In my neverending quest to prove how underrated the PSP is on Era, I present an open challenge to those that say the DS is better.

[Discontent]

I'm fiendin' to make a good poll right about now but I can't think of any so this'll have to do. I already mentioned this challenge in another thread but nobody replied so I'm hoping there's some takers if it has its own thread. I've copied/pasted the bulk of the text and added new genres and games.

I know what you're gonna say; a lot of the PSPs best games are just ports or games that were better on consoles. But the Switch is the best thing since sliced heads in Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword, right? The PSP has an absolutely phenomenal library like the Genesis and the DS is comparable to the SNES (partly thanks to the SNES ports). My main reason for making this thread is to get people who have yet to explore the PSP library to do so immediately and I hope they'll love it like I do.

The challenge is to present 9 genres (gone up from 7 earlier lol) where the DS destroys the PSP in similar fashion to the following genres where the PSP dominates cause the DS has little to no quality games to offer in them.

1. Fighting games:
2D fighters:
Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max (the definitive version of this game to this day)
Darkstalkers Chronicles: The Chaos Tower
Guilty Gear Accent Core Plus R
Blazblue Calamity Trigger
Blazblue Continuum Shift II
Samurai Showdown Anthology

3D Fighters:
Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection (better than the home console version it came from!)
Tekken 6
Soul Calibur Broken Destiny

3D Arena Brawlers
Power Stone Collection
Def Jam Fight for NY: The Takeover
Dissidia 1 and 2

2. Racing games
Arcade Racers:
Ridge Racer 1 and 2
NFS series
Burnout Legends and Dominator
Wipeout Pure and Pulse
Motorstorm Arctic Edge
Split Second
Sega Rally Revo
Midnight Club 3 and LA
Outrun 2006 Coast to Coast

Sim Racers
Gran Turismo
Toca Race Driver 2 and 3
WRC
MotoGP

3. 3D Action/Adventure:
God of War Chains of Olympus
God of War Ghost of Sparta
GTA Vice City Stories
GTA Liberty City Stories
GTA Chinatown Wars
Syphon Filter Logan's Shadow
Syphon Filter Dark Mirror
Tomb Raider Legend
Tomb Raider Anniversary
Resistance Retribution
Dante's Inferno
Star Wars Battlefront 2

4. Stealth:
Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker
Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops
Manhunt 2
Tenchu Shadow Assassins

5. 3D Flight Sim/Arcade games:
Ace Combat X Skies of Deception
Ace Combat Joint Assault
Afterburner Black Falcon

6. 3D Beat 'em Ups
Warriors
Kenka Bancho Badass Rumble
Two Yakuza JP exclusive games (thankfully one is playable now)

7. Sports games (could be considered multiple different genres really)
Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix
Virtua Tennis World Tour
SSX On Tour
Pro Evolution Soccer series
FIFA series
Madden series
NBA series
MLB series
Fight Night Round 3
Pangya Fantasy Golf
Hot Shots Golf Open Tee 1 and 2.

8. 3D Mech games:
Gundam Vs Gundam Next Plus
Armored Core 3 Portable
Armored Core Silent Line
Armored Core Last Raven
Macross Ace Frontier
Macross Ultimate Frontier
Another Century's Episode Portable

9. Vehicular Combat:
Twisted Metal Head On
Pursuit Force
Pursuit Force Extreme Justice

My point is that the PSP is more well rounded than the DS. These are 9 genres where the DS has glaring holes; can you show me which genres that the DS has and the PSP is lacking? Pro tip: don't say RPG's lol.

 

[Ambient]

I remember going over to a friends house and playing Socom Fireteam Bravo with him and his brother all of us on our own PSPs playing online. It was amazing.

 

[Perkin_Warbeck]

Hey, DS did have that Sonic RPG developed by Bioware!

 

[Joni]

The answer is platform-games, even with Clank and Jak. The true answer is I would love to see some of these games come back on newer platforms.

 

[sir_crocodile]

DS was way better for proper adventure games.

