Released on the PlayStation Vita back in 2012, Gravity Rush focuses on using gravity to traverse the open world, take down enemies, acquire new abilities and carry out impressive gravity strikes. One of the game’s major selling point was its fantastic art style which was critically praised by several publications and players alike.

Implementing a line drawing methodology, the level design allowed the players to sense where they need to traverse, something that can get confusing given the game’s emphasis on the verticality of a living background. Project Siren, the developers behind the original PS Vita version had ensured that the backgrounds are actually a part of the game, interwoven with the unique gameplay mechanics the game offers. Players can literally feel the environments and in my opinion, the game’s art expression could be overwhelming at times, but in a good way.

Head to head comparison between the PS4 and PS Vita versions of Gravity Rush. Select 1080p and 60fps for best possible playback quality.

Overall, while the development team pushed for an open world setting, they did not compromised the level of freedom that the gameplay needed to offer. The development team strived over and over again to overcome the technical limitations offered by the PlayStation Vita and ensured that their gravity defying vision was not lost.

And that is definitely not lost in this impressive remastered port for the PlayStation 4. Honestly speaking, anything coming from BluePoint Games is nothing short of spectacular these days. Be it the amazing Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection on the PS4 or Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection on last gen consoles, the Texas based company knows what they are doing. Their legacy of developing and enhancing older gen ports to make them standout on current gen consoles continues with Gravity Rush Remastered for the PlayStation 4. Most of the company’s work has been on consoles so bringing a handheld title such as Gravity Rush on a reasonably modern console is not an easy job to do.

Adapting something to a larger screen that is meant to be played on a smaller device is an intimidating challenge and the developer has handled this transition with grace. The PlayStation 4 version runs at a glorious 1080p resolution compared to the measly resolution on the PlayStation Vita. Come to think of it, this is a substantial resolution improvement, specially given how much of the game’s core assets were targeted for Sony’s handheld.

The bump in the resolution and image quality are not the only enhancements you will observe. The PS4 version now runs at an almost locked 60 frames per second compared to the 30fps on the PS Vita. This is obviously down to the fact that the PS4 is a much more powerful device than the PS Vita but hey, we have seen several remasters in the past that don’t actually run at 60fps. The improvements in performance bring a massive boost to gameplay mechanics. The gameplay feels much smoother and slicker and this is in someways is a game changer.

The game now uses a custom post processing anti-aliasing solution, something that is completely absent in the PS Vita version along with anisotropic filtering compared to the lower quality filtering solution found in the handheld version. The latter results into sharper textures on ground surfaces and the characters’ dark outlines look more prominent than ever. As is the case with most remasters from BluePoint Games, the core assets have been upgraded to bring them closer to the technical standards of today.

The texture has been reworked and have their details improved resulting into better geometry overall. High Dynamic Range lighting has been employed in several places and shadows are much cripser than the bland ones found on the PS Vita.

What’s more? The PS Vita specific controls have been translated well to the PS4 and you won’t face any troubles getting accustomed to them. Better looking characters, detailed foliage, updated textures and improved level of detail are just a few of the many improvements that BluePoint Games have brought to this fantastic console port.

In many ways, the work done on Gravity Rush Remastered is somewhat similar to what Square Enix did for Final Fantasy Type-0 HD for the PS4 and Xbox One. The latter featured improved resolution, better post processing effects, screen space reflections but the lack of 60 fps was a little disappointing. Gravity Rush Remastered does all of that along with a solid 60 frames per second performance which positively impacts the game in many different ways.

This may surprise many, but Gravity Rush Remastered might very well be BluePoint Games’ best remastered product. Yes, the developer managed to outshine our expectations with the exceptional Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection on the PS4 and Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection before that but bringing this amount of detail and fidelity in a PlayStation Vita title is something out of the ordinary. BluePoint Games could have simply taken the easy path by upgrading the rendering resolution and updating a few post processing effects here and there and labeled it as a remaster. But no, they went beyond with this port, delivering one of the best remasters in recent years.

This makes us very hopeful for Gravity Rush 2 for the PlayStation 4 which already looks to be a step ahead of the original. The game reportedly runs at 1080p and Team Gravity, the developers behind Gravity Rush 2, are targeting a solid 60fps. It will be interesting to see whether they will be able to achieve that but the series has gotten off to a good start on the PlayStation 4 with Gravity Rush Remastered.

Gravity Rush Remastered, the PS4 upport of the PS Vita cult classic, is out already in Hong Kong (and in English too!) although it doesn’t launch in the west until early next year. If you are curious to see how the game looks and performs on the PS4, consider this your lucky day- we have brand new footage for the game that shows off over 20 minutes of gameplay.

I think the game translates well to the PS4, at least visually- which may have quite a bit to do with just how gorgeous the game’s artstyle is. My hope is that Sony also takes this opportunity to patch up the original game’s substantial and numerous gameplay issues.

Gravity Rush 2 is also in development. Unfortunately, it will be launching exclusively on the PlayStation 4, meaning Vita owners are out of luck on that one. Still, hopefully the series can come into its own and achieve the kind of success it otherwise never could on the PS Vita.

With Gravity Rush 2 coming to the PS4 exclusively, Sony will also be catching players who may not ever have had the chance to go hands on with the first adventure, which was out on the PS Vita exclusively, up with Gravity Rush Remastered, which will bring that adventure to the PS4.

The video that you can see below shows off a hefty chunk of the remastered game’s gameplay, and you can see for yourself just how great the game looks, now that it’s been cleaned up. Gravity Rush always had great art- the PS4 really highlights that.

In addition to the improved graphics, Gravity Rush Remastered will also include a new “Gallery Mode,” that will allow players to enjoy the game’s artwork in high resolution. It should be just another way of appreciating just how beautiful the art in this game really is.

Gravity Rush Remastered will be out on PS4. Stay tuned.

Fans of the Playstation Vita hit, Gravity Rush got rather good news when at this year’s Tokyo Games Show. Sony announced that not only was the original getting a remaster and a port to the PS4 but the company is also going to be making a Gravity Rush 2. The remastered version of the game is coming in the first part of February while the sequel to this much-loved game is coming in 2016, though an official release date hasn’t yet been announced.

While the official announcement at the Tokyo Games Show is a welcome one, this didn’t exactly come out of the blue. Talk about the eventual port of this title has been going on since March of this year. Where the company did manage to pull of a surprise is the announcement that the sequel is also going to be hitting the PS4. Certainly there is a devoted fanbase for this game but this still marks one of the very first time that a PS Vita title was actually ported over to the full sized console.

Usually Sony is working the other way around, taking PS4 games and making them playable on the portable format. This game seems to have enough of a fanbase that the corporation believes it will be enough to make it worth bringing both titles next year. This also seems to be yet another signal that Sony really is moving far, far away from really supporting the Vita. Gravity Rush remastered is coming on February 9, 2016 and Gravity Rush 2 will arrive sometime next year as well.