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 take a butcher’s at the 2008 platform romp, Elefunk.
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Developer: 8bit Games
Region(s) available: North America, Europe
Players: 1-2
Elefunk presents players with a bit of a pickle. A young Elephant wakes up after a quick kip, and finds his entire herd ele-napped by a dastardly circus ringleader, leaving him the group’s only hope. However, while determined to extricate his mates from the clutches of the ringleader, the heroic herd member finds himself bogged down by one pesky problem – he’s just too damn heavy to cross any of the bridges he needs to tread to accomplish his mission. As such, it’s up to you to lend the youngster and his Elephant chums a helping hand throughout their journey.
Essentially, this has you cobbling together a functional support structure for the bridge using a variety of tools on offer. The amount you have at your disposal differs from level to level, and you’ll have to make careful use of the anchor points on offer. Constructing the support generally has you fiddling with various bits and pieces, such as turning them in the right direction so they slot together – a task made easier by the ability to zoom in and out at your leisure. Once you’ve drummed up what you think might be a workable solution, it’s a case of hitting start and sending your herd on its way.
Needless to say, you’ll soon know if you’ve succeeded or failed miserable. However, if you do happen to muck things up, the herd will take a one-way trip into the abyss below and you’ll have to re-evaluate your efforts. Aside from worrying about the weight of your herd, you’ll also have to factor in the contributions of a group of nutty meerkats, who seem intent on putting a spanner in the works by leaping up and down on the bridge. Stages themselves are broken up into different sections, each one offering a different spin on the proceedings.
For example, the second area has your Elephants being air-dropped by birds, while the third switches up the sturdy metal support plates with more flexible, albeit weaker wooden ones. The fourth and final section offers an amalgamation of all the above, and even chucks in the presence of pesky mice who will attempt to scare off your Elephants if given the chance. There’s also a bizarre mini-game on offer, which sees players tilting the controller to facilitate the journey of motorcycle-racing Elephants across a perilous chasm. Meanwhile, aside from replaying levels to improve your score for inclusion on the obligatory online leadboards, Elefunk also throws up a couple of other distractions, including Time Attack and the Jenga-esque offline/online multiplayer component, Deconstruction.
Tune in again same time tomorrow as we once again go for another stroll Inside PlayStation Network.