Reviews are out of four stars.

Choose your weapons, choose your threads and cruise the streets as Crockett or Tubbs in a movie-inspired adventure that claims to be a third-person shooter but stirs in stealth and puzzles to keep things interesting.

"Miami Vice: The Game" (Sierra Entertainment; PSP; $39.99; rated M) drips with action, attitude and atmosphere, creating the sensation that you're one of Miami's hippest detectives as you slink through South Beach or pursue drug dealers in wild boat chases in Biscayne Bay. Lighting, sound, settings and cut scenes all are terrific, creating a real sense of a dangerous place teeming with dangerous people.

A spinoff from the summer film starring Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell, this "Vice" draws from the same well of source material but doesn't require you to have seen the movie first to figure out how to proceed. Play as Crockett or Tubbs in single-player mode, or join in a cooperative mission with another PSP owner. [Each player needs a copy of the game for this option.]

At heart, "Vice" is a shooter that unfolds as Crockett or Tubbs go undercover on missions to locate drugs, set up increasingly complicated and time-sensitive deals and eventually take down a vicious South American drug kingpin.

Gun battles are fairly straightforward, and the control setup is very simple and smooth as you switch your weapons and stance from charging straight ahead to taking cover. Action sounds and feels realistic, particularly because well-developed settings provide depth and distance as you scan for hidden hazards that may pop up out of the horizon or the car parked three feet away.

But there's more here than merely target practice.

You also must acquire weapons and outfits to enhance your street cred. Nearly everything you do has an impact on your reputation, which is vitally important to your success. Do you boast and bluster, or employ a little tact? Try it both ways, and see how you fare.

As you explore Miami's drug underground, you'll meet and negotiate with dealers and informants, set up purchases of various drugs and gradually boost the rep you'll need to get close to your ultimate target. You'll need to employ other skills as well -- a sometimes confusing minigame requires you to hack into flash RAM devices to retrieve data stored inside.

And, of course, it wouldn't be "Miami Vice'' without taking the action onto the water. Night action sometimes looks a bit murky, but for the most part, settings that are washed with brilliant sunlight or glow with neon are a strong point of "Vice.''

Those of us who remember the '80s "Miami Vice'' television show, with its trademark soundtrack of moody hits, might be surprised not to find a similar extensive playlist here. But the understated instrumentals we hear instead do enhance the game's edgy or ominous moods.

One gripe about sound, however -- couldn't the bad guys find a few new threats to bellow during gun battles? Our family newspaper status bars us from elaborating. But it does strike us that the creativity employed to make "Vice'' stand out in so many other ways should have been extended to its dialogue as well.