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 · Mar 3, 2021

Kazooie said:
You just used stylus based oddity as a catch all for a great variety of super creative games. If vehicular car combat is a genre worth discussing here, then this category that holds some of the best games of its era sure is. If you remove the stylus from the name, the PSP does have a small number of games in this category, for instance the two LocoRoco games.

Yes that's why I accepted stylus based oddities in the first place, they're a bulk of the best games on the DS. But it's still technically not a genre, so I think mech games are fine to include. And like I said I've been very open to the genres brought forward cause I can't hate on the DS; Kart Racing could easily fall under Racing despite me not allowing the PSP to have arcade racers and Sim Racers as individual genres when they clearly are very different. But I allowed Kart Racers anyway even though there's literally only 2 games to consider. And I could have separated fighting games into 3 genres but that's a bit more debatable.

That other poster asked if I was legitimately high though, that's what set me off. I may be many things but I have never been legitimately high. It's always been illegal :( . For legal reasons I will add 'if and when this ever happened'.

Edit: Vehicular Combat is absolutely a genre. Mech games are not but I think it's fine to keep them as one since stylus based oddities are there.

Kazooie · Mar 3, 2021

Discontent said:
That other poster asked if I was legitimately high though, that's what set me off. I may be many things but I have never been legitimately high. It's always been illegal :( . For legal reasons I will add 'if and when this ever happened'.

It is very unusual that someone was never high on alcohol but on illegal drugs, so you are somewhat special indeed!

I think as a broader point that the PSP had a good number of great games in a variety of genres and was not made obsolete by the DS, the original posting is totally fine and I support that stance, it is just that the (admittedly, playful) competitve stance is a bit weird, becauset the specific metric you used is not well suited to compare two platforms in terms of quality of the line up, esp. when very special interest genres like mech combat or genres that basically lose all importance after a while (sports, what outside of Everybody Golf would be of any interest to anyone today?) are being used. And an action game such as GnG to combat Mario, Yoshi and Sonic on the platformer side.

ffvorax · Mar 3, 2021

I loved them both equally. Cant really say which I prefer.... so many fantastic games on both....
Unpopular opinion: Can't say the same for Vita and 3DS. Not had much fun with the 3DS, but the VITA *_* <3

Poimandres · Mar 3, 2021

Forkball said:
PSP was great, but a notable portion of its library are ports and dumbed-down versions of console games while DS had more original experiences that took advantage of the unique hardware. You list a bunch of racing games but you forget that DS had Mario Kart. That's one game, but for many, that's all you need. People still consider Mario Kart DS to be a fantastic game, I am not sure how many people clamor for the PSP version of Burnout.

I sure as hell clamour for Ridge Racers PSP, and Wipeout Pure and Pulse are two of the best entries in that series. Also the original Lumines is still the best.

bunkitz · Mar 3, 2021

I'm with OP here, but for a different reason. Only one of these handhelds have Dissidia.

I rest my case.

Tokyo_Funk · Mar 3, 2021

Don't need to convince me OP, I loved the PSP as much, if not more than my DS. Still randomly getting PSP games I missed off the store to play on my Vita.

Discontent · Mar 3, 2021

Kazooie said:
It is very unusual that someone was never high on alcohol but on illegal drugs, so you are somewhat special indeed!

I think as a broader point that the PSP had a good number of great games in a variety of genres and was not made obsolete by the DS, the original posting is totally fine and I support that stance, it is just that the (admittedly, playful) competitve stance is a bit weird, becauset the specific metric you used is not well suited to compare two platforms in terms of quality of the line up, esp. when very special interest genres like mech combat or genres that basically lose all importance after a while (sports, what outside of Everybody Golf would be of any interest to anyone today?) are being used. And an action game such as GnG to combat Mario, Yoshi and Sonic on the platformer side.

<3 I think you're the only one here that could get high on alcohol cause you're Kazooie and you can fly. How well you'd fly, thats another matter but I'd love to find out. Lmao I've legit never heard anyone drink alcohol and say 'you know what, I'm high AF!'

