Micro Machines V4

"One of the worst PSP titles available"

Most of today's gamers seem to be too young to remember but I remember a time when the Micro machine toys were very popular and kids would trade and swap them. I also remember the game coming out on the NES and playing it at a friend's house. Those were some good times and gaming itself has changed drastically over the years. I gave this new game, Micro Machines V. 4 a rental and I must say that it is perhaps the worst PSP title I have played so far. It's not that nostalgia is to blame either; this game just isn't well made which is a shame.

The game has some rather bland graphics. The stages look nice and they could be real places but nothing has much in the way of details. It all just seems kind of lifeless, almost like it hasn't been updated since the NES game. Vehicles also are uninspired and with something along the lines of 400 to use it's kind of annoying that they look a lot alike.

This game also has perhaps the worst sound set up. Weapons sound just wrong. I can't explain it but they sound nothing like they should. This is also the first game in a very long time that I have played that doesn't have a soundtrack. There is no music at all. What is up with that?

We all know the PSP doesn't have the best control setup. It makes first person shooters a pain to play. However, I have found that most of the racing games play nicely and I see no reason for a racer to have poor control. For some reason Micro Machines V.4 feels like it's on rails almost. Turning feels more like you are gliding into the next lane. It's overly smooth but that isn't even the main problem. For some reason you have a birds eye view while driving and when turns come up the camera kind of glides you around the turn. You, the gamer, don't actually turn, the game seems to do most of it for you. This is annoying and almost makes the game feel like it's aimed only for little kids.

The game play itself is rather average. It's split up into three modes. The first mode type that I tried was combat. I really thought it would play out like Twisted Metal but on a race track. It's nothing like that. You get a weapon and you attack the computer controlled car. If you or they fall off the track then whoever is still on the track gets a point. Same goes for if either of you destroy the other. Also, if someone gets to far ahead they gain a point as well. What is annoying is that the game uses a scale where you're at one end and the other user is at the other end. So it bounces back and forth until someone gets to their end. That's just stupid and tedious.

The second type of game play is the normal races. They play out like a Mario Kart race. You have 3 laps and you can grab weapons to slow the other cars down. I found this one mildly fun but frustrating until you learned the track. I have no problems with having to learn a track but when the game has to load every time and these load times are much longer than the ones found in ATV Off-road Fury for the PSP and those were rather long. The game does have around 40 tracks which is a rather high number but they feel really small in size.

The third and final type is checkpoint races. This mode has a serious time issue. You literally must know every section of each track. You're given exactly to the millisecond of time to finish each race. Even the smallest error can cause a major problem. I just could not advance in this mode because of how unforgiving it is.

The game does offer a decent amount of replay value if you can look past its many flaws. It has a ton of cars to collect but you don't actually get to pick what car to use. Each stage can only have specific cars on them and in the end it makes it all kind of pointless. The game also offers WIFI Ad Hoc multiplayer so that's a minor plus.

It isn't the worst game ever made but it is far from being worth while. The load times and difficult beginning are very off putting and I personally couldn't get past that. The control and camera sliding also gave me more problems than it should have. The game just feels like it was rushed together and pushed out the door without any real thought put behind it. The PSP has much better racers out for it and this game isn't even worth a rental. For those that are wondering, this and the PS2 version are pretty much the same besides the WIFI thing and the PS2 version allows a builder of some sort. You can also connect the games to transfer items.

Story - N/A
Graphics - 6/10
Sound - 3/10
Control - 2/10
Game Play - 2/10
Replay Value - 5/10

Final Score - 3/10

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 09/05/06