The Gamer's Quarter

[seryogin]

So, I played a PSP for the first time recently; It was running a PS emulator with KOF99 on it.

It felt pretty comfortable and it doesnt' feel nearly as lame as I imagined. So, is the PSP worth buying and what are the games that have proven to be most worthwhile.

War of the Lions looks pretty good, as well as Rondo of Blood. There are two Capcom collections, as well as a Genesis one, which makes this seem like a pretty good device for catching up on the classics while travelling, something that seems very appealing.

So any tips, folks?
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[ryan]

I really enjoy the Gradius Collection, as well as Wipeout Pulse (or Pure - I think that's the original's name), Bomberman with its normal and classic modes, and Jeanne d'Arc is good, especially if you're interested in War of the Lions.
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Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.

[dmauro]

[Intentionally Wrong]

Metal Gear AC!D one and two if you have any interest in tactics games.

[Shapermc]

Ok, I wen't and grabbed my stuff. At this point in time I actually belive that there are enough games on the PSP that it's worth considering. My top picks are:

Gurumin: Not only a great adventure game, but a well constructed one. Originally a PC game from a few years back, Gurumin was brought to the US by Mastiff. After seeing what Konami had done with their Ys series on the PSP, Falcom decided to port this game their selves and they did an amazing job. The gameplay mixes a little bit of Megaman Legends into the package and creates an excellent action adventure game with a story written for the more child like in us, and solid controls that evoke a more mature game. Either way, this is one of my favorite "PSP only" games (it was never released on the PC for the US... so yeah).

Megaman Powered Up: I really need to check if the create your own level servers are still up for this game. If you have even the slightest fond memories for the original Megaman games, you owe it to yourself to track this game down. For the most part it's just a remake of the first game. There's even one mode that is an exact block for block remake of Megaman 1, but it's not as enjoyable. After you complete the game proper if you haven't had enough lovingly thick nostalgic syrup poured on, you can go and download/make any level you want with a very robust level builder. There were even more tilesets released than are playable in the game proper. Other players created some really, really amazing levels with it all too. This is probably the best action game package you can pick up on the console, but good luck as I haven't seen it around much in stores.

Dungeon Maker: Hunting Ground: I just happen to grab this game really cheap used after some interest in the mechanics behind it. I ended up really liking it for most of the game, until I made it a bit too difficult/long for it's own good. See, there's not much within the basic design concept that separates this game from most dungeon crawling RPGs, except the most important thing: you're creating the dungeons. Were it not for that it would be pretty lame, but the game slowly builds the player up with knowledge and a bit of trial and error that you will want to create a more grand and tempting maze within your dungeon to trap better monsters so that you can then lure in the better prizes so that they can be sold for money to buy more equiptment to build more dungeon. It's a vicious circle that's difficult to articulate properly without playing the game itself. Either way, I highly recommend this one, it's great for short before bed play sessions, and long boring afternoons as well.

Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles: I don't think I really need to say too much about this. I mean, Rondo of Blood remake, original Rondo of Blood (only US release), and Symphony of the Night (though, not the best/most complete version story wise, it is the best for gameplay). All in one package. You're a bastard if you demanded more.

Patapon: Now the jury is still out on this one as I'm making my way though it, but initial impressions involve a definite purchase. This is a rhythm and strategy game smashed together with a result that feels wholly original even though there's nothing entirely new behind either concept. If you're looking for a great rhythm game this isn't going to feed the need, and the same for heavy strategy. Though mixing them together in an original way with unique art direction makes for a truly special experience (mostly!).

Crush: This is a puzzle game. Don't let the prospect of a puzzle platformer misquide you. There's very little skill based platforming, it's more about figuring out how to get from point a to point b. Anyways, I can't in good faith recommend this game flat out to anyone. The game is very difficult, even very early on. It doesn't care if you can't for the life of you figure out a puzzle and want to move on. It's a bit of a mean game. I respect it for that though, and do like what I played of the game, but probably a bit too early on I ended up getting hoplessly stuck in this game and I do hate it a bit for really giving me no way out. Very challenging if you like that kind of thing.

~The rest of my recommendations are fairly safe/standard things to have in a collection. They're nothing too new, but also not exactly remakes. I like most of these quite a bit, and for all of these games I just wish that they were playable outside of the worst screen I've ever used in my life (the PSP screen)~

Ultimate Ghosts'N Goblins: I loved this game and played though it quite a few times. It does hearken back to a time that most developers have left in the dust with instant deaths and irreversable leaps of faith. But that's what made the series so great in the first place. I think I would rather recommend the version that was released in Japan that cut out a lot of the BS that the first version had (like ring collection and level warping) that just seems to bog the flow down. That's not imporant really though, it's not like the the first/US version of the game is bad, it's just a bit mis-guided.

Every Extend Extra: Go play Every Extend by Omega. Do you like it? Great, then go get EEE: Q? Entertainment's update and expansion of the game. It's not exactly the same, but more like a spiritual continuation of the original. Some of the mechanics are slightly different and the visual style changes for each level, but in its heart it is still Every Extend. The game molds and adjusts to your skill, and is perfect for it's arcade like flow. (Now, I do not recommend EEEE for the 360. It is aweful. I'm really not sure how they went from making something that's pretty good to making the worst, most bloated, easy, and pointless games ever created).

