You had to see this one coming. There is hardly a game I’d want to be made portable more than a Grand Theft Auto game. And thankfully, Rockstar thought the same. How could anyone resist having their own pocket sized hooker-murder simulator?

Portable GTA! Brilliant!

This game fits the PSP so well and surprisingly runs great. Take GTA3, humorously add motorcycles to the mix, kill off the only Dodo, and add multiplayer mini-games and you’ve got a recipe for ...]]> The smallest big city ever, all in your hands

You had to see this one coming. There is hardly a game I’d want to be made portable more than a Grand Theft Auto game. And thankfully, Rockstar thought the same. How could anyone resist having their own pocket sized hooker-murder simulator?

Portable GTA! Brilliant!

This game fits the PSP so well and surprisingly runs great. Take GTA3, humorously add motorcycles to the mix, kill off the only Dodo, and add multiplayer mini-games and you’ve got a recipe for a classic. Mmmm, just like momma used to make (well, except the drive-bys and hookers). Speaking of drive-bys, the Xbox should be ashamed of itself for its history of terrible controls in GTAs because the PSP pulls it off perfectly even with fewer buttons. And the PSP looks just as amazing as the Xbox; I don’t know how those crazy Japanese fit so much power into such a small package. Liberty City Stories’s story is new and quite lengthy, so it should provide hours and hours of missions and side tasks. Not much else to say here. If you’ve played any GTA game, you’ll find the same things here–good and bad.

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“The Mainframe” Now in Theaters, Rated R for Retarded

The radio that we all know and love is back to offend, so parents and responsible adults be warned. They haven’t pulled any punches in the past and aren’t about to start any time soon. From Manifest Destiny to the Evils of the Internet to stereotypical Indian cab drivers to transsexual German DJs, everyone is sure to find something that interests them. There is even an inside hot coffee joke. But where is all the good music? Did Rockstar run out of good songs from the 90s they were allowed to play? They certainly found enough crappy house/techno music, but all the radio stations seem to be playing leftovers. Most stations’ cycles are too short, and others are about 25 minutes too long. Then, you get excited when you learn you can do custom tracks (as it’s been lacking on Sony platforms), but then you learn the details of it. You need their special utility that only rips from legitimate store bought CDs to put them on your PSP. Fucking DRM. Stop acting like Microsoft Rockstar!

Go sit in the corner Rockstar

On the surface, it is another great GTA game, and it’s portable! But I can’t help but be disappointed since I’ve played San Andreas. So many features such as developing character skills, minigames, airplanes, helicopters, and the miraculous swimming ability have been removed (or more accurately, not considered to be put in). This was a bad step backwards Rockstar. Don’t give us Kool-aid just to take it away soon after. Whether it’s due to technical restrictions or laziness, it doesn’t feel like your best effort.

So really, what else could you ask for from the PSP? Actually, Ace Combat and Knights of the Old Republic, but GTA is good too. I get the feeling I’ll be waiting for KOTOR for a while. Liberty City Stories fills a void in the handheld market almost perfectly. And if I didn’t know so many schmucks that don’t own PSPs, I might’ve been able to test the multiplayer part for you. Perhaps I would even be able to forgive the step backwards then. As it is though, Liberty City Stories is one of the best games for the PSP as long as you fit the “Mature” category.

4 Rock-stars out of 5