PSP

Pocket Racers

Overall Pocket Racers is a middle-of-the-road package, from its uninspired name to its "been there, done that" gameplay. To give the designers credit, they did try something new with adding a "horror" story element and the car redemption via soul gems/shards. Plot aside; you are still playing a micro racer/kart game, which draws much of its inspiration from past successes from other franchises. It is hard to shake the generic feeling that you get from this game, even the characters aren't too interesting, save for the warlock. If you're a fan of racing games of the "wacky" variety, then it is possible you might dig this game. Otherwise, you most likely will not find the entertainment value you were seeking when plunking down your money for the game.

I couldn't stop thinking that Pocket Racers plays like some kind of tech demo or pitch piece. If so, it looks like student work. It doesn't quite square with the Konami name, frankly. I came to Pocket Racers expecting something loose and fun. As arcade and kart racing titles go, I have played a lot that I liked, including the recent Cartoon Network Racing title. Pocket Racers doesn't make the cut - this one is DOA from my perspective. Go back and play Wip3out Pure again... you'll be better off, I promise.

Not worth much more than a rental. Kids with no expectations might find it thrilling, but if they’ve already played a couple of racers for PSP, the likelihood of Pocket Racers holding their interest has shrunk.

When it all comes down to it, Pocket Racers is a decent racer that doesn’t really do anything different enough to warrant passing on any of the quality racing experiences that the PSP offers. If you’ve already played those games to death and want something new to pass the time for a few days, pick this up as a rental. There’s no reason to pay full price on Pocket Racers unless you want some buyer’s remorse.

I would not buy this game. Why would you buy this game? Do you throw money at people? I sure don’t. If you like mediocrity and stupid storylines, this game is definitely for you.

Pocket Racers was made for the holiday rush as a cheap, new game that could be shoveled out to parents, resulting in sad kids who have just become victims of the shovelware industry yet again. A lack of budget led to a lack of time spent on it, leading to the rather ludicrous premise, the worst use of the Havok physics engine I have yet seen in a video game, and overall just plain hilariously bad design and implementation. Don't bother wasting your time on it, if you were considering it for some reason. Some games age well, while others do so poorly. This one doesn't age at all; it was junk from the start.

There really isn’t much reason to recommend Pocket Racers. It doesn’t do a good job following through on its premise, and everything else about the game is sub-standard at best. Perhaps this game would make a good conversation piece for its hysterically atrocious story, but aside from that I see no reason that anyone would want to buy it.

Despite a crazy premise and a budget price, Pocket Racers doesn't deliver the goods. Its ineffective weapons and sluggish pace make this a game that doesn't get the two main ingredients of combat racing games right. To make matters worse, the tracks you race on are just as inconsistent. If it's not the worst racing game on the PSP, it's definitely running in the back of the pack.

L'affaire est entendue, Pocket Racers est à proscrire avec la plus grande fermeté. Synthèse improbable de tous les défauts jamais inventoriés pour un jeu de course, il ne propose rien d'autre que ce que beaucoup de titres font déjà, et bien mieux de surcroît. Avec sa technique défaillante, son gameplay apocalyptique et ses sensations d'un ennui mortel, le jeu de Konami finit fort logiquement plusieurs tours derrière un Micro Machines V4 et ne présente aucun intérêt même pour les intégristes du genre en mal de nouveautés.

Although I approached Pocket Racers with an open mind, I left with anything but. Aside from Satan (or in this case, a hooded facsimile), this is an ill-conceived, poorly-designed, "me-too" racer. This is not a game that deserves respect. This is a game that deserves to be buried beneath an Arizona landfill or completely re-tooled from the ground up. This game shames Konami and it shames Sony's PSP.

Pocket Racers tries to be honest about its budget status right out of the gate, but even stamping "budget" on a game can't make horrible gameplay forgivable. There are really no redeeming aspects about Pocket Racers, except maybe that it runs and is stable. If you're thinking "maybe kids will like a simplistic game like this," be warned - the two I had playtest it with me (a teen and pre-teen respectively) both hated it. Pass on this one.

Online minigames and a decent selection of cars don’t save Pocket Racers from being one of the worst rubber-burners on Sony’s portable system. Which is too bad, actually, because we might have actually been able to get with the goofball story if it wasn't the only noteworthy element of the game.

Pocket Racer fails like so many other racing titles on the PSP. As we've already established, it certainly isn't the worst racing game ever made for the PSP and it won't be the last half-hearted racing title on the system. Even at a low price point, fans are better off avoiding this one - but if you simply must try this game at least give it a rental first.