Towards the end of a long, long week at work, I needed something to escape from my job in tiny, bite-sized chunks. Being the gamer that I am, and with a pocket of hard-earned tips, I had two choices in front of me. A Nintendo DS or Sony PSP. Since I’ve had previous experience with both systems, the choice in my case was quite clear. Sorry, DS owners, but that system is just uncomfortable to hold.
Follow the jump to find out what games I got and what I think, three years after launch.
First off, I’d like to say that the PSP Slim fits much more nicely into my hands than the original. When I first saw the Slim on the internet, I thought it would be a little bit smaller and a lot lighter, I’m personally glad it’s not. I recently got to play the DS Lite, and I’ve got to say that it just feels like it’s going to break in your hands. The PSP has some serious weight to it, and it feels like a formidable system.
So, even before you get any games for the system, the PSP gives you a lot to do with your media. When I got home, I immediately started filling my memory stick with all kinds of goodies. Buying the system has basically made my old iRiver mp3 player obsolete, and it’s amazingly easier to move all your media onto the memory stick than it is trying to sync playlists to your mp3 player. So, needless to say, I love the media features. Some of the most boring stretches at work the past couple days were made much more bearable while watching old episodes of Family Guy.
Let’s move onto the games, shall we?
I decided to start off with 3 games, one full price game, and two $20 ones. I was amazed to find that some of the newest and high-profile games were going for the cheap, but certainly not disappointed. Just because they’re $20 doesn’t mean they’re bad in any way.
God of War: Chains of Olympus - Alright, let me start off by saying that I’ve never played a God of War before. That’s right, because of my lack of a PS2, I always wondered what the commotion was over God of War. Well, now I know. This game is all kinds of fun. As a fan of platformers / hack n’ slash games, Chains of Olympus fits right into that range, and it seems like it pushes the PSP hardware right to the edge of what it can do. This is the game that has spent the most time in my system right now simply because it’s easy to hop in, kill a few baddies, then put the system to sleep for a little while. A perfect bite-size game.
Pata, Pata, Patapon - I don’t know what I was expecting when I picked up Patapon. When the game was released and reviews were popping up around the internet, they all said to not expect whatever you were expecting. Well, I guess you really can’t understand exactly how Patapon is played without actually playing it. It’s a definite mix between a strategy RPG and a rythym game, and I think that’s a wonderful marriage of game types. I’m not very far in yet, but thus far I’m having an extremely fun time pushing through the game and trying to build a bigger army. I just hope the new songs don’t become so complex that it pulls away from having fun.
Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions - I was surprised to find out that this game was only going for $20, but I suppose that’s because it’s a remake of the original PSX version of the game. I could be wrong with that, but since I’ve never played the original, that’s what it seems like. Well, I’m a huge fan of tactical RPGs, and I’ve gotten flak from my friends for never trying the original FF: Tactics. I’ve played some of the newer ones for a couple hours each time on the GBA and DS, so I knew this was going to be a winner in my book, and I was right. If you’re a Tactics fan and you’ve got a PSP, you’re doing yourself a huge disservice by not picking up this game, even if you’ve spent 200 hours in the original (especially if you’ve spent 200 hours in the original.) I can’t say enough good things about Tactics on the PSP, and I could go on about it for hours, so I’m just going to cut it off here.
So there you have it. I’m finally part of the PSP generation. All three games I bought were winners, and I’ve yet to be disappointed with a single one of them. I’m really looking forward to seeing what other games the PSP library has in store for me, and I’m also sure there’s plenty of things on the XMB that I can do with media and the internet that hasn’t occurred to me yet. I’m very happy with my purchase, and from my experience the PSP definitely has a spot in the handheld market.
What games would you recommend I run out and get? How about accessories? Or maybe you think I should trade it all in and get myself a DS. Maybe a N-Gage? Sound off in our forums or fill out the comment box below. Perhaps I’m finally worthy to listen to the Blue Show. I always felt so dirty listening to it without owning a Sony product.
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12 responses so far ↓
1 balaamsafe // Jul 21, 2008 at 5:21 pm
i reccomend games wise
crisis core
killzone liberation (starts off slow but realy finds its feet in the last 3 of the 5 chapters and kicks buitt)
sid miers pirates
daxter (by ready at dawn who made gow, nuff said)
2 Sean "Rothbart" Workman // Jul 21, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Quite a few of the original PS1 titles look and play very well on the PSP. Try to make sure you know a bit about the control scheme before buying though… games that use both sticks suffer some control issues on the PSP, but many play 100% identical to the originals (and they look good on the small screen).
