Gunpey

I've been playing Gunpey (PSP version) again the last few days.

So... a game that's named after the late creator of the Nintendo Game Boy finds its way onto the PSP.... Gunpey has an interesting pedigree.

Gunpey is one of those forgotten gems for the PSP. If you liked the puzzle game stylings of Lumines, Gunpey is somewhat similar to that. It was developed by Q? Entertainment, the same company that did Lumines.

I got Gunpey a couple years back, it was like $8.00 or something "new" at EB Games. I really didn't know what to expect, but for $8.00 it's worth a shot, eh? I was very pleasantly surprised.

The basic gameplay is that you have a grid with "sticks" on it, that's constantly moving up, so the sticks are coming from the bottom. If they get past the top, the game's over. To make the sticks disappear, you need to connect them so they form a line touching both sides of the grid. You have a 2 square cursor that allows you to move sticks up/down 1 square at a time.

The problem with the cursor is you can only move a stick 1 square at a time, so you're constantly moving and repositioning the cursor... I call it "inch-worming" the sticks down, if you know what I mean. It requires a frantic alternate tapping motion between D-pad and X or O button. This somewhat clunky control style makes the game pretty hard when the grid starts moving quickly.

It also wears out the X or O buttons. Man... I'm pretty sure I loosened up my square button on my PSP-1001 when I first played this game. And after an intense round of Gunpey the other night, I noticed my O button on my current PSP-2001 feels a bit looser... yikes. Maybe I gotta learn to not pound on the buttons or something.

The game itself is fairly basic, and there aren't that many game modes to it. Even the other modes aren't really all that different.... so there's not much to the game itself other than what I described. But what it has, it does really stylishly. I actually like the music/skins in Gunpey more than the ones in Lumines/Lumines II. And when the game ends, it gives you this sort of report card, with check boxes and hand-scribbled notes if you've made a high score or other notable unlockable. It's just a really nice looking little game.

It's hard and can be frustrating, but I find it pretty addictive. When I play I know I'm going to sink at least 30 minutes into it...... it just melts the time away.

I've seen Gunpey for under $10.00 occasionally, it's a steal of a price. If you can find it for under $20.00, I'd say it's worth it. Totally overlooked PSP gem.


YouTube video of Gunpey gameplay:





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