Metal Blob Solid v1.04 Review (Port by Deniska)

Metal Blob Solid (Blob Wars: Episode 1) is a new port from Deniska. This game puts you in charge of Bob. Think of Bob as the Rambo of smilies. Metal blob is a platformer where you kill a lot, and I mean A LOT of other blobs. These enemy blobs are aliens out for world domination. Will you help save blob-kind?

MBS has many types of weapons to choose from: grenades, laser cannons, machine guns, etc. These weapons are dropped by the enemies you kill, along with cherries (health power-ups) and small red and yellow orbs which give you points. There are many kinds of terrains as well: land, water,ice, lava, green toxic waste, etc. which you will have to navigate to save the MIAs and collect keys and cards which unlock different areas. Be careful while around lava and the green toxic waste because one slip and it is instant death. The water is also dangerous because you have a limited supply of air which is displayed at the top of the screen between your health and current weapon.

MBS is an excellent and very deep game. There are over 25 missions. The levels are quite large and have many areas and objectives. The high number of MIAs and optional objectives means that you may want to replay each level to save/achieve each and every one. The graphics are quite good, as is the music, and sound effects. The particle effects for blood splatter and explosions are excellent. This game may look cute until you see the first spray of blood. The controls work well and the physics feel right. The only time the physics defy belief is when you are crawling across the ceiling or climbing walls; yes, Bob can do these things.

As always Deniska has done an expert job of porting this game over to the PSP. There is one problem that must be mentioned though: Deniska warns of an "Out of Memory" error in his release post. He tells me that this flaw is due to a memory leak in the PSP-SDL implementation and will take some time to sort out. I have gotten the OoM error many times. I had to replay the third level four times to get past it due to this error. Deniska is a pro and I have faith that he will resolve this issue. I have found no other problems with this port and continue to play it. I only play one level at a time and then let it auto-save and exit the game. I then restart the game to clear the memory for the next level.

If you enjoy platformers then this is the game for you. Just be aware that it is not completely bug free and you may have to play a level more than once due to errors. Can't wait for the next version.

Here is an online manual for the game and here is the wiki.

Here are a bunch of screen shots:

World Map:


Level Map:


Mission Cleared:


Blood and guts:


MIAs:


MIA escape:


More blood and guts:


Under water:


Lava and explosions:


Green toxic waste:

OpenTyrian: The Review (UPDATE #4)

If you are looking for some background/history/info on Tyrian here are some links:
Tyrian Wiki, Tyrian Fansite, Tyrian Repository.

I played Tyrian a couple of times many years ago. OpenTyrian brings back memories of fast game play, beautiful graphics, and a never ending onslaught of enemies. This review is about the porting of the game not the game itself so I won't be reviewing the game play but the adaptation of the game to play on the PSP. I will say that the game play is addictive and fun. A great game.

OpenTyrian was ported to the PSP by Deniska, best known for Mapthis! GPS app for PSP. I never have high hopes when someone takes a program, app, game, etc. and adapts it to work on hardware it wasn't originally developed for. The outcome is usually disappointing because it was never meant to be used that way. When I think of PSP homebrew ports that work well, Cave Story is the only one that comes to mind. The Cave Story port is perfect, at no time do you realize that this wasn't originally made to work on the PSP.

OpenTyrian isn't there yet, but it's close. I am pleasantly surprised by how well the game plays on the PSP. While in the middle of destroying hundreds of enemies there are very few hints that this wasn't originally meant to play on the PSP. OpenTyrian has two game modes: Arcade and Full versions.

During the arcade campaign the PSP seems to slow down a little when the action gets hot and heavy. This slow down is very slight and does not hinder the game play but it is noticeable.

Now let's get to where I think the OpenTyrian port has a major flaw. While playing the full version you will notice that there are no power-ups like in the arcade version. Upgrades to you ship are made be purchasing better guns and shields with money/points. So if there are no power-ups what do you collect as you play the game? Data. This data is basically how the story of Tyrian is told through the game. The arcade version has cut-scenes between missions to fill you in on what is happening but the full version's story is found in the menu. The full version's data problem is that you can't get the whole story. The text runs off the page and there seems to be no assigned button to scroll the text. This makes it very difficult to follow the story when you only get half the information.

Another flaw, which is more of an annoyance, is that navigating through the menus is quite difficult. Moving through the menu is done with the directional pad (up and down). The problem is that you will constantly go past the item you want. The pad should be pressed each individual time you want to move to a new choice. Currently pressing the pad will highlight the next item, then the next, and so on, with a constant scroll. Believe me, you will go past the item you want several times before landing on the correct one.

