"Impact Time!!!"

This is probably one of the best games on the PSP, for the simple fact that it sports fantastically unpretentious fun, that is a great laugh to dip in and out of. You dive into a vibrantly coloured car, then asked to "ram your rivals off the road"! It never gets boring watching an opponent crash off the side of a cliff as you gain another segment of your boost bar at their expense.

The game-play itself is so precise and satisfying that you'll cry with joy. Your main driving events revolve around the boost bar that is filled by driving dangerously and crashing cars. As in the first few events of the game, you'll see that the game strongly encourages these sorts of shenanigans, which just makes is all the more enjoyable.

Also, this game should keep you busy for some time as it has plenty of events and even squeezes in a multi-player ( which I unfortunately have not yet sampled ) The controls are very precise ( although heavy cars steer like cows) so there is nothing really to hinder the driving madness.

Another great feature included is the wonderful Impact Time. This allows you to actually control your car once you have crashed, allowing you to crash other cars or get missed pick-ups. The camera can sometimes make this difficult, but the the large "AFTER-TOUCH TAKE DOWN" sign that engulfs the top of the screen if you successfully crash another car is so satisfying that you won't notice. This is most useful in the brilliant crash events that require you to cause the biggest traffic disaster possible.

The presentation of this game is also exceptional, with your car screaming along the well modelled tracks at a frightening pace. The cars are nicely detailed too. The sound is also a major plus point, as EA has fully licenced many tracks that create an apt backdrop for the blink-and-you'll-miss-it action. The only bad thing I can say about the presentation is that that you can occasionally see the white seams of the polygons, but this is quite rare.
Overall, this game is well worth buying as it provides an extremely satisfying and long lasting package of a game into one compact UMD. What more can you ask for?

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/15/07