I just saw Sandisk 4GB MSPro Duos for $29.99 w/free shipping at Buy.com recently… you can fit a TON of stuff on there… no loading time and longer battery life. There are downloadable PSP games too… Hot Shots Golf is great…
On UMD, Wipeout Pulse is great too if you like those sort of games. Ratchet & Clank Size Matters is a good choice after you play Daxter.
If you can find a copy of Lumines or Lumines 2 cheap, those are nice “trance-y” puzzle games.
Burnout Legends kicks major butt too!
When/if you get a PS3, you can take advantage of some of the Remote Play functionality as well.
3 darkwonders // Jul 21, 2008 at 5:48 pm
thanks for that info Rothbart. I’ve been looking for a cheap memory card. I have a 1 GB for my game saves and a 2 GB one for my media… Would be nice to get a 4 GB one for cheap.
4 Animathias // Jul 21, 2008 at 6:37 pm
Nice, Rothbart! I like the sound of a 4gig card for $30. That’s about what I paid for my 2gig one.
As for PS1 titles, where can I find these bad boys and how much are they? I would love to get something like Final Fantasy 8 in my pocket.
I’m probably going to pick up Lumines sometime soon, I played it on the 360 and it was fun, but definitely felt like a portable game. I played Burnout Legends before, and I definitely need to get that one. I love Burnout. Too bad there’s not a version of Paradise for the PSP. Seems like a good system for it.
5 darkwonders // Jul 21, 2008 at 6:55 pm
bah… I can’t find it anymore Rothbart… All I’m seeing is 40+
6 Kiltman67 // Jul 21, 2008 at 7:09 pm
I’m a big fan of Loco Roco so I’d definitely recommend that.
The Syphon Filter games are pretty good, only played the demo of the second so far but it looks like they’ve tried to expand the first which was great to begin with.
Crush is a fun one, with some really infuriating puzzles.
Finally, for a little retro, the SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis collection has some good games on it. There’s a few bad omissions like Sonic 3, Streets of Rage and Road Rash. But it does have the first two Sonic games, a few Phantasy Stars, Ecco The Dolphin and lots more.
7 Kiltman67 // Jul 21, 2008 at 7:11 pm
Another thought after rereading your article. Maybe take a look at Jeanne D’Arc, haven’t played it as it never got a Europe release but I’ve heard good things.
8 javier torres (dodger) // Jul 22, 2008 at 7:28 am
also if you like the tactical rpg you can try warhammer 40000 tactics it fun… also recommend socom tactical strike
9 walkyourpath // Jul 22, 2008 at 8:58 am
That’s funny. I’m a late bloomer too. I just picked up my PSP last Friday, and am enjoying the same experience. Patapon has got to be the most engaging game I’ve played in a while. Excellent art direction — and a perfect blend of hardcore and casual. My wife and I both take turns playing it. It’s hilarious to see her bopping up and down on the couch, or brushing her teeth while singing PATA PATA PATA PON!
Oh, and since we’re so with the times — I have to tell you about this awesome movie I just saw called Pulp Fiction. It’s really fresh and raw, and I think it might help bring John Travolta’s career back!
10 Thunder // Jul 22, 2008 at 8:34 pm
I would say the socom games have kept my attention and I am a big fan of the midway arcade tressures mainly the one with mk1 2 and 3 on it
as far as other games I dont really know nothing has seemed to keep my attention.
11 HomieT23 // Jul 30, 2008 at 12:46 pm
I recommend Flow (get it via playstation store) its only 8 or 9 dollars too(I forgot the price, it doesn’t matter, its cheap). Its a fun and simple game that u can whip out and play for a few seconds then put back in ur pocket. Medal of Honor 2 is also a good game (16 player multiplayer! Enough said)
12 Enrique // Jul 30, 2008 at 7:41 pm
not to encourage piracy but it gets better once you put some CF on your PSP… save battery, space, and MONEY… as a father and gamer I recommend it more than getting a DS (I’ve also have one with an R4 card) and the PSP wins hands down…
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