Platforming games for handheld gaming systems have always been a mixed affair in the quality department. Throw in a 3D gaming perspective, and you almost always have a game that is better used to level out a wobbly table than played by anyone with a pulse. So it is with great fanfare that I can finally announce that a gem of a portable 3D platforming game has finally been released.

The game “Daxter” for PSP is a spinoff of the popular PS2 series, “Jak and Daxter.” This is the first solo adventure for the wise-cracking ottsel (a fictional combination of an otter and a weasel), who after his friend Jak is thrown into jail, Daxter finds himself with plenty of time to kill. So he becomes a bug exterminator. Although there are plenty of opportunities for me to do that in real life, taking out bugs has never been this enjoyable or looked this good.

The graphics in this game are amazing, from the beautiful outside landscapes, to the menacing look of your opponents. This is by far the best-looking portable handheld game ever released. I often found myself remarking to other people in my general area just how pretty this game is, and that is something I never do.

The audio is also quite good with everything from the roar of the engines of the vehicles you pilot to the frantic sounds of battle.

Control is another area where this game excels. A problem with games of this type are spotty controls that can ruin an otherwise good game. ?I am happy to say that this is not the case with Daxter. It’s a lot of fun just moving Daxter around his environment.

About the only negative aspect of this game is the inclusion of annoying mini-games, which require you to push a series of buttons in a certain order within a certain amount of time. If I wanted to play a game of “Simon,” I would have bought a game of “Simon.” The camera system, while good for this type of game, is still far from perfect. The camera, at times, will get hung up on objects (most often during combat) and you only have horizontal control over the camera.

Also some of the jokes in this game seem to be quite dated. Fairly early in the game there is a dream sequence where the player must guide Daxter through a Matrix parody mini-game. What is this, 1999? Why are we still lampooning the first Matrix movie in 2006? ??

All in all, this is a great game with very few negative aspects and a much-needed quality title for the PSP’s somewhat lean library. Daxter for the PSP gets an 8 out of 10.