If you are only into the game play, and not interested in the story at all, then OpenTyrian is an excellent port for the PSP. The controls respond as you would expect and the only in game problem I found was the slight slow down when there is a ton of enemies and bullets on the screen. Well done Deniska, thanks for all the hard work. I hope that since this is version 0.5 we can expect a solution to these couple of problems I mentioned.

(My first impressions post on this game has download links and some other useful information.)

UPDATE (12/07/07):
Deniska has put out a new version. OpenTyrian v0.6 is a bug fix. All of the bugs I have mentioned have been addressed. Whether they have been fixed is another story. I'll let you know.

UPDATE2 (12/09/07):
Well as far as I can see Deniska has addressed and fixed all the issues I mentioned above. Here is a link to the full KXploited eboot for Deniska's OpenTyrian v06 port. I have nothing but praise for Deniska and the port of Tyrian to the PSP. This is a memory stick "must have". One thing I forgot to mention above and is an issue/problem for me is that currently OpenTyrian isn't able to save games. Since you have to start at the beginning everytime, it can get a little mundane. Since Deniska fixed the bugs listed above in such a timely manner I expect that the "save game" issue will be cured soon too. I will be adding this to my Best Homebrew list soon.

UPDATE3 (2/01/08):
As you will see from the comments, Deniska has released version 1.0 with improvements/fixes. I will find time to play it soon and edit this update with what's new.

UPDATE4 (2/10/08):
I found the time. Deniska has definitely did OpenTyrian right with the latest versions. Version 1.0 has none of the flaws I listed above and I can say it is very close to perfect.







The last major issue I had with OpenTyrian was the fact that you could not save your progress in the "full game". Deniska has granted my wish, back in version 0.7, and now I will be able to slowly but surely reach the end of the game. As you can see from the screen shots above game saves are possible. Unless you read the readme file included with the download you may miss the reference to the OSK (on screen keyboard). I would like to thank Deniska for this addition. I will admit that the OSK is a little buggy. I'll save all of you the trouble of figuring it out:

• In the menu, go to Options.
• Select Save.
• Select an "Empty Slot" and a pop-up screen appears.
• Press the right trigger/shoulder button and there is the OSK.
• Press up and down to select a letter. The readme file says to press the right shoulder button again, this is supposed to transfer your letter back to the pop-up screen. Sometimes it will transfer the letter, I have gone back and forth several times without the transfer taking place. I found that if you select your letter, then press square, then press the right shoulder button, the transfer rarely fails. I'm sure this isn't supposed to work but it does. Deniska will probably fix this soon, not many bugs last long around him.
• Continue to select letters with the OSK and eventually you'll have the name for your game save. See screenshot above. Mine is jackal, go figure.
• To load a game, select Options in the menu, hit Load and choose which game save you want to play.
  

The only thing left for Deniska to do is provide all of us with the holy grail of homebrew: Infrastructure play via the network option. I won't hold my breath expecting Deniska to provide us with servers to play on but it would be nice.

Deniska, thanks for all the hard work.

Jump 'n Bump

MK2k has released a port of a very cute bunny game: Jump 'n Bump. You play as a bunny and you need to kill the other bunnies by jumping on their heads. When I downloaded and installed this game I assumed that it was a single player game but the readme file mentions 2 player games so I was pleasantly surprised. The problem is that there is no single player mode and the 2 player game is played on only one PSP. One player uses the directional pad while the other player uses circle, cross, square, and triangle. This seems a little odd to me, two people crammed together playing on one PSP.

This game could be fun in single player with A.I. for the other bunnies or if adhoc wifi two player mode was available. The controls are good and play as expected. There is no in game music but the sound effects are appropriate and a little "cute". Graphics are good and clean. I hope that MK2k will release future versions (maybe with single player mode?) where you don't have to sit shoulder to shoulder with your opponent.

Hex-A-Hop Review

Deniska has recently released another port for the PSP: Hex-A-Hop. In this puzzle game you play as a girl who must jump from stone to stone without getting trapped, stranded, or wet. When you jump onto a stone it cracks and after jumping off the stone, it falls into the water. The graphics and music are good and gameplay is addictive and fun. One problem I hope Deniska can fix in the next version is the controls. The directional pad is useless if you need to go diagonal. This leaves you the analog stick which is only slightly better. I spent a lot of time trying to get the girl to go where I wanted. She either goes the wrong way or goes nowhere. It feels as though the stick has to be in exactly the right spot to move correctly. If Deniska can fix this problem then this will satisfy any puzzle hungry gamer. Nice port Deniska. There is even a gameplay video:

OpenTyrian v 1.0 for CFW 3.XX (slims rejoice)

PSP slim owners should be very happy with Deniska's latest release of OpenTyrian because it allows them to play this excellent port. Previously, the game was only available for the 1.50 kernel. If you have a homebrew capable PSP (phat or slim) this game should be on your memory stick.

