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 scrutinize the PSP platform outing, Daxter.
——————-
Developer: Ready at Dawn
Region(s) available: North America, Europe
Players: 1-4
The release of Daxter back in 2006 offered fans of the celebrated Jak franchise the hardcore title they had been craving for in the wake of questionable kart spin-off romp, Combat Racing. Unsurprisingly, gamers gravitated to the portable platformer like bees to honey, with the title going on to shift 2.6 million copies globally. As you might have twigged from the title, Daxter gives our Otter/Weasel hybrid a well-deserved spot in the limelight, with the game taking place before the events of Jak II. With Jak currently banged up and out of the picture, the game gives his long-time buddy a chance to dish out the justice as he arms himself with an electric flyswatter to defend Haven City from swarms of pesky bugs.
Daxter tasks our pint-sized sidekick-turned-hero with a number of objectives to tackle per level. Primary goals are the meat and potatoes of each level, and generally involves swatting baddies, eliminating insect hives or scooping up various objects. However, the game also doffs its cap to the core Jak series by sprinkling secondary objectives throughout each stage, which has Daxter hovering up Metal Bug gems and precursor orbs. These can be skipped if you want, as you only need to clear the primary objective to clear the level. However, secondary tasks typically offer a fairly meaty challenge, so platform perfectionists will no doubt want to gobble up everything on offer.
Aside from his trusty flyswatter, Daxter also wields an insecticide sprayer, which can be later pimped out and transformed into a flamethrower among other things. The device also functions as a means of navigation too, allowing Daxter to hover in a similar vein a certain portly plumber’s waterpack in Super Mario Sunshine. There’s a fair amount of rudimentary platforming up for grabs too, which sees our hero clambering up surfaces and double-jumping over numerous perils. Elsewhere, you’ll also be able to unlock mini-games by obtaining the aforementioned precursor orbs. These dream sequences, as they’re known, are a direct nod to Hollywood blockbusters such as The Matrix, Indiana Jones and Lord of the Rings among others, and allow you to unlock extra abilities such as increasing Daxter’s health bar.
Outside of the meaty single-player campaign, Daxter also offers up some multiplayer-based shenanigans in the form of bug combat. This mode essentially boils down to a game of rock-paper-scissors, where you can bolster your chances by collecting caged bugs in the main campaign. Furthermore, there’s also a bunch of goodies to unlock by connecting with Jak X: Combat Racing or perfecting your skills in Daxter itself, notably a collection of hard-to-find masks that our hero can wear. Indeed, while series poster boy Jak may have been elbowed out of the equation here, his absence doesn’t really make much difference when Daxter has proven he’s more than capable of stepping into a starring role.
Tune in again same time tomorrow for another look Inside PlayStation Network.