Ace Attorney 1
Ace Attorney 2
Ace Attorney 3
Ace Attorney 4
Ace Attorney Investigations 1
Ace Attorney Investigations 2
Hotel Dusk
Last Window
Another Code : Two Memories
Touch Detective
Touch Detective 2
Ghost Trick
999

 

[Discontent]

DS was way better for proper adventure games.

Ace Attorney 1
Ace Attorney 2
Ace Attorney 3
Ace Attorney 4
Ace Attorney Investigations 1
Ace Attorney Investigations 2
Hotel Dusk
Last Window
Touch Detective
Touch Detective 2
Ghost Trick

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I'll accept that. Does that cover visual novels or are they different?

 

[Vic20]

PSP doesn't have devil survivor.

 

[Jawmuncher]

DS was way better for proper adventure games.

Ace Attorney 1
Ace Attorney 2
Ace Attorney 3
Ace Attorney 4
Ace Attorney Investigations 1
Ace Attorney Investigations 2
Hotel Dusk
Last Window
Touch Detective
Touch Detective 2
Ghost Trick

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Real Talk, this is the only genre of game where I think there's no contest between the two. Since aside from those, i much prefer the PSPs library

 

[Discontent]

The answer is platform-games, even with Clank and Jak. The true answer is I would love to see some of these games come back on newer platforms.

Click to shrink...

I think the PSP wins easily on 3D Platformers. 2D platformers I don't think it's one sided for the DS but am willing to be proven wrong.

 

[maximumzero]

You're picking genres that specifically are catered to the PSP hardware to make the PSP look like it has a better library. I don't think the DS has a single "Vehicular Combat" game and it's "3D Mech" games are slim to none (that I know of).

I'm not arguing that the DS library is better, just that it's doing different things.

 

[Jawmuncher]

I'll accept that. Does that cover visual novels or are they different?

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I think you could count PSP VNs, but the issue would be that for many here the vast majority weren't translated.

 

[sir_crocodile]

I'll accept that. Does that cover visual novels or are they different?

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It can get fuzzy, but all the ones I posted are either point & click games, or far closer to point & click games then they are to VN's. They expect you to solve puzzles.

 

[Discontent]

I think you could count PSP VNs, but the issue would be that for many here the vast majority weren't translated.

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There's still a competent amount that were translated/fan translated.

 

[headfallsoff]

Pro tip: don't say RPG's lol.

Click to shrink...

 

[Servbot24]

Best thing about DS is that it had Meteos

 

[Jonathan Lanza]

Ghost Trick

 

[Lkr]

You're picking genres that specifically are catered to the PSP hardware to make the PSP look like it has a better library. I don't think the DS has a single "Vehicular Combat" game and it's "3D Mech" games are slim to none (that I know of).

I'm not arguing that the DS library is better, just that it's doing different things.

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this is where i'm at. both were great and I own multiple handhelds in each family as a result. both shined in ways that weren't possible on the other. there is no psp comparison for nintendogs, elite beat agents, kirby canvas curse, etc.
at the same time, socom ftb was not possible on the DS

 

[Discontent]

Click to shrink...

DON'T DO IT! Lmao

 

[Ferrio]

Even if we just narrowed it down to fighting games, DS wins with this title alone

 

[Joni]

The fighting games really forget those Sony Bleach games. A shame they never appeared in the West, one of the few titles that I just had to import.

I think the PSP wins easily on 3D Platformers. 2D platformers I don't think it's one sided for the DS but am willing to be proven wrong.

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There i still Super Mario 64 on Nintendo DS. As for 2D, it is three Castlevania games, Kirby, New Super Mario, Sonic Rush, Yoshi, Kirby and the Mario vs. Donkey Kong games.

 

[bigbaldwolf86]

PSP doesn't have devil survivor.

