Star Wars Battlefront II (SWB2) for the Sony PSP is a blast. All the fun of the Playstation in an itty-bitty portable package (though of course nothing truly replaces gratuitous violence on the big screen). Pitting the Republic/Empire against its foes the Rebel Alliance…

SWB2 has three modes of play for the single player:

Challenges are timed missions where you play the part of either an Imperial Enforcer, a Rogue Assassin or a Rebel Raider. These missions each have different objectives based on your profession. The Rebel Raider objectives revolve around acquiring things and taking them to a way point. The Rogue Assassin objectives are to kill a certain number of people, and the Imperial Enforcer objectives are to kill off everything in the area.

Instant Action allows you to load up a map, specify the objectives and jump right into the game. You can load a single map, or queue up a series of missions to run in order. Each map/planet has a set of available objectives which include Capture the Flag, a hunt to kill off all indigenous beings, Conquest to capture all command posts, and more. The Instant Action missions are great practice to prepare you for the next mode.

Galactic Conquest - here is where the game evolves into a true game. There are four separate campaigns: Birth of Rebellion (Rebels vs. Empire), The Confederate Uprising (Droids vs. Republic), Republic Sovereignty (Republic vs. Droids) and Dark Reign of the Empire (Empire vs. Rebels). In each of them you play the part of a different faction as you work your way across the galaxy conquering the various planets through force of arms. And, on occasion, you will engage the enemy in a space battle. As you win battles and take control of the various worlds, you will gain resource points which you can use to either acquire upgrades like increased firepower, or increased armor, or additional troops. These upgrades work for a single battle only. You can also use your resources to acquire additional force types like engineers, snipers or heroes - like Jedi and Sith lords.

The gameplay itself also has a few options, like turning on a targeting system that will follow your foe. Or a choice between first and third person. Where you may be inclined to not use some of these options when playing the game on a PS2 or an Xbox, you will find that they help a great deal when playing the game on the PSP. The system's configuration often hinders play rather than helps, and little advantages like these in the game itself make the games more playable rather than just simply frustrating to play.

Depending on the mode of play and the planet that you are currently fighting on, you will have a varying number of options for the type of warrior that you will have access to. Each one has differing weapons; for instance the rebel warrior has a blast rifle, a blast pistol and grenades, where the heavy weapons person has a rocket launcher, a blast pistol and mines. On some planets you will find yourself facing only infantry, on others there will be infantry and vehicles. On some you will be in close in combat, and on others you will have a much greater range of fire. So your choice in warrior type will be determined by both your environment and the foes you will be facing. Learn how to use each of them and take advantage of their strengths.

In space combat you will find that you have access to a wide range of starfighters and craft, depending again on which faction you're playing at the time. As space battles involve attacking the main ships as well as enemy star fighters, you will find that some of the craft are better for dogfighting. When attacking the starships, you will have a number of targets which need to be destroyed on them, like the main bridge, communications, engines, life support and sensors. There is also the opportunity to take a landing craft and invade the enemy's hanger bay and attack the pilots before they have a chance to even get in their star fighters.

SWB2 has enough variation to make the game fun for a very long time, and its replayability is very high, making this a game that you will want to keep in your collection. With a T rating, it's not necessarily the best choice for young children … but I'm not sure that many children will have a PSP, since there are not a lot of games on the system appropriate for their age in the first place. If you're a Star Wars Battlefront fan and looking for a portable version of the game, this is definitely for you. And if you're a PSP owner looking for a good shooter for your system, get it and get hooked.