Twisted Metal: Head-On is the latest (and most handheld) version of Sony’s heavy hitting series. But how does the PSP version of the game stack up to its predecessors? Does this mini-metal hold the same punch as its bigger scale ancestors?

With each game I play for the PSP, I find myself more and more in awe over how comparable the graphics are to the current consoles – and TM: Head-On only furthers my amazement. This game looks and feels just like its PlayStation 2 counterpart, Twisted Metal: Black. Each arena is filled with passageways, obstacles, and hidden vantage points, and it does all of this while looking spectacular on the system’s small, wide screen.

The locations aren’t the only thing that translate to the handheld well; the car models look just as good as (if not, dare I say, better than) their big screen brethren. Each car model from Sweet Tooth to Mr. Grimm to Mr. Slam bare all of the unique little quirks that made them memorable.

As for the sound of Head-On, the sound effects and music played their part in immersing me in the game. Each gun or missile fire sounded authentic enough to keep me from lowering the volume and ignoring the audio aspect altogether (unlike most handheld games). The music also added to the game’s feel. Though Head-On doesn’t seem to boast any big names on its soundtrack like past titles have (Rob Zombie in Twisted Metal III and Rolling Stones in Black, it still does its job in keeping the blood pumping and making you wonder if there is an enemy on your tail.

Okay, so it looks like a Twisted Metal, it quacks like a Twisted Metal, but does it walk like a Twisted Metal? Does Twisted Metal: Head-On have the same feel and action-filled fun that the others in the line have?

With almost 15 different characters/cars (to start off with) and 10 different levels (not to mention bonus arenas), Head-On successfully brings the high-end vehicle-on-vehicle violence to the palm of your hand with very few concessions against it.

Head-On uses both new and classic locations, giving you a wide range of arenas to ignite your enemies in a flash of napalm or destroy them from below with remote bombs. As you fight your way through the ranks of the Twisted Metal tournament in hopes of having your one wish granted, you will rip through the perpetually under-construction streets of Los Angeles, tear up the Eiffel Tower in Paris, or watch the city burn in Rome. Other locations include the streets of Tokyo, the Tokyo rooftops, Egypt’s pyramids, and Russia’s Red Square.

TM: Head-On has several modes of play, for both single and multiplayer gamers. In single player, there are Story, Challenge, and Endurance modes. Story Mode follows several characters as they are invited to attend the Twisted Metal Tournament. The winner of the competition has one wish granted for them. This game boasts several competitors from previous tournaments, as well as some newbies. Characters like Shadow and Axel return unchanged, while Captain Jamie Roberts and Sergeant Carl Roberts return (this time together), and in a new car, the Outlaw 2. Each character has his or her own back story and reason for joining the tournament, whether it is to take revenge on Calypso (the organizer of the tournament) or to have some desire fulfilled. Most of the stories behind each character are interesting enough to play through their adventure, and since it is in this mode (Story) that you unlock most of your locations and vehicles, you will probably be spending most of your time getting to know these vehicular-combatants a lot better.

Challenge Mode is more of a quick battle, one-round fight between you and the computer. It’s good for a simple, fast fix. Endurance is just what it sounds like. How long can you last against an endless supply of A.I. controlled attackers?

The game’s multiplayer aspect is fun and uses the system’s wi-fi features well. There are two basic ways to connect to other PSPs. One is the Ad-Hoc mode which requires you to be in the vicinity of other PSP/Head-On owners. The other connection method is Infrastructure Mode. Here you connect to a nearby wireless access point, connect to the internet, and play against another gamer on the other side of the country. This was a great way to test the game’s multiplayer aspect since one of the disadvantages to getting a new system/game when it first comes out is the lack of people to play against. This problem rarely existed when I connected to the internet looking for a brawl. I do wish there was someway to add bots to the multiplayer arenas since the game seemed to lose some of its excitement when I was only going up against one or two opponents.

There is one thing I do miss in this game (and that might be one of the reasons for its drop from a Mature to a Teen rating), and that was the lack of pedestrians. That sounded cruel I know, but one of the aspects of the previous games that added just a little more realism was the people that were walking around (and occasionally being run over... occasionally). Surely if there were cars running up and down the streets of Paris, people would walk out to watch. But alas, I guess those mimes finally learned their lesson... either that or we ran over them all in the last few installments of this series.

Twisted Metal: Head-On has four different difficulty settings that affect exactly how hard or easy it is to catch up to and destroy the other vehicles. I found that these settings were diverse enough to let just about anyone find a comfortable playing level. Of course, the difficulty is drastically different when in multiplayer mode and you are going up against another living person.

Since TM: Head-On has several different control schemes, including a “classical” setting for TM veterans, how well you do against others on the wi-fi depends on how well you (and your opponents) master all of the various attacks at your vehicle’s disposal.

Twisted Metal: Head-On has a simple, intuitive control scheme that lets you jump into the arena and start battling the other cars quickly. Okay, it might not be that intuitive at first, but after glancing at the manual, it doesn’t take long to start tearing through the other cars on the field.

You control your car/motorcycle/construction equipment by either moving the analog “stick” or pressing the D-pad buttons. Like in most car games, I found the D-pad’s precision to be more effective at times than the analog’s, but I think I am in the minority here since most people seem to prefer using the stick when playing games of this sort. You brake with the X button and hit the gas with the Square (double tapping this button also uses up a Nitro). You cycle through your available weapons by pressing the Triangle button, and the Circle is labeled “Tight Turns” – which basically means that’s the handbrake.

So far, all of these are fairly standard for racing or other vehicular combat games. What threw me off at first (and looking back, I’m not exactly sure why) was the use of the shoulder buttons to fire the weapons. The Left shoulder uses your selected special weapon while the Right fires the machine guns.

So how does Head-On stack up as a portable version of the long-standing series? I’d say damn well. If you are a Twisted Metal fan and you have a PSP already, you should definitely get this game. If you’re a fan and don’t have the system yet, should you get them both? I guess that all depends on how big of a TM fan you are – but I don’t think you will be disappointed in the investment.