10) Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Year Released: 2008
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Synopsis: As anyone (okay, most) will tell you, Square's first return to the world of Final Fantasy VII in video game form wasn't as amazing as some would have hoped with the whole 10th anniversary redux. Dirge of Cerberus was too much of a departure, straying too far from Square's bread and butter known as the almighty RPG, and left some wondering if remembering Midgar fondly would only happen by playing through FFVII again. Crisis Core destroyed those fears, turning the world pre-FFVII into an action experience that paid loving tribute to one of the most beloved JRPG universes ever made and giving gravity and emotion to a storyline that was... well, let's just call it "uniquely" translated the first time around. With a heavier exposition on Aeris and Zack's relationship and damned fine action RPG bits, this is truly the tribute that Final Fantasy VII fans were hoping for, and it's an awesome game too. Win-win!
9) Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2
Developer: Clap Hanz
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Year Released: 2008
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Synopsis: It's actually rather impressive: Clap Hanz took over for Camelot after the first Hot Shots Golf and never looked back, cranking out almost a half dozen full-blown sequels. Despite living and breathing all things Hot Shots (it's all the developer has done to date), the golf series has managed to stay interesting and engaging with each iteration. The move to the PSP suffered little -- if any -- in the transition and brought with it a ridiculous amount of customization and all the seemingly innocuous charm of the console versions just... well, portable. The formula -- cutesy characters teeing off and plunking shots along a course -- seems so simple that the game's now-trademark blend of easy to understand controls and increasingly deep layers of play end up being deceptively addictive. The second PSP outing added online Infrastructure play and a bunch of hidden items on the courses themselves, resulting in yet another improved sequel.
8) Rock Band Unplugged
Developer: Backbone Entertainment
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Year Released: 2009
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Synopsis: Not even Guitar Hero attempted to replicate the experience on a portable platform without bringing along the custom peripherals that made it so unique in the first place, but when Backbone Entertainment gave it a go, they looked to the roots of the modern genre: Harmonix Music Systems' Amplitude and FreQuency. So no, Rock Band Unplugged isn't really a replication of the original game minus the instruments, it's more of a spiritual successor to the games that formed the building blocks. If you're still reading this, you probably never played the digital crack that was Harmonix's first two PS2 games, so we'll try to help you onto the same path as those that did and likely bolted out the door to pick up Unplugged. You hit a series of patterns, swapping between paths (instruments) in an effort to chain together bits of a song. Doesn't sound all that amazing? Wait until you play it. You'll see. Oh you'll see...
7) Lumines II
Developer: Q Entertainment
Publisher: Buena Vista Games
Year Released: 2006
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Synopsis: Some might scoff at our decision to pick the second Lumines game over the first. After all, Tetsuya Mizuguchi's blend of Tetris-like block matching/clearing and music was perhaps at its strongest with the debut's soundtrack, one that eschewed the familiar for something that was decidedly more in line with Q Entertainment's home turf. The sequel, while injected with the likes of Black Eyed Peas and Gwen Stefani, offered more of the gameplay that made the original so addictive in the first place. What's more, the quirky charm of the original wasn't lost in the sequel, and the addition of a ton of new modes, particularly the option to create your own custom mix of songs (sorry, "skins") and the new Mission Mode that assigned progressively more challenging goals that had a direct influence on your skills when playing the main mode. Yep, it's puzzle fusion bliss alright.
6) Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow
Developer: Sony Bend
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Year Released: 2007
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Synopsis: The Syphon Filter franchise was all but dead and buried before Sony Bend decided to give it one last go. In a single game, they revitalized the series and moved it further into the upper echelon of third-person shooters than any of the previous games did -- even the ones in the series' heyday back on the PS one. The follow-up, however, took everything the PSP debut did to make Syphon Filter relevant and made it better; deeper multiplayer, bigger levels, better gameplay, better controls and a better story. By doing so, they managed to turn an already great PSP shooter into a must-have. The cover-based shooting played just as well as before, the multiplayer offered more modes and better balance and the almost James Bondian set of gadgets was more fun to use. In short, the game rocks and deserves a spot in every PSP owner's library.
