The Playstation Mini program could be considered a mixed success.  Allowing buyers to play the titles on both their PSP and their PS3, it seemed like it might be a recipe for success. However, with a fairly small size cap for the games, combined with a surprising lack of quality games, save for a few, it seemed that these titles would be little more than knock-offs of other larger titles.

It was a surprise when Laughing Jackal Games released Cubixx as a Playstation Mini, as it was one of the first truly great games for the service. Released in mid-2010, Cubixx took elements from the classic Commodore and Atari title, Qix, and brought them into a 3D space, creating a far more challenging game in the process.

Now, over a year later, Laughing Jackal has taken the previous Mini title and given it a full-fledged release on the PSN. Is it worth the higher price point, or should it have just stayed as a Mini?

Cut out 85% of the cube and hit the jump for the full review.

For those with no knowledge of Qix or Cubixx, the concept might seem a bit strange and hard to comprehend. In the classic game, Qix, players controlled a ship on a grid and their job was to cut away pieces of the grid, all the while ensuring that enemies would not hit the line that they were cutting away. You had to cut away a certain percentage of each grid in order to advance to the next level, where you would have faster enemies and more of a grid to cut out. You could not actually kill enemies, but instead had to box them into a small area, so they would avoid hurting you.

Flash forward years later to Cubixx. Cubixx took the same basic concept, but instead of traveling along a 2D grid, players cut away at pieces of a cube. Each side of the cube had an enemy (called Cubixx) that they would have to avoid. Generally, each side would only have a single Cubixx. They would also have to avoid line-chasers, who would travel along the edges that had been previously cut out. Eventually, players would have to cut out more space, while avoiding faster enemies. To call it an abstract puzzle game would be an understatement.

With Laughing Jackal’s Cubixx HD, a large part of this remains unchanged. You are still cutting out pieces of a cube and avoiding enemies. You will still progressively get harder levels that require you to cut out more and more of the cube.

That said, there are a few additions that make the game substantially more challenging. Each of the first five stages slowly introduces you to more and more concepts. In this way, nearly half of the game is spent preparing you for the challenge of the second half. The first two sets of levels introduce you to the basic concepts introduced in the original Cubixx. You have to avoid enemies, line cutters and will have to move faster in order to avoid death.

After that, power-ups and power-downs are introduced to make things more interesting. Some power-ups will give you extra lives or temporary invulnerability. Power-downs, however, can reverse your controls or add more enemies on screen. Eventually new enemies are introduced, such as the Mini Cubixx which acts as a second (or sometimes third) enemy on each side that can be killed, or Homers who don’t kill you, but slow your ship down.

Eventually, the game begins to throw asteroids at each side of the cube, which can kill you. Finally, you’re introduced to the black hole, which will appear on one side of the cube. While it won’t kill you, if you are travelling towards the hole, you will speed up, and if you are travelling away from it, you will be slowed down.

Every five levels, up to level twenty-five, you are dealing with new scenarios. Each of the new concepts are introduced slowly, giving you time to adjust to dealing with each of the threats at once. Eventually, you are left to your own devices and that’s when things get crazy. Higher and higher percentages required, combined with more enemies can be frustrating, yet when you finally finish a stage, it can be extremely gratifying, just like some of the best puzzle games.

A slew of new modes were added to this release, including a score attack and time attack modes. Several challenges have been added in as well, requiring you to complete various objectives such as killing all of a level’s Mini-Cubixx or finishing a level using only a certain amount of lines. There is also a seven player offline multiplayer death match mode, using seven DualShock controllers, where players have to cut a cube every fifteen seconds or die. It would have been nice to see this mode go online, but it is nice to see the support from Laughing Jackal.

Cubixx HD might be one of the most challenging puzzle games you will ever play. While the original Cubixx could be difficult, Cubixx HD introduces so many new elements that, at times, it can feel somewhat overwhelming. While Cubixx HD is still extremely fun, you only get to save your progress every five levels. If you reach the last level and lose all of your lives, you have to restart four levels behind. It would have been nice to see a save point after every level, but in doing so a great deal of the challenge would be gone.

Obviously, without the small size restrictions of the Playstation Mini program, the game does look substantially better. The graphics are far smoother than the Mini counterpart, as could be expected. A new techno soundtrack is added into the mix, which fits with the game’s art style.

This version of Cubixx is far and away superior from its PS Mini counterpart. Those who never played it will be drawn in by the concept and those who played the original will find new challenges awaiting them. While a few minor things hold Cubixx HD back, it is still one of the best Playstation Network games around.