About the sports games though, yes some of those titles lose value over time but they are close to essential during the lifespan of a console imo and Virtua Tennis is still the best portable tennis game! And THUG2 was the best skater until very recently with the THPS remake. I'd argue also that Edutainment (still blows my mind you had the gall to bring this one into the mix lmao and then complain about my picks) loses what little value it had over time too. And it's a sad state of affairs when Sonic has the best platformers on a Nintendo system. Loco Roco over all of those though.

And I agree that this genre-oriented debate doesn't determine which is better but it does show gaps in each others libraries that the other can fill (I'd rather have the PSPs shortcomings though if I had to choose) which was my intention anyway. Why not both has always been my stance.

Discontent · Mar 3, 2021

Tokyo_Funk said:
Don't need to convince me OP, I loved the PSP as much, if not more than my DS. Still randomly getting PSP games I missed off the store to play on my Vita.

You already know how to like nice things? *fistbump*

D.Lo · Mar 3, 2021

Discontent said:
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?

You can literally smell the salt.

fiendcode · Mar 3, 2021

bigbaldwolf86 said:
As a start I can play FF1 all the way to X-2 on a Vita so thats where my vote goes.

3DS can play DQI-XI though.

Discontent · Mar 3, 2021

D.Lo said:
You can literally smell the salt.

Salt is odourless though. And it's white too, which I'm not lol.

Seriously though the Switch is quite possibly the best system ever. I was just saying that if the Switch gets a pass for ports, the PSP should too. And I thought I'd mix it up by not saying the obvious; sliced bread.

squall23 · Mar 3, 2021

DS has lots of games that belong to no other genres at the time in that they require a direct hand-to-screen interface, whether it be a touchscreen or a Wiimote pointer.

Trauma Centre - a high octane stress-inducing surgery game series
Inazuma Eleven - a series of soccer games that doesn't play like soccer games, they're actually real-time strategy RPGs that require the stylus to move characters
Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! - touchscreen-based music game series

D.Lo · Mar 3, 2021

Replicant said:
I still don't get how people think Sony turned it around with PS3. They lowered the price and it sold better. They released some decent games towards the end, but in North America is still sold very poorly compared to the Wii and the 360. The 360 in North America outsold the PS3 by 20 million consoles. For a PlayStation console to lose that badly in America is nothing short of a failure. The ps4 is where they turned it around. This isn't hyperbole.

I mean, PS3 is still the biggest turnaround in history. If a console craters at the start, it usually dies off due to lack of momentum. PS3 had a worse start than the Gamecube for instance.

But it was lucky to be able to share ports with 360 and PC so got bones thrown its way, and Sony threw billions of dollars at it to grind back to what they got to. On top of this the generation was artificially prolonged by a Sony/MS cold war to claw back some of their losses. It was the first generation ever to not have a next gen entrant jump in at or earlier than the five year mark - Xbox 360 was SEVEN years old when the Wii U was released, and EIGHT years old when the PS4/Bone launched. Compare this to the PS2 which was only five years old when the 360 launched.

Discontent · Mar 3, 2021

squall23 said:
DS has lots of games that belong to no other genres at the time in that they require a direct hand-to-screen interface, whether it be a touchscreen or a Wiimote pointer.

Trauma Centre - a high octane stress-inducing surgery game series
Inazuma Eleven - a series of soccer games that doesn't play like soccer games, they're actually real-time strategy RPGs that require the stylus to move characters
Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! - touchscreen-based music game series

That's why it rules! And it did get a special genre, created in this thread, allocated to these types of games; Stylus Based Oddities.

Hasney · Mar 3, 2021

Servbot24 said:
Best thing about DS is that it had Meteos

Metos and Lumines in the same window. What a time to be alive.

Pargon · Mar 3, 2021

Aren't most of the games on that list ports though?
The DS had a massive library of original games, and those were often totally unique experiences due to the dual screen, touchscreen design of the system.

I really liked my PSP - that thing felt like it came from the future - but it just didn't get a lot of use for that reason.