Gradius Collection: It has every major version of Gradius. Ever. Even Gaiden. There, the US finally got Gaiden. Go play it. (As an aside: Gaiden is probably the best Gradius game ever made, even more so than GV in my humble opinion).

Space Invaders Pocket: I love some of the Space Invaders games, though the early ones are mostly unnecessary. This version has almost every version available (even cellophane colored versions of the original b&w game and cellphone versions) including some of my favorite versions like Majestic Twelve (a version with non-standard formations, bosses, and world runner-esque 3D sections) and Attack of the Lunar Loonies aka Akkanvader (the only console release iirc). Just for MJ-12 and Akkanvader alone this game is worth it, but it's nice to see the others tossed in for free anyways. Oh, yeah, the game supports TATE mode so you can rotate the PSP for a more correct aspect ratio.
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“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

[seryogin]

Thanks, Matt.
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[Worm]

I'm thinking of picking up a slim since the UMD drive in my main is dead and I don't want to spring for a 4/8 gb card or manage cards rather than managing UMDs.

Re: Patapon
Patapon is fucking excellent. It's probably the only rhythm game I'll ever love, because it actually takes rhythm, there are no useful visual cues (the sides of the screen pulse with the beat, but they don't telegraph what you need to do ala DDR arrows), on top of that it's got fun combat and nice little min/max aspects. The only downside is that you need to hear the beat, so in anything but a silent environ headphones are a MUST.

Re: Gradius Collection
Did they fix the slow down when using the laser in Gradius 3?
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Exit stage left, exit stage right, there is no place to run, all the fuses in the exit signs have been BURNT OUT

[Shapermc]

[TheRumblefish]

[simplicio]

Matt were you not into LocoRoco? It was one of the (3) reasons I bought a PSP in the first place. It's adorable jumping blobs who sing joyfully as you scoot them around the world. The art is wonderful. The sound is wonderful. It's all like Katamari, but better.

Patapon, by the same people, is just as good as people here are saying. Worm does get it right here; it's not portable. But then, I don't personally categorize the PSP as portable beyond being able to play it in any room in my apartment. But that same characteristic also lends it the status of the most "zone" game I've ever played; headphones on, full body time-keeping, lying on my bed.

The original Every Extend was one of the two most mechanically sound videogames ever created (the other is Mr. Driller). That original is included in EEE, plus a whole bunch of variations on the theme.

Final Fantasy Tactics may be something you've played before. I hadn't. It's a fantastic game though. Difficult, but engaging on multiple levels, and even the new anime cutscenes can't detract from a top-tier videogame storyline.

Other thoughts:

Lumines makes no sense to me. It's never clicked and I don't find it in any way enjoyable, but so many people have raved about it over the years that I have to assume I'm doing something wrong. I just don't get what it is.

I'm not at all fueled by gamer nostalgia and I don't really like 2D platformers any more, so the copies of Dracula X and Megaman Powered Up I bought on recommendations from here and SB have been played for 20 minutes a piece and sit untouched on my shelf.

Between Outrun 2006 and Ridge Racer, choose the latter. Outrun relies on environment and color and soundtrack and is much better enjoyed on a TV from a couch, which Ridge Racer thrives more on course design and simple drift mechanics and fits quite well with a PSP.

I agree with Matt about Crush; it's far more enjoyable in concept than it is to play. And the presentation is absolutely lousy to boot. Note that the upcoming Echochrome, based around similar but more Escher-esque environments, doesn't appear to be enjoyable either. The upcoming Cave-Story-alike version looks more fun and better put together than either.

I found Jeanne D'Arc to be awful. For some reason some people like it, but the story is all animu dry-heaves and I didn't find anything exact enough in the game mechanics to warrant it even being a strategy RPG. Sloppy, inane, a complete waste of time. Same goes for every JRPG except FFT on the system, in my experience. Yuck!

I just put Gurumin in my gamefly queue. I'm curious about it now.
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"Worlds turn the new machine to thee. To thee. Though, thine the new machine space."
-Kurt Schwitters, 1919

[Shapermc]

[simplicio]

I'm realizing that scale seems to have a lot to do with my preferences in portable gaming. My favorites all feature smaller, abstracted avatars in larger environments. Bigger, detailed avatars feel dwarfed and emasculated due to the smaller size of the console itself, and even the grandest action is still only an inch high. So in a game like FFT:WotL, the normal combat feels right, while the grand spells and summons feel strangely off. A smaller representation of characters feels more apt; it conveys a sense of scale, challenge and accomplishment that console-action-style games can't. In these cases, abstracted graphics are a bonus as they encourage the player to mentally fill in the gaps. It's the reason my favorite GBA games are Fire Emblem and Racing Gears Advance, which featured mere markers of avatars, a few pixels high, and actively placed emphasis on environment instead. It's also why I love Shiren DS when I was never able to get into the large-screened emulated version. Actually, the only game I can think of that breaks the rule for me is Chibi Robo: Park Patrol, which features a protagonist only a couple inches high to begin with.

Point being, the LocoRoco/Patapon folks really seem to understand that (as well as acknowledging the inherent potential for cuteness and energy of small things); in LocoRoco you aren't even moving your characters as much as you are tilting their world around, sliding them here and there.
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"Worlds turn the new machine to thee. To thee. Though, thine the new machine space."
-Kurt Schwitters, 1919

[Worm]

[JasonMoses]

[simplicio]

[Shapermc]