As one of the few people who actually own a PS3 (it’s a good system damn it! It DOES warrant the price tag!) I spend a lot of time looking through the titles available for purchase from the PSN store.

One of the better games I’ve found for sale, that I originally downloaded as a demo because I was bored, is an extremely cute game called Super Rub-a-Dub.

After playing the demo (the name sort of put me off it, so I didn’t even bother installing the demo for a good week, as other demos took precedence,) I instantly purchased the game for the measly 7 dollars or so that it costs.

I’ve read a lot of bad reviews for this game, but let me tell you that they’re all looking at this game in the wrong way.

If you know somebody who is not a video game fan, this is the game for them. I can see how some hard core WoW losers may not enjoy this game, but if you have a bunch of buddies over, or you want to get your girlfriend into gaming, this is a must have.

First let me say that for 7 bucks you get 60 levels with 3 varying degrees of difficulty, a very realistic physics engine that guarantees a unique game every time, and a whole cast of adorable little characters. Not to mention you can watch videos of the fastest player around the world (5 for each level) to see how they’re completing a level.

Wait wait, I think I’m getting ahead of myself again. Let me start over. Super Rub-a-Dub puts you in the shoes of a tray of water (sort of, you technically only have control over the tray) which you control by tilting the 6axis controller various directions to make the contents bounce or shift, just like you would if the controller were infact a real tub of water. The goal of the game is to guide a little yellow plastic bathtube duck (like the one Ernie from seasame street has) around the tub to collect little baby plastic yellow ducklings in the shortest amount of time you can. The catch is that there are various obstacles in your way, ranging from sharks to whirl pools, that will require clever strategies to pass. After you collect the ducklings you must guide them to a little ‘Exit’ whirlpool.

What makes the game interesting is that it isn’t how many ducks you rescue, it’s how long your ‘chain’ of ducklings gets. So, while you COULD grab a duckling here and there and drop them straight into the exit, but you would only gain a time bonus for the longest chain of ducklings that were following you. The time bonus is -( chain of ducklings / 2 ), so for instance if you collected 48 ducklings you would have 24 seconds subtracted off of your total time. Each stage awards you metals (Gold, Silver, Bronze) for completing it within a given time, and there are a few unlockables at the end of the game (solid gold, silver or bronze duck that’s weighted differently for getting the respective metal on every level.)

This adds some serious challenge to an already superb game. Though I haven’t mentioned it, Super Rub-a-Dub deserves an award for the cleanest, simplest UI that I’ve ever seen in a game. The presentation is amazing (eat it Lemmings HD!) and the graphics are beautifully rendered. If you have children, love to party, or simply want to trick somebody into becoming an avid gamer, this is the game for you. If you own a PS3 it’s also a must have.

Besides that, what else are you going to spend 7 bucks on? You’re probably just going to waste it on Diet Coke at McDonalds or something (DANIEL!)

So, do yourself a favor, purchase this game and show the developers that the Demo Ducks deserve a few sequels. This game easily gets a 5/5. It’s very easily worth every dime.

As an aside, I’ve played at least 8 Wii games and the 6axis (though there are a few times you will be wrestling with it) handles better than on this game than every Wii game I’ve had the chance to play. Not to mention the fact that it’s the only PS3 game that I’ve seen that’s controlled completely by the 6axis. Bopo blows, buy this game.

Edit: Here is a video I found on youtube that shows the tutorial and a few levels of this game, albeit in spanish. Enjoy!