Discontent said:
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?

No, that's exactly why my Switch doesn't get a lot of use either.
It has worse versions of games I can play elsewhere.
On top of that, they cost more, and I have no option for a refund with digital purchases if the game ends up making me motion sick (many games do, due to how poorly they run).

werezompire · Mar 3, 2021

Tobor said:
RPG and Puzzle games are all I personally cared about...so it's an easy choice for me.

I really enjoy both RPGs & puzzle games and both systems have great titles to offer.

PSP has Lumines which is my favorite puzzle franchise.

PSP gives you access to PS1 RPGs portably. It lets you play Persona 1-3 in their best forms. More importantly, it's killer for Strategy/RPGs - Wild Arms XF, the remakes of FFT & Tactics Ogre, Summon Night 5, Jeanne D'arc, and others.

Discontent · Mar 3, 2021

Pargon said:
Aren't most of the games on that list ports though?
The DS had a massive library of original games, and those were often totally unique experiences due to the dual screen, touchscreen design of the system.

I really liked my PSP - that thing felt like it came from the future - but it just didn't get a lot of use for that reason.

No, that's exactly why my Switch doesn't get a lot of use either.
It has worse versions of games I can play elsewhere.
On top of that, they cost more, and I have no option for a refund with digital purchases if the game ends up making me motion sick (many games do, due to how poorly they run).

Fair enough. For me personally, having a lot of time away from home really elevated the PSPs usage. If I was at home with all my home consoles most of the time I wouldn't touch any handheld tbh cause the experience is way better on the big screen. That includes the DS because as much as I love it, I can't play stylus based games for very long because it's just not comfortable; especially when compared with holding a regular controller, or even any other handheld for that matter. DS without the stylus is great though but how many of those games can't be matched on home consoles?

OrangeNova · Mar 3, 2021

Hands down the PSP was the better portable, but the support it got from sony was abysmal, and finding the games anywhere was a nightmare.

So everyone pirated everything, and sales tanked on games, so people stopped making games, then the vita came out to once again, little to no support.

I Wanna Be The Guy · Mar 3, 2021

OrangeNova said:
Hands down the PSP was the better portable, but the support it got from sony was abysmal, and finding the games anywhere was a nightmare.

So everyone pirated everything, and sales tanked on games, so people stopped making games, then the vita came out to once again, little to no support.

Sony supported the PSP just fine. They released a mountain of great games for it. Just about all their major franchises were on PSP. They may have abandoned Vita within a couple years, but PSP was well supported by Sony with games throughout its life.

I Wanna Be The Guy · Mar 3, 2021

ffvorax said:
I loved them both equally. Cant really say which I prefer.... so many fantastic games on both....
Unpopular opinion: Can't say the same for Vita and 3DS. Not had much fun with the 3DS, but the VITA *_* <3

I have the same opinion. PSP and DS were both fantastic in their own ways. But 3DS is a piece of shit and comfortably the worst gaming platform I've ever owned. Vita is the GOAT despite Sony's best attempts to kill it early.

Sacul64 · Mar 3, 2021

Saw someone already brought up jump ultimate stars and the adventure genre there is also rythum games with eba and however the japanese equivalent is spelled.

Discontent · Mar 3, 2021

Sacul64 said:
Saw someone already brought up jump ultimate stars and the adventure genre there is also rythum games with eba and however the japanese equivalent is spelled.

Era managed to squeeze out 9 genres, with a little help from yours truly. None are particularly great though imo besides the stylus genre and adventure titles. See the threadmark for the post with the 9 genres.

TeHi & BuSp · Mar 3, 2021

Where are the section of sjrpg?

The Holy Trinity

Discontent · Mar 3, 2021

TeHi & BuSp said:
Where are the section of sjrpg?

The Holy Trinity

The DS can more than hold its own for RPGs so I left it out

mhayes86 · Mar 3, 2021

ctrl+f "Ys"

PSP was my Falcom machine. Ys Chronicles, Felghana, and Seven. Trails in the Sky as well.

