Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

Burnout: Legends distills the signature high-octane action of the Burnout franchise into a portable format, blending the best elements of Burnout, Burnout 2: Point of Impact, and Burnout 3: Takedown. At its core, the game remains an aggressive racing romp—players not only vie for first place but actively pursue opponent takedowns to rack up Burnout Points. Pulling off drifts, near misses, and high-speed collisions fills your Boost meter, rewarding risk-taking with exhilarating bursts of speed.

The single-player World Tour serves as the spine of the experience, tasking drivers with conquering five escalating car classes: Compact, Muscle, Coupe, Sport, and Super. Each tier presents a suite of event types—standard Races, Time Attacks, Face Offs, Eliminators, Burning Laps, and the intense Road Rage and Pursuit challenges. Success in each event unlocks new vehicles, liveries, and brackets, creating a satisfying loop of progression and mastery.

Beyond the World Tour, Crash mode offers a welcome diversion: players aim to engineer the most spectacular freeway pileups by plowing into unsuspecting traffic. On the PSP, the game-sharing feature lets friends team up for multiplayer events or try a demo without owning the UMD. The DS edition’s Multi-Pak support allows head-to-head battles with just one cartridge per two players, while larger groups simply plug in more game cards for parties of three or more.

Graphics

Considering the hardware constraints of the PSP and DS platforms, Burnout: Legends delivers impressive visual flair. On the PSP, environments brim with detail—from reflective highways under neon cityscapes to shimmering desert ruins—while the DS presents crisp, stylized backdrops optimized for its dual screens. The trackside scenery feels alive, and draw-in is minimal even when you’re tearing past at breakneck speeds.

Car models showcase a surprising level of polish on both devices. Each vehicle reflects its real-world counterpart with convincingly metallic paint jobs and realistic damage deformation. During collisions, panels crumple and glass shatters in satisfying slow motion, capturing the brutality of a Burnout takedown without sacrificing performance.

Frame rates remain solid in most race types, though busy Crash modes can occasionally introduce minor slowdowns on the DS. Even so, the sense of speed never dulls: motion blur and dynamic camera angles heighten the thrill of weaving through traffic, and boost visuals pop with fiery trails that light up the rear view mirror.

Story

As with its console predecessors, Burnout: Legends doesn’t rely on a traditional narrative. Instead, it weaves a loose progression arc through its World Tour campaign, giving players a sense of advancement and achievement as they ascend from humble compact cars to exotic supercars. Each new class feels like a chapter, with fresh events and rivals to best.

The lack of a deep storyline isn’t a drawback; rather, it emphasizes pick-up-and-play accessibility. Gamers seeking a cinematic plot will find little here, but fans of pure racing action will appreciate the structured series of challenges that unfold. The “story” is entirely player-driven: can you perfect that fatal Pursuit takedown or set a new world record in a Burning Lap?

Multiplayer introduces its own narrative of rivalry. Whether you’re duking it out in Road Rage or jockeying for collectible cars in Collector Challenge, each match births new bragging rights and tales of epic crashes. These emergent stories—who flipped whose ride first, or the time you barely edged out a foe—become the lore that keeps friends coming back.

Overall Experience

Burnout: Legends strikes an excellent balance between depth and accessibility, making it a standout handheld racer. The tight, responsive controls translate perfectly to both the PSP and DS layouts, ensuring every drift, boost, and collision feels satisfying. The variety of events—ranging from classic circuit races to frantic crash competitions—keeps the gameplay loop fresh across dozens of hours.

The game’s unlock system encourages replay: chasing higher star ratings and unearthing every hidden car fuels replayability. Multiplayer remains one of the strongest draws, with portable-friendly features like PSP game sharing and DS Multi-Pak support smoothing the path to impromptu tournaments. Even solo players will find themselves immersed in the quest to master every event and shatter every record.

For handheld racing enthusiasts, Burnout: Legends represents the franchise at its most refined on the go. It captures the visceral thrill of high-speed mayhem without compromising on modes or replay value. Whether you’re a veteran takedown aficionado or a newcomer craving explosive arcade racing, Burnout: Legends delivers an unforgettable portable experience.

Retro Replay Score

7.8/10