It is rare that I get the house to myself for a weekend, but when I do, I usually engage of long sessions of gaming. I spent this Saturday, logging a bunch of hours on Resistance 2 on-line co-op, so when i woke up Sunday I was ready for a change. I decided to check out the PSP mini Archibald’s Adventure. When it finished installing, I thought I would give it a quick try before breakfast. Next thing I know, it was dinner time.
When I first booted up Archibald’s Adventure, I was greeted by a comic story board. The story begins with Archibald (Archie to his friends) and his buddies, engaged in a teenage hormone induced game of oneupmanship. Archie’s bravado leads the gang to an old junkyard, where Archie plans the biggest skateboard jump EVAR!!! His attempt goes awry and he picks a awful time to fail a physics lesson. His misjudged jump send him crash landing through a pipe, into the basement of Professor Klumpfus’ mansion. While you try to figure out what is going on, the professor has problems of his own. He comes on a screen to let Archie know his current experiment was disastrous, and his genetically mutated creatures are roaming free. He also let good ole Arch know that his central computer got paranoid, and locked up the mansion. It turns out it is Archie’s job to transverse the mansion to help out the doc and free himself from impending doom.
Archibald’s Adventure, is a PSP Mini from Czech Republic developer, Rake in Grass. The title is also available on PC,Mac,iPhone, and the iPad. A A is a 2D, side scrolling, action, puzzle, platformer, and it is Damn good. There are 191 levels broken up in chunks, over comic inspired chapters. The first two chapters play out like a tutorial for the game mechanics. The levels are generally pretty short, and fit perfectly with the pick up and play attitude of the Mini. One amazing thing is, even though there are so many levels they all offer something new and fresh, so there isn’t any feelings of repetition. You start off by maneuvering Archie around on his trusty skateboard. With the help of the Professor’s gadgets and devices, Archie makes his way through the mansion on his way to save the day. He eventually loses the skateboard and picks up a hula hoop looking device, with gets upgraded to help with the crazier levels..
The graphics were clean and sharp. It reminded me of how we remember our Genesis games looking, and not how they would look, if we actually hooked up a Genesis to our LCD screen. The game also fit right in with the vibe of that era of gaming. The background music was decent, about what you would expect from a PSN title. I am sure the graphics would even be crisper on the PSP, but I am scared to put it on there because I am afraid I might get sucked in all over again. Overall it is a terrific game. Its retro feel and the short levels suck you in, because you think you can hammer just one more out. Then next thing you know, it is a hour or so later. The definition of this game can be described in 4 words. Pick Up And Play. Thats it. You pick it up and play, you can’t put it down. I give Archibald’s Adventure a 9/10. It is a game that will suck your attention, and is worth every penny of its $3.99 price. Not only is it a great Mini, it makes a pretty good addition to the PSN for the PS3.
Here is a link to their website and please support the indie developer.
WWW.Rakeingrass.com
