Apparently we're on twitter tooA while ago I posted a poll on /talk to ask you for your favorite PSP games. With a bit more than 500 votes, we now have a quite relevant series of results, so here comes.
As I type this, the 6 years old PSP is still the portable device with the best games on the market. Sure, the Nintendo DS sold more units, the PS Vita is coming soon, smartphones are the new kid on the block… but let’s be honest, you can’t really compare Angry birds to the GTA series, or Square Enix’s work.
There’s often a concern that “hardcore” games are much more expensive than casual games. That’s true, but not on a 6 years old device. Now, for very reasonable prices, you can get games that rate somewhere between “awesome” and “OMG”. The PSP itself has become extremely cheap, and is still a very good device.
But let’s dig into the real meat of this article: the best PSP games of all times, as voted by the users
10. Little Big Planet
This game was one of the biggest surprises on the PS3 when it came out, a revolution for platform games, a genre that had been stuck out of “originality-land” for decades. Little Big Planet on the PS3 took the best of platform games, added extreme cuteness, cooperative multiplayer mode, and insane customization.
The PSP version is a complete different adventure (new levels), but reuses the same concepts, and allows you to create your own levels, or play on levels created by other users, just like the PS3 version. Technically very good, very cute, and super fun.
9. God of war: Chain of Olympus
When it was released in 2008, this action/adventure game pushed the limits of the PSP hardware so much, that it was at the time the most beautiful game on the console by far, and it is still one of the PSP’s most impressive titles graphically.
But talking only about the graphics doesn’t do the game justice. It is action packed (and a bit gore), the scenario is interesting, and the controls are just so natural that combos will become your mother language.
8. Monster Hunter Freedom Unite
The monster Hunter franchise is big in Japan, and was a bit less successful in western countries, but it still had a major impact. MH Freedom Unite wasn’t rated very high by professional critics, but has a huge community of dedicated fans all over the world. It looks gorgeous and sounds gorgeous.
Yes, it’s “just” hack ‘n’ slash, but the world is massive, the monsters are impressive, and the multiplayer mode can bring extremely fun moments.
7. GTA Vice City Stories
GTA is one of the most famous video game series, and it has a bunch of very successful and enjoyable games on the PSP. One of them is Vice City Stories. If you’re a fan of the GTA series, this game won’t disappoint.
If you think freely driving around in a city, and doing whatever you want in a video game is not fun…then maybe you should get checked by a doctor
6. GTA Liberty City Stories
Along with Vice City stories above, Liberty City stories is a very complete game, and was the first attempt at porting GTA to the PSP.
Needless to say, it was successful. Liberty City stories has actually many flaws that were fixed in Vice City stories (Vice City Stories has better vehicle handling, a longer gameplay…), but Liberty City Stories was such a huge game when it came out, and as a result is more famous than its little brother. Incidentally, early versions of this game happened to be vulnerable to a savegame exploit that was used to downgrade PSPs back in the 2.xx era
5. Parasite eve: The third birthday
One of the latest releases on the PSP, this game features one of the sexiest game heroines ever, Aya Brea.
The game has a few gameplay flaws, but it’s Square Enix so there’s a quality scenario and nice visuals in this RPG with a few action sequences. But who am I kidding, we’re all getting the game for the fanservice shower scene 
4. Crisis Core : Final Fantasy VII
It’s difficult to go wrong with Square Enix, and this game is one of the most praised episodes of the Final Fantasy saga. Final Fantasy fans will be happy to find some of their favorite characters, but the game is good in itself, both acclaimed critically and by players.
One of the best RPG experiences on the PSP.
3. Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep
This is getting serious as we enter the Top 3. Square Enix already has number 4 and number 5 in this rating, so no worries with the quality of the game here.
Although I personally prefer Crisis Core, KHBS has refreshing visuals, a nice combat mechanism, a good campaign and nice multiplayer features. It does have Disney characters in it though, but it’s not as annoying as you think it could be
2. God of War: Ghost of Sparta
The God of War Series is flawless.
If you thought Chain of Olympus (also in this top 10) was the best your PSP could provide from a visual perspective, think again as you enjoy this sequel.
