PSP Greatest Misses

[News] [Computer Gaming]

Gamasutra has an article confirming the North American lineup for the forthcoming PSP Greatest Hits catalogue, which plans to re-release the most successful PSP games to date for purchase in a new, cheaper ($20 US) format (much like the similar platinum-boxed collection for the PlayStation 2).

The lineup says pretty much everything there is to say about the current PSP game selection. I've managed to haul myself as far as Gamespot to get some support on the titles I haven't played, but I'm too lazy to find other sources. In any case, as far as the PSP launch titles went Gamespot were more or less on target compared to my own opinions, so that should do well enough.

* Ape Escape: On the Loose
I haven't played this one, but Gamespot seemed to think it was decent but unremarkable.

* ATV Offroad Fury: Blazin' Trails
Again, by all accounts, nothing special.

* Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee
It's a frikkin' golf game. What more do you need to know?

* Twisted Metal: Head On
This one apparently wasn't too bad - Gamespot thought 8.3, which puts it pretty much in their top bracket of titles from the launch period (with the exception of the almost fawning devotion they paid to Lumines).

* Wipeout Pure
An excellent game that I thoroughly enjoyed, and a great return to form for the Wipeout franchise (even if the soundtrack didn't feature any Chemical Brothers this time).

* Lumines
Quality puzzle action. As with many puzzle games, it feels like a bit of an insult to be expected to pay a premium price for it, but that having been said, it's up there with Meteos as one of the best Tetris-oids of the past five years. Gamespot really orgasmed over it - I'm not sure I'd go quite that far but it certainly is one of the better PSP titles on my shelf.

* Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition
I learned that I wasn't a fan of Midnight Club when I played the PS2 games, so I never investigated its PSP outing. Gamespot tells me it's more of the same.

* Star Wars Battlefront II
A truly putrid offering. The PS2 Battlefront II wasn't even as good as the original Battlefront, and the PSP version is an order of magnitude worse again. Even the easy wireless multiplayer doesn't compensate for hideous controls, a view distance of about three feet, and the "armies" you're taking on being limited to about three soldiers on-screen at any given time. I can't recommend highly enough that you avoid this game.

* Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix
A fantastic port of the THUG series to a handheld format, packing almost the entire PS2 experience onto a UMD while maintaining the same tight controls, great level design, and addictive gameplay. Highly recommended.

* Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade
The success of this game is mostly due to the complete absence of other RPG-esque titles at the PSP's launch. It's an uninspiring and unsatisfying Diablo-type romp that's inoffensive if you don't have anything better on hand to play (which no-one did, when the PSP launched). But hardly a classic. Gamespot goes one better to suggest that "some legends are untold for a reason", but that may be a bit harsh.

From this list, we see:
I've played 5 out of 10 games (50%).
8 out of 10 games (80%) are extensions of console franchises, and of those, 3 out of 10 (30%) were more or less straight console ports of existing games.
4 out of 10 games (40%) scored higher than 8 on Gamespot. 1 out of 10 scored a 9 or higher (Lumines). And this was mostly in an era where Gamespot would give an 8 to anything even remotely fun. (They seem to be a bit harsher recently.)
0 out of 10 games (0%) are good enough to justify the purchase of a PSP. (Subjective opinion.)

That's pretty sad for a greatest hits collection.

Apparently Europe/Australia has a different Greatest Hits lineup. Ours are selling for about $50 AUD under the same "Platinum" brand as the PlayStation 2, and we're getting:

* Wipeout Pure
* Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition
* Everybody's Golf
* Pursuit Force
* Ridge Racer
* WFC World Rally Championship
* Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
* Medievil: Resurrection
* F1 Grand Prix

And that's even sadder than the US collection. That's what, 6 out of 9 (66.6%) driving games, and of the remaining three one is a sports title. I'm not sure whether that reflects worse on the PSP or on Australia. Admittedly, probably what's driving this list is the different selection of launch titles we got compared to the US. Australia enjoyed Wipeout Pure and Pursuit Force long before America got wind of them, and probably some of those other titles were Euro-first productions. Plus I'm fairly sure that Europe/Australia are more Harry Potter crazy, per-capita, than America, by a fair margin.

Still, none of that excuses anyone paying money for Medievil: Resurrection. Ick. If this is the best the PSP can offer, I'm going to be finding it harder and harder to justify my launch-day outlay of $600 on my shiny black portable friend.

UPDATE: This post now has a follow-up, "PSP Games That Don't Suck". Check it out.