Box Art Title Genre Description

The 3rd Birthday Third Person Shooter A third person shooter utilizing lock-on targeting and a cover system. There's some added strategy in the form of "Overdive", giving you the ability to take control of other soldiers on the fly, or teleport inside enemies to finish them off. The story is cringeworthy and difficulty to follow, but the graphics are superb. Playable on

Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception Flight Has the same epic dogfighting, megalithic bosses, and awe inspiring free roam maps as its console brethren, while also introducing a branching campaign structure, making it one of the biggest games in the series. Additionally, your machinegun now has a lock, making it MUCH easier to use, and makes this game feel just that more snappy and fun to play.

Ace Combat: Joint Assault Flight This one is sort of an odd duck, as it doesn't share a universe with other Ace Combat titles, and feels unusually short and dialogue-heavy. Regardless, the game is highly memorable due to its sheer emphasis on sky base bosses. (a typical Ace Combat trope, but nowhere near to the extent seen here) Not to mention an astounding instrumental soundtrack (plus some PS1 tunes and a random jrock song thrown in) and fun villains, giving the game the feel of a feature film.

Adventures to Go! RPG / Roguelike Mixes stuff from classics for a solid RPG. Battles resemble Dragon Quarter (but tiles vs free-flow), magic is combined Light Crusader style, dungeons are random (but you'll influence what's found), and character interactions are amusing. You play as Finn the FABULOUS Fantastic, a greedy badass seeking quick cash at a local adventure agency, which may be out to kill him for his insurance money.

The initial price may have been off-putting for some, but it's now roughly $15 (100 kr). A pretty good deal. Playable on

BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II Fighting An updated version of the awesome BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger Portable. All the effects are still in check, with the exception of the sprite resolution. A good way to practice your combos on the go if you have the console version. Playable on There's also a later version, Blazblue: Continuum Shift Extend, but that one's JP only.

Burnout Legends Racing A flagship Burnout title created and endorsed by Criterion themselves. Has a great sense of speed and courses that are epic in length. Contains separate campaigns for races and crash events, but this means there are way too many crash events (about a hundred of them, literally) with many of them being slight variations of one another.

Burnout Dominator Racing A Burnout centered around boost chaining. If you boost for long enough, your entire meter is replenished, thereby making it possible to boost indefinitely. In fact, the courses are designed with exactly this in mind, and the game's many Dominator events challenge you to keep this up as long as you can without crashing.

Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles Platformer The formerly PC Engine exclusive Castlevania classic, Rondo of Blood, has been given a 3D makeover for the PSP. If you love whipping skeletons, this is your game. Not quite as hard as the NES Castlevanias, but still fairly difficult (unless you use Maria, you babby). Playable on

Class of Heroes RPG A First-Person Dungeon Crawler inspired Wizardry based around STRATEGY. So think ahead before your ass gets ashed. The meek-willed and meek-brained need not apply. Like old school dungeon crawlers, dungeons are full of traps, loot, and hordes of monsters. There's also a number of side-quests, and helpful shit like alchemy and party-based attacks. If you like these sorts of games and are looking for a fair challenge, you'll love this. Gets notably easier after gaining a few levels, provided your party setup doesn't suck. Note: Has sequels, Class of Heroes 2 is out now but the rest currently Japan only. Playable on

Crimson Gem Saga RPG An old school (think SNES era) JRPG with the typical Attack-Skill-Item-Run battle system. Simple, fun gameplay with fantastic looking character sprites and decent voice acting. Tends to go for fairly cheap as well. Also on iPhone, if you so desire to play it that way.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Action RPG A prequel to Final Fantasy VII that focuses on Zack and his friends- all members of SOLDIER- as they try to cope with the breakdown of the organization. The gameplay mixes real time combat with a “slot machine” for overdrives, summons and leveling.

Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower Fighting A port of Vampire Chronicle for Matching Service (Japan-only game for the Dreamcast) which allows the player to choose a fighting style based on all previous Darkstalkers arcade titles. If you've never played a Darkstalkers game before, this one is worth looking into. There are no in-game command lists, however. Playable on

Daxter Platformer You play as Daxter, the sidekick from the Jak and Daxter series, working as an exterminator. Better than it sounds. Expect purdy graphics, huge stages, a good sense of atmosphere, and plenty of aerial platforming involving Daxter's spray gun.

Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness SRPG Astoundingly addictive turn-based tactics gameplay. Exclusive extras include Etna mode and ad-hoc multiplayer. Despite what you may hear, you only REALLY need to grind in post-game, as it makes the main story stages seem laughably easy in comparison. One of the best ports/remixes that this has gotten, and it's gotten a shit load of them. Gameplay video here Playable on

Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days SRPG Plot isn't completely related to the first so you can easily pick up. Graphics are smooth and nice. Enjoy grindan all those 9,999 levels and reincarnating 90 times all over again, this time with new guys. As an added bonus if you have Disgaea 1 save data on your stick, you get an exclusive loli ronin. Highly Recommended. Has some extra DLC stuff too. Gameplay video here Playable on

