20. Although I’ve yet to play, my brother tells me that N+ is crushingly hard, but that somehow you quickly gain the skill to get past levels which at first seemed impossible. You can pick up N+ on EBay for $10 if you’ve got the stones.

Advance Wars
The Advance Wars series has always been a favorite of mine. They’ve found a way to make a good strategic turn-based strategy game on a handheld, and make good use of both screens. I’ve yet to try Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, but given that it’s currently selling for $5 on EBay, I should pick up a copy. Advance Wars: Dual Strike is only half that: $2.50.

MarioKart DS
I wasn’t sure whether I’d be able to include Mariokart in this list, but I did find a copy on EBay that sold for $16. Even after three years, the game is holding its value remarkably well. And with good reason – it’s a fantastic game. Nintendo has managed to port their amazingly popular kart racing game to their handheld platform, and they’ve lost none of the addictive fun. You can play over wi-fi with friends locally, or against friends or random strangers online via Nintendo WFC. How odd to be sitting in an airport racing against some random person in Japan. But my copy of Mariokart is one of the DS games that I refuse to sell.

Puzzle Quest
I think Puzzle Quest was the DS game that I was most excited to get. A combination RPG/Puzzle game was unheard of at the time. There’s a strange sort of satisfaction that comes from lining up a row of five gems in order to kill a goblin. At one point, I laid siege to an entire town and broke down laughing after I used my headbutt ability. “I headbutted an entire town!”, I yelled to my wife, in near-hysterics. I got an unenthusiastic “yes, dear” type of response. Needless to say, capturing monsters and throwing them in your dungeon, forging new magic items, and training your mounts is a lot of fun, and each is a specific type of puzzle. You can get Puzzle Quest for $11 on EBay.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
If I had to recommend one Nintendo DS game, it would be Phantom Hourglass. I’d never have believed that anyone could design an RPG in which you control everything exclusively with the stylus and make it good. But the game is very good. It makes excellent, albeit infrequent use of the microphone, and encourages you to draw on every map with your stylus in order to take notes and mark locations. You can get it for $15 on EBay.

Sony PSP

The PSP doesn’t have quite as many games, period, as the DS, however it does have a very good selection of titles just under 20 bucks, and not eBay prices, genuine new in the store prices, thanks to Sony’s Greatest Hits line of titles for $19.99.  Throw some of these under the tree during your winter holiday of choice and you’ll make some gamers quite happy.

MemoryStick Pro Duo 2GB
Yeah, I know that this isn’t a game, but unlike the DS which allows you to save game progress to the cartridge, the PSP requires a memory card for saving game progress.  You can usually get a 2GB SanDisk MemoryStick Pro Duo for under 20 bucks as witnessed at Amazon.  2GB is plenty of room for game saves and if you want to go the movie route, you can easily fit a 2 hour movie on there and have room to spare.

Killzone Liberation – $19.99
Killzone Liberation is a tactical, 3rd person shooter that displays the PSP’s graphical prowess to a high degree, providing plenty of high action gaming as well.  The campaign can be a little frustrating at times, and short, but the action is fast and frantic.  Ad-hoc multiplayer means that you can blast away at others that also have a copy of the game too, but there’s no online multiplayer if you’re a hermit like me.

Burnout Legends – $18.99
One of the best racing series ever made gets a highly polished entry on the PSP in Burnout Legends.  Whereas other racers penalize you for crashing, the Burnout series has always encouraged crashing as a means of getting your opponents off of the road.  Burnout is the one racing game I’ve always enjoyed, and racing games lend themselves well to portable gaming due to the ability to parse your gaming in small chunks.  Once the Burnout bug bites you, you can carry on your need to crash with the many 360 and PS3 outings.

Tekken: Dark Resurrection – $19.99
I’m horrible at fighting games, but damn it if Tekken: Dark Resurrection ain’t the best looking fighting game you’ll ever see on a handheld.  It controls well, has tons of modes and lets you exchange ghosts, AI profiles of your fighting style, with other players so that you can practice up fighting against Cousin Jimmy before you take him on for real over the wireless connection.  Fighting games are one of the more value laden genres out there due to all of the characters and modes, and just continually playing to get better, so combine this with such a beautiful looking game and you’ve got one hell of a package for under 20 bucks.

Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters – $19.99
Ratchet and Clank has consistently been one of the best platforming series out there, and this foray into the PSP is no different.  The hoverboarding sucks, as it does on every R&C game, but everything else is just plain Ratchet and Clank goodness.  It controls well, looks great, has lots of fun challenges outside of the story mode and retains the series’ trademark sense of humor.  It’s also fairly lengthy and you can go back and bring your leveled up weapons and armor sets into subsequent playthroughs at higher difficulty levels.  Be warned though, that if this is your first R&C game, you may be finding yourself stocking up on Sony hardware so that you can play all of the other games in the series.  At the risk of contradicting myself though, avoid Secret Agent Clank, also for the PSP.  Let us not speak of that game.

