Given that the PSP minis are meant to be bite-sized games with a smaller scope and focus, Sudoku seems like the perfect fit… well, other than all of those ports of iPhone games. The game itself is a classic Japanese number puzzle that is simple to understand conceptually, but challenging and wonderfully addictive.

Sudoku is actually something I had heard about long before I’d ever played, and my first direct exposure was through my kids: they were using it as a teaching tool in elementary school math. The basic concept is simple: you are presented with a game board with nine outer boxes each with nine boxes inside, and you need to arrange the numbers 1 – 9 in each of the inner boxes such that each row and each column contains only one of a given number. Sounds simple enough, right?

As a core Sudoku game, the PSP mini implementation does a great job. It is clear and robust and responds instantly to selections. The puzzles scale nicely with difficulty, and the options available add to a nice variety of gameplay. You can even change the music to whatever you have on your PSP, something bound to draw comparisons to iPhone games.

Depending upon the difficulty you choose, a set of ‘seed’ numbers are placed in key squares to get you started. As you progress, more and more possibilities will get closed off and the correct answers will narrow to a couple of choices. Also depending on your settings you can get hints and instant feedback on whether you have placed a number correctly. Placing incorrectly will diminish your score more than taking more time to solve the puzzle, which serves as an incentive to think instead of guess.

There are two modes: the standard game just sets you off solving a puzzle based on your selection of settings. Newspaper mode presents you with a blank grid, which you can fill in with your own seed numbers – you can grab these from your local newspaper or make up your own. This is a nice feature as it allows you to infinitely expand the puzzle selection, and gain more subtle help than the full-solution of a solved puzzle in the newspaper the next day.

The game offers plenty of options that impact how the game looks and plays, too, which adds nice variety as you stare at the same basic board for a long period of time. There are also loads of ways to get help and hints. For example, pressing ‘triangle’ on an empty square will solve that square – and cost you points off your score. Each button gives you some form of help, and costs you points off your score.

My final thought is regarding the value proposition: PSP minis are meant to be smaller games at lower prices, and in that regard this is a resounding success. It is a better game than many I’ve paid more than $20 for, and it only costs $5. However, the days where paying $20 or more for Zuma or Luxor on the PSP was acceptable are long gone. The iTunes App store has caused a tremendous change in the pricing models, and since Sony has placed PSP minis squarely in that same consumer space, it needs to deal with that pricing reality. And, in my opinion, Sudoku would cost $2 on the iTunes App Store, which made me feel the entire time that the game was fun but slightly over-priced.

Sudoku is a game that is simple enough to really work as a PSP mini. As a game it is small and works great, and I have no hesitation in recommending it to any fan of on-the-go puzzlers. However, at $4.99 it feels too expensive for what it offers, and since the PSN Store seldom sees the sales that happen on the App Store, it is likely a price we are stuck with. Also since the North American PSN Store has yet to add a new game since launch day (other regions have added many games and also started out with more), it is one of the very few options we have. It is a solid and fun game, and if you like Sudoku you could do far worse.

Pros:
+ Gets the core game right
+ Nice ‘newspaper’ option gives infinite expansion of library
+ Good choice of difficulties
+ Plenty of variety of help options

Cons:
– Help options make the game trivial, too easy to use
– Feels like a $1.99 iTunes App Store game

Game Info:
Platform: PSP via PSN download
Publisher: EA
Developer: EA Mobile
Release Date: 10/1/09
Genre: Puzzle
ESRB Rating: Everyone
Players: 1
Source: Review code provided by publisher

Everyone knows Tetris. Everyone loves Tetris. Alexey Pajitnov’s masterpiece of a puzzle game has addicted literally millions and millions of players over the past 25 years on virtually every single video game device known to man. And now it’s surely going to do the same on yet another platform: the PSP!

Released last week in conjunction with the launch of the PSPgo as one of the debut PSP minis titles, EA’s new PSP Tetris captures everything we all know and love about the classic puzzle game and dresses it up with a shiny new coat of “futuristic” paint and a wealth of side content you may not have expected from a diminutive downloadable game.

