http://psp.ign.com/articles/977/977268p1.html
PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe Hands-on
It's literally everything you loved from the PS3 and more.
by Greg Miller
April 29, 2009 - I played and dug PixelJunk Monsters when the tower-defense game came to the PlayStation 3 in January 2008, but I never feel head over heels in love with it. I enjoyed taking on levels here and there, but I didn't find myself compelled to sit down and destroy every map the game had to offer and find every rainbow the developers hid in there. Maybe it was because I look to my PS3 for story-driven games or maybe it's because I never felt like I got really good at Monsters, but whatever the reason, it never clicked for me.
PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe clicks for me.
It's baaaaaaack.
Deluxe is taking every map and monster from PixelJunk Monsters and PixelJunk Monsters Encore, tossing it on a UMD, and adding a whole new island of challenges, new monsters, new towers, and new extras. Meanwhile the gameplay -- you're a little tikiman who builds towers made out of trees to defend his base from wave after wave of monsters -- is still the same simple, colorful, and engaging experience you remember.
Gati Gati Island is the new locale and will pack 11 levels for you to conquer. I jumped into one of the sections and found myself running through palm trees looking for gold and leveling up my towers by dancing on the beachfront property. If getting your little man to dance and give your weapons an edge was never your thing, the new Gem Tower should be right up your alley. This ranged device will slowly provide XP to the towers in the area until all of its energy is spent. Joining the Gem Tower this time around is the Trap Tower, which sends a beam out to another tower and shocks enemies who pass through it. The game's two-player mode is still here, and also along for the ride is the Tiki Man House where you can unlock and page through concept art, music videos, and more.
Although I didn't get to see any of the new beasts, there are supposedly going to be enough in here to give players a run for the money. One that was mentioned to me was a golem who is carried in by balloons and basically doubles as first and air threat and then a ground threat.
PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe is coming this fall and looks to be a blast. Personally, I think this portable format will be better suited to the games bite-sized levels and the fact that it's still a colorful, smooth experience on the PSP's widescreen doesn't hurt. Fans shouldn't be disappointed, and folks who missed this on the PS3 should definitely think about adding it to their PSP collection.
