... Burnout 2 on the PS2 was a massive thrill-ride, mostly for its inspired unrealistic nature. Given licence to drive stupidly fast whilst crashing your way through oncoming traffic and ploughing your motor into a pylon like a deranged nutter made for notoriously great fun. So it's no wonder ... Read review
Advantages: Where else are you allowed to drive like a nutter and not get arrested? Disadvantages: Erm... none spring to mind. Yep, that good.
BURNOUT LEGENDS (PSP)
I'm not usually one for games featuring cars. For some unaccountable reason the mainstay of racing games make me want to gouge out my eyeballs with a spoon. That's how much joy and enthusiasm the next generation racers dictate in my fragile little mind due to their utterly soulless, bland and uninspired sameness. With assurances of unbelievable amounts of realism and control, it's not until you realise your PS2/X-Box ... ...an exception to the rule. Burnout 2 on the PS2 was a massive thrill-ride, mostly for its inspired unrealistic nature. Given licence to drive stupidly fast whilst crashing your way through oncoming traffic and ploughing your motor into a pylon like a deranged nutter made for notoriously great fun. So it's no wonder when Burnout Legends ventured onto the PSP I went against my prior disposition on driving games, hoping that the fun and frantic nature ... more
BURNOUT LEGENDS (PSP)
I'm not usually one for games featuring cars. For some unaccountable reason the mainstay of racing games make me want to gouge out my eyeballs with a spoon. That's how much joy and enthusiasm the next generation racers dictate in my fragile little mind due to their utterly soulless, bland and uninspired sameness. With assurances of unbelievable amounts of realism and control, it's not until you realise your PS2/X-Box controller is not a steering wheel that you suddenly recognise the fallacy behind such bold statements. Games with Gran Turismo's languid style and realism are, quite simply, dull. And then I go and purchase a PSP where racing games happen to be the genre the handheld system is wealthiest in! D'oh!
However, there's always an exception to the rule. Burnout 2 on the PS2 was a massive thrill-ride, mostly for its inspired unrealistic nature. Given licence to drive stupidly fast whilst crashing your way through oncoming traffic and ploughing your motor into a pylon like a deranged nutter made for notoriously great fun. So it's no wonder when Burnout Legends ventured onto the PSP I went against my prior disposition on driving games, hoping that the fun and frantic nature of Burnout 2 could be encapsulated on the handheld format. Luckily, it doesn't disappoint. Burnout Legends is essentially a "best of" title, incorporating tracks, scenarios, vehicles and racing modes from the first three Burnout games, yet maintaining the same damn exciting and dangerously addictive gameplay that made those games so refreshingly brilliant. Additionally, Legends simply makes fantastic use of the PSP technology, providing an impressive audiovisual experience, with racing quick loading times, to complement the fast and frantic adrenaline rush from the racing action.
For those new to the franchise Burnout Legends offers two distinct game modes for you to apply your driving skills. Firstly - and the foundations of what made the original Burnout so unique against other racers - is the crash mode, where the whole point is simply to cause as much havoc as possible in a carefully crafted traffic scenario. It's pure simplicity. Drive into the scenario and pick up assorted bonuses before smashing your way into a crossroads of traffic inflicting as much carnage as possible, in order to progress to yet more difficult crash scenarios. The crash mode is an enjoyable aside, but it can get tiresome fairly swiftly. Whilst the scenarios provide a suitable challenge and the crash graphics look fantastic, the method of crashing varies little and, in the long-term, can get dull and repetitive fairly quickly.
Luckily though, the crash mode plays second fiddle to the more conventional racing where the player is likely to spend most of their time. Along with the normal race mode along the streets of a particular city scenario - whereby you compete against three other opponents whilst dodging through on-coming street traffic - there are burning laps (essentially a time-trial); one-on-one face-off's against opposing vehicles; Chase HQ styled police pursuits; eliminator's (where the car in last place at the end of a lap is eliminated); grand prix's; and road rages with the aim of taking out as many opposing cars as possible.
