The Top 25 PSP Games of All Time

Before you scream "WHERE IS [INSERT GAME], IGN?!" Keep in mind that this list was last updated in August 2010. We take out Top 25 recommendations very seriously, so we like to let time pass before updating with more recent games -- we like to let our opinions simmer. We're going to update the list in August, so let us know what we should add in the comments below.

Since the PSP hit the market in 2005, an uneducated sliver of the videogame kingdom has been bashing it and claiming that there are no good games for Sony's engine baby.

Screw the naysayers.

Today, we're putting that rumor to rest and compiling our list of the best games the PSP has to offer you at this very moment. These are the games we think are the most fun to play. These are the ones we find our handhelds getting drawn toward. These are the ones that make train rides to work and the horrible TV shows our significant others watch tolerable.

These are the Top 25 PSP Games of All Time.

Synopsis: If Final Fantasy Tactics represents a classic strategy role-playing game and Jeanne d'Arc is something new, then Disgaea happily sits somewhere in the middle; a grind-happy, over-the-top take on the purest elements of SRPGs done with its own particular flair. It also runs beautifully on the PSP, bolstered by a proper 16:9 view and multiplayer modes that make it far more than just a simple port of the PS2 original, Hour of Darkness. In addition to offering Ad Hoc throwdowns, a complete, hours-long side quest featuring Etna was added, giving the game single- and multiplayer bonuses -- bonuses that some could argue actually make this a better game than the original PS2 release. It might sound like blasphemy to those that played through the series' debut on their lovable black brick, but NIS loaded the PSP port with so much goodness that it's almost impossible to deny so why try? Go getcher SRPG fix sated with one of the best games the genre's ever seen, now with more goodies!

Synopsis: It's easy to look at the PSP hardware and imagine console-level games running in the palm of your hand and crave a epic RPG or a massive action experience, and while both are served quite well with games on our list, we were keen to spotlight something that's undeniably old-school. Hammerin' Hero, a spiritual successor to the 8-bit Hammerin' Harry outings of yore, is a perfect example of how a timeless gameplay mechanic -- in this case bashing stuff while running from left to right -- can be made fresh again. Innovative boss battles, a playful approach to side scrolling and deceptively simple graphics all add up to an experience that's oh so much more than the sum of its parts. There's so much simple, effective goodness packed into Hammerin' Hero's presentation that it almost makes us wish more companies would attempt an update like this. Almost.

Synopsis: Level-5 and Sony have enjoyed a rather fruitful partnership over the years. The Dark Cloud games are some of the most lengthy, densely packed action RPGs on the PS2, ditto for Rogue Galaxy, and we're not even going to touch what a gold mine Dragon Quest VIII was for Square Enix. When Level-5 decided it wanted to go the strategy RPG route, though, we were ill prepared for just how successfully they would pull it all off. Adhering to the standard formula just enough to be familiar but introducing new elements like a dynamic weak point for enemies and the ability to transform main characters into floor-wiping hurt-dealers, Jeanne d'Arc turned the tropes of the genre on their head to amazing effect. It's easily one of the most promising franchise debuts on the PSP, and one we can only hope continues in the future.

Synopsis: Remakes and updates of arcade classics are nothing new; developers and publishers have been dipping back into their earlier libraries to revive decades-old hits for years -- particularly in recent ones. Few, if any of them have done it with the same kind of impact as Space Invaders Extreme, which never really loses the magic of the original ever-marching armies slowly moving toward the bottom of the screen. Instead, it bolsters that classic gameplay with a set of all new, ultra-powerful, mega-flashy weapons that are insanely fun to use. Throw in tons of bonus levels, boss battles and pick-ups that are thrown out rapid-fire and you have a game that can entertain even the most ADD-addled youngster and classic gaming fogey alike, no small feat any way you present it. Even with a seizure-inducing light show and bleepy bloopy electronic thumping away in the background.

Synopsis: Explaining the appeal of the Pursuit Force series is like trying to quantify the magic inherent in an '80s action movie. The good guys were badasses, the bad guys were two-dimensional, cackling ubervillains and everything just kind of exploded for no reason other than the fact that explosions make everything better. In Extreme Justice, you race around streets, across water, and in helicopters with limitless ammo, leaping from car to car and commandeering vehicles by shooting the drivers in the face at point-blank range. It's like BigBig Studios distilled the very essence of Michael Bay's imagination into a bunch of ones and zeroes and burned 'em onto a UMD. The result is one of the most balls-out awesome action games on the PSP, packed with high-speed chases, ridiculous stunts and fighting crime the American way: with lots and lots of bullets.