VIDEO GAME REVIEWS: 'Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters,' 'Singstar '90s,' 'Buzz! The Hollywood Quiz'

By BILLY O'KEEFE

McClatchy-Tribune News Service

While the PS3 brings home the buzz in the Playstation family, Sony's unsinkable PS2 continues to sell alongside the best of them. Consequently, Sony manages to keep the software coming, even if most of it consists of content packs and port jobs of varying quality.

Among the latest batch of new first-party software, "Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters" easily stands out as the most intriguing. Sadly, it's also the most disappointing.

"Matters" is the latest example of a Playstation Portable game making the jump to the PS2, and anyone who doesn't know this going in will be jarred by how inferior the game looks when stacked against the "Ratchet" games that were specifically developed for the PS2. That would be bearable if looks were the only problem, but framerate issues and camera controls that arbitrarily do not work make for a product that feels inexplicably rushed to retail.

Even those who do know the origins of "Matters" are likely to be disappointed. The PSP version's best feature - a suite of extremely clever online multiplayer modes for up to four players - is now strictly an offline, splitscreen table for two. The essence of the modes remains intact, but it's a huge step backward from the portable game, which easily remains the definitive version a full year later.

Things are a less unpleasantly surprising elsewhere, with both "Singstar '90s" and "Buzz! The Hollywood Quiz" essentially serving as expansion packs for those who invested in the "Singstar" microphones or "Buzz" game show buzzer peripherals, respectively.

"Singstar '90s" (available by itself or bundled with two microphones) does nothing the previous four "Singstar" games didn't do, so if you've played any of those, nothing down to the last pixel should surprise you here. As with previous "Singstar" packs, your interest in "Singstar '90s" comes down to whether the track listing intrigues you or not. Per usual, there are 30 songs and videos with which to sing along, and a complete track listing is available at Sony's "Singstar" Web site, singstargame.com.

"Quiz" (sold alone or with four Buzz controllers) is similarly low on surprises, delivering the same quiz show experience of other "Buzz" games but with a focus this time on movies. The game looks a little better than previous "Buzz" games, and the Oscar-inspired theme gives it a little more visual personality then previous iterations. Most importantly, "Quiz" features 5,000 new questions to answer, so if you enjoy the "Buzz" games but have tired of all they offer, this is a pretty safe way to replenish your stock.

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