The digital delights of Sony’s scrumptious PlayStation Network service know no bounds. Aside from letting punters compete in online gaming, stream films, browse the Internet and more, its premier attraction rests in the copious supply of downloadable games ripe for the picking. From PSN exclusives to PSOne Classics, minis and plain old add-on content, Sony’s online space is chock full of goodies battling it out for your hard-earned digital dollars.
Welcome back to another installment of Inside PlayStation Network, where every Monday – Friday we’ll pluck a PSN release—be it new or old—and put it in the spotlight for a thorough dissection. Fancy getting a new PSN game but don’t know what one to plump for? Perhaps this feature will help. Didn’t realize that a game was available in your region until now? We’ve got you covered. Or, perhaps you were musing over what those lucky Japanese folk were tucking into over in the Land of the Rising Sun? You can be sure our coverage will extend to those rare regional exclusives as much as those firmly embedded on the public consciousness.
For our latest entry, we hop into the cockpit for the pint-sized blast-em-up, MiniSquadron.
——————-
Developer: GripGames
Region(s) available: North America, Europe
Players: 1
Arriving on Sony’s PS3/PSP rather appropriately under the minis range, MiniSquadron touches down on PlayStation Network in more or less the same same shape as its popular iPhone incarnation. Players hop into the cockpit of more than 50 different aircraft – among which, bizarrely, includes a flying panda – and are tasked with essentially blow everything to kingdom come. Most of the time you’ll be up against enemy planes, but there’s also a couple of ground targets thrown in for good measure.
Eight worlds are on offer, each one packing in a dozen waves of foes to blast out of the skies. Naturally, your pint-sized plane is more than capable of handling itself, with a myriad of weapons up for grabs such as bog-standard canons to massive lasers and handy homing missiles. The planes themselves come in all shapes and sizes, boasting varying speed, armor, turning rate, reload time and more. You’ll spend a good chunk of your time unlocking all the extra machines available, which is achieved by beating each level’s score-specific target.
No sooner can you say “chocks away Charlie!”, you’ll be thrust into the action with a mere three lives to play with as the side-scrolling antics unfold a relentless pace. Fortunately, you’ll be able to bag more lives as you progress, though MiniSquadron is by no means a cruise flight. Grip Games has also offered further challenge by incorporating a ruthless Survival Mode, which gives you no extra life bonuses to facilitate your journey through an already perilous flight path.
Other power-ups on offer include air strikes to eliminate ground targets, to exorbitantly-sized, yet awesomely powerful laser cannons. Better snap ‘em up sharpish, though, as your enemies won’t hesitate to hoover them up for their own needs if you aren’t quick enough. More interestingly, however, is the presence of some flash physics allowing you to perform various eye-popping aerial acrobatics, allowing you to out-class your opponents in terms of manoeuvrability.
Join us again tomorrow for another gander Inside PlayStation Network.