Other than that, I loved the ports so that I could actually own a copy of Star Ocean 1 and Valkyrie Profile, but overall my game preference led to my DS having a much larger library. I also didn't get a PSP until 2009, whereas I got a DS in 2004.

Wislizeni · Mar 3, 2021

I mean, I can't argue that the DS had better games for most of those categories, but at the same time, the majority of the games don't interest me? Like, I'm sure they're fine games, but no, I don't want to play a singleplayer fighter, or find someone who will buy a PSP to play it with me. Racing Sims also don't interest me; I'm more of a Mario Kart person, of which the DS version was fantastic. God of War... I mean, I could go into why those games turn me away, but really, at the end of the day, I had about as much fun as you did playing those, playing through Starfy and Kirby Superstar Ultra. Not 3D Action Adventure, but lengthy 2D action games with a lot of endgame content to dig at.

I mean, everything is subjective at the end of the day, so it's silly to try to calculate the best out of the two overall. You clearly really love the PSP library, and have an extensive knowledge of it. That's cool, I respect that, and I'm glad it's given you hours of enjoyment! But honestly, I've looked at the PSP library, and there's no game for me, personally, that makes me want to go out and buy one. DS however, spent tons of hours on as a kid, and have fond memories of playing through games listed above, as well as more niche titles, such as Trauma Center, Layton, Ghost Trick... This is just my personal opinion, and I don't think it means the PSP is objectively bad. It just doesn't offer me anything, as far as I've seen. And even if the general consensus changes down the line, and PSP is considered the best handheld of that era, there will still be people who love the DS over it.

Also, the Switch having a lot of ports isn't a bad thing. Neither is the PSP for doing so. I've never once heard people slag the PSP for that. Even if someone has said that, it sounds really petty. Doesn't that just mean more games in the library? Which is a good thing.

Sacul64 · Mar 3, 2021

Discontent said:
Point and click/adventure
Stylus Based Oddities
2D Platformers (I want to change my mind on this cause Ultimate Ghosts n Goblins and Rondo of Blood can stand toe to toe with anything on the DS)
2D Dungeon Crawlers
Tower Defense (i nominated this and the next one, dont say i never give anything to you era)
RTS
Edutainment
Casual Sim
Kart Racers

EDIT: No ~~RPG~~ Turn Based RPG category? Pokemon, TWEWY Dragon Quest, Mario & Luigi, Radiant Historia, Fire emblem, Lunar nights? Not even mentioning the remakes from SE.

Smups: Nanostray 1/2, Bangi-o, Metal Slug, Contra 4, Geometry Wars,

Rhythm Games:EBA/Ouendan Rhythm heaven, Korg DS-10,

Really not getting how you are leaving out key things and then just making catch all categories when you went very detailed with your psp genres.

EDIT:

What ever Genre you want to call the Story of season games, Rune factory games and Animal Crossing

Pet Sims: Nintendogs (If a single game outsells multiple of some of your categories combined then it counts)

Oh and if we have splits on the PSP like you do for racers and fighting games then we should also split more traditional Text adventure games like Phoenix Wright, and 999 from The More Myst like adventure games like Myst (apparently not on the PSP), Trace Memory, Ghost Trick and Hotel dusk like games.

Alric · Mar 3, 2021

Just to put in my two cents, psp has Dragon Ball Z Tenkaichi Tag Team & Dragon Ball Z Shin Budokai Another Road. Both which are probably my favorite dbz fighting games and some of the most fun portable fighting games out there.

Sacul64 · Mar 3, 2021

Alric said:
Just to put in my two cents, psp has Dragon Ball Z Tenkaichi Tag Team & Dragon Ball Z Shin Budokai Another Road. Both which are probably my favorite dbz fighting games and some of the most fun portable fighting games out there.