More PSP Homebrew Games Worth Trying

I was so impressed with OpenTyrian that I went looking for other ports, by deniska and others. I found a few and some homebrew games that were originally created for PSP. This is only a few that I thought had promise. They may not be very new but are worth taking a look at.

Project Starfighter:
Ported by Deniska.



Space Shooter with RPG elements. Complete different missions to earn money to upgrade your ship.
Pros: Gameplay and game elements seem adaquate.
Cons: Controls feel sluggish in game and buggy in menus.


Kill Everthing That Moves (KETM):
Ported by Deniska.



Very similar to Tyrian. There are a few different skins that you can use to change the look of this game.
Pros: Lots of power ups and different weapons. Skinable is a nice feature.
Cons: Steep learning curve. Lots of enemies right from the start.

rRootage:
Ported by M.R. Brown.



Destroy the "ship" at the top of the screen while avoiding the different styles of missiles.
Pros: Graphics and animations are nice. Gameplay and controls feel solid.
Cons: The instructions in the readme file are hard to follow so you don't know what you are doing or why you are doing it.

Callisto:
by Fraglab



Side scrolling shooter.
Pros: Graphics are decent. Gameplay is fun but challenging.
Cons: The game is so challenging that it becomes frustrating from the beginning. Steep learning curve.

Attack of the Mutants:
by DeNitro



A basic shooter with many enemies, power ups, and mods.
Pros: Numerous mods have been made to this game. Many of the mods are funny and fun.
Cons: Same gameplay regardless of mods. The game is very basic. It is fun but looses its novelty quickly.

Overall:
I will only be keeping Project: Starfighter on my memory stick. I enjoy RPGs and I didn't get very far in Starfighter and I want to see what else it has to offer in the later missions. The other games are solid but not good enough to take up valuable real estate on my memory stick.

OpenTyrian: first impression (UPDATE)

I've been playing Deniska's Tyrian port for a couple of hours and it is awesome. I will continue to play and then give a detailed review but for now it seems like this should be on every homebrew memory stick. One problem: this game is for kernel 1.5, no problem most homebrew is; Deniska didn't KXploit the eboot so I had to download, install, and KXploit it myself. I've been in the homebrew scene for a while and I know how to KXploit but it just another hoop that the user has to jump through. Come on Deniska, what is this 2005? You could have KXploited this for us, all other developers do. Besides that, well done.

Here is the already KXploited complete original game file for those of you who don't want to bother doing it yourself.

Deniska reports that there is a "black screen bug" that occurs occasional with some PSP's. Four alternative eboots are provided to avoid this problem. Here are the 4 alternative eboots already KXploited. Just replace the eboots in OPENTYRIAN and OPENTYRIAN% with one of these. Leave all other files in OPENTYRIAN untouched. Continue replacing eboots until you find one that does not give you the bug. I didn't provide the complete game files for the "alternatives" due to bandwidth concerns and number of downloads.

I am currently using alternative eboot 2 and haven't encountered the bug yet.

For those of you who want to KXploit the eboots themselves, here is the tool download and tutorial.

Check back for the full review.

UPDATE (12/06/07):
In Deniska's readme file, it states that you may encounter a black screen bug. Well I have experienced it several times which means that some of you who downloaded the KXploited file I offered probably have the same problem. I will KXploit Deniska's alternative eboots and upload those also (tonight hopefully). I plan to post my review tomorrow. It is looking good though.

UPDATE2 (12/06/07, later that night):
Alternative KXploited eboots are uploaded. See link and explanation above. Even later, Deniska released a new version v0.6. This version is a bug fix. See my full review here for complete info and new KXploit download link.

Tyrian port release today? (UPDATE)

When I heard about Deniska's port of Tyrian (OpenTyrian) to the PSP I was excited. I am not a patient guy and I really need to play this. Is it still coming out today? This post at QJ claims it will. Although I can't wait I would rather Deniska take the time to do it right. I'll give an in depth review of this port when it arrives. Here is a video of Deniska's work so far.




UPDATE:
As I said earlier, I am impatient. Only a few hours after I wondered if OpenTyrian was coming out, Deniska released it. See my first impressions here.