SOLOIST'S MINI-REVIEW OF MIDNIGHT CLUB 3 (PSP)

[soloist]

Featuring many of the options available on the console versions of the game and with very few sacrafices, Midnight Club 3 for the PSP excels as a portable racing title with all of the cities represented and every musical track from its console cousins as well! While running only 30 fps, the races prove to be frantic, and player will have to get used to the environment. Surprisingly, reflections exist both on the players automoblie and even the pavement... and relections of the buildings, lamposts other and lighting sources!! <
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>Controls are adequate considering the lack of buttons on the PSP compared to previous renditions and only seem to be a bit of a challenge when attempting "advance" maneuvers... but nothing which cannot be learned via playing for a few minutes. Selecting musical tracks seem to be somewhat of an issue since cycling through them goes in only one direction, so if a gamer passes the song they wished to listen to, he/she must go through a listing of over 90 tracks to get back to their preferable song. I will check the manual to see if there is perhaps another way to select the music. I should make it a habit to read the manual first like I always used to (laughs)...<
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>With traffic vehicles present (and at moderate a appearance rate) and destructable objects which can hamper ones progression in a race and are not just intangible, 3 huge environments to explore, a healthy selection of music, and numerous gameplay modes; this game is worthy of a viewing if one issue can be endured. Use the link below to learn more!!!<
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>click here...<
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>(bear in mind I did not factor in the multiplayer/online aspect of MC3 since I have yet to use it...) <i>Edited by: soloist  at: 6/29/05 9:53 am<
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[CLOUDBOND007]

Sounds like a pretty good game... maybe I should rent it and see if I like it. <
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>It seems that the other people I've seen talking about it are more annoyed with the framerate than the load times, though. <
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>CB007's Game Review Archive<
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>"I cannot die...until I have fulfilled my duty..." - Kratos Aurion<i></i>

[NOAImawario]

I am glad you seem to be enjoying your game. <
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[gaimeguy]

Played it on my friend's PSP.<
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>Horrible. Absolutely horrible. The game would be a decent port (even though I'm not that big on Midnight Club in the first place, I'm speaking from a purely objective stance) if not for two issues:<
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>#1: The bad framerates.<
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>#2: The ABSOLUTELY ATROCIOUS LOAD TIMES. 45-50 seconds per level. Jeez.<
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>*goes back to Meteos* "As long as there are dreamers who have the courage to follow their dreams, there will be heroes. And as long as there are people who pursue the unkown, there will be new stories to be told...and new adventures to be had." ~ Skies of Arcadia Legends <
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[soloist]

While the frame-rate may not be as smooth as Need For<
>Speed Rivals (PSP), it is consistent with slowdow re-<
>served for intense moments, but taking in cons-<
>ideration all which was included in this game,<
>I would say it is remarkable... especially s-<
>ince Driver on the PSone had more slo-<
>wdown than this game and feature-<
>d nowhere near as many bonuse-<
>s. But getting back to PSP co-<
>mparisons, NFS:R does no-<
>t have a large city in wh-<
>ich the player can trav-<
>el, nor does it sport<
>reflective lighting<
>and have as ma-<
>ny traffic vehi-<
>cles or have<
>as many d-<
>estructa-<
>ble ite-<
>ms!!<
>My poi-<
>nt exists a-<
>s this: for a P-<
>SP racing game, i-<
>t is technically impre-<
>ssive, and enjoyable for<
>what it is and how much it<
>resembles the console versio-<
>ns. Personally, I am really havin-<
>g fun with this game. Oh, and it al-<
>so features the FMV from its console c-<
>ousins, though it takes ALOT of time to lo-<
>ad them up and then to get back into the gam-<
>e. How might Meteos be if you mind not my asking? <i></i>

[gaimeguy]

You're comparing a game on nearly ps2 level tech with a game from the PSOne/64/Saturn era, an era which is infamous for its horrible framerates, which, IMO, are the biggest reason why many of the games have aged so poorly, graphically.<
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>Even so, framerates which dip below 20 FPS are inexcusable, no matter the hardware. <
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>And meteos is amazing. Absolutely addicting puzzle game, and better than lumines, in my opinion ( I know you have lumines) "As long as there are dreamers who have the courage to follow their dreams, there will be heroes. And as long as there are people who pursue the unkown, there will be new stories to be told...and new adventures to be had." ~ Skies of Arcadia Legends <
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[soloist]

Indeed I am, but remember that you are biased<
>against such titles (as you mentioned), so y-<
>our response to this game would not fare<
>well to someone who either is into rac-<
>ing games or into PSP titles. The fr-<
>amerates tend to drop during int-<
>ense races when ALOT is goin-<
>g on, but in the cruise mod-<
>e, no such problems exis-<
>t. Also, considering all<
>of the visual bonuse-<
>s which seems to<
>test the limita-<
>tion of the s-<
>ystem suc-<
>h as th-<
>ese:<
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>-reflections<
>-more than 5 vehicles on-screen simultaneously (including buses, vans, and on occasion, police cars in pursuit)<
>-visual effects such as rain, sparks, destructable lamposts, explosion (for impacting gas-pumps at gas stations)<
>-numerous game-play modes<
>-impressive vehicle modes and upgrades<
>-92 songs (in full)<
>-a 3 huge environments in which the various races take place<
>-FMV from the console versions and extra ones included<
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>it <
>can b-<
>e said th-<
>at MC3 E is<
>one of the only P-<
>SP games to tax the<
>systems hardware and i-<
>s still enjoyable and fun (un-<
>less one is turned off by the loa-<
>d times and the frame-rate). If the-<
>re is another PSP title which does prov-<
>ide the player with this many bonuses and<
>has a better frame-rate, I shall stand correct-<
>ed. While I am not giving an excuse to the fram-<
>e-rate being as low as it is during intense races (no-<
>t the cruise mode), understand that given the inclusion-<
>s, I would expect the game to be an utter mess. Maybe this<
>game is a mess, but I was and still am able to enjoy it<
>inspite of the lengthy load times and the slowdown<
>during intense races. Also, I am not attemptin-<
>g to force you to change your opinion on th-<
>is game at all - for my objective is to in-<
>form you as to why I believe this gam-<
>e to be as fun and enjoyable as I d-<
>o... that is all. I wish I did own L-<
>mines... but currently, I do no-<
>t. Interested in both Lumine-<
>s and Meteos I am, but si-<
>nce I have little time to<
>play the few titles I a-<
>lready own on both<
>systems, I was u-<
>nable to. How<
>is Meteos i-<
>f I may a-<
>sk such<
>a que-<
>stio-<
>n?<
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> <i></i>