Jump Ultimate/Stars
One Piece: Gigant Battle!
Dragon Ball Kai: Ultimate Butōden

Discontent · Mar 3, 2021

agave said:
I mean, I can't argue that the DS had better games for most of those categories, but at the same time, the majority of the games don't interest me? Like, I'm sure they're fine games, but no, I don't want to play a singleplayer fighter, or find someone who will buy a PSP to play it with me. Racing Sims also don't interest me; I'm more of a Mario Kart person, of which the DS version was fantastic. God of War... I mean, I could go into why those games turn me away, but really, at the end of the day, I had about as much fun as you did playing those, playing through Starfy and Kirby Superstar Ultra. Not 3D Action Adventure, but lengthy 2D action games with a lot of endgame content to dig at.

I mean, everything is subjective at the end of the day, so it's silly to try to calculate the best out of the two overall. You clearly really love the PSP library, and have an extensive knowledge of it. That's cool, I respect that, and I'm glad it's given you hours of enjoyment! But honestly, I've looked at the PSP library, and there's no game for me, personally, that makes me want to go out and buy one. DS however, spent tons of hours on as a kid, and have fond memories of playing through games listed above, as well as more niche titles, such as Trauma Center, Layton, Ghost Trick... This is just my personal opinion, and I don't think it means the PSP is objectively bad. It just doesn't offer me anything, as far as I've seen. And even if the general consensus changes down the line, and PSP is considered the best handheld of that era, there will still be people who love the DS over it.

Also, the Switch having a lot of ports isn't a bad thing. Neither is the PSP for doing so. I've never once heard people slag the PSP for that. Even if someone has said that, it sounds really petty. Doesn't that just mean more games in the library? Which is a good thing.

That's cool, it all boils down to personal taste. Regarding the ports thing, there's like 10+ posts in this thread saying 'but its all ports'.

Sacul64 said:
EDIT: No ~~RPG~~ Turn Based RPG category? Pokemon, TWEWY Dragon Quest, Mario & Luigi, Radiant Historia, Fire emblem, Lunar nights? Not even mentioning the remakes from SE.

Smups: Nanostray 1/2, Bangi-o, Metal Slug, Contra 4, Geometry Wars,

Rhythm Games:EBA/Ouendan Rhythm heaven, Korg DS-10,

Really not getting how you are leaving out key things and then just making catch all categories when you went very detailed with your psp genres.

EDIT:

What ever Genre you want to call the Story of season games, Rune factory games and Animal Crossing

Pet Sims: Nintendogs (If a single game outsells multiple of some of your categories combined then it counts)

Oh and if we have splits on the PSP like you do for racers and fighting games then we should also split more traditional Text adventure games like Phoenix Wright, and 999 from The More Myst like adventure games like Myst (apparently not on the PSP), Trace Memory, Ghost Trick and Hotel dusk like games.

The splits are not counted though so idk why it matters. See the threadmark further up for the 9 genres provided by Era for the DS. And turn based strategy is neither an outright win for PSP or DS, that's why I left it and other genres out in the OP.

Discontent · Mar 3, 2021

Sacul64 said:
EDIT: No ~~RPG~~ Turn Based RPG category? Pokemon, TWEWY Dragon Quest, Mario & Luigi, Radiant Historia, Fire emblem, Lunar nights? Not even mentioning the remakes from SE.

Smups: Nanostray 1/2, Bangi-o, Metal Slug, Contra 4, Geometry Wars,

Rhythm Games:EBA/Ouendan Rhythm heaven, Korg DS-10,

Really not getting how you are leaving out key things and then just making catch all categories when you went very detailed with your psp genres.

EDIT:

What ever Genre you want to call the Story of season games, Rune factory games and Animal Crossing

Pet Sims: Nintendogs (If a single game outsells multiple of some of your categories combined then it counts)

Oh and if we have splits on the PSP like you do for racers and fighting games then we should also split more traditional Text adventure games like Phoenix Wright, and 999 from The More Myst like adventure games like Myst (apparently not on the PSP), Trace Memory, Ghost Trick and Hotel dusk like games.

