Miami Vice was popular NBC television drama from the 1980s about two vice detectives and their feats against the criminal underworld. The series starred Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs. The show ran for five seasons from 1984 to 1989, during which, it was a hit with some racy stories, snazzy fashion sense, and explosive action scenes. The typical plotlines had the detectives going undercover to take down a drug dealer or two. Over the course of Miami Vice's five year run, it produced a pretty big fan base and had an influential role on pop culture at the time.

Twenty-one years later, Michael Mann, executive producer of the television show, revisited the world of Miami Vice in the form a Hollywood feature film--bringing old fans bouts of nostalgia and attracting new viewers with action and drama that is racier and sexier than ever. Taking on the roles of Crockett and Tubbs are Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx. For more details about Miami Vice, television series and film, refer to DVD Talk's reviews of theatrical release, theatrical release, season one, and season two.

Along with the 2006 feature film, the world of Miami Vice was also revisited with a video game loosely based on the movie's story for the PlayStation Portable version entitled Miami Vice: The Game. In this PSP game, you can play as Crockett or Tubbs and go through a variety of missions to bring down a South American drug lord, all the while, bribing confidential informants, buying & selling narcotics, and building your reputation as a South Beach criminal. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to be an undercover vice detective in a fictional world, you just might like Miami Vice: The Game. So, decide who is it going to be, Crockett or Tubbs?

The game has a few different modes of play, which include on-foot missions, boat missions, drug barons, hacking, and drug dealers, although the latter is not so much a game as it is just the purchase and sale of drugs. The modes of play combine the experience that is Miami Vice: The Game.

When the game gets going, you will have access to a map of Miami, where you can visit different locations. The locations include headquarters, where you can hack flashRAMs you find on missions, store drugs (you can only hold 100 units of drugs on your person at a time), and save/load the game, drug dealers, you can buy/sell drugs (the market price of weed, PCP, coke, etc. changes everyday), visit drug barons and complete big drugs deals to boost your reputation as a criminal, visit the arms dealer and buy new guns and upgrades, visit the tailor and buy news clothes an upgrades, pay a visit to your confidential informant, and go on the next mission (on-foot or boat).

While on the city map, you have a limited number of days before you have to go on your next mission. When you visit a drug dealer, a day passes. Between missions you will want to buy/sell drugs from dealers and barons to get more cash and build your reputation. It is an interesting aspect, but it features very little variety and gets old very fast.

On-foot missions are the more traditional game play, and also what you will be doing most of the time. These are the missions where you go "undercover" to some location armed with a primary and secondary weapon to shoot-up the bad guys, collect their drugs, find flashRAMs, and complete your primary objects (like blowing up a drug lab, entering the premise, finding your confidential informant, etc.). On-foot missions feel very similar to the Metal Gear Solid series, in terms of how you control your character. You can press up against walls or other obstacles for cover and peak around corners to shoot the bad guys.

And before you go on on-foot missions, you can purchase information about the level's map from your confidential informant that include locations of drug stashes, enemies, flashRAM, and med. kits, and learn the pass code to shutdown the closed-circuit television system (surveillance system).

The remaining modes are more or less mini-games. The boat missions are primitive and lack the same complexity and grace found in the on-foot missions. Basically, you are in a boat with an automatic machine gun, you drive the boat, shoot bad guys in boats, they blow up, and leave you drugs to pick up. These levels go really quickly.

Visiting drug barons is not a very complicated process. At first, when you reputation is low, it is difficult. However, as your reputation builds, this process gets a lot easier. When you visit a drug baron you have to undergo several phases, which include getting past the baron's goons and making the deal. This mini-game uses an influence bar to gauge your progress. On the bar, there is a blue zone that you have to keep the marker in. The longer you are in the blue zone, the better off you are. If you fall out, you will be prompted with other actions such as acting aggressive, diplomatic, or firing your gun.

The last aspect of game play is hacking. While playing the on-foot missions you will collect flashRAMs. The flashRAMs contain information about the location of drug barons or information needed to unlock special upgrades. The hacking game has multiple stages and the difficulty increases with each additional stage. You control a triangle that charges up power and unleashes a charge to destroy "firewalls". After the firewalls are destroyed you collect "data packets" and when you get a certain amount, the stage is completed. However, you have a finite amount of time to college the data packets and if you collide with the firewalls or spikes (firewalls shoot spikes at you) you lose points. The mini-game reminded me a lot of Jezball. It is not too difficult once you get the hang of it.

In addition to the single player mode, Miami Vice: The Game features a cooperative multiplayer mode via ad hoc wireless. Missions that have been previously completed can be played with a friend.

Overall, I thought Miami Vice: The Game was good, but not great. I enjoyed the on-foot missions to a certain degree. I found the controls took some getting used, as they are somewhat counter-intuitive. For instance, one of the problems I had was with shooting. You can only shoot when you are in aiming mode, which is difficult if you are trying to maneuver and shoot bad guys. Basically, you can't move and shoot. And when you are acting quickly, it can be really difficult. The analog joystick also becomes a pain, as aiming requires finesse, which the PSP analog joystick is not the great at achieving. Another problem is the AI. It does not make for the most intelligent opponent. There were several occasions when the enemies would get "stuck" behind an obstacle and run in place. The missions are also very short and can be completed in mere minutes.

On a positive note, while Miami Vice: The Game may not be the most advanced, packed with content game out there, it is still a fun game (once you get used to the controls) and fans of action/shooters will appreciate it. The game's load times are also great. I hardly had to wait to play.

Graphics:

Visually, Miami Vice: The Game is a good looking game. It utilizes the 3D-rendering capabilities of the PSP pretty well. The 3D character models have a fine level of detail. The bad guys are fairly generic in regards to only a few models are used, but they are decent looking. The main characters, Crockett and Tubbs receive more attention and look pretty good. The environments and settings are also detailed fairly well. The problem is ghosting; there is a significant amount of ghosting in the game when you are moving quickly.

Audio:

While playing, you will become accustomed to fun phrases like "I'm going to kill you" or "I'm going to fuck you up bitch!". And you will hear them over and over. As fun as being told that you about to be killed or be fucked up (and you're a bitch) is not very exciting. The in-game voices are so annoying and repetitive, I turned the sound off. Annoyances aside, the game's audio features sound effects (gunfire, explosions, etc.) and decent music, along with voiceovers during the cut scenes.

Conclusion:

When I first sat down with Miami Vice: The Game, I was convinced I was going to hate it. The controls just did not feel right. What I did not like is that you cannot fire your weapon while maneuvering. It makes it difficult to get through some situations. However, once you get past the controls, the game turns out to be pretty fun. There are some intriguing aspects, although they are a little on the simple side and get tedious after a while, but they still help make the game interesting. The game's missions are also fairly short and they can be completed quickly, which is a big drawback but convenient in that you can pick and go with little disruption. In the end, Miami Vice: The Game should make for the perfect treat for fans of action/shooters on the go.