Not what you would expect from the cover.
By Ahchay
Grip Shift is one of the most cynical videogames I have ever encountered. I can easily imagine the product design meeting held somewhere in the depths of Sony’s secret underground lair – “It’s Monkey Ball… But with cars!”
And, from that simple premise, you pretty much know everything there is to know about the game (secret underground lair notwithstanding, the game actually hails from the none-more-indie outer reaches of New Zealand). Apart from one thing – y’see, despite the cynicism - or, perhaps, because of it - this game is a sheer delight from start to finish. There is something simply joyous about bounding off a magically suspended platform, springing off the head of a passing dinosaur (which is there for no other reason than ‘because’, which is the best reason there is) and launching yourself across space towards a distant target.
There’s more to this place than sheep you know.
Handling, once you get used to your car having almost no weight, is a dream. A generous boost, with the added bonus of being able to accelerate and break while in mid-air, gives an almost Asteroidsy feel to the proceedings. Your car is effectively indestructible and capable of getting traction from pretty much any surface in the game. Make the adjustment from boring reality and you’re soon careening around the levels with joyous abandon.
Level design encourages this behaviour too. You basically have three types of challenge on each level. First up we have a Star collection mode which acts as a fairly leisurely stroll through the level’s ‘normal’ route. Time trials, meanwhile, encourage you to find the shortest, and therefore quickest, way to the finish – bouncing off strategically placed dinosaurs, flying saucers and whales en-route. Finishing off the package there is an exploration bonus in the form of a GP logo perched on a (normally) out of the way ledge somewhere.
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Any game with Penguin Bowling has to be Rodent.
The levels themselves are nicely varied and inventive even if some are more successful than others. One or two of them rely rather too heavily on hitting jump-pads or teleports in the right order but a bit of practice and a steady hand will get you through (albeit with little chance of picking up a medal) and they’re certainly not a passion killer. What does dampen the enthusiasm somewhat is the Race Mode, which makes the fatal mistake of basing it’s entire gameplay on Mario Kart’s Rainbow Road. Fine for the hardcore but a few beginner courses which didn’t arbitrarily penalise you for straying off the track, or even point-to-point races in the style of the rest of the game would have been welcomed – still you can mostly ignore this and concentrate on the rest of the game. There are mini-games too, each of which provides just enough variety to justify their inclusion, but sadly offering little in the way of longevity once the gold medal is obtained.
Additional longevity is provided in the form of a level designer, allowing you to relive those heady days of Hard Drivin’ and Stunt Car Racer, and which go quite some way towards allowing you to rectify the shortcomings of Race mode. Tracks can be swapped via email (or there’s a forum specifically devoted to the purpose over at the official website http://www.gripshiftgame.com/) so you’re not restricted to your own creations either.
Loop-de-loop-de-loop-de-loop!!!
Too many PSP games make the mistake of taking a grown-up under-the-telly game style and translating it directly to the handheld screen. Grip Shift is one of the few that feels as though it was designed to be played on the go – it’s perfectly possible to pick up and make some worthwhile progress in a couple of spare minutes – while still remembering to add enough depth for a more protracted session if time allows.
So, cynical then, but in a good way. For fuck’s sake - it’s Monkey Ball… But with cars!
Febuary 2006
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