Oh sorry you were referring to the threadmark. Half of the 'shmups' you listed aren't shmups. And the turn based RPG is well represented on PSP so whatever your taste it's not a one sided affair which is what I was asking for.

andymcc · Mar 3, 2021

The PSP is a better system for shmups because of the Konami collections they got in Japan. Crazy to think that the only time Xexex has been ported was on PSP.

citrusred · Mar 3, 2021

I think if you have to bring up vehicular combat games you're addmitting you don't believe your own arguments OP.

I prefer the DS but I think it managed to do well in genres I liked the ds for like RPGs, and story focused games. Monster Hunter blowing up gave it an extra few years of life I think where ds developers also made games for psp.

Dogui · Mar 3, 2021

The thing with the OP is that all the genres/games the PSP would have the upper hand against DS is all about lesser experiences compared with home console stuff, while DS games are all about unique stuff that only exists on DS and are some of the best games ever at the same time.

Even tho Ao no Kiseki is the best Jrpg of that gen.

Sacul64 · Mar 3, 2021

Discontent said:
Oh sorry you were referring to the threadmark. Half of the 'shmups' you listed aren't shmups. And the turn based RPG is well represented on PSP so whatever your taste it's not a one sided affair which is what I was asking for.

Actually no, I work overnights so I'm really tired right not and missed the numbering in the OP and thought you were separately counting the genres to get 9 (I know that would lead to way more then 9 I am just reaaaaaaly tired). I feel my other points still stand that Rhythm, Building Genre (really not sure what to call this) Story of season games, Rune factory games and Animal Crossing should be major wins for the DS.

brambles13 · Mar 3, 2021

My type of thread. PSP is one of my favorite systems ever at this point so I'll go with that. It is the GOAT SRPG console for example. With the Ys series I definitely think PSP wins in action RPGs as well. Oath in Felghana and Ys Seven are both just amazing games. The racers are unparalleled on any other portable and the fighters are in a similar class (but Vita continued that legacy). That's not to mention hard to classify games like Pursuit Force, Loco Roco, Patapon.

PSP for me wins in the majority of genres but I would put DS ahead on text adventures, classic turn-based JRPGs (but Trails in the Sky makes it close), 2d platformers, metroidvanias, zelda-esque games (unsure what to call this), RTS games, etc... for example.

Also for all the people saying nobody cares about sports games on PSP, note most gaming forums are heavily tilted against sports games and towards RPGs. For example I still play NBA Street on PSP on and off, it's a great time and doesn't age.

Also as a massive Tekken fan, Dark Resurrection is the definitive version of that game and was not an inferior port of a PS2 game. It is still the GOAT portable 3d fighter in my humble opinion.

However the DS biggest strength by far it it's quirky games that can't be done on other platforms so easily. Games like WarioWare, Trauma Center, Cooking Mama, Canvas Curse, Yoshi Touch and Go, Mario Party, Brain Age, etc... have been fun over the years for me and my oldest daughter to play together. The DS is an amazing console but I do think overall it is inferior.

Discontent · Mar 3, 2021

Sacul64 said:
Actually no, I work overnights so I'm really tired right not and missed the numbering in the OP and thought you were separately counting the genres to get 9 (I know that would lead to way more then 9 I am just reaaaaaaly tired). I feel my other points still stand that Rhythm, Building Genre (really not sure what to call this) Story of season games, Rune factory games and Animal Crossing should be major wins for the DS.

<3 it's all good. PSP has Guitaroo Man, 3 Patapon games and a few excellent DJMax titles. There are quite a few lesser, but not necessarily bad, games too. The building genre comes under RTS (real time strategy). And we agreed earlier in the thread that Animal Crossing and similar games go under 'casual sim'. Not the best name if you ask me but it'll do the job.

Sacul64 · Mar 3, 2021

Discontent said:
<3 it's all good. PSP has Guitaroo Man, 3 Patapon games and a few excellent DJMax titles. There are quite a few lesser, but not necessarily bad, games too. The building genre comes under RTS (real time strategy). And we agreed earlier in the thread that Animal Crossing and similar games go under 'casual sim'. Not the best name if you ask me but it'll do the job.