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DS doesn't have Persona

 

[Deleted member 45617]

But only one got ace attorney

 

[Uzuzu]

I would say DS puzzle games destroy psp's, professor layton, brain age, meteos, picross, etc. All psp has really is lumines

 

[Phil32]

As much as I'd love to participate in a list wars thread (lol), this part of your post intrigued me:

I know what you're gonna say; a lot of the PSPs best games are just ports or games that were better on consoles. But the Switch is the best thing since sliced heads in Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword, right? The PSP has an absolutely phenomenal library like the Genesis and the DS is comparable to the SNES (partly thanks to the SNES ports). My main reason for making this thread is to get people who have yet to explore the PSP library to do so immediately and I hope they'll love it like I do.

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You seem bitter, OP. Have you been holding a grudge and a chip on your shoulder for long?

 

[Discontent]

You're picking genres that specifically are catered to the PSP hardware to make the PSP look like it has a better library. I don't think the DS has a single "Vehicular Combat" game and it's "3D Mech" games are slim to none (that I know of).

I'm not arguing that the DS library is better, just that it's doing different things.

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I didn't say the PSP has the better library, just that it's more well rounded. But I'm saying it now lol f--- it.

 

[Benzychenz]

Other than action adventure, all those genres in the OP suck.

 

[Discontent]

As much as I'd love to participate in a list wars thread (lol), this part of your post intrigued me:



You seem bitter, OP. Have you been holding a grudge and a chip on your shoulder for long?

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Lol no I love both the DS and the Switch. Just tried to think of a better thing to say than sliced bread.

 

[purseowner]

DS was way better for proper adventure games.

Ace Attorney 1
Ace Attorney 2
Ace Attorney 3
Ace Attorney 4
Ace Attorney Investigations 1
Ace Attorney Investigations 2
Hotel Dusk
Last Window
Another Code : Two Memories
Touch Detective
Touch Detective 2
Ghost Trick
999

Click to shrink...

This is the post.

I'd argue puzzle, rhythm, and RPG too.

 

[Replicant]

Looking at your list, t he problem is with the PSP is you can play the same or similar versions of those games on superior hardware.

that is just reality.

the DS library on the hand simply couldn't be replicated in most cases.

 

[Joni]

I would say DS puzzle games destroy psp's, professor layton, brain age, meteos, picross, etc. All psp has really is lumines

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Don't sleep on Mercury Meltdown and Exit. Lemmings and Echochrome as well. Oh god, I really need to start playing it again just thinking about them.

 

[maximumzero]

I'd love to see a proper comparison between the DS+3DS and PSP+Vita libraries, that's where things get interesting.

 

[sir_crocodile]

I should add that I think the PSP is great. I have over 100 games for it, and Half Minute Hero is one of my favourite games of all time.

 

[Phil32]

Lol no I love both the DS and the Switch. Just tried to think of a better thing to say than sliced bread.

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Then I apologize. I am sorry for thinking there was some resentment when there wasn't. >_<;

To be on topic, I can't choose between the PSP and DS libraries. Both do phenomenal things in different genres. Plus, it just reminds me that we have too many PSP and DS games! lol

 

[Derachi]

damn op, I guess you're right, with a PSP i can play the classics like "Another Century's Episode Portable"

can't believe anyone would want to play Mario Kart over that


Jokes aside, I feel it's a little unfair to pick genres that the PSP was clearly more capable of doing. Obviously there are gonna be more Racing Sims on a system that is basically a portable PS2 than on the thing that was somewhere between a SNES and an N64. I think the PSP is great and absolutely underrated, but comparing it to the DS by saying "look, it can do PS2-level games" isn't really fair.

 

[Bjomesphat]

At the time no one wanted to play those kinds of games on handhelds because they were just inferior versions of console games. The DS has unique games that aren't on anything else.

There's nothing I would want to play in the OP other than Peace Walker.

 

[bigbaldwolf86]

I'd love to see a proper comparison between the DS+3DS and PSP+Vita libraries, that's where things get interesting.

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As a start I can play FF1 all the way to X-2 on a Vita so thats where my vote goes.

 

[captmcblack]

this is where i'm at. both were great and I own multiple handhelds in each family as a result. both shined in ways that weren't possible on the other. there is no psp comparison for nintendogs, elite beat agents, kirby canvas curse, etc.
at the same time, socom ftb was not possible on the DS

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This is it.

