1up got some hands on time with the Echochrome. Sony's new PSP and PSN puzzle game. This is truely one of the more unique puzzle games out there. No official release date, but Japanese release date is set for March '08.

Echochrome requires a good hard look to wrap your head around the concept the first time you witness it: Created entirely out of black lines against an ultra-minimalist, stark white background, a figure reminiscent of a mannequin artist's model navigates interconnecting, M.C. Escher-like pathways as you rotate the camera. That last part is the key, too: The pathways don't interconnect unless viewed from the right angle. If you've ever seen one of those "how many prongs does this fork have?" illusions, you'll know what to expect; it doesn't quite make sense to your eyes as your brain does a perpetual double take, but it makes for a brilliantly unique starting point for a puzzle game.

Seemingly (Sony couldn't confirm anything) on the way this spring to PSN and PSP (the latter of which hasn't technically been announced for the U.S., but has a Japanese date in March), Echochrome is coming along conceptually, though the nuts and bolts still need some work. The basic game mechanics are dictated by five laws: Perspective Traveling, which essentially means that changing your perspective can create new paths; Perspective Landing, which ignores depth when moving from one height to another; Perspective Existence, which dictates that gaps don't exist if you can't see them (covered up by rotating pathways in front of them); Perspective Absence, similar to Existence, but ignoring obstacles and jump pads by covering them; and Perspective Jump, which allows jumps and falls to work on a 2D plane, landing on platforms that are lined up visually, regardless of depth.

Sayyed via 1up.com »