Top 10 PSP Games of 2009

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  Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars

  

  Chinatown Wars, is a PSP remake of a game designed specifically for the Nintendo DS. Going back to the original top down view of the first GTA games, it makes good use of the setting of GTA IV, keeping in mind the DS’s limitations. When ported to the PSP, the top down view is intact, and allowed them to update the graphics, and content to the game, while keeping the humour and interesting game mechanics intact be it without the touch screen. For those who have yet to play this game on either handheld system, it tells the story of returning son Huang Lee, who has returned to liberty City after finding out about the death of his father. Lee comes with the purpose of delivering a ceremonial sword to his uncle, to cement the aging mobster’s power in the city’s triad. Of course things go wrong and the sword is stolen. This embarks Lee on a quest, which involves murder, revenge, love, drugs, and all the seedy elements you come to expect from a GTA game. The game structure is a brilliant mix of both classic GTA and its 3d brethren. The structure is the same as the 3d variants, taking on missions, being passed from mob boss to mob boss gaining money and power as you go. There’s a deeply rich story and it’s filled with the laughs, and tears like any good installment. The top down view does return of course, but the controls, the shooting and the driving are much more accurate and enjoyable because of this. The new feature added to this game, is drug trafficking which is where you make the bulk of your money. You buy from sellers and you sell it to people wanting to buy it from you. You get clues a lot telling you when you should sell for the highest price. And if you are like me, you will spend hours addicted to just this aspect of the game. I’ve probably logged 30 hours into the game and most of it is dealing with the drugs. Yes it’s that much fun. IGN – 9.3 1up – a- Metacritic- 91

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  Little Big Planet

  

  For that one person who has no idea what Little Big Planet is, it’s a physics based platformer staring what appears to be a ragdoll called Sackboy. The game has a few standard levels, but the fun of the game, is building your own levels, downloading other people’s levels, and just the entire sandbox element of the game. It’s a game that really demonstrates how sometimes simple is better. The original game was a stunning splash as an exclusive on the ps3, so of course they had to make a port onto the PSP. And this game is more than just a port. They redesigned the game from the ground up for the PSP system, and even addressed issues with the PS3 version of the game. One of the biggest problems was the “bouncing” movements of Sackboy(or Sackgirl), making the controls hard to manage for delicate maneuvers. The animations of his or her movements have been completely reworked making it feel so much more natural, which is such a boon on the smaller screen. However the most amazing thing is the physics that made the game such great fun on the ps3 are identical in every way for the PSP version of the game. Actually the PSP version of LBP is pretty much exactly as it sounds a faithful clone of the PS3 version. You can download content, and upload your own levels that you’ve created, and the included story levels are just as awesome and addictive as the original. The only true drawback for LBP for the PSP has to be the lack of wifi support. IGN- 9.0 1UP- B+ MetaCritic- 88

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  Sony Computer Entertainment			Media Molecule

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  PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe

  

  When the tower defense game Pixljunk Monsters hit PSN last year, it got a ton of buzz, I know that’s why I downloaded it. Its addicted nature still has me playing it when I need a few minutes of downtime and I’m sitting close to my PS3. However thankfully, when they brought out the Pixlejunk Monsters Deluxe on the PSP, I could also jump around as a tiki masked hero on the subway. Going to work was never so much fun. Deluxe is the third in the PixleJunk Monster’s franchise, and at its core it’s like any Tower defense game. You have your area to protect, so you build the towers you can. In each tower there are a number creatures living inside. The enemies that make it to a tower kills one of the dwelling creatures, if you loose all your creatures the level fails if you succeed then you win, in PJ lingo you “rainbow”. However PJ is more than just an average Tower Defense game. With the cute graphics, insane difficulty, and wonderful sound track it goes from being just another Tower Defense into becoming this addictive place in your heart. PJ Monsters Deluxe, is supposed to be the ultimate version of the PSN game franchise. There’s new islands (ontop of the original ones), so obviously loads of new levels, monsters, and new difficulty settings (ultra-hard I think it speaks for itself). It can easy clock in at 100 hours. Also there’s new Multi-player mode, a tiki hut where you can visit all your medals, but the best new feature is the new challenge mode which remixes your previously rainbowed missions.

