ATV Off-Road Fury Blazin' Trails - PSP Game Reviews


	Platform PSP Genre Racing Publisher SCEA Developer Climax ESRB E (Everyone) Released April 3, 2005

- Smooth animations - Great Graphics - Great music quality - Multiplayer - Mini-games

- Occasional frame rate problem - Weak sound effects - May be too hard for some people

Review: Ridge Racer (PSP) Review: ATV Off-Road Fury 3 (PS2) Review: F-Zero - GP Legend (GBA)
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ATV Offroad Fury Blazin' Trails

Score: 7.0 / 10

The ATV Offroad Fury games for the PS2 have won the hearts of many gamers and with it’s recent success in ATV Offroad Fury 3 for the PS2, SCEA just had to take advantage and publish a game for the PSP as a launch title.

This is SCEA and Climax’s first attempt at an ATV game for the PSP and they wanted to do things right. This means they made sure they didn’t keep things too simple and they’ve kept to the formula of the console counterparts. There are several modes to choose from, as well as many ATVs, courses, mini games and multiplayer.

I’m going to come right out and say it now. This game is hard! Part of it could is due to the controls, but man, the AI doesn’t like to give you any breaks. When I said part of the reason was because of the controls, it was the bloody truth. When I reviewed ATV Offroad Fury 3 for the PS2, I felt comfortable with pulling off stunts. They were easy to pull off and more importantly, easy to land (once I got the hang of it). ATV for the PSP is less forgiving. To land a stunt, players must be very precise. That means you have to land a stunt at a perfect angle and with perfect timing. Stunts have always been a big thing with the ATV series and Blazin’ Trails makes no exception. Some gamers may find the difficulty a welcomed challenge while others may not.

You’ve probably already guessed it by now, but I’ll go ahead and say it anyways. Controls aren’t the best, especially when it comes to using the analog stick. The analog on the PSP seems kind of cool at first, but after trying to play ATV using the analog with its limited range of motion, I was left feeling disappointed. Using the directional buttons is highly recommended and even then the directional buttons have their fair share of problems. Jumps are a bit hard to do and some of the more advanced stunts are really a challenge.

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If just racing the AI and pulling off stunts wasn’t hard enough, well yep, you guessed it, the game gets even harder. Obstacles, obstacles, obstacles. The one word says it all. This game is full of obstacles like barriers or flagpoles that are easy to collide with. Avoid contact at all costs and God help you if you smash into a rubber barrier at an awkward angle. The AI is always right behind you and with my terrible luck, I found myself smashing into an obstacle at the end of the last lap in many races. This game is truly for the fans with lots of experience.

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Visually, the game looks great. It looks very close to its console counterparts. It almost looks just as good as any ATV game on the PS2, but there are a few frame rate problems every now and then. They are minor frame rate problems, however it is worth the sacrifice for the great graphics.

Audio is full of mixed feelings. The music is great. Never before has the music in an ATV game sounded so good with the PSP’s superior sound quality and the PSP headphones on. It’s a great experience to see how licensed music and games can mix. Players can also provide their own music using the memory stick’s USB port if they prefer. (I’ve read a few message boards and people have been having problems with importing their own music.) What is unfortunate about the audio is the sound effects from the engine. Is it ever annoying! The crowd doesn’t sound all that great either when they cheer. Overall, I was still very impressed with the audio.

Fans of the ATV series will definitely want to pick up ATV Off-Road Fury Blazin’ Trails, but if you’re new to the series, I would highly recommend checking out the PS2 versions first due to its high level of difficulty.

- J’Tonello

(May 10, 2005)