Tetris for PSP is classic Tetris through and through. Flipping Tetrominoes around with the face buttons and fitting them together into horizontal lines to clear them away and keep the screen from filling up controls as well and is as hypnotically addictive on the PSP as it’s ever been. I’m not a huge fan of the remixed Tetris theme song – it’s plenty catchy, sure, but they didn’t need to mess with what was already the catchiest video game tune of all time – but the other new sound effects, such as the chimes that ring when you clear a line, and the flashy new graphics modernize the game to compare favorably with other PSP puzzles like Lumines.

What’s more, EA packed in a bunch of different play modes, or “variants” as they are called, to beef the experience up and offer a change of pace from the usual “marathon” play. Altogether there are 12 different variants to unlock, each putting a twist on the basic falling-block formula. Playing in the Treadmill mode, for example, sees the play screen shift one space to the right every time you place a block. Then there are other variants like Flood, in which you have to clear lines while the screen periodically fills up with blocks from the bottom; Scanner, in which you need to prepare as many lines as possible before a scanner activates to clear them away; and Flashlight, in which the game screen is blacked out except for the cone of light that shines down from each falling block.

Each of these variants has 15 levels of difficulty to master as well, and the game itself features a built in reward system by which you earn various trophy-like “Feats” for performing certain bonus objectives, such as clearing 1,000 total lines, pulling off 100 total Tetrises, clearing 12 lines in one turn, and so on. Everything you do in the game is also stat-tracked, and on the main menu there’s a meter constantly keeping you aware of your current completion percentage. Thus you always feel like you are working towards a greater goal, not just piling a bunch of blocks together for the fun of it. For Tetris newbies, the game even provides a glossary of key terms in addition to a collection of “master replays” showing the play strategies of top Tetris players in each of the different variants.

At $9.99, Tetris may seem a tad pricey for a 25-year-old game that’s been milked over and over again – it is in fact the most expensive PSP minis game – but trust me, it is probably the most robust re-release of the game in recent years and, even if you already own it on other platforms, is totally worth buying again.

Be it the original version Alexey Pajitnov created so many years ago, the more recognized NES version, or this new PSP minis installment, Tetris still is and will always be the king of all puzzle games!

Pros:
+ Same great Tetris gameplay
+ 12 variants jazz things up
+ Sparkly new graphics
+ Surprisingly deep stat-tracking and reward system

Cons:
– I want the classic Tetris theme song, not a remix!

Game Info:
Platform: PSP via PSN download
Publisher: EA
Developer: Artificial Mind & Movement
Release Date: 10/1/09
Genre: Puzzle
ESRB Rating: Everyone
Players: 1
Source: Review code provided by publisher

Witnessing the success of smaller, cheaper games released on the iTunes App Store, Sony has announced plans for a new section of the PSP PlayStation Store dedicated to bite-sized downloadable games called PSP Minis.

PSP Minis, which will be capped at a 100MB size limit to promote quick downloading and easy playability, will launch side by side with the PSP Go on October 1st, with 15 games scheduled to be available at launch time and over 50 scheduled for release by the end of 2009 (in Europe and the PAL territories at least). Sony hasn’t provided a pricing structure yet, but I have to believe these Minis will fall in the sub-$10 range.

”We are very excited to offer so much new content for PSP this year, particularly in this bite-sized form,” said Zeno Colaco, Vice President, Publisher and Developer Relations, SCEE. ”In opening the door to developers everywhere, we are broadening the type of content available to PSP owners, and opening up a world of possibilities to enhance the PSP gaming experience.”

“”minis” is yet another part of our concerted effort to expand content options on PlayStation Store as the demand for digital content will increase with the launch of PSPgo,” said Eric Lempel, Director of PlayStation Network and Strategic Planning, SCEA. “minis will give developers the opportunity to create and share a variety of new and original content that in some cases, are only available on PSP.”

I don’t have a list of the confirmed launch games on me, but I do have these sampler screenshots of the PSP Minis titles currently in the works. Have a look.