Dissidia Final Fantasy Action An innovative over the top fighting/action/platformer game the likes of which has never been done before. It can take a while to figure out though and sadly the game is dunked in a pool of egregious RPG bullshit such as chocobo play plans (???) and a thing where you choose which day of the week will give you more exp (???), but it doesn't really matter. The gameplay feels rigorously tested and manages to stay compelling even after the hundreds of battles required by the story. Highlights include being able to equip new attacks on your favorite character (choose button mapping, even) and a brilliant postgame with AI that will push both you and the gameplay to its limits. Playable on

Dissidia 012 Action An expansion to Dissidia Final Fantasy, adding a prequel saga and new playable characters. After finishing the prequel story, the game rolls right into a second arc that covers the entire story of the first game, with all the cutscenes intact. Because of this, some players choose to skip the first game altogether. Playable on

DJMAX Portable 1, 2, Clazziquai Edition, Black Square, Fever, Hot Tunes & 3 Music/Rhythm A shameless Beatmania clone you-are-the-DJ-hit-the-keys game that's got the goods. Addictive music, nice background videos, and that same ol' rhythm gameplay. All have songs ranging from easy to insanely hard. Clazziquai is easiest (it was built for music game beginners) and Black Square (built for series/genre veterans), Portable 1 and Portable 2 all offer challenge in some way. Fever and Hot Tunes are west-oriented versions featuring a mixed songlist from both Portable 1 and 2. Fever actually saw a (limited) physical run in the US. Black Square and Fever have a "feature" called autocorrect, which means that pressing the wrong button at the right time doesn't break your combo (but results in a small score penalty) which can't be turned off. Also, don't even bother with DJMAX Portable 3 . It has a lousy song selection with both Technika songs and remastered classics, no 8 buttons mode (shut up and change your difficulty to hard mode, 8b is still not there) and the new mode featured, called Remix, suck balls pretty hard breathes new life into old, overplayed songs. Plus, to unlock everything you have to grind like this was a NIS game, which I don't see why would be fun you are missing the point of rhythm games.

tl;dr, get Portable 1 Clazziquai if you're a beginner, Black Square if you're already big into music games, and go from there. (Clazziquai is actually based on a Korean band of the same name; many of their songs are featured on that version.)

Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai 2 - Another Road Fighting A fantastic DBZ game on the PSP with arguably the fastest, smoothest fighting gameplay system of all Dragon Ball games. Bold statement, but I stand by it. Great for fans of the series who want a DBZ game for on-the-go fun. Fighting mechanics are fast and fun, roster is filled with fan favourites, some good replay value, just all around a great DBZ fighting game.

Echochrome Puzzle A highly conceptual puzzler that has you changing the camera's perspective to modify the environment for armatures to escape. The sequel, Echoshift, has you messing around with time to solve puzzles. Playable on

Every Extend Extra Shoot 'em up A shoot 'em up in which your only method of defense is to blow yourself up in a strategic area, trying to take as many with you as possible.

Exit Platformer Some like it, some hate it. A very stylish game, where you play an 'escapologist' and help people escape from dangerous buildings. The slow walking and ungainly running may put people off, but it's really like a game of Lemmings, except that you're one of the lemmings it's basically Abe's Exoddus/Odyssey . All of this is done in a sort of cel-shaded, cartoony style. There's also a sequel, Exit 2, which was released on PSP and Xbox Live Arcade. Gameplay video here

The Eye of Judgment: Legends CCG Remember how Sony's E3 conference from 2006 had that one card game with the camera? Well good news, it's a regular videogame this time around- no camera or physical cards required. There's even an actual single player campaign with a story, the ability to earn money to buy cards, and gorgeous anime-ish artwork. A short game, but worth checking out. Playable on

Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake Capture the Flag Princess A cartoon-styled fantasy action game played using an overhead perspective (making it kind of like The Legend of Zelda) featuring team based gameplay and copious amounts of blood. (Yep.. exactly like Zelda..) Choose one of several jobs such as Warrior, Archer, or Priest, and run amok killing the opposing team's doods or making a run for their princess. Sprawling maps offer plenty of strategic choke points, outposts to capture, and hidden shortcuts you can use to get the drop on your enemies. Includes a single player campaign with narrated storybook style scenes between missions.

Fate/EXTRA RPG Text heavy, but well translated. Choose one of three different servants (Saber, Archer, or Caster), and let the adventure unfold as you try to piece together your forgotten past. The game can get a little repetitive in terms of the pacing, which holds it back from reaching its full potential, but is still a decent experience if you have the patience. Playable on

Final Fantasy RPG An updated port of the first Final Fantasy released in celebration of the 20th anniversary. The game mostly makes use of the groundwork laid by the PS1 and GBA remasters but brings a few new additions of its own. Character sprites look all RPG maker, but some of the spell effect animations and monster art are ballin'. Be warned however that the game has random battles and that the encounter rate can get pretty over the top. (In some places they can occur with a single step) Playable on (EU only)

Final Fantasy II RPG The second of the two ports that were released for the PSP in celebration of the Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary, this one being Final Fantasy II. Features the dungeons added to the GBA remix plus an additional new dungeon. Not as widely-liked as the first, but has its fans. Be warned however that the game has random battles. Playable on (EU only)

Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection RPG A remaster of Final Fantasy IV, plus The After Years, and an all new Interlude chapter that helps bridge the two. Be warned that the game has random battles and that the encounter rate can get downright savage in some places. Playable on (EU only)