GTA: Vice City Stories & Liberty City Stories – $19.99 each
20 bucks for a GTA game is a tremendous value, and don’t think that you won’t get your money’s worth here just because it’s on a handheld.  This is GTA in all of it’s blood soaked, open world glory.  Whether you choose to visit Liberty City or head to the warmer climes of Vice City, you’ll have plenty to do and see, and kill.

Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow & Dark Mirror – $9.79 – $12.79
Billed as a tactical espionage game, the Syphon Filter series is just that.  It’s a third person spyfest with lots of cool guns, gadgets and explosives.  The games control really well and have great graphics, but both also have online multiplayer so once you’re done with the single player mode, you can spend hours taking dudes out online.  Savvy shoppers can probably pick up the two combined for less than 20 bucks, thereby earning you a place in the Shopping Hall of Fame.

Hot Shots Golf Open Tee – $19.99
Hot Shots is pure video game golf.  There’s no Tiger Woods style realism here, but that’s part of the fun. You’re playing for ridiculous outfits and accessories, not to hoist the Ryder Cup over your head.  The graphics are bright and sparkly and the game controls really well.  There is some grinding of the same courses over and over again, but the courses are still challenging even with repeated exposure.  The game’s sequel came out this year, however there’s not a lot added to the game to justify the extra ten bucks, so stick with the older version and save some cash.

Daxter – $14.99
More platforming goodness, this time as Daxter from the Jak and Daxter series.  What is it with Sony and alien platforming duos anyway?  Doesn’t matter I guess.  Daxter controls well, looks good and is fun to play.  It’s also cheap, so as the kids would say, it is full of win.

For the record, I agree completely with Greg’s appraisal of Puzzle Quest, and it is available on the PSP, however there is a pretty big bug in the game, namely that you can’t level up your mount.  A leveled up mount is essential for avoiding battles with lesser beasties, as well as giving you extra spells in combat, so while I would hate for the PSP playing nation to miss out on such an excellent title, I can’t, in good conscience, recommend it for the PSP.

But I digress.

Rather than get into everything that’s been bugging me of late, I’ll just touch on the high points. After all, I don’t want to give everyone the impression that all I do is complain. I mean, all I do is complain, but we should probably build up to that.

I just finished one of my many runs through Conan on the 360, all for the glory of achievements no less, and while I really enjoyed the combos and the super visceral thrill of taking a dude’s head off with a shield, the boss battles in this game were just abysmal. Conan, as we all know, is a barbarian. It’s like, in his title. Conan is known for his lightning speed, blazing fast reflexes and unmatched savagery in battle. What he is not known for is flitting around the melee range of a boss and goading the boss into attacking so that Conan can chuck an axe at it. Yet, this is pretty much exactly what I had to do for more than one boss battle in this game. It’s not that I’m bad at Conan. I got pretty dang good at popping off combos and such. It’s that all of the bosses had various ublockable attacks that would completely destroy you should you get caught under them. In fact, just for fun, I took on a boss Conan style, namely wading in and beating this fool down with the bladed weapon du jour. I got two, maybe three hits in before I was rent asunder. No one rends Conan asunder, or puts him in the corner for that matter. You never saw Kratos throwing vases at Ares, or using harsh language against Zeus. No, he got in there, flung his blades all about and made with the choppy choppy .We know that if there’s no Conan, there’s no Kratos, Kratos being the emo version of Conan after all. Hear me oh game designers! Be true to your character throughout the entire game, lest you lose your audience.

I’m also playing Dungeon Siege for the PSP and while it’s a competent dungeon romp, and quite a lot of mindless fun, whoever designed the Town Portal spell needs a good thrashing. Everyone knows what a Town Portal spell is. If you’re deep in some dungeon or haunted forest and you’ve run out of inventory slots, you simply cast a Town Portal spell and you’re back in town. You can sell your crap, buy some new crap and generally get all of your affairs in order. Once you’re finished, you go back through the portal and you’re right back where you started. In Dungeon Siege, they got everything right except for the part where you go back through the portal. In this game, you don’t go back to where you started, you go to the beginning of the level, complete with a full monster respawn. Niiiice. So not only do you have to trek all the way back to where you left, but you have to fight your way there and you’ll probably gather enough crap so that you need another trip back through town

Finally, I’m playing Too Human, a game so rife with bad game design choices that it could be used to teach a class on what not to do in a game. The one that seems to be bugging me the most is that I’m spending as much time walking through some huge hallway as I do fighting. It’s bad enough that every battle is pretty much identical to the last one, but making me trek a mile and a half to get to the next identical battle makes it seem even worse. This isn’t even counting Cyberspace which is the Too Human version of the Poconos, complete with long walks in verdant meadows all so that you can open a door that goes absolutely nowhere. I’m sure that Silicon Knights has some really great level designers and environmental artists, but if your game is supposed to be about goblin mashing, perhaps asking the player to spend minutes at a time undertaking a leisurely stroll isn’t the best of ideas.

Now that I’ve voiced my displeasure, I guess this is where I storm out. Which way is out? This way? No. Oh, got it. All righty then. This is me storming.