Games for Lunch: Hot PXL

In a nutshell: Yo yo yo what up mah homiez, this be a tight-ass mini-game collection in the HIZZZ-OOOOOOOOUSE! Word.
8/17/2009 5:51 PM | 0 Comments | Page 1 of 3

Developer: zSlide
Publisher: Atari
Release Date: Oct. 2, 2007
System: PSP
ESRB Rating: T
Official Web site

0:00 I'm an unapologetic fan of WarioWare-style mini-game collections, so this Atari offering of 200 of the things had me intrigued. Not intrigued enough to check it out in the last two years it's been out, but still intrigued enough to put it in my GameFly queue.

0:01 A smiling pixel man in a red shirt and a red-and-yellow ball cap greets me. There's a pyramid of odd pixel people in the background, including one that seems to be a hamburger. Logos erupt in pixilated thunder, then a menu screen shows the guy in the hat with a girl in one corner and a purple monster in another. The Episodes option lets me "Unlock the 10 episodes of PXL lifestyle," whatever that means.

0:02 I choose Normal difficulty in front of a desert that contains an orange sky, a green cactus and a black monster that reminds me of a Troggle. A desert, a cactus and ... a big black thing. Episode 1 is "Underground." A fast-paced video tells me "How to play how Hot PXL!"1. Get what to do. (Via on-screen text.) 2. Find how to do it. Use the analog stick or directional buttons. Press buttons. Or try anything else! (Um, what else is there?) 3. Finally perform! Ready?" I guess so? I don't remember WarioWare needing a video like this.

0:03 Inexplicably, the game leads off with a short video of an old white guy in hip-hop garb coming out of a bunker and blowing dust off a record. Umm...

0:04 The first game just tells me to "Shoot." At first I think the tiny blue box is a target reticle. Nope, it's a ship that shifts left and right. X shoots two shots that take out two black squares up at the top of the screen. A between-game stat box tells me I'm "still on track to perfect." Er, thanks!

0:05 I do a ridiculous "Salute" handshake by pressing the X and square buttons as they appear on the screen. "Wussup!" says an annoying announcer's voice. Oh dear lord.

0:06 My first mistake comes in trying to navigate the little red-hatted guy across a descending red earnings graph. Apparently those jumping pixel businessmen were supposed to be avoided. Who knew?!

0:08 The "Boss" is an extremely pixilated game of Breakout, played against the side of a building, using the window lights. It's shown from an odd, low perspective, and the jittery ball movement makes it extremely hard to play. I lose three lives and the round, leading that old hip-hop white guy to come out his bunker and sort through some trash with a weird look on his face. Overall, this doesn't feel nearly as tight as WarioWare. Too much time between each game, and the game is trying WAY too hard for that "urban" vibe. Anyway, I earned 80 PXLs and unlocked Training Mode so ... yay.

0:11 On my second playthrough, eight of the 10 games are already repeats from the first time. I thought there were 200 of the buggers. Why all the repetition already?

0:13 I beat the Breakout boss easily this time, when I get a gun power-up that lets me shoot out the bricks. Old Hip-Hop White Guy (OHHWG from now on) breaks through a curtain in the background, gives an extremely fake thumbs-up, and raises his eyebrows. What the hell?