Must haves for the PSP

[vegi-saurus]

So here is the story...i'm new to the PSP scene and i would like opinions as to what games, softwares, homebrews, imports, accessories etc that are must haves! I'm mainly eager to use the PSP as a media (video) device as i find most games are...kinda sucky. Any opinions welcome!

Here's what i have ordered so far:
PSP core pack
4GB Pro Duo
Screen protector, extra battery etc from dealextreme.com

[vaportransmitter]

RPGs:
Blade Dancer -- Well, I thought it was okay. Grindfest. Fully 3D!
Breath of Fire III -- Port of PSX game. PAL.
Kingdom of Paradise -- Chinese-inspired Action RPG
Legend of Heroes, II, II -- Falcom Turn-Based. Horrible Translations. Decent game.
Generations of Chaos, Spectral Souls -- NIS StratRPGs I have yet to play.
Gurumin -- Falcom Action RPG. Fantastic!
PoPoLoCrois -- My favorite StratRPG!
Princess Crown -- Jp Import. Supposedly Fantastic.
Tales of Eternia -- Fantastic port of Tales of Destiny II. PAL.
Valkyrie Profile -- PSX Port w/ extras. Better than paying $100+ for the PSX.

Action:
Mega Man Maverick Hunter X -- MMX overhaul
Mega Man Powered Up -- MM NES overhaul
Metal Gear Acid, 2 -- not my cup of tea, strategy games.
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops -- heard it's good.
Ultimate Ghouls & Ghosts -- Another Capcom overhaul.

Platformer:
Daxter -- haven't played
Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters -- haven't played

Fighting:
Guilty Gear Judgement -- yet to play
Power Stone Collection -- yet to play
Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max -- yet to play

Etc:
Me and My Katamari -- beware horrible controls

I'm sure there is more, but those games are suited for my tastes.

[Richter Belmount]

Metal slug anthology
ace combat
dj max 1 and 2 (korean)
Sega Genesis collection
Grand theft auto liberty city stories
Tekken dark ressurection
Gradius collection

[pookninja]

gotta have wtf(work time fun),outrun 2006,capcom classics collection.

[geneshifter]

gotta have wtf(work time fun),outrun 2006,capcom classics collection.

What's so good about WTF? I saw this for cheap the other day and didn't get it since I know nothing about it.

[notoriusvig]

I'm pretty convinced that the only exclusive PSP stuff that is worth anything are MegaMan:Powered Up and Me and My Katamari. Of course, I'm mostly into 2D platformers/shooters and really unique games. I would've said Gradius Collection but with the PSP's crappy D-Pad and even crappier Analog stick, I don't really like the set much.

[blissfulnoise]

WTF is a collection of mini-games but quite a bit different from WarioWare.

Some games are parodies of genre staples (Frogger, Shmups, California Games), some are retakes on other basic games (count the number of people, guess the number, tap buttons to the rythym), and some are absolutely tedious (put caps on ball-point pens, pick up balls at a golf course).

All of the games are extremely odd and feature bizzare humor to making them more interesting.

The point of playing these mini-games is to earn money so you can purchase capsule toys from the vending machines in hell. Each vending machine will spit out a toy which goes into your collection. The toys are all pretty weird and each have a line or two about them. Occassionally you'll unlock a new mini-game or a "tool" to use. The mini-games are pretty self explanatory; a new game to play. The tools are strange...

One is a flashlight for your PSP that will light different colors. Another is a set of eyes to hold up over your own. The most famous one is a Ramen timer that you can set to different countdown times and will feature either a cute, bikini-clad girl or a muscle-bound dude in a speedo encouraging you to wait it out for the sweet, sweet Ramen.

Most games will pay you by the cent so it takes awhile to build up a few dollars until you play and get good at some of the more complex games.

In short, it's really freaking odd. The WTF (Work Time Fun is what it stands for) name is definately fitting. And since EB has it for $14.99 now, every single PSP owner should pick it up just to see something really different from the normal glut of games out there.

As for other games to own, my top 15 US PSP games are in no particular order...

- Lumines - Best puzzle game ever. Yeah, better than Tetris.
- Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops - Portable Metal Gear. Supurb story.
- Exit - Prince of Persia redone. Great pure "platformer". Very original design.
- Sega Genesis Collection - Best "retro" collection ever? I think so.
- Gradius Collection - Gradius is fantastic on the PSP screen. Beware some slowdown though along with slightly ackward controls.
- Puzzle Quest - The best puzzle/rpg hybrid of all time. Also the only puzzle/rpg hybrid (Puzzle Pirates not withstanding).
- WTF - See above.
- Every Extend Extra - Q? brings so much additional content to the popular free flash game it's worth looking at again.
- Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth - Port of a unique PSX RPG. Beware loading times.
- Sid Meier's Pirates! - Virtually no loading time that marred the X360 version.
- Gunpey - Controls make it difficult, but brilliant stage design via Q?
- Mega Man Powered Up - Excellent due to the fantastic level editor
- Me and My Katamari - Controls are not bad at all.
- Tekken: Dark Resurection - Fantastic adaptation of Tekken 5.
- Wipeout: Pure - The best racer still on the console.

Honorable mentions to: Darkstalkers, Street Fighter Alpha 3: MAX, Power Stone Collection, Ultimate Ghosts and Goblins, Grand Theft Auto: Liberity City Stories and Vice City Stories, and Ridge Racer.

