Games that come stateside from Sony's Japan Studio are often incredibly quirky, but also pack some of the most original and quality ideas to hit its platforms. Echochrome is just such a game, and has been on many gamers' wish lists since the first sneak peek at E3 2007. Originally planned as both a downloadable title and available via UMD for the PSP (which is how the Japanese market received it), the U.S. version was chopped in half and stripped of a few modes for both the PS3 and PSP, each with 56 levels (the Japanese version has 100). However, with a slashed price of $10 for either platform, this one's worth buying.
Your love of Echochrome will ultimately depend on your appreciation for the art of M. C. Escher. Escher's work plays with your sense of perspective, toying with distances and what the eye doesn't see in order to create all sorts of optical illusions. That foundational principle is the guiding gameplay mechanic. There is very little that you have to do to solve Echochrome's puzzles; you simply have to do it exactly right. On the PS3, you rotate the camera with the analog stick (you can use motion controls, although they prove slightly unwieldy for the level of precision you often need). The game's sole character, an absent-minded mannequin, will plod along the same path over and over again, making only left turns until you sufficiently change the perspective in order to change his course. This is done by hiding breaks in its path, or holes that it will fall through, or launch pads that will make it leap into the air. You must continually rotate the camera (although hitting triangle will cause him to cease walking in order to give you time to think) in order to have him walking, falling or bouncing to other parts of the stage to collect "echoes," shadow versions of himself. Collect them all before time runs out, and you beat the level.
It's incredibly simple, although it will take you a few levels before you get the hang of it. The difficulty ramps up, although few puzzles required us to have to repeat a level more than once or twice. Nevertheless, the levels are quite varied, and at 56, there is enough to keep you entertained for a while.
And really, that's all there is to the core game. You can have the game select levels for you at random, allowing you to adjust the difficulty after each is completed, or you can pick and choose from your favorites, whether you've unlocked previous ones or not. The other big draw is the level creator, which is robust and very easy to use. While there is currently no way to share those levels with others, you can submit them to Sony, who will then release the best to the public in semi-regular updates. The only snag is that you can only play these levels until newer ones are released; the previous user-created levels will then get wiped. We're not big fans of this decision, but then again, we also haven't had the opportunity to experience what other users are capable of.
Echochrome is the epitome of simplicity. With its sharp edges and lack of color, it's a very stark world (although being in HD certainly helps draw you in with the powerfully bright white background), but that's also part of its charm. Once you wrap your head around how to maneuver the world to suit your needs, you'll find yourself very addicted to its heady puzzles. The ability to possibly have your own levels shared with the rest of the world is certainly a big plus for the PS3 edition, so don't hesitate to pick it up.
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