Ultimately, whether you play Skyhill once or a hundred times, there is little chance of becoming a better player, and there’s zero chance of seeing something new along the way.

The best advice I can give is to not come into Persona Q looking for another handheld version of the previous two games. The changes made to the formula may seem minor but they have a huge impact on the experience.

Auto Age: Standoff is a tough one to recommend at $20. There's a great game wanting to claw its way out, but there’s hardly any content, and it doesn’t go far enough with its concept to leave any kind of lasting impact. I was ultimately left wanting more. There are upcoming content updates, but without a solid singleplayer mode or a strong playerbase, there's simply not much to enjoy here.

Gal Metal is an average rhythm game that definitely falls in the “lost potential” category. With the huge falter that is the main plotline, the most appealing part of the main campaign would be the character interactions. Gameplaywise, Gal Metal is a novel concept that is ultimately limited by the accuracy of the motion control hardware.

Perhaps I would have enjoyed 2064: Read Only Memories more if I hadn’t been spoiled by The Red Strings Club, another cyberpunk adventure I reviewed beforehand. It dealt pretty much with the same themes as 2064: Read Only Memories. But in comparison, it was tight, smart, emotional and really involving with its moral choices. There’s an attempt at social commentary here too, mostly regarding human rights (hybrids are the big debate in Neo-San Francisco), but most of the acute agenda is buried under tons of preaching, failing to connect emotionally. In the end, 2064: Read Only Memories plays its hand perhaps too safe. It should provoke when it preaches, and affect when it lectures. Read Only Memories… Indeed! Play With Memories would have been more involving.

EA does the easy job and ported over the console version to the PSP. Nothing too fancy, but still feels like a dumbed down Potter adventure.

The sublime Xbox tennis game looks set for a turn on the PS2, but becomes almost unplayable due to its obscenely long loading times and visual glitches.

Bond is back, and this time on the PSP. While it's great to play Connery on the handheld, it misses some of the memorable elements from its console counterpart.

Zeno Clash II has that unique quality about its world and combat that the first game possessed but it’s polish that is sorely lacking from the overall package.

A medieval version of River City could have had robust stat progression, a sophisticated fighting system, and at the very least, a more interesting story. Instead, we have a barebones palette swap that is still the same beat ‘em up on the inside. Though the core mechanics are fun, it gets repetitive due to a lack of combat depth and stat progression. Regardless, this fantasy palette swap of the old-school games is a valiant effort. Fans of the series will likely find Kunio – or I should say Alexander’s – adventures in Riverandia to be an enjoyable, albeit short, experience. Others unfamiliar with the series seeking a good beat ‘em up may want to consider the original River City Ransom or the 3DS’ River City: Tokyo Rumble instead.

Rainbow Moon is not a bad game, but it's not a particularly good one either. It has a few nice tweaks to circumvent some of the frustrations of JRPG's and tactics games, but it adds some new frustrations of its own.

SpiritSphere has a lot going for it: dedication to the 8bit style, a fantastic soundtrack, novel gameplay, interesting characters, and a myriad of spheres and arenas. There was clearly a lot of work put into SpiritSphere to marry together two disparate genres and it shows. Unfortunately, when stacked up against other competitive games of this nature, SpiritSphere looks like a novel idea that is fun to play for a few hours but lacks the real competitive nature of faster, more hard-hitting games due to its self-imposed 8bit restrictions. While the idea is great and executed in a fun way, it’s hard to recommend SpiritSphere to anyone not interested in an interesting 8bit competitive game due to its lack of depth and competitive multiplayer.

Mighty No. 9 has semblances of good ideas thrown into levels that are muddled with instant kill spikes and overly difficult platforming sequences, which when combined are just bad level design.

Sparkle 2 has some fun moments in the form of color matching addiction, but little else makes the title worth playing.

Of course, every console launch has a few hits and a few misses and ports that feel like cash-grabs. If Bright Memory was a free game, it would be easier to recommend. As even a low-price game, it is hard to sell as representing the power of the new console. If anything, it might be responsible for a little buyer remorse, so my suggestion would be to skip this port and wait for Bright Memory: Infinite in 2021.

Smashbox Arena proves that not all game genres can weather the transition from a console game to immersive virtual reality. This is something you could easily play without the headset, though it wouldn't do the game any significant favors. With or without VR, it doesn’t change the central concern that this game just isn’t fun to play. The shooting part is pretty okay and almost fun for the first few rounds. What kills the game is the lack of meaningful challenges by way of playing against other humans. There is a single player campaign but it's not enough to justify the time you'd put into it. I could never find people to play with and the resulting skirmishes with AI bots made the whole thing regretfully unenjoyable.

In the end, I’m quite mixed about Beach Buggy Racing. On one hand, there are enjoyable elements that I’d love other mascot racers to implement, such as the career mode’s mission structure and the characters’ unique abilities. On the other hand, the frustrating physics and screen tilting make gameplay less than ideal. In addition, the uninspired tracks, dull presentation, and lack of online play leave a lot to be desired. Nonetheless, Beach Buggy Racing is still a decent game that kids may enjoy. As a cheap alternative to the much more expensive Mario Kart, it offers more than its price suggests.

While not pushing the boundaries of the genre in any significant way, Xeodrifter is a well made game which is sometimes all we need.

It's just really disappointing if you ask me. You have a movie in which has a concept that you would think could be golden, but the execution just seems rushed.

Third time's usually a charm, but Pac-Man's adventures on the consoles doesn't capture the magic of its arcade-origins, ends up just an average platformer.

You get a sense that if they had focused more on one of the mechanics or the other, they’d have made a better game; it was just too difficult to balance. But the idea of an interactive sitcom is kind of novel, and the writing is fine enough that in the spots you can actually read it, you can get a good bit of entertainment out of it.

Midway ports their treasured arcade title to the PSP, but renders it almost unplayable due to the wrong display option and unbelievably long loading times.

EA has gotten much better over the years at making expansions that are worth the cost of entry but Pirates and Nobles doesn't fit the build.

My advice would be to rent Rage, it can be completed within a weekend and has a few great moments, just keep your expectations to a minimum.

As it currently stands, The Escapists 2 isn't a bad game. Those able to overlook its flaws will find something wholly unique and immersive, and even those who aren't should find things to enjoy within the first several hours of gameplay. At the same time, however, it's painfully clear that a few more quality of life improvements would have made the game so much better. For those looking to become the next Andy Dufresne, The Escapists 2 will certainly whet your appetite. Unlike the movie, however, don't expect it to be smooth sailing.

Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds is a reasonably priced title that is good for pick up and play sessions.

The game works on some level, so you may get more enjoyment out of it than I did. I don’t wholeheartedly recommend that you avoid this game, but you should exercise caution if you decide to take on its challenges.

Tower Wars feels as if it were designed specifically for hardcore strategists. With a tutorial that skips important concepts and the tendency for matches to become one sided, the result is an uncomfortable and frustrating experience for beginners.