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions SRPG A port of Final Fantasy Tactics from the PS1. The port suffers from a lot of stuttering during battle animations, which can be jarring at first. On the flip side, this version has new animated cutscenes that add a dramatic flair, a new translation (although some might be put off by the olde style English) and you get to save to up to fifteen slots using just one save file. Whichever version you go with, it's one of the best SRPGs thanks in large part to its excellent job system. Playable on A patch has been released that fixes the massive slowdown when casting spells and skills. There is also a patch that fixes the aspect ratio, resulting in sharp and clean 1:1 pixel art. CFW is required! Patch here Installation instructions here

Gitaroo Man Lives! Music/Rhythm A quirky music game ported from the PS2. Has all original music, representing a wide variety of genres. You fight demons, aliens, and giant robots with the power of rock. Protip: The new Duet songs can be played even without a partner. With a name like "Gitaroo" you might think this is all J-pop and Japanese radio rock, but you would be wrong. Oh, so wrong. Gameplay video here

Gladiator Begins RPG/Beat 'em up/Being a goddamned gladiator A pretty bare-bones simulator of life as a slave forced into the Roman arenas. What it lacks in level design and mission variety it makes up for in excellent combat mechanics, a metric shitload of customization, and the freedom to punch the helmet off of your opponent's head, and subsequently beat him to death with it. Playable on

God of War: Chains of Olympus Action-Adventure Everyone's favorite button-mashing, quick-time-eventing, gory bald albino Spartan appears on handheld for the first time. The graphics are impressive and it has the feel of a full God of War title. Playable on

God of War: Ghost of Sparta Action-Adventure Another God of War adventure for the PSP, featuring excellent graphics, new weapons, and a fun mechanic where you can hold a button down to cause your blades to be engulfed in fire, for increased damage (drains meter) as well as armored enemies which can only be defeated this way. The game has an epic feel spanning many locations and some amazing boss fights. Playable on

Gradius Collection Shoot 'em up 'Contains the arcade versions of 1-4. Plus Gradius Gaiden (originally a PS1 exclusive released only in Japan.)

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories Action-Adventure / TPS The first Grand Theft Auto for PSP and one of the best selling PSP games of all time. It is also one of the most technically impressive as the game manages to recreate Liberty City from GTA3, while setting itself part by having a different protagonist/story and new missions. Playable on

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories Action-Adventure / TPS In this game you play as Victor Vance, BAD ASS SUPAFLY MUHFUGGA and brother of Lance Vance. FUCK SHIT UP YO! Be sure to set the CPU clock speed to 333 if you're running CFW to maximize your fps, and Vice City Stories Cheat Engine for some crazy shit. (Flying cars, driving on walls, and more)

Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus Fighting The latest update to the GGXX series. Screen is a little cropped compared to Wii/PS2 version. Playable on

Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure Action RPG A charming 3D platformer-RPG ported over from the Japanese-only PC version. It plays close to a modern Ys game (3D Zelda-like with more asskicking and less exploring and gadgets). Lacks some of the extras PC got via patches though. Oh well. Playable on

Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom Visual Novel / Romance A Samurai Romance aimed at women, but don't let that stop you. Takes place at the end of the Edo period of Japan, and while it is a visual novel romance based on the perspective of a female character, it is essentially a war story that includes memorable characters and a captivating plot. Features Japanese voice acting and multiple endings. Adapted into a two-seasons anime and two different manga series. Playable on

Half-Minute Hero Puzzle, plus added minigames An assortment of RTS, action RPG, and shoot 'em up(not at the same time though), all with a unique 8-bit art style and built for quick, addictive play. Epic music and witty parody. A sequel was made for PC.

Harvest Moon: Boy & Girl Farming An updated PSP port of Back to Nature alongside the only official English release of Back to Nature for Girl, very well done PSP port and Back to Nature may be the greatest Harvest Moon alongside 64. The usual fun, comfy and cute gameplay and atmosphere of Harvest Moon games. Playable on

Harvest Moon: Hero of Leaf Valley Farming A remake/port/sequel (we can't tell) of Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland for PS2. Much better than Save the Homeland. You can get married this time (but still cannot have kids for some reason), there are new features to play with and waifus to court and/or marry. Playable on

Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law Courtroom simulator It's actually made by Capcom, and plays exactly like Phoenix Wright. It's fully animated, and looks just like the show.

Hexyz Force RPG Sting takes some elements from Riviera and Evolution to make a surprisingly solid RPG. It actually has TWO pretty different stories (using the same battle system), yet they cross over every so often. Definitely worth a shot if you don't mind something different or are a fan of the two mentioned games above. Playable on

Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier Platformer / Flight Lost Frontier is both a 3D platformer and a surprisingly fleshed out flight game, with multiple aircraft. You can explore the maps in your plane looking for collectibles, and launch Daxter at enemy planes to loot them for upgrades. Playable on

Jeanne d'Arc SRPG An SRPG version of the story of Joan of Arc, with plenty of anime-style fantasy and voice-acted cutscenes to boot. With good-looking, fully 3D graphics, it's a quality title. Watch out for ZE ACCENTS. Playable on

Juiced: Eliminator Racing A calendar-based street racing RPG in which you earn respect points in various categories such as drag racing, pink slip races, AI team races, show-off events, and more. Not only is the game varied but quite large, as each category is represented with a rival character, with their own unique location, with multiple course layouts each. The selection of cars is shockingly large and you can upgrade, tweak, and visually customize to your liking, and the ability to unlock prototype parts gives the game unsurpassed depth and replayability. The soundtrack is also REALLY FUN and includes Limp Bizkit, Fall Out Boy, and The All-American Rejects, and this one really amazing song by someone called Sennah.

Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble Being a Badass / Beat 'em up You are a student in a school trip. You are also a badass who desires to go around kicking the asses of other badasses because you wanna be the ULTIMATE BADASS! The game has pretty good combat and a quirky sense of humor. Playable on

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep Action RPG A Kingdom Hearts prequel game in which you play as three characters: Terra, Ventus, and Aqua, each with their own story. The game can be enjoyed with little to no prior story knowledge. If your PSP has CFW, there's an english patch for the Final Mix version. New keyblades, D-links and, if you're willing to sacrifice battery, higher-quality textures.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky RPG Plays like your standard console RPG, but in which battles are done in somewhat of a grid based SRPG style. If you have the patience, you'll find yourself with the best universe ever created in a videogame, with well developed characters. The ending is build-up for the events of the next game named Trails in the Sky SC, or Second Chapter, which is said to be the best part of the series and is being brought over to USA by the localization team of Recettar in 2014. Xseed pushed them out of the project since Cape Fulgur couldn't handle fully translating the game with the 3 years they were given, making XSeed due the majority of the work. Playable on

LocoRoco Platformer A surreal experience controlling amorphous blobs in a dreamy, pastel world. Definitely worth a look for the smooth animation and unique controls. Playable on

Lumines II Falling Block An early system seller, Lumines was like a musically themed version of Tetris. The sequel, Lumines II, sports a broader assortment of music and tons more skins, with some skins featuring actual video. Expect to see the entire music video for Black Eyed Peas "Pump It" while you're playing.

Lunar: Silver Star Harmony RPG A remix of Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete that has new voices, hand-drawn graphics, remastered music, Legend's Arts Gauge, and a new prologue about The Four Heroes. (Note: buying from PSN is HIGHLY recommended as UMD load times can get kinda sucky. The translation and voices could be better (given WD's awesome original), but as is, they get the job done decently. Playable on

Mawaskes / Puzzle Guzzle Puzzle A so-cute-I-can-die puzzler where the goal is to complete diagonal shapes and rack up combos. The more combos you get the more blocks fall on your opponent (like Tetris Attack). It's small, and fits on almost any memory card. Known as "Puzzle Guzzle" in NA and "Mawaskes" everywhere else.

Medal of Honor: Heroes FPS The best first person shooter on PSP. (For what that's worth..) It's rather simplistic, but absolutely nails it when it comes to the overall feel, including gunplay and controls, making the game just satisfying to play. There's even a skirmish mode included. Playable on

Mega Man Maverick Hunter X Platformer A 3D makeover for the original Mega Man X. Gameplay is pretty much identical. Has an extra game mode where you play as recurring villain, Vile, who has 3 customizable slots for different attacks. Playable on

Mega Man Powered Up Platformer A remake of the first Mega Man, with a dose of SD and goofy voice acting. This might as well be considered its own game, since the level layouts are all new and there are two new robot masters- Time Man and Oil Man, which you can play as. Also includes an excellent level editor which is surprisingly easy to use.

Archer Maclean's Mercury Puzzle Control a liquid blob of mercury through a maze. It's sort of like Labyrinth, or Super Monkey Ball, but with a blob instead of a ball. The blob can be rubbed against pointy objects to split into two, which is usually required to solve puzzles. Some puzzles also involve changing the blob's color, and at times you might even need to merge two different colored blobs to create a third color- it's madness! The game received a cel shaded sequel, Mercury Meltdown, which has an enormous amount of stages, and near impossible difficulty. Playable on

Metal Gear Ac!d 1 & 2 Stealth / Combat / CCG Card-based tactics spin-off to the Metal Gear series. It's surprisingly fun if you approach it with an open mind. Also, STEREOSCOPIC 3D MOTHERFUCKER!

Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Stealth / Combat Has a story unlike Portable Ops Plus. There's a lot of plot aspects continuing from 3 and leading into MGS, although it's retconned away by Peace Walker. The game is sparse on voice acting and the controls can take a wee bit of time to get used to. There's around 40 hours worth of content if you play every mission. Playable on

Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus Stealth / Combat This game actually has no story, and is just a stand-alone expansion to the original Portable Ops. The original game is not required, but you can transfer your roster (including unique characters) if you have a save file. You can recruit a shit ton of soldiers including Old Snake and it's essentially there for the new Infinity Mission, which is you running through randomized maps trying to find checkpoints. Playable on

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker Stealth / Combat Big Boss goes to Costa Rica, starts a mercenary company, and defeats a walking robot that launches nukes - you know how it goes. The game features excellent graphics and offers you a choice between shooter style and action style control schemes. Note that a remaster of the game is available in the MGS HD collection on PS3/360. The remaster is not included in the Vita version of the HD collection, but the PSP version can still be played on it. Playable on

Metal Slug Anthology Run and Gun Metal Slug 1-6 on the go. Features unlockables like music and wallpapers that you can just get from Google, and the loading and saving features may be off-putting to some, but hey, it's still fucking Metal Slug on the go. Playable on

