Originally Published: August 16, 2011, on EGMNOW.COM

Publisher: Konami
Developer: AQ Interactive
Platforms: PS3

The Good: Extra assassin missions in stunning 1080p HD graphics
The Bad: Still riding around Santa Destroy on your motorcycle
The Ugly: The PS Move controls are just as clunky as the Wii version’s

One of the most original and fun games I’ve played on the current generation of consoles came from one of the most delightfully twisted developer minds around in Suda 51. The first No More Heroes had flaws, but many could be overlooked by the brilliant humor and over the top situations. Include some epic and unforgettable boss battles and the original game was definitely a winner.

Unfortunately, this gaming gem fell through the cracks for many because it was a Wii-exclusive. Until now. No More Heroes: Heroes Paradise is not only a port of that original game to the PS3, but it includes nearly twice as many foes for Travis Touchdown, our sex with an anime girl and pro-wrestling obsessed beam katana wielding (imagine cheap lightsaber) protagonist, to assassinate as he works on becoming the number one assassin in the world.

But with this port also come many of the same problems found in the original game as well as some new ones. Set in the fictional sandbox world of Santa Destroy, Travis still spends too much time on his motorcycle, needlessly driving from objective to objective. And although the new side missions to build up cash are cute, they are really nothing more than unnecessary distractions from the main game of hacking up your foes into tiny little pieces. And if you use the PS Move, the controls to hack up your enemies with your beam katana are just as finicky as the original game for the Wii. There are moments where everything is picked up perfectly and then there are others where you have to repeat the same motion a dozen times. You can also stock up to three “Dark Side” charges now, which allow Travis to go into a blood lust rage and hack his foes apart with much greater ease and take no damage, but I felt the original mechanic of having them activate immediately when earned worked fine and this new method makes the game’s natural difficulty much simpler to overcome.

Despite these control and game flow problems, the script and boss battles are still tremendous and if you haven’t had a chance to play the original No More Heroes then to experience it for the first time in 1080p on the PS3 would be the way to go. But if you’ve already risen to the top of the assassin ranks with the Wii version, the extra bosses aren’t really enough to warrant picking up this port.

Score: 7.5