Sony is launching the Vita with one of the largest launch lineups in console history—25 day one titles running the gamut across genres and styles. It's a lineup dominated by ports and sequels of varying quality, as well as a few wholly original gems (and clunkers). After spending a good deal of time with many of those launch titles over the past few week and a half, I thought I'd share my impressions of which ones are actually worth checking out.

Before we get into it, it's important to note that I haven't come close to "finishing" any of these games. In general, I put enough time into each title to figure out what it brought to the table and what made it tick. Sometimes this was as little as a half hour of testing, other times I was drawn in for multiple hours of blissful play. In any case, these summaries should be considered initial impressions rather than full reviews.

Games are all available now unless otherwise noted. Game prices listed here are for the retail versions unless otherwise noted; digital editions downloaded from the PlayStation Store tend to run ten percent cheaper. Also, don't forget to check out my full review of Uncharted: Golden Abyss.

Buy It

Lumines Electronic Symphony

MSRP: $40

One of the best puzzle games ever made, and easily one of my favorite games of all time, makes its return for the Vita launch. The gameplay is almost entirely unchanged from previous versions of Lumines— you're still arranging squares made up of four two-toned blocks so that similar colors are grouped together, to be destroyed by a constantly scanning vertical bar that matches the rhythm of the music.

Every move you make in Lumines adds a few notes on top of a constantly changing, techno-infused soundtrack, though I felt these audio signals weren't so well-integrated into the lyric-heavy backbeat this time around. The song selection didn't tickle my fancy nearly as much as did the original Lumines, either, though perhaps I just need to play a bit more to really get the tunes buried in my head.

Electronic Symphony does introduce a new block type that randomly rearranges all adjacent blocks into a new color pattern, a feature I found a bit frustrating when it managed to ruin a carefully constructed combo. You can use the touchscreen rather than the standard buttons to move and rotate blocks, but the new controls actually make it harder to see what you're doing and to place blocks efficiently, and they are easily ignored.

While the game itself isn't significantly different from any of the existing <i>Lumines</i> games you've (hopefully) played the high-resolution graphics and improved presentation here make it worth shelling out the additional money.

Wipeout 2048

MSRP: $40

The hover-racing in Wipeout still hasn't changed much since it premiered on the original PlayStation back in 1995, but this is by far the most polished portable version of the game. The Vita's large screen enhances the sense of speed you get as the ground rushes past your hovercraft, and it gives you a wide view of the track ahead to plan out future turns.

Wipeout's swoopy controls ride that careful edge where you constantly feel at risk of totally losing control—without ever actually falling over into "uncontrollable" territory. Of course, the series-standard, bass heavy techno soundtrack helps drive the experience, making you grip that virtual accelerator even tighter.

The worst part of the whole experience is decently long load times of 30 seconds or so before every race starts—which is sort of odd for a title being loaded off a flash card rather than a disc. Also, used purchasers should be warned that they'll have to pay $10 for an online pass to play over the Internet. That's a shame, because the multiplayer campaign mode, which adds objectives to random battles with online strangers, is definitely worth checking out.

Rayman Origins

MSRP: $40

This is an amazingly faithful recreation of the tragically undersold console version that came out late last year. The highly animated, high-definition, hand-drawn characters come through beautifully on the Vita screen (especially if you use a quick touchscreen pinch to zoom in on them and the environments). It's really like a classic cartoon come to life, possibly more so than any other game that's come before.

Origins is still a tough-as-nails 2D platform game on the Vita, full of challenging jumps, time-based trials and basic, slapstick combat, as well as enough hidden nooks and crannies to keep you busily searching for a while. You can now tap on the Vita's touchscreen to pop item-filled bubbles and to activate certain moving platforms, which helps add a nice vibrancy to the environments.

The only thing really missing from the newly portable version is a total lack of the cooperative play that was one of the console version's best features. It's a baffling omission, especially since so many other launch titles have managed to include robust online modes through the PlayStation Network or local, multi-unit play. The game is still utterly charming in single-player mode, but it's hard not to feel a little cheated over this omission.

Touch My Katamari

MSRP: $30—Available: Feb. 21

The Katamari experience of rolling disparate objects into a huge, sticky ball should be familiar to most players by now, but this is the first time it has come to a portable system with proper, dual-stick controls. Touch My Katamari also adds a touchscreen control option, but this ends up being more frustrating than it's worth; your fingers get in the way of scanning the environment for items to pick up.

The game makes one of the best uses of the Vita's rear touchpad that I've seen, though, letting you squeeze or stretch your Katamari into a more ovoid shape to cut a wider swath across the ground or to fit into narrow passageways. It's an intuitive motion that will quickly become second nature, and it adds a little additional depth to the familiar gameplay situations.

Other than that, the game's backstory remains as wacky and nonsensical as ever, and the King of All Cosmos remains one of the most enigmatically written characters in all of gaming. The novelty might be gone, but gathering an entire room into one massive, rolling ball to the strains of super-happy J-pop is still a great stress reliever and some of the best silly fun to be had on any system.

Super Stardust Delta

Download Only: $10

An excellent portable version of one of the best dual-stick shooters on the PS3, Super Stardust Delta has you clearing fields of asteroids floating on a grid that hovers over the surface of a spherical planet. You'll alternate between a whip-like fire weapon and a spread shot ice laser, each of which is suited against different color coded enemies, and both of which gain more power as you go thanks to plentiful item drops.

The way the massive asteroids break up into tiny, splintering pebbles is mesmerizing, and the sheer amount of debris on screen at one time always threatens to overwhelm without being totally impossible to navigate. The real challenge comes through a wide variety of ship-chasing robotic enemies, which come in tight, pre-programmed waves, and inventive, screen-filling bosses that take a good deal of strategizing to survive.

Delta throws the Vita's touch controls into the mix in some modes, letting you launch a raft of missiles with a touchscreen tap or place a black hole by tapping on the rear touch panel. You can also shake the Vita to set off an area-clearing EMP bomb, a nice touch that's quite natural in a frustrating situation. But the dual analog sticks are the real stars here, bringing the freedom to move in one direction and shoot in another to a portable system in terrific fashion.

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3

MSRP: $40

It's a bit odd to be entering an age where portable fighting games are every bit as compelling as their console counterparts, but that seems to be where we find ourselves. This is an amazingly full-featured conversion of the console version of Capcom's over-the-top fighting game, packed with a ridiculous number of characters from the Marvel and Capcom universes. The character-swapping, super-move- and combo-heavy action can be a bit confusing to a novice, but there's plenty of fun to be had just by button mashing and experimenting with characters until you find one that fits your style.

The Vita version offers up a mode with optional touch controls, where a tap can set off anything from a dashing four-hit attack sequence to a super-meter-draining mega-combo. You can also use the rear touch-panel to move your character around, or tap one of the character names on screen for a quick switch. The new controls don't really add much to the experience, especially when the Vita d-pad and buttons are perfectly well suited for pulling off moves.

Listing image by Photograph by PlayStation.Blog