Metal Slug XX Run and Gun Upgraded port of Metal Slug 7 for the Nintendo DS. Not the best game in the series, but still pretty awesome. Beautiful sprites and music. Now with MULTIPLAYER and Leona. Playable on

Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition Racing A whopper of an open world arcade racer, featuring a large selection of vehicles (including motorcycles, racing bikes, and SUVs!) and a huge campaign spanning three cities (San Diego, Atlanta, and Detroit) and an optional series you can complete for each vehicle class. You also have the ability to use the Zone, Roar, and Agro abilities, depending on your vehicle type. There is nothing quite like sliding through a corner in slo-mo! Definitely try it sometime! There's also Midnight Club: L.A. Remix, a somewhat lower quality made-for-PSP sequel, but a pretty good game still, and actually has better framerate and a higher sense of speed.

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite GIANT LIZARD HUNTING SIMULATOR Monster-hunting gameplay with excellent graphics, a variety of weapons, and a steep learning curve. Just be warned that there's a ridiculous 60 second wait time after quests, which can be a deal breaker for some. Playable on

MotorStorm: Arctic Edge Racing Stunning visuals, great physics and the most evil AI ever in racing games history. Seriously, if you go with the bike or the ATV, watch the fuck out for that snowplow! And yeah, you can also race with the snowplow crushing your opponents into the ground. The sense of speed is great with snow and mud flying into your face and the music is good too.

N+ Platformer A port spin-off of the popular flash game with entirely new levels. Features a map editor and sharer and multiplayer modes. Also on DS, XBLA and PC (best and free).

Need for Speed: Underground Rivals Racing Somehow, one of the best racers on the system despite coming out so early in the PSP's lifespan. It just plays really well and has a beefy campaign with multiple race types including drag racing. The courses offer plenty of shortcuts as well. That said, the game uses a weird setup where every race in the game has three difficulties. If you enjoy a fun, challenging racer and don't mind doing everything three times, give this a look.

Need for Speed: Carbon- Own the City Racing Has both an open world and a story, hitting you with flashy comic book style sequences the moment you start a new game. The graphics and framerate are quite good for a game that has free roam, and the map is brilliantly designed, complete with hidden crates you can look for. There's also the ability to recruit wingmen that you can call on in the middle of the race to rustle opponents or set spike traps! (But, umm, try not to run over your own spike trap.) Worth playing even if you've played Carbon on the PS3 (and vice versa!) as they're both totally different. Playable on

Neverland Card Battles Strategy / CCG Yu-Gi-Oh crossed with a strategy RPG. A rather unique twist of card and strategy games combining a few elements from both for a sort of tactics/card fusion. Gameplay is easy to learn, but deck building can be enjoyably deep at times. Music can get grating rather quickly.

OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast Racing A nice port of the comfiest driving game ever. Cruise exotic locations with your babe on a badass Ferrari. A bit on the simplistic side, but the nice visuals, excellent music, and smooth drifting gameplay will keep bringing you back.

Pangya Fantasy Golf Golf Port of Korea's popular online golf game, and one of the best golf videogames ever released for a console or handheld. Pull off some insane, physics defying shots. RPG elements such being able to buy items or equipment to help give yourself the edge against tough opponents. Surprisingly good story, and the humor manages to come through despite the translation.

PaRappa the Rapper Music/Rhythm FUCK YES YOU ARE THE BEST PORT EVER! Playable on

Patapon Rhythm RTS A charming combination of rhythm, action and RTS. You press certain buttons in time to the chanting to make your squad move, attack, etc. Pon Pon Pata Pon. Playable on

Patapon 2 Rhythm RTS This sequel includes new modes and features, such as the "evolutionary tree" and multiplayer mode. Has double the content than the first one, so it's reccomended to get this one instead if you have to choose just one. Playable on

Patapon 3 Rhythm RTS The final Patapon game released on the PSP. Has even more content than the second, but the second is preferred since this one only has 4 Patapon you can control, though each being able to be customized quite extensively. Notably darker story and atmosphere, but never gets GRIMDARK or 3EDGY5U. Still quite solid, but not the first you should start with. Playable on

Phantasy Star Portable 2 Action RPG Basically run around and attack enemies using a variety of melee and ranged weapons, collecting exp and loot along the way. A significant update over Phantasy Star Universe and Phantasy Star Portable- you can roll and block now, and PP is no longer attached to weapons, but a stat like HP. Also features a pretty good if somewhat cheesy story. An updated version of the game Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity is currently Japan only. but a translation patch is incoming.