It’s been said of this game that it lacks its own “identity” compared to the other GoW games, but who cares ? It’s gorgeous, makes your psp display graphics you thought would never be possible, has a great story, and is packed with action. Once you start playing, only your battery will remind you that you have to stop playing once in a while.
1. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
There’s no praise good enough for this game. It got the most votes in our poll, by far.
This is a high quality production, with a long solo campaign and lots of replay value. Tactical action at its best, this is the best PSP game ever, as voted by our community.
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Not a bad list, but Peacewalker isn’t that good, it kinda sucks imo…
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monster hunter wasn’t just about hack n’ slash
gamespot gave it a really low score just for saying that it had no “auto-aim”.. which was really silly because.. that’s the point! every single thing is factored in.. monsters weak points, which part of the monster you hit, the type of weapon you’re using, the weapon’s sharpness, raw damage, elemental damage, criticals, skills and etc etc..sorry i just have to defend this game that much. it’s the only game that made me play the psp beyond normal hours
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GEB was better IMO it had everything MH did + faster gameplay, auto-aim, friend revival system, better looking weapons, more explosions. I mean who wants to spend time hacking and slashing at a dragon for 20 straight minutes, and then oh it flys away… and just having to “claw” like Upaut said makes MH unappealing.
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MH is like real kung fu. It is the best game, but it is not suit for most of players who never learn any martial art before. They quit quickly after they get Ass kicked.
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1400h+ MHFU 500h of Mh3rd (by TMO) that’s normal
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I agree with une6, MH was the franchise that made me buy a psp. After playing it I got hooked.
Along the way I knew many more games of course, and each has my preference aspect, but considering the genre, MH is the best title.
I liked this list btw, first place really deserved it.-
LOL!!! I bought mine to play MGS: PW !!!! XD
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You made me cry bro, like you, MH is the franchise that made me buy a PSP. Here I was, thinking that I’m the only one who did that thing. Haha! Nice list and I respect the others opinions but for me, MH franchise is the best in the world, a pioneer game and one of a kind ~ ♥
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Metal gear solid FTW. I’ve played all 4 games from the MGS ( i’ve replayed a second time MGS 1 on my psp
) ), it’s so awesome, it’s better that Hitman or any other sneak game -
i think ur forgetting assassins creed and mohh2
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Well I never liked MH because of my inability to effectively control both character and camera at the same time.
As for this list, it completely avoided the genre I’ve bought PSP for – turn based strategies/RPGs:
- Final Fantasy tactics
- Tactics Ogre
- Disgaea 1&2
- Jeanne d’Arc
- Metal Gear Acid-
I’m myself a huge fan of Tactical RPGs, but it doesn’t seem to be a popular genre, based on the votes. I might write a “top 10″ just for this genre in the future
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boo I don’t like most of it but this is predictable as most people’s taste are crap.
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omg… gta, PLEASE
they aren’t that great!
crisis core is a lot better… -
MH sucks balls, i cant even past the first mission! if it says that the level of that mission is 1 than do i expect that i would be possible for a beginner!
but even then do i hate it when there is a time limit to something so i am just not a fan of this game.gta games: they are fun and it keeps my entertaiming even after so many years, but i hate it that the game lags when there is alot of action. so i always put my cpu speed to the max when i play this game.
and VCS has fixed many flaws of LCS? that isnt true at all. VCS has a crap load of unsolid surfaces. is it really that hard to make everything solid?LBP: mother f*ck!!! you just corrupted my own created level!! other than that is the editor just: crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash and ones again F*CKING CRASH!!!!!!!! i feel like playing a beta of a homebrew game when playing this game!
crisis core: this one belongs to nummer 1…. in the top 10 worst controls in a psp game! when i press the button to block an attack does it happen around 5 sec later. in that time am i already hit! square enix must keep it by turn based RPG’s.
how i look at the games i have played that are on this list.
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Hey men, Tekken 6 is also very good (but I prefer Street Fighter Alpha 3)!!
I will test the games you´ve said in this list! -
I’ve followed the Kingdom Hearts series since the first one. Yes the Disney was kinda weird, but the game play and mesh with final fantasy made it that much better. I’m glad it made the top 3. I remember starting around noon and then looking at the clock, 3am. lol
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Huh, the Disney was never weird. You’re weird.
