Sony is busy filling its PSP catalogue with franchise-based games and leading the charge is Twisted Metal: Head-On, the latest edition in its vehicular combat series. I had a chance to go one-on-one with Sweet Tooth and the gang at the resent PSP press con in Las Vegas, and thus far, it appears Sony has a winner on its hands.

Twisted Metal Black is still one of the PS2's best games, a dark and twisted affair chock full of mentally anguished characters and tons of destruction. The intense level of carnage has been carried over to this pint-sized sequel, as the goal still involves racing around enormous levels annihilating the crap out of anything that moves, but developer Incog Inc. has taken the insane narrative down a notch, deciding instead to bring the series back to its roots. The result is a game that works perfectly for the PSP. Easy to pick up and hard to put down, Head-On's emphasis is on the car combat and not the lives of its bizarre characters that inhabit its digital domain.

The game's story may not be as deep or mature but that doesn't mean its 14 characters are any less twisted. Sweet Tooth, the sadistic clown with a penchant for mayhem returns, as does the motorcycle maniac Mr. Grimm. Also on the roster is the hearse-driving Shadow, Spectre, and the police duo of Sgt. And Captain Roberts.

Incog didn't have a lot of levels to select from so I just hopped into the Paris environment. Featuring French architecture and an awesome sense of scale (helped along by the enormous Eiffel Tower), I drove around all over the place, not necessarily killing anyone but absorbing the game's graphics, which are in a word, amazing. The high level of detail truly shines on the PSP's wide screen, and the explosions look superb, but what really impressed me was the mayhem I could cause. I smashed through statues, toppled trees, and splintered park benches (supposedly you can obliterate the Eiffel Tower, though I'm not sure how). It took a well-placed rocket to the back of my ice cream truck to bring me back to the game's reality; that there were other characters in the environment that were gunning for me. Now as far as that's concerned, the combat is a lot of fun. Head-On feels very much like PSOne Twisted Metal and that was definitely a great thing. My only complaint involves the controls, which required me to apply gas by pressing up on the digital pad.

In addition to the in-game graphics, Head-On features a wonderfully cel-shaded intro that should be a fine showpiece for your new toy. Also, there's WiFi support for up to eight players and it's seamless and lots of fun.

While the game still needs a lot of time to cook (especially since 9 of its 12 arenas were missing), Twisted Metal: Head-On may turn out to be a killer app for the PSP. Its pick-up-and-play nature makes it a great fit for the system, and although a release date hasn't been announced, I think it'll most likely launch alongside the system.