Super Stardust HD is one of the best and most successful games on the PlayStation Network. The PS3 title is still one of my favorite downloadable games on any platform and I continuously go back to the game on a regular basis. When the game was announced for the PSP, I was both excited and wary about the release. My initial feelings proved spot on and the game is just okay, but nowhere near the quality of the PS3 version.
Super Stadust Portable is a 360 degree top-down shooter which pits your space ship against asteroids and aliens on five planet levels. There are three weapons at your disposal (Rock Crusher, Ice Splitter, and Gold Melter), each of which provide a different type of projectile attack. Your choice of weapon depends on what’s attacking you at the moment, but I’ve always found the Gold Melter to be the end-all-be-all (unless you’re on the ice planet). Each planet consists of five stages where more and more asteroids and aliens come at you until you reach the level boss in the fifth stage. Along the way, you can shoot the green asteroids which will deal out points, weapons boosts, shields, and extra lives. There is a new final boss compared to the PS3 version and it’s an pretty hard fight.
The visuals in Super Stardust Portable are extremely crisp. I actually expected it to look worse given the amount of content on streen at once (both aliens and asteroids, many of them exploding). The framerate stays solid no matter how much is coming at you, which is another part that surprised me. The team at Housemarque did a great job to make sure things run smooth. I was a bit disappointed, though, that you’re so zoomed in compared to the PS3 version. Since it’s a much smaller screen, I can understand, but I prefer to see what’s coming from around the other sides of the planet. The same care used for the graphics was put into the game’s sound effects and background music which are ported over perfectly from its PS3 counterpart.
You have two gameplay modes to choose from in Super Stardust Portable: Arcade Mode and Planet Mode. Arcade Mode puts you through the five planets in order as you rack up points. Once you unlock new planets, you can start at those levels if you choose. Planet Mode allows you to play a single planet without progressing through the other planets to try and reach a high score. These scores can be uploaded to the PSN and you can view global leaderboards for each planet as well as the Arcade Mode. For whatever reason, Survival, Endless, and Bomber aren’t included in the game even though they’re listed in the PlayStation Store description at the time of review. I’m guessing these will be paid DLC, which is a bit disheartening.
Unfortunately, the graphics and sound are the best part of this title. The controls needed for a 360 degree shooter just don’t work out with only one analog stick (or nub, in the PSP’s case). The default control scheme maps movement to the left analog nub, shooting to the face buttons, boost to the L button, and bomb to the R button. Changing weapons is done by pressing up or down on the d-pad. There are a few issues at play here. First, precise shooting can’t be done in all directions with the PSP’s face buttons. Second, changing weapons doesn’t work unless you stop moving, since you have to move your thumb from the analog nub to the d-pad. You can customize the controls, but whatever you do, something is going to get sacrafised. This type of game really requires dual analog sticks and suffers when that isn’t an option.
While I absolutely love the PS3 version for its fluid, fun gameplay, the same can’t be said for Super Stardust Portable. I was pleasantly surprised by the graphics and sound of the game, but the controls really killed it for me. My right hand cramped up a good deal even after a short period of gameplay trying to shoot in multiple directions. If the PSP had dual analog sticks or if you could use your DualShock controller with this game, it would score over a 9. As it is, I was frustrated more than anything with the game and probably won’t spend much time at all with Super Stardust Portable. If you have a PS3, keep playing Super Stardust HD.
Overall: 6 out of 10
Unfortunately I haven’t really played my PSP at all lately. There have been a few good games that have come out but for some reason it has taken so long that I have lost interest in the system. Crisis Core was a great game though.