While the Sony PlayStation Portable never hit quite the same heights as it’s competition the Nintendo DS it was noteworthy for several things. First of all when released it boasted near PS2 quality graphics, and was released for just two hundred dollars which seemed like a bargain given the hardware. Secondly it was the most successful handheld console that wasn’t released by Nintendo. Out the gates the platform saw a lot of success but in North America and Europe the platform began waning at this point. Japanese developers flocked to the platform and released a ton of games for it, and many were localized. The PSP amassed a huge library worldwide. Unfortunately most of the games, even those belonging to big franchises, failed to sell well in the West leading to a treasure trove of forgotten releases. That’s why we’re here today to talk about the best PSP hidden gems.
Before we begin let’s go over some rules to better help understand why we included the games we did, and why they’re considered hidden gems:
- The PSP hidden gems included here are titles that are not spoken of often. They may have had pre-release hype, and even decent sales, but for some reason or another they’ve been forgotten. Bear in mind that many do have cult followings, but they can’t exactly be considered popular.
- You will find only North American releases on this list. We’ll do a separate list of the best import titles for the platform later down the road. For now this list is just the best PSP hidden gems in North America.
- Our list is just that; our list. You don’t have to agree or disagree. This is just our opinion, and was made to help turn people on to the lesser celebrated PSP releases. It’s also just for fun so please don’t be offended if certain games didn’t make cut.
With all that out of the way let’s get started. These are the top 15 best PSP hidden gems listed in alphabetical order.
Brave Story: New Traveler
The PSP had a lot of RPGs. Let me rephrase that. It was a veritable treasure trove of role playing games. While it had plenty of the big names like Final Fantasy most of these were either original releases or belonged to very niche franchises. Brave Story is a brand new game with classical trappings and some interesting concepts. The plot in particular is a really original idea and in execution it’s oozing with charm. As far as combat goes it’s very traditional turn based fare, but has a lot of polish and some decent concepts. I really like the team up attacks. While the idea is hardly a new one I still very much enjoyed the way it was implemented here. If you’re a fan of the genre and want something that’s beautiful, polished, and fun then Brave Story has got your number.
Coded Arms
Handheld platforms have never been well known for their first person shooters. With the genre’s rise in popularity outside of the PC platform Konami tried their hands at an original portable title. The result was Coded Arms. While this one had a fair bit of hype when announced it didn’t exactly set the sales charts on fire. That’s okay, because now we can appreciate it as a PSP hidden gem. I really like the concept behind it. Coded Arms takes place within virtual reality combat simulator gone awry. You, as a hacker, must enter it to put the evil force to rest. The idea translates into gameplay in some pretty cool ways. In some areas you can make new paths forward when it’s hacked, and the weapons spawn randomly as well. The controls are a bit limited but Coded Arms is still a fun rogue-like twist on the genre.
Corpse Party
It’s not tough to figure out why no one played this horror themed visual novel/adventure game. It was not only released very late in the PSP’s lifespan, but also came out as a digital only title. I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t have high hopes for it. Corpse Party looks at first like an RPG maker indie game, and I’m not a fan of visual novels in the first place. As I dug in I absolutely loved unfolding the crazy story, and was surprised at how haunting the experience was. The basic premise is that it’s an overhead adventure game where you play as a group of anime styled teenage students transported to a haunted elementary school. It’s clear right away that something terrible has happened here, and it’s up to the cast to solve the mystery. Corpse Party is gruesome and surprisingly scary.
Gitaroo Man Lives!
Gitaroo Man started out as a rhythm game released for the PS2. It never made any real waves there, but the developers wanted to give it a second shot on the PlayStation Portable. Unfortunately it too underperformed, but that just means we have another PSP hidden gem to enjoy now. Gitaroo Man has you holding directions and button inputs in rhythm with the on-screen display. All set to music, and a wonderful art style that’s unlike anything else. Honestly there are better games of this kind but Gitaroo Man does hold a special place in my heart. Nothing else quite scratches the itch and that’s because the mechanics are more intense than simply pressing keys at the time right. It also helps that the music in this one is absolutely on-point. Gitaroo Man Lives is definitely one of the best PSP hidden gems of all time.
Gradius Collection
I’m not disillusioned enough to think that the masses still cared about Gradius after the PSP hit the scene. This franchise was at one point hugely popular, but shmups as a whole kind of died out for a while. Thankfully Konami still saw it fit to release a collection of five Gradius titles on the PSP, and what a collection it is. Not only do you get the first four installments but also included is the first and only time Gradius Gaiden was ever localized. That’s good news considering it’s one of the best. Little does Konami know I would have bought that one standalone for the platform! The other titles are arcade perfect ports, but with a few enhancements. For one thing they make use of the PSP’s wide screen format to show you more of the playing field. That’s a game changer for the overly difficult Gradius titles.
Hammerin’ Hero
One of my favorite things about the Sony PSP was how many older franchises were revived for it. Hammerin Harry was never a household name, but it had it’s fair share of fans during the 8/16-bit era. Well I’m happy to report that the franchise was revived in all it’s wacky and zany glory here. Hammerin’ Hero is a 2.5D platformer wherein you play as Harry. Our hero begins the adventure packing an oversized mallot with which he, well, hammers enemies with. You have two different types of strikes; both a strong and weak as well as a supermove for massive damage. Later on Harry acquires multiple other melee attacks all of which are pretty similar. At the time of release this one was mostly shunned by critics, but I really enjoy it. There’s something so comforting about a good classic platformer action title with modern graphics.