Phantom Brave: The Hermuda Triangle SRPG Enhanced port of the PS2 NIS game. Loli necromancer and her phantom companions overcome prejudice, do odd jobs for money, save the world. Distinguished from other NI SRPGs in that the movement is not grid-based (which can be exploited, especially on ice levels) and that you can use literally anything you can pick up as a weapon. Even a fish. Even your opponents. As with the Wii port, the PSP version revamps a number of aspects, such as streamlining stat displays, adding a new scenario, some new items and attacks. The PSP version also includes new NPCs, items and hidden quests. Playable on

PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe Tower Defense A sprite-based tower defense game with a great art style, calming music, and many fun towers to wield. Playable on

Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero? Platformer Nigh-masochistic platformer (odds are you'll use nearly every life you get, and that's if you're GOOD at it). Features those penguin critters from Disgaea. Extra levels as DLC. Gameplay video here Playable on

Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood! Platformer Much improved sequel of the above. Has a baby mode for all of you who found the first too hard and need to practice, as well as some power-ups and stuff to help you out! New DLC and more playable characters like Prinny Laharl and Prinny Asagi. Playable on

Power Stone Collection Fighting Both of the hugely popular Dreamcast brawlers in one neat package with a few extras. Fun, but I hope you like squinting. Playable on

PQ: Practical Intelligence Quotient 1 & 2 Puzzle Engaging puzzle solving in an Intelligent Qube-esque world.

Pursuit Force Racing An innovative police chase driving game where you can leap onto enemy vehicles, kill everyone in it, and take control of their car. The controls are simple, but the game offers a surprising amount of strategy, and the mission designs do a good job of exploring the concept as much as possible. That said, the game is really freaking hard- be prepared to plan your actions ahead of time and restart (many, many times) the moment things don't go perfectly. Curiously, sleep mode is disabled while the game is running. Playable on

Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice Racing / Third Person Shooter Differs from its predecessor in a major way. The on-foot segments are a much bigger emphasis this time around, and they received an overhaul- you must stop moving to fire your gun, and aiming is done manually with the analog nub. It's solidly executed, and as close as you're going to get to a Resident Evil 4 like game on the PSP.

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords Match-3 An addictive 'RPG', where the battles are actually Bejeweled-style puzzle games. The sort of game where you think 'just one more fight', then you realize it's 4:30 in the morning. Prepare to cuss, your enemies cheat or get lucky always. Playable on

Race Driver 2006 Racing Here's a PSP racing game with real damage, pit stops, and up to 21 cars at once (with good AI), featuring a crap ton of real world circuits, and you've even got stock car, Formula, rally, and supertruck events to round things out. Aside from career mode, there's also a US-exclusive mode made up of various challenges such as drive the line, average speed, as well as regular races. The PSP also received TOCA Race Driver 3 Challenge which is basically just a challenge mode with improved structure and more event types, but the quality is comparable to 2006 if not better. Either way you're getting a very solid game!

Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters Platformer One of the two best 3D platformers on the system, the other, of course, being Daxter. Inventive control scheme where, instead of using the analog nub, you can turn using the L/R buttons and strafe with the dpad. It's entirely up to you. You'll dig the great graphics and music. Top notch VA and cutscenes that will make you laugh. Plenty of minigames and puzzle sequences, including some where you take control of Ratchet, as well as an entire hover-board racing side-game.

Rengoku II: The Stairway to H.E.A.V.E.N. Action RPG You play as Gram, a combat android who is trying to remember his past life as a human and what happened leading up to his death. As you would probably expect, this involves climbing a tower and taking down robotic floor bosses based on the seven deadly sins. Each part of your body- legs, torso, head, and both arms, can be swapped out with other parts that can be found from defeated enemies. Thus, the game is sort of like an on-foot version of Armored Core, and features incredibly fluid hit detection, controls, and gameplay, as well as an awesome soundtrack. Depending on what kind of weapons you decide to equip, the game is either a beat-em-up or a third person shooter, or both.

Resistance: Retribution Third Person Shooter Big budget rollercoaster with top notch graphics, amazing story, and great one-liners. The game is very pick up and play, and all of the guns possess secondary fire functions with interesting effects. Playable on

Ridge Racer Racing It's Ridge Racer. RIIIIIIIIDGE RACER! Features incredibly fluid and innovative gameplay, and has many of the tracks from the series' past. This is actually the first of two Ridge Racer games for the PSP, but very little was changed between them aside from the second game containing a some extra courses, most of which are from Ridge Racer Type 4. Playable on

Riviera: The Promised Land RPG An upgraded port of the GBA version. Now fully voiced, with remixed music and translation, and other additions. Note that the sprites are merely upscaled versions of the original GBA. Nice backdrops make up for this, however. Game is basically a waifu simulator thinly veiled behind RPG battles if you like this stuff. Playable on

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona RPG Different from more recent entries, but the translation's been revamped and everything is smoother (in loading and accessibility) and has a number of nice additions such as animated cutscenes and some new music. Dungeons are first-person maze crawling, similar to old SMT and the recent Strange Journey. Playable on

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 2: Innocent Sin RPG It's an enhanced port of the Persona game the west never got due to some questionable content in the plot (such as Hitler). The game takes place in a town with a curse that makes all rumors come to reality. The delinquent Tatsuya and his friends have to use the powers hidden in their mind to battle an evil cult. The characters and story are amazing and the best in the series. The gameplay is manual command and/or tactics-driven (you choose) and your party can combine some spells for powerful combo spells. Playable on A remake of the direct sequel, Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, is also on PSP with a fan translation in the works.

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable RPG A port of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 for the PSP. Includes the ability to play as a female protagonist with a "new" storyline. It fixes many of the original's annoyances, such as not being able to take control of your allies. Playable on

Sid Meier's Pirates! Strategy / Action-Adventure YARR HARR FIDDLE-DEE-DEE, BEING A PIRATE IS ALRIGHT WITH ME! DO WHAT YOU WANT ´CAUSE A PIRATE IS FREE, YOU ARE A PIRATE!