However, when I say 'more conventional racing' that's not necessarily true - most racers don't permit you to play chicken with a bus, or to overtake the competition by ramming them into roadside crash barriers. Indeed, the road rages are, without doubt, the most fun you're likely to encounter in any game on the PSP! And this is where Burnout differs to most of its contemporaries. Within Burnout you are practically encouraged to assimilate all sorts of dangerous driving that would freak out your Mother. Although here, driving like a complete maniac may be great fun, it's also a necessary component of being successful in the game as it allows you to acquire and accumulate the all important, and infamous, 'boost'. Drifting round corners, getting air, near misses when overtaking, nudging cars, driving against the flow of traffic and creating spectacular 'takedowns' (easily the most fun way to earn boost) of opponent's vehicles, allows your already speedy motor to go into spectacular overdrive. Hyper-drive even! Never has a game conveyed the feeling of speed quite so spectacularly when hurtling round corners and through the middle of two lorries as when you press the boost button in Burnout. It's a good thing it's only a game, otherwise it would be squeaky bum time…
Indeed, the graphics complementing the driving insanity are quite stunning. The essence of speed is captivated superbly when applying boost, overwhelmingly so, that scenery and other vehicles on the road just whiz past in a spine-jangling manner. At times, as you chuck your high-speed motor round another blind corner hoping the inevitable on-coming traffic doesn't appear, it's like a roller-coaster ride with you simply hanging onto the PSP for dear life. Woah! And then there are the crashes! Whilst you will not see quite the same level of detail compared to the PS2 version, the crash effects are still pretty fantabulous. Explosions and particle effects may have been toned down, but when the sparks fly, boy, do they fly. Sending your car, or better still an opponents, into a triple somersault airborne spin or turning it into a deformed wreck after a head on collision is incredibly satisfying - especially when you can slow the action down to see the event in all it's glorious detail! More impressive is that such level of detail is maintained throughout despite the increasingly fast pace - not that you'll get all that much time to admire the scenery - and along with an impressive frame-rate, which never appears to slow down or suffer from annoying glitches, Burnout Legends provides a graphical master-class in what can actually be achieved on the PSP.
And still the positives keep coming. The loading times, often the grand annoyance for PSP gamers, is absent, presumed missing, meaning you actually play the game more than waiting for the accursed thing to load. A joyous bonus! Furthermore, if there's anything a game needs featuring maniac styled driving it's a kick-arse bombastic soundtrack. Again, Legends doesn't disappoint and the 24 in-game tunes, including Nine Black Alp's awesome Shot Down, just adds to the whole speed-freak atmosphere. When you add the fact there are 175 different events to partake in through the World Tour option, with getting 'gold' in all the varied races making for a formidable challenge, Burnout Legends shows it has just as much endurance as it does speed and style in gameplay terms.
Quite frankly, Burnout Legends is the most fun I've had sitting on the tube or on the bog since purchasing a PSP. It does exactly what a driving game should do - enthral and excite as if riding a roller-coaster - it looks and sounds great, is devoid of any obvious weaknesses and on top of that it makes perfect use of the hand-held technology, so that you can utilise the medium in the exact way it was designed (i.e. toilet hugging). Masterful, masterful stuff that you're unlikely to find elsewhere. Especially the parts where you run other cars off the road in spectacular takedowns... yeeeee-haaaaah!!
Overall - Crash, bang, wallop! Burnout Legends easily ranks as one of the best games the PSP has yet to offer. Gorgeous to look at, incredibly addictive and hugely enjoyable fun, this comes highly recommended.
As one of the first games to come out on the PSP finding a copy of Burnout Legends is becoming increasingly difficult. Unlikely to be stored on the local high street store such as Game or HMV, your best bet is to search the net. Amazon currently has it available for £14.99, which is reasonable enough for such a top-bollocks game!
Advantages: Great portable Burnout racing with fun muliplayer, visuals are well done, decent soundtrack Disadvantages: No online multiplayer, slightly strainy visuals, crashes don't look that spectacular
...I mean who wouldn't want Burnout on the go?
Instead of just being a direct port of the recent Burnout games Criterion decides to make this more interesting by remixing both tracks and cars from Burnout 1, 2 and even 3 to make an entirely new game for the PSP. The end result in itself is an incredibly fun racing game that does a good job of bringing Burnout to a portable console and at the same doesn't take away any of the series' trademark gameplay.
... ...if you have recently played Burnout 3 on the PS2 or Xbox then you will see how shockingly similar the game both plays and feels on a portable. As I said earlier this game remixes a lot from previous Burnout installments such as having the boost bar (introduced in Burnout 2) and the segment boost bar system (introduced in Burnout 3). In turn these features that have been bought back and put together again really does give the game a fresh feeling ...
