In the heyday of portable LEGO gaming, the PSP got full console ports of the "golden age" of LEGO gaming - LEGO Star Wars, Indy, and Batman. There was a brief dark age when the console would get upscaled ports of DS titles, but thanks to the 3DS, it seems like TT decided to start putting in more effort for their portable versions yet again.
The portable version of LEGO Pirates offers 40 bite-sized levels that each take about 10 minutes long, with cutscens from the PS3/X360/Wii for the first three films (the fourth one has custom cutscenes for the portable versions). All of the levels are similar to their console counterparts in terms of general layout, but the scale of each level is dialed back to fit onto these consoles. As per usual, the free play "new game plus" is when the game really opens up. Collectibles and all are pretty easy to find if you're a LEGO afioconado, but in terms of every aspect, this game is a downgrade from it's home console bretheren.
For a PSP title, the game does leave to be a bit more to be desired after the awesome earlier ports that we got. As the generation progressed, LEGO games got more visually intensive, but I still do feel like the 3DS and PSP could've pulled it off. Audio is absolutely awful: muffled, bland, and lacking some punch to it. The music mixing is terrible here. If it were not for the 3DS version, i'm sure the PSP version would have gotten the short end of the stick visually in terms of lightning and other visual effects.
Nevertheless, the LEGO formula has translated well here, and is practically the biggest thing that prevents this game from being shovelware shlock. Although the game is unremarkable in providing much room for actual discussion, I still had fun playing it. If you want to play LEGO PoTC, check out the home console version. You're not missing out on anything by skipping on this. For anyone else out there, TT Fusion has put out a perfectly servicable, short and downscaled LEGO game.
The portable version of LEGO Pirates offers 40 bite-sized levels that each take about 10 minutes long, with cutscens from the PS3/X360/Wii for the first three films (the fourth one has custom cutscenes for the portable versions). All of the levels are similar to their console counterparts in terms of general layout, but the scale of each level is dialed back to fit onto these consoles. As per usual, the free play "new game plus" is when the game really opens up. Collectibles and all are pretty easy to find if you're a LEGO afioconado, but in terms of every aspect, this game is a downgrade from it's home console bretheren.
For a PSP title, the game does leave to be a bit more to be desired after the awesome earlier ports that we got. As the generation progressed, LEGO games got more visually intensive, but I still do feel like the 3DS and PSP could've pulled it off. Audio is absolutely awful: muffled, bland, and lacking some punch to it. The music mixing is terrible here. If it were not for the 3DS version, i'm sure the PSP version would have gotten the short end of the stick visually in terms of lightning and other visual effects.
Nevertheless, the LEGO formula has translated well here, and is practically the biggest thing that prevents this game from being shovelware shlock. Although the game is unremarkable in providing much room for actual discussion, I still had fun playing it. If you want to play LEGO PoTC, check out the home console version. You're not missing out on anything by skipping on this. For anyone else out there, TT Fusion has put out a perfectly servicable, short and downscaled LEGO game.