Portable Dissect: Let's Golf and Tetris for PSP Minis

Recently I purchased a PSP Go to replace my aging PSP-1000. Now one of the first things I did was transferred my PSOne classics across, but during this process, my attention got snagged by the “miniS” on the Playstation Network Store – needless to say, I buckled and bought two. Let’s take a look at Let’s Golf and Tetris for the PSP.


Let’s Golf
Handheld golf titles are very easy to come by, but more often than not; they either try too hard to be realistic, or just don’t deliver much interest. Let’s Golf go overboard in trying to redefine the genre, but it does offer some smart little features that well suit “on the go” golfing. This game is also playable on the PS3 and available separately on the iPhone with different controls as expected.


Game modes for Let’s Golf are your standard fare: Tournament, Quick Play, Free Hole and multiplayer Hot Seat. Other features include a Tutorial and Profile options. Throughout the progress of the game, players will be able to unlock clothing and gear for one of four characters, two of which are playable from the beginning.

The actual golf portion of the game is as expected, but what it does do differently is it’s swing meter; a flag icon indicates how much power required to get right on the hole. Controls are very similar to Everybody’s Golf’s layout, making it easy for new players to jump in. The biggest falling point of the game, however, is camera angles it forces you to use and the inability to skip the ball fly-over.

Final thoughts:
Overall, you’re getting a game on par with an Everybody’s Golf game for roughly one quarter of the price. It’s also playable on PS3, I might add!



Tetris (EA)
Of all the versions and reboots of Tetris I've played, this has to be the best value for money. While it doesn't offer multiplayer or online gaming, it does, however, push the formula to new heights with a group of Tetris "Variants".


This iteration of Tetris offers an achievement system, such as getting a 40+ Tetrominoes Per Minute, or gaining 100 Tetris' over time. It really gives you a stack (no pun intended) of goals to work towards. Some of these goals actually work towards unlocking more Variants to play, extending the game's lifespan quite a bit.

All variants have a 40 line goal, which is the only thing they share in common. For example, the "split" variant halves the field and alternates which side you can access per block given. Other variants include "Treadmill", which moves all placed blocks right one space after every drop, and "Scanner" which introduces the Lumines match deletion to the Tetris experience.

Final thoughts:
The Tetris Mini is the perfect filler for a cheap puzzle game. The only downside is that it does not support the PS3; strictly a PSP only affair.