Silent Hill: Origins Adventure Just a fantastic PSP game, offering a huge town to explore, a mesmerizing story, stunning environments, and multiple "dungeons" inhabited with plenty enemies to fight (or avoid), great puzzles, and a boss at the end of each. There's also a "light/dark world" mechanic wherein you're able to transport yourself between two versions of the world by touching any mirror you find.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories Adventure / "Walking Simulator" It isn't connected to the other Silent Hill titles, and there's virtually no combat, but it is a pretty damn good psychological horror game on its own, with great characters and a story that keeps you constantly guessing. It's also a great looking game and a technical showcase- your flashlight casts shadows behind objects in real time!

Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny Fighting Lacks a familiar Arcade Mode, but boasts an impressive selection of SC characters both old and new. A completely new original character, Dampierre, and Kratos from God of War join the traditional cast. No real story mode but still good to practice. Playable on

Space Invaders Extreme Shoot 'em Up A fun remake of the classic alien shooting game, with all new graphics, effects, multipliers, powerups, and groovy music. Also available on Nintendo DS and Xbox Live Arcade.

Split Second Racing Split Second grants you the ability to detonate parts of the environment in order to eliminate opponents or gain shortcuts. The "power plays", as they're called, are amazing to behold and feature a tremendous amount of variety. The amount of detail put into each course is staggering, as is the fact that they managed to pull it all off on the PSP. Playable on

Star Ocean: Second Evolution RPG Slightly revised (and easier) port of Star Ocean: The Second Story from ye olde Playstation, featuring a few extras, such as backdrops for cutscenes, animated FMVs, and is almost fully voiced with some pretty good VAs, which is bittersweet. Because there is NO TEARAN INTO PIECES, or CRAWD ADVANCE FOWARDAN.

Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX / Street Fighter Zero 3 Double Upper Fighting The most featured pack of any of the ports. Has all the extra characters the GBA port, also Ingrid from Capcom Fighting Evolution. All the extra features from the PS1 and DC versions, and the Reverse Dramatic Battle that was formerly exclusive to the Saturn port. Just be warned however that the game does not include any command lists. Playable on

Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror Third Person Shooter Despite the PSP having only one analog, the game is surprisingly playable since it features a cover system, many guns include a lock-on function, and sneaking up on enemies with the combat knife is just really damn fun. There's also a sniper rifle that fires darts that sticks to walls, which you can then detonate with the press of a button. By the same studio that later made the PSP Resistance game. Also has a sequel, Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow, but it's extremely glitchy. Only recommended if you just want to see how the saga ends.

Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together SRPG A remake of the PlayStation game, which was originally released on the Super Famicom and PSX. Created by the team that worked on the original, this version contains upgraded graphics, new characters, more maps along with MANY gameplay tweaks, which makes for a refreshing and quite different experience. Translation is new as well. Playable on

Tales of Eternia RPG A port of the PS1 game (known as Tales of Destiny 2 in the States, but it's not the actual ToD2), nothing major really changed unless you count the cropped image (to fit into widescreen ratio) and some changes to control (PSP have no R2 or L2, duh?). It was great then and it's still great now. No, it wasn't released in America, but it was in Europe. In English. Pick it up if you haven't played it yet.

Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology RPG Quest-based spin-off of the Tales series with good, bright graphics but horrible voice acting, you can turn it off though. You can also dress your male characters in pink frilly dresses from Idolmaster so they can be the leetle girl.

There have also been two more games released (in Japan only) with the third game bringing in a total of 80 Tales characters (some unique though most are from former games). English patches for both sequels are available, translating everything nessesary to play the game (skits and story text are not translated).

Tekken: Dark Resurrection Fighting An arcade fighting game featuring sick moves, memorable characters, and fun, responsive gameplay. Includes a quick tutorial to get you up to speed and an excellent practice mode that lets you pin moves to the screen or watch the AI perform them. Also included is a Dojo mode which pits you against various AI as you try to increase you rank, eventually unlocking more dojos with even tougher AI opponents. It's like a career mode, and pretty great. You can even customize your character.

Tekken 6 Fighting Introduces six new characters, but the dojo mode has been cut and the story mode is only four opponents long. (And contains NO story battles) The game can still be an interesting diversion however, provided you care about unlocking the ending FMVs for all 40 characters, and provided you won't hurl your PSP across the room after losing to Azazel for the gazillionth time. Playable on

Test Drive Unlimited Racing Build up a collection of exotic cars and take them for a spin on hundreds of miles of open road. This is one of the largest open world games ever created on any platform, the fact they somehow fit it on a PSP is very noteworthy in itself, and it still manages to look pretty good for a PSP game. Because of the sheer scope of the environment, the later races can get to be really epic. It's also enjoyable to just drive around and explore.

Tokobot Action-Adventure A quirky Zelda OoT-style romp in which you solve puzzles and defeat enemies with the aid of small chicken-like robots, apparently. Has a PS2 remix with a few extras, but nothing major. Playable on

Tomb Raider Anniversary Adventure The Tomb Raider remake looks and plays great on the small screen. Lots of stuff to unlock as well. Also on other platforms.

Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix Skateboarding A nice port visually and gameplay-wise, but also adds a nice amount of fresh content, like entirely new levels. (They're not half bad, either.)

