PlayStation 3

Super Rub a Dub

All in all I think Super Rub A Dub is an excellent game. I play this one almost every day, either moving on in the levels or trying to beat my old scores. For a low cost of $2.99 there is no reason you shouldn't try this one out, it's even cheaper than a Next Gen rental. This might not be the game that makes me change my mind with the PS3, but it does have the lasting feel that will make me turn on my Playstation 3 more than I thought I would.

The end result is a brilliant nugget of arcade puzzle gaming that is hard to put down and well worth its budget price. However, it is a little lacking in substance and, despite its next-gen gloss, feels a lot like a homebrewed internet shareware title. Yet perhaps that is exactly what the PlayStation Network has already become. A window for the distribution of the unusual and the novel, to a public that are in dire need of something other than the latest generic shelf-filler. If Super Rub-a-Dub is indicative of what is to come for low-price gaming, then the future of the PlayStation Network should not be ignored.

It’s not going to break any records or receive any awards, but in this early content dry PS3 time, I’m more than happy to play a game that seems to embrace the nostalgic simple level gameplay of old for less than the price of a Guitar Hero 2 song pack on the 360.

This is a good offering for the arcade portion of the PlayStation Store. It is not an innovative arcade title, but makes good use of the SIXAXIS controller. The game looks good, plays well and is fun in a group setting. What more can you ask for from an arcade title?

"Super Rub-A-Dub" oferece diversão e desafio na medida certa para os jogadores casuais e menos exigentes. Já para os mais experientes, pode causar o efeito inverso. Faltou diversidade para manter o interesse do jogador por mais tempo e transformá-lo em jogo digno de mascote da Sony. Mas foi um começo, quem sabe num próximo game.

We're still waiting for a title to validate Sony's pre-release claims for the Sixaxis concept. All the evidence in Super Rub'a'Dub suggests that for non-demanding gameplay, it makes the grade but the motion sensor just isn't crisp enough for precision control. This does lead to the unfortunate (if predictable) conclusion that Sixaxis is a novelty, with very definite limitations. While the lack of absolute control has the unfortunate effect of making Super Rub'a'Dub a repetitious annoyance when you reach its hardest levels, there's more than enough fun overall to warrant the game's GBP 3.49 introductory price tag. I'm not sure it's worth much more than that though, so you're best off downloading the trial levels pronto and giving them a whirl before the price is hiked on 23rd May.

However, at the price of a solid lunch at your favourite eatery, value for money can’t be beat. So it’s not quite the poster-boy for the HD revolution, there’s only a single laid-back audio track covering for all the menus and actual gameplay, and control-wise the tilting could have been much more tight like a blob of mercury (Mercury Meltdown) and an encapsulated monkey (Super Monkey Ball) have already shown. But although the depth of the gameplay is barely knee-deep making Super Rub-a-dub not quite the splashing debut as was hoped, it’s still rollicking, simple fun while it lasts and quite possibly the best way to play with vinyl-plastic rubber ducks without getting yourself soaking wet.

Visually Super Rub-A-Dub is a charming release bundled with all the cuteness we’ve come to expect from Nintendo over the years. As with flOw and Blast Factor it is best experienced at 1080 definition and has some of the best water effects Gamestyle has seen so far. It is just unfortunate that SCEE have not built upon a unique puzzle opportunity, instead content to ship out something that will long term only appeal to the youngest of players.

There's a multiplayer mode in here, too, but rather than letting four players fight over ducks, it just lets players take turns playing the same level to see who can end up with the fastest time. Super Rub a Dub is stripped-down and plain at every turn, and it's a bad deal at $6.99.

Given away as a free tech demo, this probably would have been a modest bit of amusement and a placeholder for a proper SIXAXIS demonstration. Instead, it's horribly overpriced and woefully under-realized.

Ultimately, even for the couple-of-quid asking price, Super Rub'a'Dub is a slightly embarrassing start to Sony's European PlayStation Network original content ambitions. As a game, the whole thing is simply too dull, repetitive and frustrating to be considered fun even by the casual gaming audience it's clearly intended for. What's more, as a demonstration of the SIXAXIS, it's a slightly peculiar choice, given the inherently unresponsive nature of gameplay. With far superior offerings like Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection hitting the PlayStation Network on launch day for a handful of coins more, you'd have to be qua- um, you know the rest.

Even if it were free, Super Rub-a-Dub would be too much of an investment for too small a payout. Dull and monotonous with little interactivity, the game is almost completely devoid of fun because of poor design choices and the worst example of Sixaxis support we've seen yet. Avoid it at all costs.