'Little Deviants' shows off Vita's novel gameplay

— -- With the PlayStation Vita splashing into the sea of handheld gaming consoles, families will have exciting new ways to play video games. With its revolutionary rear-touch screen, as well as a touch screen in the front, motion sensors, physical controls (directional pad, dual analog sticks, and other buttons), a microphone and both a forward and rear camera, this little system delivers lots of ways to play games.

If your family wants to see what Sony's PS Vita can do, check out the launch title "Little Deviants." Published by Sony, "Little Deviants" offers many novel ways to play video games using 30 mini-games. Here's a look at what the game offers.

The Little Deviants are a group of fun-loving, wacky aliens who have crash-landed on a planet filled with peaceful, human-like creatures. By playing the 30 mini-games, you help the cartoony Deviants to rebuild their spaceship. But this isn't always easy, since the Deviants' sworn enemies (robots named the Botz) swarm in with their army of zombie-like creatures.

The mini-games are spread out over six regions, with each region represented as a floating, cubical planet. In this linear story, you unlock each additional mini-game by successfully earning enough points within a game to win a bronze, silver or gold medal. The six regions differ greatly in graphical style, with one having a Halloween-night vibe, while others sport a winter or beach theme.

In terms of novelty, "Little Deviants" has several mini-games that utilize the new rear-touch screen. In one variety, you must move your finger along the back of the device to deform the landscape. It is as if the screen is made of clay, and you are molding the landscape by pushing it from underneath. The object is to roll a Deviant around by creating hills and valleys so that it passes over keys that unlock the level-ending vortexes. Before rolling the Deviant into the vortex, you will want to collect stars that earn you bonus points.

Another type of mini-game that uses the rear-touch screen involves pushing the bad Botz out of doors. The screen will show a house with a number of shuttered doors that randomly pop open. An opened door could reveal a Botz, a Deviant or one of the human-like inhabitants. If a Botz is standing there facing you, you get points by poking the spot where he is standing from the rear-touch screen and pushing him out of the house. If he is facing away from you when the door opens, you must push him out by tapping on him from the front touch screen. This whack-a-mole-type game is frantic, as shutters open and close non-stop and you tap both from the front and the back of the device.

Also unique is a boxing ring mini-game where you control a Deviant who is fighting a constant onslaught of goofy-looking zombies. To destroy these non-scary cartoon zombies, the Deviant curls into a ball when you sandwich it between your two fingers, with one on the rear screen and one on the front. You can then slide your fingers together toward the ropes and use them to slingshot your Deviant around the ring. It creates an Angry-Birds meets billiards-like gameplay which is a riot to explore.

"Little Deviants" uses the PS Vita camera to create an augmented reality game, which means that you see your own environment through the camera's lens; but then the game superimposes attacking Botz ships in the air around you. With targeting crosshairs showing up on your screen, you move around in 360 degrees searching for bad guys to blast out of the air. Swirling office chairs make this game really fun to play.

The microphone becomes the game's controller in a mini-game about singing or whistling. By creating different sounds, you match one of three wave-lengths shown on the screen and earn points when glass objects explode.

Not all the mini-games use these unique controls. Some utilize motion sensors to navigate mazes or to fly through obstacle-strewn landscapes. Others have you diving into caves and require you to tilt the device 360 degrees. In another, you are parachuting through target rings floating in the air.

"Little Deviants" is all about having fun exploring your new gaming system. It is not a game with a lot of depth or one that challenges you to think. It is a game for showing off what this new system can do. And it accomplishes that mission well.

While the titular heroes aren't all that endearing, their ability to take on ball-like shapes makes them versatile characters to play with. With zombies and blaster-type violence, this game is best played by kids ages 10 and up. Although some of the mini-games are trickier than others, all are possible with practice.

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Little Deviants

Score: 3 stars (out of 4)

Rating: E10+ (with Animated Blood, Cartoon Violence, Comic Mischief)

Best for ages: 10-up

Publisher: Sony, www.us.playstation.com

Platform: PlayStation Vita

Cost: $29.99

Gudmundsen is the editor of Computing With Kids (www.ComputingwithKids.com) magazine. Contact her at techcomments@usatoday.com.