Imitation is supposed to be one of the higher signs of flattery - that through the utilization of someone else's 'good ideas' you can improve or compliment the original product. Developer Climax have taken that idea to heart, borrowing elements from two of the PlayStation 2's greatest action series - Devil May Cry and God of War for 2K Games' Ghost Rider. This led the PS2 version down a path of stunted growth, as influences overtook originality. The PSP version, surprisingly released at the same time as its console brother, may not change the actual gameplay itself, but the pick-up-and-play approach to level selection and progression - including the new Challenge Mode - a tweaked upgrade system and four-player racing all combine to deliver a more satisfying experience. Ghost Rider may not be able to hold a candle with the big boys it emulates, but the 'me too' controls and heaping dose of single player replay value make this one a perfect title for the actioneer on the go.

While it may appear on the surface that Ghost Rider the videogame is based on Ghost Rider the movie, this is a bit misleading. Much like X-Men: The Official Game, a brand new story was penned by veteran writers over at Marvel, Garth Ennis and Jimmy Palmiotti, which takes place after the events in the Nicolas Cage film. With Mephisto in possession of Johnny Blaze's soul, he has no choice but to continue to be a Spirit of Vengeance known as the Ghost Rider. After his son escapes from Hell - again - to bring forth Armageddon, Mephisto blackmails Blaze into using his Ghost Rider powers to bring his son back to Hell and save the world from Oblivion.

This story unfolds via fully voiced, slightly animated comic panels at the beginning of each chapter, wonderfully painted with just the right about of movement and texture. Unlike when Z-Axis tried and failed at this, Climax have perfectly captured the spirit of a comic book with the right camera angles, artwork and panning speed; now if only they could have gotten them to look as solid as they were on the PS2, as pixelation and over-saturated colors run rampant. As great as these story segments are, there just isn't enough of them, as they are always reserved for chapter beginnings and/or ends but nowhere in-between - not even for in-game cut scenes.

This took some of the wind out of progression in the PS2 version, but the new way levels are selected and progression is handled eases that blow. No longer is this game a linear beat 'em up that is firmly against backtracking, as the PSP version sports a level selection screen. Each chapter has been broken into smaller level segments (eight per chapter), changing the dynamics of the game to more of an arcade title than that of an action-adventure. Absorbing the game in small chunks not only decreases the sting of monotony that set in on the PS2 (more on this later), but it makes the entire game much more traveler-friendly, as you can step in, tackle a level or two, then shut it down and return whenever you can.

The actual gameplay in Ghost Rider mainly consists of beating the crap out of waves of demons using Ghost Rider's fists, the Demonic chain - a direct nod to God of War's Blades of Chaos - and his trusty shotgun. Using a deep, upgradeable combo system, you'll be slashing and bashing with style and flair in a matter of minutes. Upgrades are no longer tied to how many demon souls you have collected - a task that was all too easy to accomplish in the PS2 version - but instead to how many skulls you can earn from achieving one of three extra tasks in each level, ranging from collecting a certain amount of demon souls to executing a certain number of finishing moves. This not only keeps you from maxing out Ghost Rider's stats in a few levels, but it also increases the lasting appeal, as many of these extra tasks require more than just luck. Each new combo seems more elaborate and powerful, imbuing fun into smoking the waves and waves of demons that attempt to thwart you. To pull another page from the Capcom stable, Ghost Rider also uses a combo ranking system, like DMC, which rewards players with extra demon souls and demon charges - used to power the dominating Link Charge attack - for varying their combos while avoiding damage. Nothing in this game is anything that you' haven't seen before, but there is more than enough here to provide bouts of entertainment for the non-jaded gamer.

Now if only Ghost Rider could sustain that entertainment. Instead of using a free-roaming world, Climax chose to emulate Devil May Cry, going with linear levels. That by itself is not the problem, but the lack of anything to do in these levels - other than accomplishing the extra tasks - is. There are absolutely no platforming bits, puzzles to solve or anything else to break up the monotony of fighting the same easy demons, over and over again. Breaking the levels into bite-size bits helps a little, as you feel less inclined to play more than a few levels of time, helping to curb boredom, but its just a band-aid that does little to heal the real problem.

There are a couple of ideas slapped together to take the place of substantial additions, such as enemies that can only be hurt after a certain combo rating is achieved and the ability to execute enemies once their health is depleted to a certain amount, but these prove to be momentary at best. The only attempt to change the pace is to include motorcycle levels in every chapter, which see you riding on Ghost Rider's Hell Cycle, blasting demons and jumping gaps. These levels fall into the same flaming pit of monotony that the fighting succumbs to, as they provide no challenge and little variation other than background and obstacle placement. There is a noticeable dip in frame rate during these parts too, especially if you fire your shotgun every second as you should, stripping the speed right out of the motorcycle.

The presentation falls into a mixed bag of excellence and mediocrity. The graphics are above average for the PSP, with sharp, varied textures and satisfying character models, although the art direction outside of the main characters is lacking in inspiration. There are also many nice lighting effects, especially the fire effects used for Ghost Rider's skull and attacks. Despite all of those positives, the PSP version doesn't look as good as the PS2 version and everything feels as if it was a given a slight downgrade. In most cases that's a problem, but here it allows the entire game to run without the slowdown that plagued the PS2 version, while still looking solid. The sound department still receives the short end of the chain though, as an endless loop of awful rock music plays over boring sound effects. The voice acting, to my astonishment, is top notch, even though none of the major players from the movie lend their voices; I only wish Ghost Rider himself was a bit chattier in-game, instead of taking the mute route.

As I have said a couple times already, the lasting appeal of Ghost Rider on PSP is higher than in the PS2 version. The extra tasks for each level alone double the playing time, but you'd really have to be bad at the game to push that to higher than fifteen hours, even with the new levels and bosses. To further pad out the playing time, the new Challenge Mode, as well as the four-player Multiplayer Mode, allows you to tackle four different types of races against other Ghost Rider characters in kart-style, over-the-top racing. Though very obviously tacked on with little thought put into them, these both prove to be decent additions that don't really help or hinder the game. Unlockable characters and 'God-Mode' style cheats are unlocked once you beat the game on normal, which could give you a reason to tromp through again, but mostly these features are underutilized, as the new characters do little to change the way the game plays and the codes are just unnecessary. 'Making of' videos for the comic, movie and videogame are nice touches, but the one extra feature that had me jumping for joy was the Ghost Rider comics, digitally replicated for our pleasure. Yet, what you think are full comics are actually only a few pages' worth from each book, defeating the purpose of their inclusion and serving as nothing more than an advert. Sure, it's a bigger gesture than cover art, but is it such a big deal - be it Marvel or the publishers - to include full comics for us to read?

If you have read any of the other reviews on this game and saw the negative scores, you will be left assuming that Ghost Rider isn't worth playing. That is not the case, as the fighting system lifts elements from all the right games and the new PSP style level selection helps stave off some of the monotony that curtailed the fun of the PS2 version. Portable gamers with open minds who are in need of an action fix should find Ghost Rider as a decent $30 purchase, but if Climax had either integrated more of their own original ideas or borrowed even further from their influences, as well as spending more time with the racing extras, then this could have be a great game, instead of one that you can just about describe as 'good'.

Reviewed by Tony Peters for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).