Absence makes the heart grow fonder. That’s not news. Of course it isn’t. But what effect does absence have on games? Now that’s a question, Daniel.
A long haul flight was an excuse to revisit some PSP games of a 2005 vintage. How have they aged?
Wipeout Pure has formed a crusty shell. There’s nothing wrong with it, but after so long without attention, it’s virtually impossible to get in to. I’d really forgotten quite how harsh and unforgiving it is; it’s almost unbelievable that I was once half decent at it.
Conversely, Ridge Racer has retained it’s smooth characteristics. It’s an arcade game, so that’s hardly a surprise. Can we have a new one sometime please? It’s reminded me that racing games don’t have to be all serious and complicated.
Then there’s Lumines, which I still find rather complex and intimidating. It didn’t gel with me at the time, for reasons unknown, but on my first attempt I beat my previous best score. Which is intriguing. Maybe I should give it one final concerted effort. It’s supposed to be good, after all.
Hotshots Golf (and Everybody’s Golf on the PS3) are the games that never age for me. I’ve had it on the PSP for about 4 years, and the PS3 for about 2, and it’s still fresh each time. I suppose it’s because it’s such a simple game to begin with.
I sold my PSP a few months ago. It just never got played. The loading times and battery life did my head in and very few games took my interest.
My PSP was pretty much untouched for about a year, but then I downloaded Final Fantasy VII and that basically rekindled my interest. I forgot how nice the screen was.
IYMRPK