Looking for a hero? Check out the summer's new portable video games

By Benjamin Krueger Aug 22, 2010, 13:37 GMT

Hamburg - The video gaming industry never tires of stories about heroes, whether they be old movie heroes making a comeback, sports heroes or warriors who fight with puzzles.

This summer, there's no shortage of heroes on portable devices. Fans of the tried and true can look to the heroes of Toy Story 3. If you're looking for a sports idol, there's Pro Cycling Manager - Tour de France 2010. And if you like challenging puzzles, there's Puzzle Quest 2.

Cowboy Woody and Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear remain the stars in Toy Story 3. As before, their mission is to save the contingent of toys from a child's room. But, if you're only a few centimetres tall like the toys, every stair step and rolling basketball can be potentially life-threatening.

Not surprisingly, players go through the game's Story mode in first-player perspective mode. But things get really interesting in other parts of the game, when the toys find themselves in their own fantasy worlds: Buzz fights his way through outer space while Woody has a Wild West adventure. Allies can be called upon to help out in these levels.

The game, based on the film of the same name, has been released by Disney Interactive for the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP. It will sell for 40 euros (51 dollars).

Pro Cycling Manager - Tour de France 2010 is a completely different game. Professional bicyclists spend three weeks in July cycling through France, climbing the Pyrenees and letting the pedals fly when they coast down.

Even though the real Tour de France is over for the year, true fans can still enjoy the event with the new game, from Koch Media, for 40 euros.

Thanks to extensive licensing arrangements, the PSP game highlights 66 teams competing not only in France, but also on various international routes. As team manager, players direct their cyclists through the races, oversee their training beforehand and, during gameplay, can even take over a bicycle.

For those who aren't too into sports or fighting, but don't want to miss out on the quest for glory, there is the new DS game Puzzle Quest 2, from Namco Bandai, for 40 euros.

This is a game that relies on brainpower to beat one's opponent. It is a mixture of fantasy adventure and puzzle game where the sword does not rule. Opponents meet in a puzzle competition where they must try to put three stones of the same colour, picked from a board full of stones, into a row to beat the other contestant.

Depending upon whether only three stones are put in a row and what colour those stones are, the more damage that is sustained by one's opponent. There are valuable items to be won if a player manages to unleash a chain reaction or puts five stones of the same colour into a row. These improve the strength of one's player, preparing them for even greater feats down the road.

A new version of the popular Dragon Quest series has been for sale since the end of July. Dragon Quest 9: Sentinels of the Starry Skies, the newest edition from Square Enix, costs 38 euros and offers a role-playing adventure that can stretch for more than 100 hours.

It can take a good chunk of time just to create one's own hero from a menu containing countless options. Players get to pick their character's height, hair and skin colour before it's even time to go hunting for the fruit of the holy tree Yagdrasil, which can grant wishes.