The Warriors

You know, there's actually some people out there who think that The Warriors is "camp". I know this from having a casual browse of a movie rating site. That alone is an indication that this is a world gone mad.

Apparently some people think wearing a tight leather jacket is considered worthy of poking fun at. That having a dirty big afro is somehow laughable. That walking down the street with a pronounced swagger is somewhat ridiculous.

The next time you encounter someone talking up this kind of mess, it's your duty to step up. Shatter them and the glass house in which they live with their hair carefully plastered all down the right hand side of their face, black nailpolish, mascara and pants dragging down past their backside. Give them something to aspire to - hand them your PSP running The Warriors. It's cool in a box.

First things first. The Warriors was not just a 70s gang flick. It's based on a real gang. Just like the Cobra Kai. So the movie is steeped in authenticity. Let's be clear: The Warriors hearkens back to a time when you didn't merely walk down a street, you had to strut.

On PSP, the strut is more pronounced than ever. And not just because carrying around a PSP in your pocket messes with your gait. Power hungry gamers have been tortured for some time with having to choose between convenience (Nintendo DS, with its battery life and card format) or power (PSP, with its speed and juice). Loading time for PSP, well, it sucks. You're mobile, you don't want to be sitting there... waiting.

So right off the bat, in sheerly practical, technical terms, The Warriors delivers. Loading times never intrude beyond a reasonable amount of time - definitely in line with console versions. We're talking a tad over 10 seconds perhaps - small enough you don't feel compelled to time it. And when the action starts up - even that miniscule wait is made worth it. And while the visuals aren't bleeding edge - the engine is solid enough to deliver smooth, quick (sometimes too much so) action sufficient to keep you coming back for more.

This is the console version, only crammed into PSP form. And the console version was very, very good. While you end up playing multiple characters, you start off playing Rembrandt, an up-and-comer graf specialist who joins The Warriors a few months prior to the fateful events of the gang caucus where Cyrus (aka the "caaaaaaannnn youuuu dig iiiiiit" man) gets gunned down.

Just like in the console versions, the action quickly heats up after a basic tutorial mode. At its heart, The Warriors is about beating the crap out of people and progressing the storyline. And on PSP, it's the perfect transport for it. On console you'll always be wondering about additional depth in a bash fest, here, you accept it's all about action without reservation.

In the control stakes, the game does no harm. However if you're someone who has issues with the PSP analogue stick - and there are folks who do - again, you're in for a learning curve as precision can be an issue. Then again the game doesn't make huge demands of where you are in relation to bad guys - as long as you're facing the right way you're usually okay. The pace can get hectic however so it's well worth taking your time in early stages to come to grips with the stick - as the difficulty level rises, so does the demands on your "thumb-finesse".

Fighting forms the bulk of the game, and its here that The Warriors works so well. In addition to some basic punch and kick combos, you get some mean looking finishers, and best of all the ability to pick up parts of the environment and beat the daylights out of people with them. And rather than just doing a little more damage, there's often some cool utility with the pickup gear. There's some occasions where unless you have superhuman reflexes you will need to rely on what you can collect or use the "warchief" skills that allow you to issue instructions to your AI gangmates. And let’s face it, sweeping multiple enemies off their feet with one swing is a lot more efficient than taking them on one-by-one.

The repetition factor in The Warriors plays a much lesser part than in the console versions. This is ideally suited for pick up and play action. A quick belt through a level when you're on the bus or queuing for tickets and you're done, ready to resume later on.

Throw in co-op functionality - something that's ideal if you roll with PSP owning mates, and something you won't care about if you don't - and you've got something that covers as many gameplay bases as you'd want. What you will enjoy is the side scrolling mode available, which turns the story into something like Ninja Gaiden. Only with NY gang bangers.

The PSP's UMD format means publishers are still getting the formula right when it comes to load times. To deliver such a complete game experience that holds so true to the console original is a testament to the growing finesse of the developers as well as the potential of the platform. In short, there's abundant reasons to head out and pick up The Warriors for PSP - only people lacking an affinity for third person action and/or owners of the PS2 or Xbox versions of the game should think twice.