I played through the Daxter demo for the Playstation Portable over the weekend. The demo included two levels, one that shows off the basic gameplay of the upcoming title and another called the dream level, which is just weird.

Daxter is sort of a hybrid between a 3D platformer and your basic adventure game. You control Daxter, of course, who is armed with what looks to be an electric fly swatter, I kid you not, and a bug sprayer. While this doesn't sound like the makings of a great game, I found the unique control and play mechanics to be quite fun.

You have to work your way through the levels killing off bugs and maneuvering over chasms. The bug killing is typically quite easy, you just swat the creepy crawlies a few times and they die or you stun them with bug spray and then swat. The thing that really makes this game worth playing is its unique platforming system.

Instead of just jumping from one ledge to the next, you have to make use of your bug sprayer to help you float. At the peak of your jump you press the bug spray button and Daxter straddles the thing and drifts across the screen on puffs of green bug spray. This only works for a few second unless you can drift into a glowing green ball that refills the canister and gives you a few more seconds of float time.

And to make matters more complicated, if you drift into a flame, the bug spray ignites and pops you higher up in the air. The end result is a platformer without the platforms.

In essence you have to figure out the timing and paths to take through the air to make it over chasms. On the demo level, it was pretty straightforward to cross a chasm, but finding these bonus eggs, that took some effort. For the eggs you ended up having to plot a rather intricate course, from glowing green balls to open flames, to gather them all.

While on the ground you can also ignite your bug spray, turning the bug sprayer into a flame thrower. This is helpful for taking out the really big bugs and to clear your path of cobwebs.

All in all, the demo level really made me want to buy the game. The dream level, well, like I said, was weird.

In the dream level Daxter assumes the role of the ass-kicking hero he's always wanted to be in a dream.

The level is deliberately set up to look like something out of The Matrix, with Daxter waving on hordes of bad guys and then dispensing them with bullet-time kicks and machine-gun punches. Unfortunately, this is all done by pressing whatever button lights up on the screen at the right moment. There is no movement, just button pushing.

A fun looking Simon Says knock-off, but nothing more.

After beating the levels, a screen pops up explaining some of the other features that will be included in the full game including being able to control vehicles and create your own bugs for WiFi duels with other gamers. No word if it will be online or in-person WiFi.
All in all, I was surprisingly taken with Daxter. It looks like it's shaping up to make the list of PSP must-haves.