Harvest Moon is a popular farming simulation series that’s appeared on many consoles and portables over the years. Now continuing in the tradition of landing on new platforms, it’s coming to the PlayStation Portable. By mixing farm simulation elements with RPG gameplay, as well as some light dating game moments, the game series has been a hit since its 1996 debut in Japan, and subsequent 1997 launch in America.
In 1999 and 2000, two Harvest Moon games were released on the PlayStation — Harvest Moon: Back to Nature and Harvest Moon For Girls. These two titles were later remade on the Game Boy Advance in 2003 as Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town and Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town. So now on PSP, rather than Natsume –the original developers– making Harvest Moon, developers Marvelous Entertainment will remake the two aforementioned PS1 titles on the PSP. This time they’re packing both games onto one disc to the delight of hardcore Harvest Moon fans.
Judging from the early screenshots, the game is looking pretty close to the original PS1 versions. Sadly though, it doesn’t seem like Marvelous Entertainment is taking advantage of the fantastic PSP widescreen so instead it looks like we’ll be playing the game within grassy borders. Gameplay-wise it doesn’t seem like anything is being added and that instead the game is a direct port at this point. The games arrive in Japan this November, and will most likely hit the US a few months later. While getting a Harvest Moon title on the PSP is a good thing, gamers familiar with the series will have to ask themselves if they really want to buy remakes of the same games. If you haven’t played any of the titles, however, the PSP version will be a great place to start.
Source- PSPupdates.com
