A game that promises to showcase the wealth of features on the Playstation Vita in a variety of mini-games, can Little Deviants‘ light package justify its price tag?
By Leo Stiles
Launching any console is a perilous exercise and delivering on the promise of new, exciting hardware while creating a must-have title is feat that few pull off. Enter Little Deviants, which is a mini-game compilation that seeks to leverage all of the Playstation Vita’s features in one frantic package.
I have to say that I’m not the biggest fan of this sort of thing and even though the Wario Ware games were undeniably inspired when they leveraged the-then novel features of the Nintendo DS, Little Deviants undermines its obvious graphical charm with events that are predicable and repetitious, rather than trading on the unexpected and the bizarre.
The game is visually fantastic and although the graphics have a simple cartoony feel, the bright colours and impeccable performance create a game that at least, looks like it belongs on next-gen hardware. The Little Deviants themselves are smartly animated alien blobs that have crashed on earth to continue their battle with robots and zombies. Cute, they may be but they lack the quirkiness of the Rabbids or the sheer lunacy of Wario and as such, do little to embed themselves as mascots for the fledgling console
Things start of promisingly enough as you user the rear touch panel to deform the terrain and move your alien hero to his goal. It’s simple and smart and uses the novel controls to give you something manic and playable. Scores are managed via the ever present clock and the collection of bonus stars and as any smartphone gamer will tell you; simple ideas, well executed can provide an addictive and enjoyable challenge.
Unfortunately things become predictable all too quickly, with augmented reality shooting and screen stabbing quickly becoming the order of the day. Things are spiced up a bit when multiple inputs are needed, such as a combination of front and rear touch gestures but when gyroscopic controls are added to the mix, the threat of a dropped Vita becomes a very real prospect.
Once unlocked, its unlikely that you will return to most of the events and here is where Little Deviants really falls down. Touch-based games on iOS or android have sidestepped the problem of repetitive play by adding meta-objectives and mini missions that play out within the events. This constant stream of new objectives can make a simple game mechanic compelling even with the most basic control scheme and you only have to look at last year’s Jet Pack Joyride to see how this can be used to make repeat play irresistible.
This is really the core of the problem for Little Deviants, which fails to match what’s available for smartphones, while asking for €25 for the pleasure. If it was €5 or below then I would be calling this a fine showcase for the different ways to play on the Vita but I can’t recommend something this shallow for such an expensive price, especially when you can turn on your phone and spend 79c on something infinitely better
Anyone looking for a mini-game compilation would be far better served with Frobisher Says, which just happens to be excellent and free. Everyone else should just buy WipEout 2048 – it’s avaialble for only a few euro extra.
Format: Playstation Vita
Developer: Bigbig Studios; Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
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