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  Half-Minute Hero

  

  The title says all you need to know about this game, an RPG/Action hybrid where you finish levels in 30 seconds(well obviously sometimes longer if you got gold). Of course a simple one statement about this game does little justice. It’s another one of the many unique titles that have come out for the PSP this year. I’m beginning to wonder if insane and addicting game design is prerequisite when making a PSP exclusive Half Minute Hero starts unoriginal enough. You are a pixilated hero named “hero” (that’s the default you can change the name), not unlike eight bit heroes found in Legend of Zelda, Dragon Warrior or Final Fantasy. Upon the game starting you are charged with saving the world in 30 seconds, due to a earth destroying spell having been cast. Lucky for you, you meet a time goddess who is happy to flip back time, to 30 seconds before the spell is cast as long as you can pay her for her services. So as hero you travel through the world map, stopping all the enemies you can to prevent the world from ending, meanwhile the time goddess is depleting your coffers. Needless to say the game is very streamlined, you character automatically runs across the screen and attacks until he’s pushed out of the fight, he dies, or manages to win. There is something like 50 quests to do, and a story that pays as much homage to the RPGs of yesteryear as the graphics do. IGN – 8.8 1Up -B MetaCritic -85

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  Tetris PSP

  

  All I got to say if you don’t know what tetris is, you shouldn’t even be looking on this list. Come on you know the game where you move the strange shaped pieces and fit them together to make lines, to score points? This is exactly what this game is, however EA upped the curve for Tetris games, and all of them coming out will look to this one as to how it should be done. The first thing you notice when you play this game is how amazing it looks. The colors are bright and the gradients used in the graphics are amazing. Just watching the tutorial videos and you’ll be in love with the presentation. But that’s not all the game has going for it. Tetris on the PSP also has tons of new variants of the Tetris mold aside from the play until your screen fills. There are modes like Laser where you must keep your blocks under a certain size, familiar sounding scanner where every so often a line appears above your blocks to put hell into the mix. There have been a lot of tetris games over the yeas, but easily EA has created the best version of this game to date. IGN -7.6 Videogamer – 90 Metacritic -84

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  Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days

  

  Disgaea 2 on the Playstation 2, has always stood in my mind as the best of the games in the franchise. So when the game was ported to the PSP I had to pick it up, and I’m glad I did. Like all the ports on this list, Disgaea2 is not just a simple port; even if you have played the original, the extra content (loads of new quests, and sound and graphic enhancements) alone is worth a revisit. In Disgaea 2 you play as Adrell a demon hunter, who discovers everyone in his town have been transformed into monsters. And of course it’s up to our hero to turn everyone normal again. Along the way he meets Rozalin who completes the narrative’s dynamic and happens to be the daughter of the demon who supposedly turned everyone. D2 is separated into thirteen humour filled episodes. The Dynamic between Rozalin and Adrell is worth the price of admission alone, they are complete apposing archetypes and you wonder exactly how they got on the idea to work together at all. Also the story is really insane, each new episode puts our heroes in positions that blow the mind. Combined with the TV anchor narrator—the game is just fun in every sense of the word. The gameplay mechanics is like most strategy RPG hybrids. In a turn based sequence you move your characters on a grid controlled map. You may opt to use items, attack or use spells via a menu system. When D2 differs is that it allows you to see the results of your actions opening the game up to more possibilities. It should also be mentioned like all the Disgaea games this is definitely a game that will challenge you gaming prowlness. IGN- 8.6 1up- C metacritic - 84

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  FIFA Soccer 10

  

