Those of you old enough to remember arcades in the early to mid-Nineties may recall the "Winners Don’t Use Drugs" message that appeared at the beginning of many games’ attract-sequences. It was a joint idea cooked up by the FBI and the AAMA (American Amusement Association) to try to discourage children from engaging in narcotics abuse and it managed to find the perfect counterpoint in the "How High Can You Get?" question posed by many Nintendo high-score tables. However, it appears that this very important message (that’s the first one) didn’t make it as far as Japan, as evidenced by the truly trippy Every Extend Extra from Q Entertainment.

Not that we’re accusing anyone of indulging in psychotropic substances, of course, but going on Every Extend Extra and the company’s previous PSP game, Lumines, it’s not hard to see why some might make that association. This massive sensory assault is as central to the Every Extend Extra experience as it was to its forerunner’s and when playing it we often found ourselves ‘zoning out’, existing only in the game’s world of beautifully lurid colours and infectious hardcore tunes. Like Lumines, however, the ear and eye candy is more than just, well, ear and eye candy, and is completely inseparable from the gameplay.

Nailing down how Every Extend Extra plays isn’t that straightforward – the best comparison we can come up with is a cross between Rez and Fantavision. Actually, it’s not that complicated, as it turns out we’ve pretty much hit the nail on the head. Basically, you control the little detonator thing as it follows a set path through a series of tunnels (a bit like Rez), along the way triggering it to explode, which causes the stuff that comes in from the sides to blow up, gaining you points (that’s the Fantavision stuff). You’ve only got limited detonations though, so you have to build up bigger and more impressive chains of explosions in order to survive. Throw in boss fights, and you’ve got your game. It sounds simple, and it is, but the best ideas always are; like the titles used to define it, Every Extend Extra is as much an experience as it is a game, although who is to say that these two facets have to be mutually exclusive? Once the surface has been scratched, the game’s depth shines through and you begin to realise that it is a lot more than a pretty sound-and-light show where you get to blow stuff up.

Jude Salmon