Infected
This one had, and still maintains to a lesser degree, a pretty bum rep. Infected has you taking to the streets armed to the teeth with firearms that you must use to stop all incoming zombie enemies. This is no survival horror game. There’s an absolute onslaught of enemies coming your way and you’re encouraged to unload everything you have on them. It features a very over-the-top style which some won’t like, particularly those hoping for a scary or more serious title. Infected instead is pure arcade style shooting bliss that will have you coming back again and again to try and top your high scores. There admittedly isn’t a ton of content here, but I find myself returning from time to time when I wanting something fast and frenetic to play.
Jeanne D’Arc
I have somewhat mixed feelings when it comes to Jeanne D’Arc. On one hand it’s a neat little grid based strategy RPG, and it plays really well. On the other when it was first released the game was incredibly overrated. That’s par for the course when it comes to most Level-5 developed titles. Don’t get me wrong; it’s great, but not as earth shattering amazing as I was told. The most interesting thing about Jeanne D’Arc is it’s focus on history. You play as an anime styled Joan of Arc as she defends France from the invasion of England. There’s a heavy dose of fantasy elements (such as magic, monsters, and the like) so it doesn’t follow the source material closely at all. The graphics use a very striking and colorful cel-shaded style which is extremely pleasant especially on the small screen. Jeanne D’Arc is a really good game.
Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny
Who here knew a Soul Calibur game came out on the Sony PSP? No one? That’s what I thought. I sure didn’t until I randomly stumbled upon it for sale. Even then I had to google whether or not it’s even an official release. It turns out Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny was in fact an officially licensed game. This one came out after Soul Calibur IV and was clearly overshadowed by it’s home console brethren. Broken Destiny is very typical for a game in the franchise. It’s a one-on-one 3D fighter where the main focus is on weapons. This means you have to keep range in mind when planning your strikes. It features a huge roster of characters (even including Kratos from God of War) and each has their own fighting styles. The main reason this didn’t get more glory is that it’s light in terms of single player content.
Summon Night 5
Publisher Gainjinworks (founded by former president of Working Designs Victor Ireland) brought the West their first taste of the mainline Summon Night franchise with this fifth installment. It was met with very little fanfare selling only tens of thousands of copies in English markets. It’s a shame because this is a fun little strategy RPG, and that’s why I consider it one of the best PSP hidden gems. If you’re allergic to cute and colorful anime stylized characters then you’ll need to bring your Epipen to play this one. That and the visual novel elements are almost too much to bear. The game is a grid based strategy RPG where you take turns moving characters around a battlefield attacking enemies and casting spells. One of the few unique elements comes in the form of ‘brave points.’ These are netted by completing specific actions, and are used to purchase new abilities.
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together
Final Fantasy Tactics is often cited as the big strategy RPG, but it was actually the first Tactics Ogre that kicked things off. This PSP edition is a remake of the original game. The first release was a brilliant strategy RPG with a variety of different classes and terrain to do battle on. Not to mention a large and overarching story full of fantasy and political intrigue. This remake not only features prettier graphics and better music, but also some much needed quality of life fixes. The action and text has been sped up so it no longer feels like each unit is a snail. Truth be told that was my biggest complaint with the original title, and the fixes here make Let Us Cling Together on PSP the definitive version. Unfortunately when it released no one cared about the Tactics Ogre series anymore.
Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology
I’ve been a fan of the Tales series since I played the fan translated version of Phantasia for the Super Famicom. I was disappointed Namco didn’t localize more of these titles on the PSP to be honest. What we did get however was Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology. For better or worse this is not a traditional installment in the franchise. Instead it’s a dungeon crawler cross-over of sorts. You begin by creating your own character and customizing them to your liking. From here you travel across a series of dungeons battling foes with very little focus on storytelling of any kind. The main draw here is that you can recruit characters from various Tales of games to use in your party. They’re not all here, but many of the fan favorites were included. Radiant Mythology is definitely one of the best PSP hidden gems.
Tokobot
Someone must have been listening when the market cried out for more Pikmin. Tokobot is Tecmo’s take on the ideas used there. The big difference is that there’s much more of an emphasis on platforming, but in my opinion it’s a welcome change. Here you command a group of mechanical beings called Tokobots. They follow you around and move in tandem to your character. These represent the ultimate gimmick of the game. You can use them in unison for a variety of different attacks. There’s even some light puzzle solving to be had here. The adventure is a real treat on the small screen and I prefer this handheld version to even the PS2 port that was later released. This is definitely one of the best PSP platformers.
Ultimate Ghosts ‘N Goblins
For a brief while Capcom was releasing new versions of their old titles complete with spiffy new 3D graphics and re-done music. While Mega Man was the star of the show Ghosts ‘N Goblins also got this treatment with this ‘ultimate’ version. The franchise is known for being hard as nails but that doesn’t bode well for the modern market. Capcom went back and added in some new improvements including letting the main character, Arthur, take multiple hits from enemies before dying. When his life is drained he gets revived on the spot, and though he does have only a few lives this makes things oh so much easier. Of course there’s also a more traditional mode that plays like older installments in the franchise for the purists out there. They really did an amazing job of re-creating the franchise with 3D graphics while retaining the two dimensional gameplay.
Valkyria Chronicles II
The first Valkyria Chronicles was the first PS3 game I really loved. Unfortunately the rest of the world didn’t feel the same way. In particular North America. Sega decided to take the series to the Sony PSP to reach a wider Japanese audience, and they made some changes along the way. This is a turn based 3D free roaming strategy game where you decimate large armies of foes moving one character at a time. There’s huge amounts of strategy because stationary characters can attack during the enemy’s turn if they’re in range. This means you can set up smart placements to bolster your defenses. Honestly the gameplay is remarkable. The story doesn’t fare quite as well as there’s now more of an anime schools day approach that’s a far cry from the original. Still, it’s a PSP hidden gem through and through.
