PSP: Burnout Legends ;)

Burnout Legends” is essentially divided down the middle into two games: on the one hand you’ve got Crash mode, and on the other you have different types of race. In Crash mode, you have a set piece to consider: a road, an intersection crowded with traffic, and -- usually -- a ramp for you to launch yourself into the air. The number of other cars you tangle in the ensuing wreck, and the amount of damage the game calculates, determines whether you win a gold, silver, or bronze medal. Winning medals unlocks new crash scenarios, and damage accumulated unlocks new cars. If Crash mode is your thing, I could see this aspect of “Burnout Legends” keeping you busy for weeks as you chase down every last gold medal.

The race modes come in various flavors. Racing in “Burnout,” though, isn’t just a matter of getting to the finish line first. No, you also have to avoid maniacal computer-controlled cars that are doing their best to bash you into a pile of smoking rubble. There are race and time trial modes, and also my personal favorite -- Road Rage -- in which you race until your car is totaled and win or lose depending on the number of opposing cars you wreck along the way. Finally, Pursuit mode rounds the game out: in this one you play as a cop trying to chase down a fugitive; don’t worry about the guy’s Miranda rights, in this case all you have to do is wreck his car within a certain amount of time. “Burnout Legends” is a port of portions from the three console “Burnout” games, and all in all you’ll find 175 different challenges to test yourself against.

If you’ve played “Burnout” on a console and enjoyed it, you’ll like this one, too -- “Burnout Legends” brings the same action and high fun quotient to the PSP. If you’re looking for a good arcade racer, this is also just the thing: “Burnout Legends” might be the best racing game currently available for the PSP (and that’s saying something).

Graphics: 9. Excellent depiction of speed and steady framerate.
Sound: 8. Loud -- just as it should be.
Gameplay: 9. Fast, fun, and completely irresponsible.
Story: NA
Replayability: 9. So many modes, so many cars, so many ways to send opponents flipping wildly through the air.
Overall: 9.5. A first-rate port makes for possibly the best racer on the PSP.