Downstream Panic (psp)

[merf]

saw this a few weeks ago in another thread and it was well received on IGN so seeing it was quite cheap on ebay ordered a copy.

its a nice bright cheerful looking psp puzzler, best way to pitch is is vertical lemmings with fish and a pooling water mechanic.

you get given various tools, like blocking plants, rockets to destroy the landscape or harpoons to shoot predators in order to help your fishy friends flow from top to saffe haven at the bottom. Sure there are more but not got to them yet

unlike lemmings you don't give direct orders to fish but rather control the landscape (at least what I've seen so far in the first dozen or so levels)

presentation is very nice, bright and cheerful with catchy music & fx, feels a little sparse in terms of game modes to start with but there are a few locked out on the main menu (that apparently unlock every 10 levels you complete).

so far quite positive feelings towards this for the cash paid.

[The Glider]

I played through the first 12 levels last night & found it to be a really enjoyable experience. Granted these were fairly simple, but it gave a good idea of how to use the tools & how the water & fish move around the level. It's nice that you can move around the level to plan your strategy & fast forward to finish it.

I also like the fact that there's no time limit & it's easy to restart each level to save all your fish. Reading the 1up review, it appears that the difficulty really increases around level 25 & this combined with having to be very accurate with placing your flowers etc should make for quite a tough challenge. There are also supposed to be downloadable levels from the official site, but these have yet to appear.

So overall, definitely worth the money & maybe a cult/hidden gem for the PSP.

[phl0w]

I'm around 35 or 40, don't quite remember. The game starts very well and is pretty balanced, when levels become bigger though, timing (open/close shells, activating vents etc., bomb holes at the exact right moment) can get a real pain, which I'm fine with. However, there are times when you have to place your items pixel-perfect which makes no sense at all in a strategic puzzler with the limited input the PSP's nub offers. For my taste I have to restart a level too often because of this, although I figured out how to beat a stage. Another example for a great idea put down by the lack of a mouse/ touch screen control. If you don't let yourself down by that, definitely a great game.