Sony’s varied platforming heroes have found agreeable homes on both the Playstation 3 and the PSP. Ratchet and Clank operate on both systems, Sly Cooper has morphed unadvisedly into Cole Porter, and Jak and Daxter are making their presence felt on the PSP. Even on a system as powerful as the PSP, the original experience never quite makes it over to the handheld intact, though what the final product is still a fun and competent entry in the series.

That is why, of course, the developers of these handheld platformers have specialized in a new, entirely 3D (in presentation, at least) method of control, which makes the new Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier fun and relatively simple to play. While the system breaks down from time to time, it still is a remarkably elegant solution, considering one whole analog stick has been taken away from the experience.

The Lost Frontier feels like a title skillfully made, buy it also feels like one with a foot in the past. While Ratchet and Clank have grown (barely) up into a pair of wisecracking, best-of-friends adventurers, Jak and Daxter feel malformed and undernourished. As a duo, they’re as unconvincing as old friends as Elena and Nathan Drake are convincing.

In fact, the game’s nominally romantic relationship (between Keira and Jak) lacks all but the faintest chemistry. Obviously, their relationships (and the story that encapsulates them) are not of the utmost importance in such a game. Still, when its competitors are, even at their most light-hearted, making small strides in writing and characterization, The Lost Frontier just look more and more out of date.

That’s all rather unfortunate, because when judged purely on its gameplay and style, The Lost Frontier is an entertaining game. You control Jak (and sometimes Daxter) as they explore a beautiful, dying world for traces of Dark Eco, a substance which Jak himself may, ominously, be connected to. Of course, your journey is interrupted by the appearance of a gang of sky pirates (lead by an amusingly debonair Pirate Captain), and the appearance of a mysterious artifact that may help our heroes save the planet. There’s also a damsel in distress, a host of upgradeable powers and weapons, and the surprisingly exciting airship segments.

As Jak, you bounce around the lush forests, islands, and rivers of Brink, the game’s pleasingly whimsical “end of the world,” an Erik the Red-like space that features the aforementioned areas, all crowding around the edge of a giant, world-ending waterfall. Every single part of the game is wonderfully realized. The characters look amazing, the enemies hop and gambol about pleasingly, and the effects are bright and exciting. It feels like a playable sci-fi cartoon.

From time to time you will play as Daxter, in various puzzle-based and arcade-like sections. These are mostly fun, but they feel tacked on: there’s no reason for them to be there (aside from the fact that it made slightly more sense for Daxter to be doing such things, as opposed to Jak), and they slow the story down, something it can’t afford.

Still, the game does have some exciting side missions in store for those with completionists out there. You can choose to follow the main story and all of its attending missions, but you can also take part in side missions and hunts, which allow you to pick up more orbs and upgrades. Most of the upgrades are helpful (though not necessary), but they give Jak a larger repertoire of moves and attacks, which is welcome, considering his story is one that needs spicing up whenever possible.

The flight sequences are also a welcome surprise. Too many times, in too many genres, we have been forced to play through on rails flight sequences and shooting galleries. The Ratchet and Clank series is a constant offender in this area. Riding around in a spaceship through levels so linear they make Rebel Assault look unscripted is never a good thing.

In The Lost Frontier, High Impact Games thankfully went in a different direction. There are two different kinds of flying missions: directed, chase missions, and wide-open dogfight levels. The chase missions err a bit too much in the scripted, linear direction, but they’re still fun and full of minigames and cool little encounters.

The dogfighting sections are really fun, allowing you to control your ship adroitly (and in a fully 3D battlefield) and take down your enemies with ease. The flying controls are really quite good (mostly thanks to the control stick), and they make these flying sections must better than any of the other diversions and side missions, better even than some of the main quests.

It’s all rather fun, but it’s also all just a bit underwhelming. On the PSP, the game is, when compared to its platforming competitors on any other handheld, staggeringly full-featured. Still, I can’t help but compare it to its Next-Gen counterparts. If the amount of detail and polish that went into this game could be brought to bare on a PS3-exclusive title, I can only imagine how impressive it would be. It’s a good portable title, but you get the sense that it could have gone from good to great had it landed on the PS3.

The Good:

In the Palm of Your Hand: From cutscenes to combat, this is an incredibly pretty game. It looks too good to be the kind of thing that fits in your pocket.

The Spice of Life: There’s a lot to do, and a lot to collect, and even more to kill and explore.

The Bad:

Only the Palm of Your Hand?: This could have been a huge console release. It’s good as it is, but it feels a bit hollow.

The Ugly:

Jak and Daxter and who?: I couldn’t care less about any of the characters, including the absolutely drab staring duo.

Playthrough: Played through main campaign, completing all side missions, about 12 hours (that’s with a lot of dying). Digital copy provided by developer.

Recommendation: Amazing for its production values alone, it has a lot of content, but less personality. Good for the handheld gamer who wants a solid, deep platforming experience, but bad for anybody who wants something somewhat original and interestin