Games that make the psp worth owning!

It seems that the psp gets a lot of crap for not having any good games. Im here to tell you it does, with my top ten psp games. Because it is hard to rank games from different genres, they will be in no particular order.

Crisis core:FF7 - Regardless of how overrated the original may or may not be, crisis core is a great game on its own. It takes out all the grindy elements of rpg's , and just gives me what I love. The main hero, Zack, seems like your typical spiky haired, emo, square creation. To my surprise he had a very charismatic likeable personality. The game is filled with cameos from characters from the original cast, as well as some cool new characters. The voice acting is solid, the visuals are nothing short of amazing, and the music is well arranged. (the price of freedom is one of my favorite vg tracks ever.) But in the end, what really makes a game great is the gameplay. Rather than a turn based approach it is action oriented which works well. Instead of walking around for random battles to gain some exp. you just go through unique missions and level with the DMW. (a slot machine that determines when and what you level.) Any psp owner who is evenly remotely interested in rpg's should own this game.

Mega man: Powered up - This game is not your standard port. It revamps the original graphics, sound and gameplay. You can play through the original unaltered, but most players will be drawn to the new style mode. Here you face 2 new robot masters (time man and oil man.) Once you beat these bosses you can play as them! They all let you access secret areas and have special abilities. My favorite addition is the challenge mode. These are INCREDIBLY difficult, even for the best mega man experts.

Socom fire storm bravo - This game is on here for the online play. The single player is good, but it gets boring pretty fast thanks to bad AI. The online play is the best I have had on the psp. There are annoying cheaters, but thats to be found in any online game. (Its hard to believe though because the psp is notoriously hard to hack :]) It has full headset support, and up to 16 players. Its perfect for portable online play!

Daxter - My favorite genre is the platformer and this game delivers. While not as complete as it's console counterparts, daxters solo outing is not one you will want to miss. It is filled with great platforming. (Its like super mario sunshine but better.) As series veterans would come to expect it has plenty of humor, but the story somewhat lacks compared to the other games. Its now at the great price of 20$, so any psp owner should buy this game.

Tekken: Dark Resurrection - A great fighting game that looks amazing on the psp. A port of tekken 5, nothing is really lost coming to the handheld. Load times are fast (especially on the slim), there are plenty of characters to choose from and it has some fun multiplayer. This is the only game I have where you can just sit on a couch and talk smack to your friends while playing. The only aspect of the controls that takes getting used to is the psp-1000's crappy d-pad. If you have a slim it works much better, and don't worry you can use the nub! Sarcasm aside, this game fills the fighting game niche for the psp quite nicely.

Ratchet: Size matters - What a splendid platformer! While not as good as its console brethren it gives you what you expect in a ratchet game. The graphics are average, but certainly not an eyesore. (they're just really simple). The voice acting is good and funny, but certainly no psychonauts. There is PLENTY of cool weapons and gadgets to buy and use, and some enjoyable platforming. Insomniac (or high impact games, I forget who actually made it) pulled out a great portable ratchet game. It succeeds in the most important aspect of gaming which is fun factor. Now that it's a greatest hits title its a no brainer to pick this one up.

God of war: chains of olympus - A prequel to the first god of war, it is an all around great games. Kratos is pissed off so you need to kick some ass. The game is very combat oriented. Once again the game looks great and is a blast to play. The boss battles are in the top 5 on the psp. Voice acting and music are great, and the nub feels natural. The only real fault is the games length, so depending on how much you like straight up god of war action, you may or may not want to buy the game. I say the game is so fun, it's worth a buy.

Medal of honor heroes 2- Whats a console these days without a few good fps's? Medal of honor heroes 2 is basically your generic WW2 fps, but is still pretty fun. The campaign is even shorter than god of war's but there is some great online play to be had here. I recommend it to fans of the fps only.

Secret agent clank - A spin-off game like daxter, secret agent clank is a stealth platformer overflowing with personality and charm. Clank takes center stage here in a cool spy themed adventure. There are plenty of james bond references and the whole game has a good personality. The stealth adds a whole new element to gameplay, but there is still classic ratchet gameplay to be found. In fact, you can still play as ratchet whos missions are nice and fun. (like trying to keep your towel on in prison.) A new addition to the series from a gameplay standpoint is captain quark. His missions are hilarious! There is one where you play him while he sings about his left buttcheek. Reminds me of blasto. But anyway, the game has a unique plot that keeps the game moving and is a great addition to the psp library.

#10: Honorable mentions and all thats to come - I realize there are some games I did'nt include that I might take some heat for. The gta games are good, and killzone is good. Some more great games include battlefront, fft:war of the lions, patapon, loco roco and castlevania. Multiplatform games like space invaders extreme, ape escape, any one madden and crash of the titans are also good. One nice feature the psp has over the ds is the ability to rent games so you can see what you like for yourself. There are also some great exclusives coming up. Resistance, Parasite eve, FF13: Agito, Kingdom hearts 3 and Dissidia will all be worth checking out.

Well thats my list, and thanks for reading. This is my first blog so I hope you enjoyed it. Comments and tips are greatly appreciated, as I hope to one day be able to write like digitaldebaser or kain_kusanagi. Thanks for reading!