The mind-twisting puzzle game Echochrome made its way to Play.com Live, available on the same unit as Hot Shots Golf 5. Recently released in Japan, I was able to get my hands on some of the latter levels in the game.

As the difficulty ramped up, a mini crowd built around me. With them in awe of my genius (read; luck) I wasn’t quite expecting the opinion I overheard.

A young gentlemen expressed his feelings to a nearby Sony representative, saying that Echochrome was “a bit racist.”  Alright (???) His reasoning behind this was that “you’re a little white guy trying to get rid of the black ones.”

You see, in Echochrome, you’re a mannequin that has to make its way to the end of the level by following shadowy black figures.  In reality, the mannequin is a see-through character on a white background, and the shadowy figures are your guides to the end of the level.

For a black and white game, it’s difficult to conclude that Echochrome’s Japanese developers had subconsciously input their (non-existent) pro-white racist opinions into the game…

Echochrome is the latest videogame to be short-listed as racist, from Resisdent Evil 5 to Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (though this latter example was a joke from Yahtzee in his Zero Punctuation review.)  Awareness of the attitudes presented in videogames is of course very important, but the uninformed labelling of a little puzzle game should only be ignored.

Naturally this was one mans opinion after seeing the game for a few minutes.   The game hasn’t been labelled by anyone else, but this man’s words both saddened and amused me. Perhaps Echochrome could offer a black background (making the colourless mannequin appear to be black) as an option, in the vein of the original design for the PSP version.

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A PS3 and PSP demo for Echochrome is on the Japanese Playstation Store. Along with first impressions, I’m here to help you out with how to control the monochrome world that guides your elegant mannequin.

It must be said that the size of the PSP demo is so minuscule (3.7mb) that it’s hard to believe there are 5 tutorial levels, 3 full levels and music contained within. If Kojima-san could fit this much content into every 4mb’s of a 50gb Blu-ray, we’d be playing Metal Gear Solid 4 until…well, until my house was under the sea.

The PS3 demo is a more beefy 37mb, with the only discerning difference being that it’s in 1080p and has a saucy female voice-over.

The five rules of Echochrome are simple to understand, but their employment requires more concentration and a little bit of trial and error.

Controlling the canvas itself instead of the mannequin is at first an odd sensation, but with the ability to stop your lil’ fella in its tracks and enter a “contemplation mode” (press triangle) you can give yourself time to complete the puzzles in a more focused mindset.

You’ll begin to train your eye to Echochrome’s game world, placing paths above and below other paths, or hiding broken routes to allow your mannequin to continue. To read up on the five rules of Echochrome, please visit our previous coverage.

Using the right or left analogue stick to rotate the levels works well, if not a little twitchy. It feels like the game is trying to “click” you into the right perspective. This may be helpful, but it does make things a bit harder to feel in control. The alternative Sixaxis motion controls are well thought out–hold down L1 to use the motion controls, where you can rotate the world as you please, until you lift your finger off of L1.

The rules are suitably easy to implement as you attempt to create a safe path and pick up the echoes (little shadowy figures). The complexity increases towards the third and final level of the demo, where it’ll give you just enough difficulty to intrigue you; tilting the world 180 degrees to line up paths you never thought would join, taking your mannequin to the end of the demo.

Controls translated:

Left or Right Stick: Spins perspective.
Hold R1: Spins perspective faster.
Hold L1 : Activates motion sensor to spin perspective.
Press Triangle: Goes into “thinking mode” (You can still spin perspective while mannequin stops.)
Hold X: Puppet walks faster.
Square: Snap the edges together to get a clean path connection.
Select: Toggles timer/control instructions.
Start: Pause.

It’s hard to tell if Echochrome will be one of the great puzzle games, but the demo suggests that it’s going to be addictive and intriguing. Watching the title screens run through a much later level shows that the game has a lot more hidden up its sleeve.

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Sony had a rather comfy-looking booth on the GDC show floor, with large 1080p screens and leather couches, perfect for sitting around and playing Devil May Cry 4 or Echochrome. Behind these were rows of PSPs with God of War: Chains of Olympus, and the charming surprise Patapon.

Echochrome was just as trippy as we’d hoped. By slowly maneuvering the viewing angle of an Escher-like pathway, you can allow a little mannequin to hit all of his shadowed marks. The five rules of Echochrome (which we first previewed here were demonstrated in a lengthy tutorial, but when it came time to use all five at once to pass each stage, some players at the show were quickly overwhelmed.

It seems like there are multiple solutions to Echochrome’s puzzles, and when the game is released, we’ll be sure to find Portal-like Youtube videos showing all sorts of shortcuts and cheats.

It was hard to get a sense of pacing in this timed demo (which lasted around 10 minutes), but the beautiful violin soundtrack created a calm and avant-garde mood. This is definitely a more highbrow, cerebral puzzler than we’re used to seeing on the PSN–it’s like the exact polar opposite of Pain.

Moving to the PSP, we found some extremely promising titles. God of War: Chains of Olympus was really satisfying, even though the grab move seemed limited to just one attack, and the forced analog stick controls weren’t perfect. But the graphics, sound, and combo-raking combat felt absolutely perfect, so it felt like very little had to be sacrificed to make the game work on PSP.

And then there’s Patapon, which could be an original smash hit evocative of 2006’s LocoRoco. Using the circle and square buttons, you lead a tiny army of one-eyed creatures as they hunt mammoths and other massive creatures. They respond to music, so you have to keep the beat to make them march forward or attack.

There is also an in-depth strategy element as well, since you outfit each little guy with the right equipment, starting from spears and working your way up to other, sharper implements.

Patapon has some of the catchiest music I’ve heard come out of the PSP since Lumines, so this is one title I’ll probably buy just to drive out the repetition. “Pata-pata-pata-pon” sends your army forward, and “pon-pon-pata-pon” urges them to attack.

Patapon seems to grow in complexity throughout, but even with just two drums keeping the beat, the game was fun and addictive. If only we could skip the cutscenes and get straight to the action!

This Sony lineup for the first half of 2008 certainly feels very promising, leaving little doubt that Playstation owners will be enjoying the wait for Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy XIII. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to drum up some support for my war against the mammoths.