[Hwj_Chim]

Darkstalkers Chronicle, Metal slug anthology, Wipeout pure, and Loco Roco are all games that I love to play on the psp and would recommend them to anyone

[geneshifter]

Thanks Blissfulnoise for the WTF info!

My favorite PSP games are:
Pirates
Puzzle Quest
Untold Legends 1 and 2
Valkyrie Profile
Metal Gear Acid 1 and 2
Portable Ops

I've been thinking about getting the Ys game for it as well.

[Trebuken]

I liked Dungeon Siege. Medal of Honor is supposed to be good. You might also try Powerstone Collection which can be had cheap.

[BHvrd]

Singleplayer:

Sega Genesis Collection
EA Replay Collection


Multiplayer:

Vice City:Liberty City Stories
Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror


You said must haves and I consider those must haves. Many other games I like, but those get the most play, and there's nothing like playing "Haunting Starring:Polterguy" when you gotta go poo poo.

[Three-P]

I can agree to Metal Gear Acid 2 and Gradius collection, for sure.

When they come out, you can add God of War PSP and Castlevania-The Dracula X Chronicles to the list. (I can hardly wait.)

[Vinnysdad]

Exit is a pretty good game. I bought because it was only ten bucks and it turned out to be pretty good. Kind of a puzzle game. I think.

[8Ways2Tuesday]

Luminies is one of the few things I'd deem 'must have'. Guilty Gear Judgment is hella fun, though.

Most of the PSP RPGs have terrible loading times.

[heybtbm]

My recommedations:

Ridge Racer
Tekken: Dark Resurrection
Mega Man: Powered Up

Best games on the PSP.

Also Sega Genesis Collection has been mentioned a few times...it's now $9.99 at Best Buy, FYI.

[vegi-saurus]

Thanks all for your input! Stormed out to my local EB and got Outrun 2006 and Syphon Filter DM (sweet 20% off used games). Will probably pick up Katamari, WTF, Ridge Racer, MGS PO, NBA '07 and Virtua Tennis sometime down the line. Those games will definitely feed my short gaming bursts! My PSP better be in my mailbox soon!

A few more questions for all you smarties. How bad are the loading/lagging times for games in general? And which suffers from it the most? I'm thinking of picking up games like Dynasty Warriors but was afraid that it'll be an issue.

What about homebrewing? How easy is that? Any chance i can watch divx, rmvb etc files on the PSP?

[goldenaxeboy]

I am interested in seeing driver76 that looks like a good game go psp.

[ShenmueFan]

If I had a PSP, my first buy would be the Metal Slug collection game...and maybe that Sega collection game as well.

[Ponyone]

What would be better to get.. Metal Slug Anthology or Metal Slug Complete (JPN)? Does anyone have Complete? Is it all in Japanese or english?

I remember the Japanese versions had blood. Not like that's a big selling point, but I'd rather see blood than sweat.

Also, how do they play? I heard they were from buggy rom versions?
Or some such.

[sisko]

I'll second Every Extend Extra. IMHO, it is the best game on the system.

[Nature Boy]

A few more questions for all you smarties. How bad are the loading/lagging times for games in general? And which suffers from it the most? I'm thinking of picking up games like Dynasty Warriors but was afraid that it'll be an issue.

What about homebrewing? How easy is that? Any chance i can watch divx, rmvb etc files on the PSP?

First off, if you're able to homebrew that means you're able to convert your shiny new UMDs into ISO format, which makes for some very fast load times. That's what I do. And with a 4 GB stick you can stick a couple on there and still have space for videos. UMDs are no larger than 1.8 GB I think.

Before you buy a game check online reviews - they usually comment on the load times, especially if they're terrible. For the most part the games I've got played on UMD just fine.

Whether you can homebrew or not depends on what firmware your PSP will be, and how comfortable you are with messing with it. It's not for the faint of heart, but man is it nice to have.

My favourite UMDs are the two GTAs, Syphon Filter (which I see you've bought), and Pirates! (which I just bought a couple of weeks ago, so it's not as time tested as the other 3 :) ).

You'll want to get PSP Video 9 to convert videos into mp4 format. It's free and does a great job. I'm currently using the beta of 2.14, as it works with FW 3.30 and allows us to (finally) see videos using the full screen. I ripped "Revenge of the Sith" which is 775 MB but looks *amazing* as it finally uses the full width of the screen (previous firmwares would've forced you to have black bars on top/bottom and left/right - Sony finally realized we were never gonna buy UMD movies).

For emulators, should you choose to downgrade, it really depends on what retro systems you enjoy IMO. Unfortunately there's not good MAME emulator, but I've got good ones for the GBA, Genesis, NES, Atari 8-bit, and the Atari VCS on my memory stick.

[Leo_A]

Activision Hits Remix is worth buying too.

[Nature Boy]

Activision Hits Remix is worth buying too.

I was actually disappointed with this. Seemed slow and a tad unresponsive to me.

[Ponyone]

anyone have any insight on my Metal Slug Anthology/Complete query?

[Bloodreign]

A couple imports in the vein of Gradius Collection (which by the way is quite nice on the PSP screen, hell I adjusted nicely to the d-pad):

Parodius Portable - all Parodius titles, including the MSX one with improved scrolling, not really as updated as the Gradius 2 in Salamander Portable

Salamander Portable - Salamander, Salamander 2, and Life Force, plus the only port of Xexex and of course Gradius 2 MSX (also with improved scrolling)

Twinbee Parodius - Twinbee, Twinbee Yahho!, Pop N Twinbee, and Detana!! Twinbee round out this one nicely, not sure if there's any hidden games on it.