Franzkill 25.06.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Burnout Legends (PSP)
Advantages: Fast and furious racing, multiplayer options, good stress relief :-) Disadvantages: No new courses, long loading times
...PS2 I have loved the burnout series of racing games for thier Hi octane speed levels and manic arcade crashes. In many respects BURNOUT hould be considered a the perfect yang to the the yin of GRAN TURISIMO titles. On GT you can spend hours carefully driving realistic super cars, with perfect handling, aiming for that one perfect lap that alsonso or schumaker would be proud of. SO there is nothing more satisfying than moving staight to burnout, perform ... ...consider myself somewhat of a burnout conaseur (or geek if we are being a little more honest). As you may well imaginethen I made sure this was purchased on the day of realease, just a few weeks after I had got my hands on my shinny new PSP.
This portable version offers up all the thrills and spills its pervious big brother had. Most importantly the speed is still there, with a frame rate, so you stil get that rush of adrenalin and sudden impact ...
jonny2483 12.10.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Burnout Legends (PSP)
Burnout Legends The streets weren't made for walking, they were made for burning. Challenge all-comers to the ultimate takedown over the best tracks and the hottest crash junctions from the burnout series so far. Speed, devastation, mayhem, nothing else matters.
Burnout Points
Take the streets, take down your rivals and take your chances. Driving and crashing with total disrespect earns you valuable burnout points and the rewards that come with ... ...three stars and earn maximum burnout points. Takedowns
Takedowns are were the weal speed boosts and bonus points lie. Smash a rival off the road to extend and fill the boost bar. One section is added per takedown, to a maximum of four. Suffer a takedown or a crash and one of those hard won sections is smashed to nothing. Takedowns come in four takedown target difficulties from easy to champion. Meet these takedown targets to unlock new rides. Check ...
Ravin-Massive 19.12.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Burnout Legends (PSP)
Advantages: Addcitive very playable Disadvantages: longevity
I love burnout on the ps2 so thought as my first review would review it as I recently had the chance to rent this game and playes it extensivley.
Like in all other burnouts there is the career option however the multiplayer is limited really. however it still has all the characteristics of the playstation2 game
The graphics are just as good and the takedowns are excellent. For those of you who do not what burnout is this is aracing style game that ... ...gain boost you have to have near misses with cars, drive in the wrong lane. slam your opponents into walls nudge and bump your opponents aviod crashes, and take your opponents out by doing different types of takedowns.
Now the speed is quite fast and can be insane in later races.
AS you go through the career new races open and new cars are allocated only for gold medal wins. It is important to make sure you get all golds as you cannot complete ...
lightsabr 14.07.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Burnout Legends (PSP)
Advantages: Fast, great graphics, crashes are superb Disadvantages: Will stop you playing other games!
...feeling you get from playing Burnout Legends. Possibly the fastest, most frantic racing game known to man has finally made it on to Sony's sleek handheld, and boy does it make an impact. The best bits from all 3 previous console games have been crammed into a neat little UMD disc and then polished with a big cloth until they shine.
Playing Burnout Legends is an experience second to none on the PSP, you won't find a game that sucks you in quite as ... ...Pursuit games are included from Burnout 2 which resemble the classic Chase HQ. If you're not familiar with this, it involves you in a police car chasing down the bad guys and ramming them until they stop.
So, are there any negative points? Well, the difficulty can get your teeth grating on some courses, while on others you can just sail through to the finish. This doesn't really impact on the game as a whole though.
Pricewise, retail this game ...
pbyron 14.12.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Burnout Legends (PSP)
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-by will still absorb battery power so you should resume your game as soon as possible. When you resume you can then get to a "save point" and turn the console off completely.
As regards to the quality of games available these easily stand up well to their "big sister" console games. Take the PSPs BurnoutLegends (Crash racer type game) compared to BurnoutLegends on The Playstation 2. The PSP version is still a huge game based on loads of the levels from the previous console versions. Differences are very minor and, to be honest, things that only somebody who has played a full version would see.
It seems that it will not be to the detriment of gameplay enjoyment that not quite as much can be fitted on to a PSP disk as opposed to a DVD. It simply remains down to the skill of the programmers to bring out the best of the PSP's abilities ...
Burnout Legends sets the bar for on-the-go automotive anarchy combining the series' trademark speed destruction and depth with new PSP-only features gameplay refinements and connectivity. Gamers can look forward to eight gameplay modes including crash road rage and pursuit with white-knuckle multiplayer via WiFi and a GameShare option allowing players to wirelessly share a demo level of the game with friends.
