Loco Roco is so precious, you'll find yourself squeezing both ends of the PSP as though they were adorable cheeks. The titular characters are cute, amorphous blobs that you roll through each level by tilting the landscape with the L and R shoulder buttons. By consuming flowers as you find them, your Loco Roco will increase in mass and will then have the ability to break up into many amorphous blobs. All the while, the cheerful creatures sing bizarre J-pop songs (with Spanish, African, French, or even country/western influences, depending on what colored blob you're using).
With few battles, the game is essentially a collect-a-thon with innumerable hidden treasures. The exploration aspect is occasionally hampered by Sonic the Hedgehog-style pacing, which can suddenly thrust you into a new area before you're done fully exploring the previous one. But the brief levels are so utterly charming, a few return trips are hardly worth complaining about. Not being able to get those infectiously catchy Loco Roco tunes out of your head—that's something to complain about.
ULTIMATE GHOSTS N' GOBLINS BY CAPCOM (2.5 stars)
Platform: PlayStation Portable.
Rated: E10+.
This update of the NES classic lets you once again battle the forces of evil—evil being that frustratingly rigid control scheme. If your supernatural thumbs can manage to double-jump to victory on the "Ultimate" difficulty setting, then you're one hell of a gamer ... or a masochist. Some may see the clunky controls and punishing levels as "old school" charm, but I see it as ignoring 20 years of progress in platforming.
PAC-MAN WORLD RALLY BY NAMCO BANDAI GAMES (3 stars)
Platforms: PlayStation 2, GameCube.
Rated: E.
At first, Pac-Man World Rally appears to be a low-rent Mario Kart, and in many ways it is. But some of the levels, including a traditional Pac-Man maze, really capture the spirit of what Pac-Man is all about: gluttony. Eat enough pellets each lap, and you can turn your rivals into equally edible blue ghosts. Beating your opponent to the finish line is satisfying, but devouring him—thus forcing him to start over—is glorious.
FREEDOM WINGS BY NATSUME (1.5 stars)
Platform: Nintendo DS.
Rated: E10+.
What freedom? The manual flight controls are so ridiculously over-sensitive, they leave you no choice but to go with the default control scheme, which is almost entirely automated. And with your plane essentially on auto-pilot, this flight simulator leaves you feeling more like the passenger than the pilot. At this rate, the sequel will also have you waiting three hours at the security check prior to boarding.