  FIFA Soccer is one of the long running sports francise games, which we’ve spent good many years playing. And like Madden Football, it’s a game that we have come to expect that what it does, it does well but really the changes from year to year really don’t do much to the over all game play. Of course then FIFA 10 came out, and we soon realized, how horrible the previous versions were. If you’re a footie fan, and you’ve been waiting for a realistic simulator, well your time has come. I’m pretty sure you know what to expect here. You pick a team, you pick a game mode, and you land on the pitch. On offense you control the ball handler and on defense you select the players you want to control while the AI manages the other players. Pretty much like any sports simulation. But of course FIFA 10 wouldn’t be on this list if it was just another sports simulator. Like in the previous addition there are lots of European, South American, and MLS clubs, to choose from along with all the big international teams shooting for the world cup. They also kept all the familiar game play modes including the quizzing to make any footie happy to show off their football knowledge. Instead of changing the parts of the game we already dig, they instead polished up the game play, making every aspect fluid and realistic. The update on physics and ball handling is really what I felt made the game really stand out from any Football/soccer simulation game I’ve ever played. Ontop of that the graphics even on the small PSP screen look stunning and vibrant. If EA took this sort of direction and attention to detail on other sports ports I think the PSP could definitely be looked at for more sports games. The sound really hasn’t gotten that much of a face lift, but the commentary by Clive Tilsey and Andy Gray make for an entertaining experience. Easily one of the best, if not the best sports title on the PSP to date. IGN -8.0 1Up – B Metacritic - 83

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  Kahoots

  

  Like Tetris, Kahoots is another “Mini” brought at launch for the PSPgo. It’s a very addictive puzzle game, which mixes lemmings with a platforming faire but retaining an original genius. However I feel that it’s really the cute graphics and crazy level design that really got this game above the pack in terms of PSP games brought out this year. Like many of the PSN downloadable puzzle games Kahoots falls into that easy to play, hard to master type of games. The idea is that you guide your Kahoots (plastic kangaroo looking things) by moving the various blocks under them, to get to the exit all the while collecting as much cake as you can on your route to the next level. There are various types of blocks to get the job done, including reverse blocks, jump blocks, and spike blocks. Actually each level introduces you to a new type of block you will need to get through it. With a mixture of cute graphics, catchy music, and nice difficulty curve, its still easily the best of the current selection of minis for download on your PSP or PSPgo, if you’re into puzzle games, its really a no-brainer. Metacritic – 82

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  Resistance: Retribution

  

  Taking place between the first Resistance: Fall of man, and Resistance 2, the PSP exclusive tells the story of British Marine James Grayson. After he leaves the British military, he joins the Maquis to help their fight against the infected soldiers being over taken by an alien virus that turns them into walking weapons. Switching up from the first person perspective to a third person view and adding a very strong cover system it takes the strengths of the PSP and delivers a top notch game. Obviously going from the next gen graphics to the PSP screen, the graphics aren’t going to ride as well as they did on the home consoles, but Sony Bend did a commendable job of presenting a beautiful looking game. The control scheme of the third person shooter works much better than I thought it would lacking a second analog stick, to remedy the lack of an extra stick they added auto aim which makes the movement and the attacking work seamlessly and its easy to get right into the battle. The game contains 11 different weapons including shotguns, augers, plasma rifles, and grenades. The game doesn’t cheat on length either, clocking in at ten hours of play time on the story mission, plus multiplayer modes including death matches and capture the flags. Sony Bend also included Sony plus functionality to add elements between Retribution and Resistance2. IGN- 9.2 1up – B- Metacritic - 81

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  Monster Hunter Freedom Unite

  

  To put it simply Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, is an enhanced port of Monster Hunter Freedom 2, and the localized version of the Monster Hunter portable 2g, which last year sold more PSP units than any other title. Thankfully this year they released the game in the States, and after hearing all the buzz on the other side of the world, it was worth the wait. For those people who don’t know about Monster Hunter, its one of those ultimate games that include collecting, hack and slash, and strategy elements all in one package. In Japan the series has been insanely popular, and though its no Final Fantasy the series has a sizable fanbase on the western side of the planet as well. MHFU doesn’t waver from the game structure of others in the series. You take quests from chiefs, elders and the guild(when you can get in), having you search out boss monsters and take them out. However unlike the previous game, the story in this game is so very deep and moving that I really haven’t played a game that effected me so on the handheld system. Ontop of the great story (which was obviously also present in Monster Hunter Freedom 2), they have added a ton of new missions and weapons, making this game quite a vast undertaking, easily 100 hours of game play. MHFU, has become the definitive game in the franchise from Capcom, and if you like hardcore mechanics, like doing tons of quests, building things, collecting things, and lots of grinding and hack and slash—this game does this sort of thing better than any other. But really it’s the story that I think makes this game stand out as an important game this year. IGN-8.0 1Up –A Metacritic-81

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