Game Review: Cubixx (PSP Mini)

I’ve already taken a look at the PlayStation Mobile version of Cubixx elsewhere so I won’t go into any detail here about this Qix-inspired game. Sufficice to say that this is the original release of Laughing Jackal’s game that formed part of the PSP Minis range so I felt it was only fair that I took a look at this earlier version of the game as well for those of you who may prefer this edition instead, especially considering the cross-format compatibility that it offers with the PSP and PS3…

The game itself is pretty much identical to the PlayStation Mobile counterpart and plays in exactly the same way. The only real difference between on first impressions is the appearance. Visually, the PS Mobile version is significantly enhanced with crisper, cleaner visuals, even when viewed on a small handheld screen and when played on a large television running on a PS3 the difference in quality is even more apparent. The starfield background image on the Minis version does suffer from slight distortion and there are visible edges where the image seems to have been joined in places and the sound doesn’t seem to fit the game as well.

The real change, apart from the audio-visuals, is the controls. For the Minis release, the d-pad or joystick is used for movement but rather than using a single action button to control your laser, all of the action buttons are used here as alternative controls for movement making the controls seem rather unintuitive. Instead, here Cubixx uses L or R to activate the laser which, to be frank, makes no sense whatsoever and I just felt that during play it didn’t quite feel as responsive.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a great game and is just as playable and addictive as before and that’s something that can’t be changed no matter what is done to the visuals or control method. However, as a Vita owner looking to buy this game, I’d choose the PS Mobile release unless you want a version of the game you can use on more than one system.

Simon Plumbe

At A Glance