The PSP is a fondly remembered handheld system, which was Sony's first attempt at a portable console. Many players fell in love with the PSP due to its technical advancements compared to earlier handheld systems and its huge library of games.

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Sony itself was one of the best contributors to the PSP's library, releasing many first-party titles throughout its lifetime, coming from new as well as already existing IPs. These titles played a crucial role in establishing the PSP's popularity among gamers, and some received huge critical acclaim. But which first-party titles were the best on the PSP?

5 Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters

Metascore: 85

Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters is a perfect example of what made the PSP great. For the first time, players were able to play on the go (almost) the same games they were playing on a home console at the time. The game doesn't do anything particularly great, but it retains the series' iconic gameplay, blending platforming and third-person shooting. While it may not seem much by today's standards, the fact that the PSP could deliver a "true" new entry to this series was more than enough at the time of its release.

Because of this, the game might have lost some of its charm over time, as players are nowadays more accustomed to seeing home console games on portable systems. However, this is still a great time capsule for the late 00s by the talented Insomniac team and a great showcase of what the PSP was able to do. It was also later ported to the PS2, but that version loses all the magic of the experience.

4 Daxter

Metascore: 85

Jak & Daxter received an almost-mainline game on the PSP in Jak & Daxter: The Lost Frontier, which was seen by critics and fans as a lackluster entry in the franchise. Luckily, PSP players were blessed with a much better spin-off game, simply titled Daxter, as Jak doesn't appear in the game. The story is set during the two-year time-skip seen at the beginning of Jak 2 and sees Daxter trying to go on with his life as he's still figuring out how to rescue his friend Jak from imprisonment. Daxter is soon hired as a bug exterminator, and most of the game's missions revolve around this new job.

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Gameplay-wise, the game is mostly a platformer, although there are many combat sections in every mission. It's more reminiscent of the first game in the series, rather than the two later sequels, which were more action games with shooting elements than platformers. Despite being more than fifteen years old, Daxter aged quite well, and it's still one of the best games for the PSP, and it's still exclusive to the system to this day.

3 Locoroco 2

Metascore: 85

Locoroco 2 was originally released in 2006, and while every game in this series is arguably quite worth playing, this is perhaps the best one of the bunch. In Locoroco 2, players need to tilt the environment using the PSP shoulder buttons to maneuver jelly-like creatures, dubbed Locoroco, through levels. Compared to the first game, Locoroco 2 introduces a new set of features, such as the ability for Locoroco to swim and squeeze through crevices.

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Despite the series achieving commercial and critical success during the PSP era, it has since gone missing, except for remastered versions of the first two games released on PlayStation 4. Despite receiving a positive reception, these remakes were a testimony to how some games just feel better on a handheld system, which is where Locoroco 2 feels more at home.

2 Patapon

Metascore: 86

Patapon was another series born with the PSP that has struggled to remain relevant after the system's demise. It's hard to describe the game's genre, which blends strategy and rhythm game elements, but it's also very easy to pick up what's going on by actually playing the game. Patapon is also a perfect example of what portable gaming used to be, as every level is quite short, to make sure that the game can be easily played on the go.

As with Locoroco, the series remained dormant after the PSP's demise, except for some remastered versions released on the PlayStation 4. Despite these HD versions sporting better visuals and some minor adjustments, Patapon is yet another game that feels much more at home on a handheld system, and this may be the reason why there haven't been any new games in the series in years.

1 God Of War: Chains Of Olympus & God Of War: Ghost Of Sparta

Metascore: 91 (God Of War: Chains Of Olympus), 86 (God Of War: Ghost Of Sparta)

In contrast to games like Locoroco or Patapon, God Of War: Chains Of Olympus and God Of War: Ghost Of Sparta feel like portable versions of games that players could find on home systems. Both games are action games that retain the same frantic gameplay from earlier installments, with very minor updates here and there. Story-wise, Chains of Olympus is set before the events of the first game in the series, while Ghost of Sparta is set immediately after it.

Both games are equally outstanding, and they represent a great landmark for what the PSP was able to do. It's hard to put one game above the other, as they share mostly the same gameplay structure, so this choice really comes down to personal tastes. In any case, both these games deserve to be played, and they represent the very best effort Sony put into the PSP.

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