The DS and PSP were the most uniquely top-tier complimentary competing systems since the SNES and Genesis...and just like those two, they each were amazing in different ways that neither system could supplant. Their successors doubled down on what made them uniquely cool (also like the successors to the SNES and Genesis) and even though they had less success than the originals, they have libraries that are uniquely legendary too.

 

[Discontent]

I would say DS puzzle games destroy psp's, professor layton, brain age, meteos, picross, etc. All psp has really is lumines

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The DS wins but it's not a complete wipeout so it doesn't count imo. Lumines 1 and 2, Bust A Move Deluxe, Crush, Echochrome. Then there's Gunpey, Echoshift, Lemmings, Every Extend Extra and Exit. Maybe more.

 

[Oreiller]

Even as someone who likes the DS slightly more, the PSP game library is insanely good. You really couldn't get wrong with either of them.

 

[Keym]

Okay OP, you're quickly becoming the Versus guy

 

[StrappingYoungLance]

The problem with the PSP chasing the "Home Console in your pocket" dream was that most games listed felt like kneecapped versions of better games.

 

[Discontent]

This is it.

The DS and PSP were the most uniquely top-tier complimentary competing systems since the SNES and Genesis...and just like those two, they each were amazing in different ways that neither system could supplant. Their successors doubled down on what made them uniquely cool (also like the successors to the SNES and Genesis) and even though they had less success than the originals, they have libraries that are uniquely legendary too.

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Thats my point. Why not both, but the DS is usually seen as the definite winner.

 

[watdaeff4]

I've been told on ERA that whichever console sells better is obviously the better console.


Meanwhile this is a pretty interesting slice to determine which is better

 

[Discontent]

Okay OP, you're quickly becoming the Versus guy

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Lmao I've always been about vs.

 

[dabri]

Jrpgs which is my jam and on handhelds still have that classic feel. While I love my psp, DS jrpg library and to a lesser extent strategy games are legend.

 

[eraFROMAN]

The problem with the PSP chasing the "Home Console in your pocket" dream was that most games listed felt like kneecapped versions of better games.

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Exactly what I was gonna say. The day I realized I could just get Liberty City Stories on my old ass PS2, I was out.

 

[monali]

Let me guess, the next thread will be Apple vs Orange? am I right OP?

 

[watdaeff4]

Thats my point. Why not both, but the DS is usually seen as the definite winner.

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Because like I said before because on ERA (and other places) whichever sells more is considered "better"

 

[Replicant]

The problem with the PSP chasing the "Home Console in your pocket" dream was that most games listed felt like kneecapped versions of better games.

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Not all of them but most of them for sure.

even awesome remakes like Mega Man Maverick Hunter and Castlevania Rondo of Blood, full 3D remakes that are very cool, but fall short and are inferior than the old 16-bit versions.

 

[Redcrayon]

The answer is easy enough here, it's just a case of which genres the devices were focused on- the PSP has more arcadey and 3D stuff, but the DS has a ton of stuff built around the stylus and 2D stuff, it depends what you're into.

If we rule out JRPGs and SRPGs (both of which I'd give the nod to the DS for as a strength of the system), and we're going into obscure stuff like 3D mech games:

Point-and-click adventure games (Hotel Dusk, Phoenix Wright etc)
Stylus-based oddities: (soul bubbles)
Puzzle games (Professor Layton, Meteos, Heroes of Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes etc)
2D Dungeon Crawlers (Etrian Odyssey series, Strange Journey).
Turn-based strategy (Advance Wars)
2D Metroidvania (Castlevania series, Spider-man: Web of Shadows)
2D platformer
2D run-and-gun (Contra 4, Aliens: Infestation, Megaman ZX/ZX Advent etc)
2D puzzle-platformers (Mario vs Donkey Kong etc).

What I liked about both handhelds is that there's very little crossover between the libraries outside of a few licensed games. Similarly, I also had a 3DS/Vita because there were a ton of great games on both.