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Really. The Disney characters always seem to be out of place and too much focused on their own problems. They’re interested in by-passing FF characters only to a limited extent and interact with them in an odd way, like: “Yeah, I know you’re there and appeared out of the blue, now go help me do this stuff.” If that isn’t weird, I don’t know what is.
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Alright, my opinions on these games:
LittleBigPlanet is REALLY good on PS3, and I wanted to have it basically in my hands… The PSP version would be better if it had online play, but the fact that you can create your own levels and share them online makes it worth it, it should be closer to #1… Chains of Olympus is good, it should be closer to #1 too, but I just think it didn’t have as much as a lasting appeal as to Ghost of Sparta, and Ghost of Sparta has more attack options, the gameplay and controls seem a bit better, too. The magic/melee even look more intense than Chains of Oylmpus. Their graphics also seem the same, they’re the best you’ll see on the PSP. Too bad GOW is kinda more focused on a bunch of killing and gore other than telling a really good story. MH is… okay, I mean, these graphics aren’t that great, but the controls were pretty nice, and fighting made me kind of like this game, but I actually agree with the list for once, it should be #8 out of all these games. I never thought GTA: Liberty City was never better than Vice City, just because Vice City seemed longer, and you had insane water missions, which was pretty awesome. The 3rd Birthday… eh, didn’t really play it over 45min, just didn’t feel like the game was good to me, y’know, I wasn’t that interested. No way Kingdom Hearts was better than Crisis Core, though, those Disney characters was annoying, and Crisis Core seemed longer and harder, and it’s story was more appealing. Metal Gear Solid is kinda overrated imo, because I just plain hate the graphics (everything looks like boxes) and the controls, and besides the story, those are the key factors that make up the game.
By the way… where’s Assassin’s Creed and Socom Fireteam Bravo 3? :/ Socom’s online play is epic, and Assassin’s Creed is just plain epic (I would mention Patapon 3, Midnight Club LA Remix, and maybe even WipeOut Pulse too, but they’re.. eh, do I even have to finish this sentence?)
Any thoughts? ;D
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ha u just named my list of best games i played on psp =)
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for me, persona 3 is much better than monster hunter, MH is suck! no storyline! eeeww…
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Looking through this list, I have to wonder exactly who put it together.
10. I’ll grant LBP belongs somewhere on the list, but that’s only because this particular game is/was just as innovative as it’s big brother on the PS3.
9. Maybe I was just spoiled with a bigger screen, but I really didn’t care for GoW on the PSP. It just didn’t feel right playing on such a small screen.
8. The Monster Hunter franchise seems like it pulled quite a few people into the PSP/Wii markets. A friend of mine is hoping that with the Vita, we’ll no longer have to “claw” to control the camera.
7. I’ll honestly admit I tried this, but I felt like I might as well have been playing GTA 1 or 2 (the old bird’s eye ones).
6. See above.
5. Love it. Simply love it. Now if my PE 1 & 2 eboots would just start up a little faster.
4. Crappy combat system, lag between actions and button presses, and, ultimately, the fact that this is a game for fans (just like FFX-2) demands that this game be removed from Top 10 lists.
3. Honestly, I think the only bad game in this series is Chain of Memories (GBA).
2. See my above comment about GoW.
1. I haven’t gotten around to playing this one yet, but apparently it’s huge (in data size, both in image and data install).
Still, I wouldn’t call any one of these games a “must-have”. All of the games in this list are action orientated, which not every gamer enjoys. Personally, I tend to enjoy a good RPG, but the only decent one I’ve come across on the PSP (and yes, I’ve tried quite a few different ones) was Class of Heroes, which is just a repainted Wizardry.
Yes, I’ll say it. The PSP is lacking in decent non-Action RPG titles. I find myself turning toward older consoles for my RPG needs.
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Wagic is way better than all those games!
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Very agreeable list by far. The top 5 were games that I had expected.
Very pleased to see MGS:PW as number 1. If not Dissidia, then PW had the longest and best replay value on the PSP. I was ecstatic when I found out that it was coming to PS3 in mo’f'n HD! I must say, though, that I found the PO storyline to be better (Calling to the Night ftw) but the controls and gameplay all around was better in PW.
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I’m a Square Enix fan myself, I was kinda surprised at not seeing Dissidia up there. But its a good list for the most part. I got my psp mostly for the role playing turn based games but i guess i gotta try Peace Walker now
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No racing games?? Motorstorm: Arctic Edge should have been in the list.
