Summary
- PSP launched in Japan in Dec 2004, and in North America in March 2005, making a mark with good launch games.
- Launch games like Ape Escape and Wipeout Pure showcased the potential of the PSP’s capabilities.
- Unique games like Metal Gear Acid and Lumines: Puzzle Fusion offered diverse experiences on the portable console.
PlayStation fans did not have to wait long to get their hands on Sony’s first dedicated portable machine: the PSP. It launched in December 2004 in Japan and then a few months later on March 24, 2005, North American players got their hands on the new device. Unlike the original PS1, it did not become a sensation globally.
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The Sony PSP may not have been as widely successful as other handhelds but it had its fair share of great games.
Next to the DS, the numbers are laughable, but it still had a good run thanks to support in Japan. Outside of Japan, there were good games too, including the plethora of launch titles. Do these launch games hold up for the PSP though? Let’s find out by ranking them based on their past and current play value.
7
Untold Legends: Brotherhood Of The Blade
A Decent Hack-And-Slash Dungeon Crawler
Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade
Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade was the beginning of the Untold Legends franchise, which saw one PSP sequel and a PS3 iteration. It was a dungeon crawler similar to Diablo that also had multiplayer.
While the class and loot systems were not as compelling as the many Diablo sequels out at this point, Untold Legends was a decent hack-and-slash game that got the job done without much of a story to get in the way of adventuring. None of the games in this series were ever remastered, but a collection may still get some fans excited today.
6
Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower
Universal’s Monsters Are Here To Fight
Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower
- Released
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March 24, 2005
- ESRB
-
t
Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower is more of a remix than a collection of every game in the series. It’s a remaster of sorts, based on a Japan-only Dreamcast game that was like a fan letter to the diehards. Capcom took their success with street brawls and decided to have a bunch of movie monsters fight in Darkstalkers like vampires, mummies, and various other creatures of the night.
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Darkstalkers, as a franchise, did not have many sequels, but the games that were made left a lasting impression on fans. Since then, the main games have been remastered properly in various Capcom collections, leaving little need to go back to Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower, but it was good for the PSP era.
5
Dynasty Warriors
Every Launch Needs A Musou
- Developer: Omega Force
- Publisher: Koei
- Released: March 17, 2005 (NA)
- Platform: PSP
Dynasty Warriors has hit nearly every console on launch day since Dynasty Warriors 2 changed the franchise forever on the PS2. Like Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower, the game is sort of a remix of games that came before it. Missions were more bite-sized than the console versions, but there were still tons of characters to play as.
As mundane as the hack-and-slash gameplay could get, it was still impressive to have this sort of experience on the PSP. Dynasty Warriors didn’t do anything different from the main games in the series, but it was exactly what the Musou fans wanted and more.
4
Ape Escape: On The Loose
A Remake That’s Bananas
Ape Escape: On the Loose is a remake of the PS1 game that added a lot of fixes to make it more tolerable. The basic premise followed a young boy who helped a professor catch monkeys with a variety of gadgets. While the PSP was missing a joystick, the camera felt better in this game overall.
Switching between weapons and catching the apes felt better too, plus it was a graphical overhaul that looked great on Sony’s portable system. Both versions have their charms, and they can be emulated on a PS5 very well now, but Ape Escape: On the Loose is the better of the two versions to check out.
3
Wipeout Pure
Futuristic Racing At Its Purest
- Released
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March 24, 2005
- ESRB
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E for Everyone
Every great system launch needs a few racing games, and among the many, Wipeout Pure was at the top. This futuristic racer acted more as competition to Nintendo’s F-Zero franchise than arcade racers like Ridge Racer or Need for Speed. Wipeout Pure had tons of tracks and vehicles to master that took players on some impressively winding routes.
Even on the small screen, it was compelling to jump into the cockpit of a futuristic daredevil on the speedway. Several games in this series have been remastered, and tracks from Wipeout Pure have appeared in sequels, but this game was never fully remastered on its own.
2
Lumines: Puzzle Fusion
Move To The Tetris Grove
Lumines: Puzzle Fusion
- Released
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December 4, 2004
- ESRB
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E for Everyone
In early ads for the PSP, especially in Japan, Sony wanted their portable console to be the one-stop shop for all media, be it games, movies, or music. Lumines: Puzzle Fusion combined the game and music mediums well, offering players a reason to purchase earbuds for the system.
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It was a Tetris-like block puzzle game but with a heavy emphasis on the soundtrack. That soundtrack is the reason Lumines: Puzzle Fusion is remembered today, more so than the gameplay, which was sound for a puzzle game. This led to sequels and remasters, giving Lumines a great run in the puzzle sphere of video games.
Tactical Card Game Action
Stealth
Digital Card Game
- Released
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March 22, 2005
- ESRB
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Mature 17+
Metal Gear Acid is one of the stranger entries in the Metal Gear series, seemingly taking place in an alternate reality from Metal Gear Solid. Solid Snake is retired but gets brought in to do the typical action movie “One Last Mission” plot line to help save The President.
Instead of sneaking around a base with manual controls, players use a deck of cards to control Snake for movement and combat. This blending of a stealth game with a tactical RPG made for a compelling system that was hard to put down. It got even better in the sequel, but that’s as far as this launch game got, and neither of these two spinoffs has received remasters in the years since.
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