5) Dissidia: Final Fantasy
Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Year Released: 2009
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Synopsis: It's not exactly the first thing one thinks of when confronted with the name Final Fantasy, but Square Enix reached back into the Ehrgeiz back o' tricks and produced this, easily the company's most accomplished fighter to date. Merging cast members from every Final Fantasy game from the original all the way up to FFXII and pitting them against each other in arenas rife with interactive, gravity-defying segments, Dissidia plays at once like an arena-based fighter and... well, yes, a Final Fantasy game, complete with HP bars, special attacks, items and summons. The RPG influence isn't just window dressing, though, it's a core part of the entire experience, and there's so much content packed onto one UMD that it's hard to see this as anything but a huge thank-you from Square Enix to Final Fantasy fans.
4) Resistance: Retribution
Developer: Sony Bend
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Year Released: 2009
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Synopsis: There aren't a whole lot of PS3 games that have gotten the PSP treatment, and for good reason: it's not just a massive technological difference, the innate controller disparity means a lot of the experiences just wouldn't come across with the same kind of impact. Leave it to Sony Bend, the studio responsible for the fantastic reboot of the Syphon Filter franchise, to do Insomniac's new Resistance series proud. Retribution manages to combine an innovative approach to targeting -- auto-locking onto enemies in a central square -- with a storyline that actually furthers the Resistance over-arching plot. It's an impressive feat to say the least, but even without the Resistance mythos to stand on, Retribution ends up being a damn fine shooter in its own right. If you were convinced by early efforts that a first-/third-person shooter wasn't possible on the PSP, this will help reverse that belief with aplomb.
3) Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
Developer: Kojima Productions
Publisher: Konami
Year Released: 2006
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Synopsis: Every time he says it, we all laugh, roll our eyes and nod knowingly. Sure, Hideo Kojima, this is really your last MGS game. With Portable Ops, though, he took the series in a decidedly unique, clearly PSP-focused direction. It was still about stealth, sure, but broken down into smaller areas and with the dynamic of trying to build a private army through capture. A multiplayer component made the almost Pokemon-esque way of collecting, capturing and trading valuable members of other players' armies seem somehow fresh -- even the act of finding Wi-Fi access points that would reveal unique additions to your personal army was turned into a button-mashing mini-game as only Kojima can do it. Oh, and it probably doesn't help that even now, almost three years later, the game still looks damned good on the PSP.
2) God of War: Chains of Olympus
Developer: Ready at Dawn Studios
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Year Released: 2008
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Synopsis: Nobody thought it was possible: a PS2-level God of War experience on a handheld? Not only were both of SCE Santa Monica Studios' Greek action epics huge in scale, they were some of the most hardware-stressing games on the PlayStation 2. Amazingly, though, Ready at Dawn Studios did it; they made a game that was every bit as visually amazing, offered a lengthy prequel story and did so with no compromises. This was God of War, running in your hands, without any cut corners or a sense that it was "just" a portable game. Any self-respecting God of War would do well to pick this up -- you should have just enough time to play through it before continuing the adventure with the God of War Collection on your PS3, which will tide you over until God of War III hits.
1) Patapon 2
Developer: Pyramid
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Year Released: 2009
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Synopsis: Few games were as uniting for the IGN PlayStation Team as Patapon 2's infectious brand of rhythm-based strategic action. We all played the game even though only one of us actually reviewed it -- an exceedingly rare occurrence. We'd bust the game out during events and while on planes together all in the hopes of strengthening our army of one-eyed critters and gaining new, more powerful equipment and special attacks. Sony couldn't have asked for a better game to spearhead their movement toward putting their new releases online (the game is only $20 to boot), and it's not an exaggeration to call this one of our favorite portable games of all time. It's also, fittingly, our pick for the best PSP game released for the system thus far. If you don't own this game, you're missing out plain and simple.
More Info about PSP games:http://psp.ign.com/index/games.html
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