Hmm casual sim made me think it was for titles like the Cooking Mama series, when I used building genre it was an attempt not use farming sim as that really only applies to Story of seasons, and not as much rune factory and Animal crossing. No idea how I forgot the DJmax series. Dont think I played any of them till the vita.

Discontent · Mar 3, 2021

Sacul64 said:
Hmm casual sim made me think it was for titles like the Cooking Mama series, when I used building genre it was an attempt not use farming sim as that really only applies to Story of seasons, and not as much rune factory and Animal crossing. No idea how I forgot the DJmax series. Dont think I played any of them till the vita.

I think it's fair leaving the sim type games under that genre. DS was varied af I'm not gonna lie.

Discontent · Mar 3, 2021

brambles13 said:
My type of thread. PSP is one of my favorite systems ever at this point so I'll go with that. It is the GOAT SRPG console for example. With the Ys series I definitely think PSP wins in action RPGs as well. Oath in Felghana and Ys Seven are both just amazing games. The racers are unparalleled on any other portable and the fighters are in a similar class (but Vita continued that legacy). That's not to mention hard to classify games like Pursuit Force, Loco Roco, Patapon.

PSP for me wins in the majority of genres but I would put DS ahead on text adventures, classic turn-based JRPGs (but Trails in the Sky makes it close), 2d platformers, metroidvanias, zelda-esque games (unsure what to call this), RTS games, etc... for example.

Also for all the people saying nobody cares about sports games on PSP, note most gaming forums are heavily tilted against sports games and towards RPGs. For example I still play NBA Street on PSP on and off, it's a great time and doesn't age.

Also as a massive Tekken fan, Dark Resurrection is the definitive version of that game and was not an inferior port of a PS2 game. It is still the GOAT portable 3d fighter in my humble opinion.

However the DS biggest strength by far it it's quirky games that can't be done on other platforms so easily. Games like WarioWare, Trauma Center, Cooking Mama, Canvas Curse, Yoshi Touch and Go, Mario Party, Brain Age, etc... have been fun over the years for me and my oldest daughter to play together. The DS is an amazing console but I do think overall it is inferior.

Where have you been brambles ffs lol

Kresnik · Mar 3, 2021

Gaming is my hobby but the industry moves faster than I can play everything I want to play, so I am still playing catch up on PS1-era games even now.

In that respect, I love the PSP - it gave me access to a full library of PS1 classics as well as all the PSP stuff.

I am now playing catch up on Vita which can play most of what I want to play on PS1, plus PSP, plus Vita native stuff.

PSP's library, what I've played of it so far, is stellar. Cannot imagine what it would've been like playing Chains on Olympus on a handheld back in the noughties. Even now it's impressive. Same for Pursuit Force, Syphon Filter, Dissidia, Ridge Racer and tonnes of other graphically impressive PSP games I've played.

I also think its niche game is extremely under-rated - there's tonnes of hidden gems in there.

Unfortunately, it does lack in visual novels which is a favourite genre of mine atm. But Vita makes up for that so it's fine. In terms of RPG's, shooters, action games, racing games, fighting games etc. it's just brilliant.

KrillinLikeAVillan · Mar 3, 2021

The ds is better.

brambles13 · Mar 3, 2021

Discontent said:
Where have you been brambles ffs lol

Working, but seriously I feel like either all of those people haven't played much PSP at all and instinctively assume Nintendo is the best at portables, or they grew up with DS exclusively and have a lot of nostalgia for it. I am pretty much exclusively a portable gamer since 2009 or so, the portable ports of console exclusives is a huge plus for me rather than a demerit. For example Outrun 2006 is my favorite racing game and I played that exclusively on a PSP. The DS certainly has a place in my library (I own 70ish games on it) but the library just is nowhere near as good to me as the PSP (or the GBA for that matter).

Edit: I take back what I said about JRPGs being better on DS. The Persona games, Trails games, Lunar, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Riviera, Star Ocean, Growlanser, and Hexyz Force probably make it a draw overall.

Discontent · Mar 3, 2021

Kresnik said:
Gaming is my hobby but the industry moves faster than I can play everything I want to play, so I am still playing catch up on PS1-era games even now.