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Not sure about the list. Most of these games are slimmed down versions of PS3 games (PSP GTAs are fine, but PSP LBP is… average to say the least).
It’s strange how fast gamers forgot about LocoRoco, Lumines, Patapon and so on : such original games really made the PSP a great handheld system. On a personal touch I’d add Phantasy Star Portable 2, which is far better than Monster Hunter IMO.
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An okay list, it all depends on personal tastes, people need to not take it so seriously.
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I wish my psp wasn’t broken atm. Theres so many good games I haven’t played yet.
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I am offended that you said MHFU is a hack’n'slash, as it is far from such. GOW is a hack’n'slash; MHFU isn’t. Have you even ever played Monster Hunter before?
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lol. its funny to read comments that keeps bashing the list….remember guys, this came from a community poll on /talk meaning its the choice of majority of the people on the forums…
how hard is it to understand that different genre of games cater to different types of gamers? if anything, this list shows what type of games members of the forums like.
having your favorite game not on the list doesn’t mean the game sucks. conversely, having a game in the list that you thought suck doesn’t mean it actually does.
I don’t like GEB, I don’t like the gameplay and the storyline bored me after around difficulty 3…..does it mean that it sucks? for me, yeah, for others, hell no! Does it give me a right to bash GEB? another Hell NO!!
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No Kingdom Hearts? That game’s actually more fun than Crisis Core.
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Kingdom Hearts is number 3 in this Ranking
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I only see 8-9 games in this list. For my money the GTA are the same. Also the GoW games are extremely similar. You are missing games like Dissidia and Patapon
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PAtA- PaTA-pAtA-PoN!!
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bueno, yo digo para que tener solo 10 si puedo tener 100 jejejejejee….32gb(2)
ssss quien es su papi.. jjejejjej
well, I say so that have only 10 if I could have 100 [jejejejejee]. .32gb x (2)
[ssss] who is your dad lol. [jjejejjej]
mi favorite is, Earth Defense Force 2 I HAVE 50 UNLOCK IN HARD MISSIONS…
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good list but the entire final fantasy series sucks balls. you just cant have a good action game with stupid disney characters
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thats’s right !
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Patapon 3 anyone?
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150 at the moment
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IMO Blazblue and Tekken should also have been included in this list….. MHFU is plain boring with hard to control camera. If not Blazblue atleast Tekken6 guys. It luks so awesome on the psp.
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Really, you only need to put VCS if you’re listing it here, because VCS is the better one (according to reviews, anyway)
Same with GOW, just put the GOS one up there, it has better graphic and all, so there’s no point in listing both games.
Also, where’s patapon, tekken and dissidia ? These games deserve a place here on the list.
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This was the result of a poll we did, and is showing the general votes. My personal favorites (Wipeout Pulse for example) are not in there either. There are many good PSP games and it is difficult to make a good choice that embraces everything
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GTA sereis on PSP? SUCK!
LITTLE BIG PLANET? Average, not much of a game you will be playing after 3 hours.
Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker, pretty good for a title that stands its strongest on the PS2 and PS3.
God of War series…… ok but no where near the PS2 and PS3 series.
Final Fantasy, good nice game when you like Final Fantasy series, I’ve given it a try and it is a preety good game that stand strong on a PSP.
But the biggest reason to won a PSP, it is the Monster Hunter series, other games are pale compared to what this game had offered. The fact that this “hack & slash” game is not a average game, why need swords when you have bowguns and bow for range, and each weapon has its on unique ability and its own expansion. Armor with skills that enable you to gain a slight upper-hand, but ultimately, its you skill and timing matter, not your armor or weapons. I love this game cause a normal looking hunter, bringing down monster the size of a tank and is charging, launching fire balls, lightning at you, and carve its parts for better armor and weapons, while crafting potions, ammo and gathering material remind me the beauty of game where you are actually earning your keep, and not blatantly given to you and pampered you. When you are skilled, you are handsomely rewarded, and if you are not satisfied, why not another round?
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I brought mine to play FF Crisis Core initially, then loved MGS – Peace Walker, but Disgaea 1 is also fun, so does Naruto Series.
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