Genki wanted to give their Tokyo Xtreme Racer skills a try on the PSP, and Konami felt like they needed some kind of competitor to keep up with the other racing games on the system. So Street Supremacy has a reason for existing in theory, I suppose. But its existence is still questionable with the final product, as the game appears to have no real redeeming value. It seems to come up short in every single category and, as a result, is recommended to no one.

Oh, you don't believe me in the "coming up short in every single category" theory? Let's march through and break this down the old fashioned way, and I'll explain exactly where this game goes wrong.

Let's start with the graphics, which are clearly unestablished. You've got tracks that barely break away from each other in terms of variety, with nary even a hint of buildings or any kind of night life to establish that you're racing in any kind of real city. The car models are average at best, with only some paint jobs and minor details to really differentiate them. And then there's the frame rate, which moves so sluggishly that you'd probably find ice cream trucks with speedier acceleration than these puppies. So that scores -1 for the Supremacy at this point...and that's even without touching the menu system, which is almost unnavigatable and sloppy.

Moving on to sound. Well, the engine noises are intact and I suppose that's a plus for a driving game, but the cars don't really sound that different at all. Worse yet, the techno music fails to rise above the level of generic. I never thought I'd reflect and wish for some EA Trax instead, but I was doing so here as the music never really rises to the occasion. Nothing much here.

Then you have controls, which are miserable and sloppy. AT BEST. The cars seem to handle rather poorly, no matter which vehicle you have at hand, and they fail to really capture the realistic physics of their design. Worse yet, just try turning. TURNING. A simple function that's required to stay on the road. The turning here seems to be something strugglesome instead of something smooth and natural, sort of like owning a car with tires that refuse to cooperate with the steering wheel. The sense of acceleration is gone due to the game's poor frame rate, and even the AI seems to be off the wall in terms of their antics. They'll get a major start from the get-go and appear to be taunting you, but you'll find more than one opportunity to get ahead and win the race in an easy first place...that is, if you can stand to handle the game's disruptive physics for that long.

Genki did try to dish up a couple of innovative features for the game, but even they fail to really rise to the occasion and have their own flaws. Let's first discuss the upgrade system, which allows you to modify parts of your vehicle and give it a glossier look and supposed smoother performance. The only problem is, with the game's terrible gameplay, you can't really feel your modifications going into full effect. You might as well try and turn a Yugo into a convertible instead, you'll get the same results and might even get a laugh or two from the passerby.

Then there's Team Battle, which is filled with much promise as you attempt to lead a team to racing victory. The problem is, though, the set-up takes FOREVER. I was counting several minutes going by trying to confirm all my parties for a Team Battle race, when it should only take a matter of seconds. I know some racing games for the PSP are guilty of loading time quandaries but compared to this, they're running excellently.

Street Supremacy does offer multiplayer. Oh, no, wait, I'm sorry, the box for Supremacy indicates that the game offers multiplayer. However, nothing could be further from the truth. The game features the most broken multiplayer that I've ever attempted on the PSP, with races being interrupted or even running MORE sluggishly than they ever have. And that's not counting the time it takes to navigate through the crappy menu system to try and hook up with a friend. And that's not even counting trying to find some poor sap who was suckered into buying the game.

Enough. Better racing games exist for the PSP out there, like the always fun Ridge Racer, the destructive Burnout Revenge, and the futuristic Wipeout Pure. Do yourself a favor and get one of those instead. Street Supremacy hits every branch on its way down from the ugly tree and then has the nerve to climb back up and fall all over again. It's broken in appearance, gameplay, and multiplayer, and deserves to rot in its own self-spoken "supremacy". Please. The only thing it's a master of is its own mess.