In that respect, I love the PSP - it gave me access to a full library of PS1 classics as well as all the PSP stuff.

I am now playing catch up on Vita which can play most of what I want to play on PS1, plus PSP, plus Vita native stuff.

PSP's library, what I've played of it so far, is stellar. Cannot imagine what it would've been like playing Chains on Olympus on a handheld back in the noughties. Even now it's impressive. Same for Pursuit Force, Syphon Filter, Dissidia, Ridge Racer and tonnes of other graphically impressive PSP games I've played.

I also think its niche game is extremely under-rated - there's tonnes of hidden gems in there.

Unfortunately, it does lack in visual novels which is a favourite genre of mine atm. But Vita makes up for that so it's fine. In terms of RPG's, shooters, action games, racing games, fighting games etc. it's just brilliant.

My wallet was right next to my PSP for like 10 years but Sony never had the sense to release all those sexy looking Japanese import PS1 games on the PSP. The prices of some of those games nowadays! Smh. How hard can it be to just put them on international digital stores? So many good games will never get played.

Empyrean Cocytus · Mar 3, 2021

Nintendo games + handhelds are always money. New Super Mario Bros, Mario Kart DS, Animal Crossing, all enormous hits.

sacrificengineer · Mar 3, 2021

I enjoyed the hell out of my PSP and PS Vita, even though I played mostly western games while the crown jewels of these systems were from Japan. Sony stood tall against relentless Nintendo competition in handheld space and that's commendable (and pretty much only achieved by them). Should they ever return with a handheld gaming device (be it a legacy platform for catalogue titles or a modern hybrid hardware) I would gladly jump in once more. I think these platforms are well-remembered and I don't even really consider them underrated as a result, however, indeed a shout out to them :)

Discontent · Mar 3, 2021

sacrificengineer said:
I enjoyed the hell out of my PSP and PS Vita, even though I played mostly western games while the crown jewels of these systems were from Japan. Sony stood tall against relentless Nintendo competition in handheld space and that's commendable (and pretty much only achieved by them). Should they ever return with a handheld gaming device (be it a legacy platform for catalogue titles or a modern hybrid hardware) I would gladly jump in once more. I think these platforms are well-remembered and I don't even really consider them underrated as a result, however, indeed a shout out to them :)

Don't tell them I said this but PSP is definitely underrated compared to the DS by Era. It's much closer than its made out to be in terms of overall library quality.

Dogui · Mar 3, 2021

Just one thing about the title: I agree that PSP is full of underrated stuff, but this is not mutually exclusive with the fact the DS is superior :p

Also, a lot of stuff in DS is really overlooked/underrated as well.

brambles13 said:
My type of thread. PSP is one of my favorite systems ever at this point so I'll go with that. It is the GOAT SRPG console for example. With the Ys series I definitely think PSP wins in action RPGs as well. Oath in Felghana and Ys Seven are both just amazing games.

I give you action RPGs (Or stuff like Racing games, but i can't even remember a racing DS game tbh haha), but while i'm a big fan of Tactics Ogre and FFT, Devil Survivor 1/2 is easily peak of the genre imo.

Tho i never played Jeanne D'arc. But i never got too far in Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume, either, to balance it.

Both has tons of SRPGs anyway.

Discontent · Mar 3, 2021

Dogui said:
Just one thing about the title: I agree that PSP is full of underrated stuff, but this is not mutually exclusive with the fact the DS is superior :p

Also, a lot of stuff in DS is really overlooked/underrated as well.

I give you action RPGs (Or stuff like Racing games, but i can't even remember a racing DS game tbh haha), but while i'm a big fan of Tactics Ogre and FFT, Devil Survivor 1/2 is easily peak of the genre imo.

Tho i never played Jeanne D'arc. But i never got too far in Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume, either, to balance it.

Both has tons of SRPGs anyway.

How can you possibly get the idea that I'd say the PSP is better (which it is) when I was just comparing libraries (of which the PSPs is superior)?

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.

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