Ultimate Ghosts and Goblins Platformer A very nice remake (no, it's the final sequel believe it or not) that keeps the core gameplay intact while adding new RPG-like items and fetches, all the while injecting gorgeous new eye candy. Playable on NOTE: If you don't want the unnecessary RPGish crap, there's a JP exclusive revision that's closer to the arcade experience.

Valkyria Chronicles II Tactical Shoota/Anime Simulation Same as the first game with all the fun RPG strategy gameplay condensed to the PSP, however it is somewhat less interesting, not by much, due to cliché characters and plot. Playable on

Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth RPG Ported from the PSX with new, gorgeous FMV's and very minor QoL tweaks. The 2D platforming and battles have aged very well, and the game uses a unique battle system, if somewhat confusing to newcomers. Sadly, the gorgeous 2D pixel art is stretched, resulting in blurry-looking graphics - you might want to play the PSX version for crisper visuals.

Virtua Tennis: World Tour / Virtua Tennis 3 Tennis A nicely polished game of tennis. Surprisingly fun even if you don't give two shits about the actual sport.

Warhammer 40K Squad Command Strategy A nice turned-based tactical combat title. It's Space Marines SPESS MEHREENS vs. Chaos. For a 40K fan, this is more fun than you can shake a bolter at.

The Warriors Beat 'em up A very atmospheric game. It isn't a straightforward arcade brawler, but it's not a GTA game either, although it has elements of it. Aside from fighting other gangs, some chapters will have you looting stores, causing mayhem, or spraypaint. There's occasionally stealth. And fighting. Lots of fighting. The final stage, an almost 1:1 adaptation of the film, will probably have you running to check out the film afterwards if you haven't seen it already. Playable on

What Did I Do To Deserve This, My Lord!? 2 Strategy / Defense Build a dungeon, populate it with minions, hide the Overlord from the invading heroes. Short, sweet and very addicting. The first game in the series, Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! What Did I Do To Deserve This?, is included here, so no need to pick that one up. Sequel number 3 is released too, titled No Heroes Allowed. Much easier due to abusing the new water mechanic, but still hard (If you don't abuse the water, I mean) Playable on

Wild Arms XF SRPG Has an incredible skill and class system that could arguably be put close to FFT's scale once you get every job/class. There's also varied maps/missions that require actual strategy and great music. Playable on

Wipeout Pure Racing This was a launch title in North America, but holds up really well. Can seem pretty bare at first, just pick a mode and a race and get to it. But there are gold medals for everything and some pretty rad unlockables. The course designs are also some of the most iconic in the series.

Wipeout Pulse Racing More courses than Wipeout Pure, they're all new, and now you can race them in reverse. There's a more structured single player mode this time. It's a beautiful game, with great art direction, and the soundtrack is mesmerizing. Playable on

WTF: Work Time Fun Minigames A fucking weird WarioWare-style minigame collection.

Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone SRPG An amazingly unique SRPG where all your units have armies, and each turn is one big clashterfuck rather than the typical unit-by-unit gameplay. Characters actually have personalities and LORE rather than just walking stats with a single flavor text. Seriously, equipment restrictions are not just due to weapon choices, but also due to their level of literacy, whether they have legs, dietary restrictions(!) and more quirky character traits. Hell, the characters' fucking gender is a huge gameplay mechanic. Like Riviera, this is an upgraded port of the GBA release which added lots of new shit. Features some great art work and catchy music. Has a rather high difficulty curve, with a shitload of gameplay mechanics typically unheard of in an SRPG, some not even fully explained. Playing with a FAQ is highly recommended. Playable on

Ys I & II Chronicles Action RPG An extensive remake of a 1987-88 game that brings it to modern standards. Features gorgeous pixel art, a killer soundtrack, and challenging, skill-based difficulty built on top of a very simple battle system. The final boss will give you PTSD. Playable on

Ys Seven Action RPG This one drops the sprites for 3D models. Also, you travel in a party of three and can switch characters on the fly. Each character has either a slash, pierce, or smash attack type, each type being effective against certain types of enemies. The game is surprisingly damn long and features an excellent soundtrack. Playable on

Ys: The Oath in Felghana Action RPG This is Ys III re-imagined to play similarly to later sequels, but still uses some faux side scrolling elements on occasion and even features platforming unlike Ys Seven. Expect some really difficult, white-knuckle boss fights. Don't worry, as the game actually lets you lower the difficulty if you fail a boss too many times. Playable on

Yu-Gi-Oh Tag Force series Card battle / Dating sim thingy Tag Force 1-3 are based off the GX series, whereas 4-6 are based on 5D's. The first one is by far the easiest for beginners to get into, but gets stale quickly as the progression is mind-numbingly slow. With the free exploration aspect comes the dating sim-ish part which you have to focus on in order to progress in the story, and unfortunately it becomes very tedious in a very short time. Sadly, this is pretty much obligatory, considering the fact that you have to bond with people for them to join you in Tag Duels. Nevertheless, the games become better (and less beginner-friendly) with each installment, but mind that Tag Force 6 is not localized and current state of the English fan translation leaves the story mode completely in Japanese. A seventh game, ARC-V Tag Force Special, is a crossover featuring characters from all series and over 8000 cards. JP only, but look for an English translation.