Sony Details Echochrome Followup

Sony's latest PSP title looks a lot like a sequel to the mind bending visual puzzler Echochrome. In fact, the Japanese name for the two games is similar. Echochrome is known here as Mugen Kairou, or Unending Corridors. The new game is titled Jigen Kairou, which can translate to Time Limit Corridors.

In this Echochrome spinoff, you attempt to make it to the goal on 2D play fields by working with past incarnations of yourself. When you reach a time limit in each stage, the clock turns back to the start of play. You replay the stage, but this time a ghost character can be seen echoing the movements of your last play session. You have to work with this ghost character in order to clear the stage.

As a sample of what you can do with your ghost characters, Sony detailed a situation where you have to cross a series of gaps in the road. The gaps can be filled in with a bridge by pressing a series of buttons below. To clear this area, you make your first character press the buttons in sequence, pausing at each button to give enough time for your second character to cross each bridge.

These screens shows the bridge sequence. The first ghost is below, with the current character shown above.

You can have up to nine ghost characters on the play field. If you can't clear the stage within the time limit with this many ghosts, the game ends.

You'll find all sorts of strange gimmicks as you progress.

Jigen Kairou will hit PSP in November. The game's retail UMD version will sell for ¥3,980, with a download version going for ¥2,800.

(UPDATE: It looks like this game was already shown back at E3 under the name Echoshift. Oh well... at least the release period is new!)