A Look at All 23 PSP Launch Games 

Hopefully this was worth the wait. I'll try to get next Launch Games episode out a little sooner, which means the next one will probably be a smaller launch. Still, let me know what consoles you'd be interested in seeing covered.

The PSP was probably the only time when the Game Boy and the DS had a worthy competitor. Very solid console.

I worked on two of these games: NFS Underground Rivals and MVP Baseball. I was part of a small division at EA called Fusion that was set up to do PSP games (we later did GBA, NDS and Wii games). It was a lot of fun working on launch PSP titles. NFS Underground Rivals was even better at one point but when Sony locked the CPU speed at 222 MHz from 333 MHz (to save on battery life - they later re-enabled 333 MHz when they upgraded the battery) we had to cut out a lot of physics objects. Honestly, I do not remember MVP Baseball being a lunch title but my memory is all a blur from then.

Man that was a great launch lineup.

The PSP had a really underrated launch lineup, you were especially eating good if you liked racing or driving games of any kind. Lumines was a lot of fun and THUG2 Remix was an incredibly impressive port for so early in the system's life.

Man Spider-Man 2 on the PSP was one of the first video games I've ever played; the green tutorial world sparked so many memories of me messing around with the web slinging, so much fun!

the fact that a number of racing games in the PSP such as Midnight Club, NFS, and Ridge Racer having real-time reflections for cars is impressive tbh

There is a huge bug with the PS1 version of NBA JAM TE, they got the difficulty settings the wrong way around, so the easiest setting is actually the hardest, and vice versa. Also, the AI is super aggressive and constantly shoving you, it's pretty common to have a full 10 injury of your player by half-time.

had way too much fun playing atv with my friends. they allowed us to bring our systems and what not to school during the last few days before summer. it was a blast.

We had one store selling Wipeout Pure for 20€, everywhere else it was 50€ just like all other new games. Even though I was never into racing games at all, I got it as my first game for my PSP. Maybe it was due to lack of alternatives but god damn, I played it so much and really loved it. The feeling of speed was just so damn good, especially on the higher difficulties. Visually it was just amazing, the soundtrack perfectly fitting. Still my favorite game to this day of the PSP era

I must be some sort of maniac as I love stretching the screen out to widescreen, even if it was not supposed to be that way. Thanks for the video. It's amazing to see how many launch titles there were for the PSP. Even though I got rid of my PSP about 1 year ago, I still play my PSP games on my Vita, and prefer playing them this way.

You should do this Launch Games series for the Vita too! I'd be very interested in seeing that as I know next to nothing about it or its games.

Dude the amount of quality and time you put into these videos is outstanding it really brings me back in time to the age of psp and we'll it's so nostalgic I wish I could go back in time all the memories I had with the psp was amazing. This video deserves nominations.

You were in Duality?! Wow, that's a pretty awesome feather in your cap. One of the greatest music videos ever imo. Jim Root is the man

I was watching some of your older videos and I must say you've got way better at this in a very short amount of time! Keep it up!

I bought a psp at the European launch. Got Lumines, Ridge Racer, Wipeout Pure and Smart Bomb with it. Really like the first two, Smart Bomb was a bit so so and Wipeout was somewhere in-between.

its insane how much effort you put into the quality of these videos man. Got my sub

Just recently discovered your channel while I was hunting for some niche retro games to look at. Cool channel bro. I'm rooting for ya.

Fantastic video! Really enjoyed watching this after eating my Christmas dinner. The amount of detail you go into with each game is really fun! Merry Christmas dude!

I love the PSP, it's such a funky, one of a kind handheld with a library that really did have something for just about everyone. I think, at least as far as I can see, might just be the best launch lineup for any PlayStation. Almost half of these are games I would probably still sit down and play today. Side note, but it is hilarious to that a decade, and to additional consoles from the brand's inception, no one can seem to agree on the confirm and cancel buttons xD Apparently, this carried over to the early PS3 even, I know that version of Sonic Unleashed still has ∆ as cancel. Kudos to Metal Gear for sticking to O confirm for so long

Even if we’re talking launch window games, the psp was an incredible device to have. Awesome work dude. I really didn’t know spiderman 2 was more like the ps2 version of 1. Also completely forgot the psp was heavily marketed as a portable movie player. I really love ridge racer and twisted metal head on!!!

Watching this brought back so many great memories.

Just stumbled on this series, I like your videos.

I bought this at launch. I was out of town on a work trip for a whole week in the Bay Area, CA. I remember buying 3 or 4 games with it, Wipeout, Madden, Tiger Woods and something else. Was so perfect timing wise because of being in a Hotel, then of course coming home - the airport terminal and the long trip home to the east coast!! I fell in love with the PSP instantly. To this day I still think I enjoyed it more than the PS Vita.

I love your videos. You have a very soft voice. Perfect as a background noise when I'm reading or working at home ❤️

Great videos man! You should have more views, keep up the good work.

I still have mine up and working,it was my journey companion during my interchange.

I got wipeout pure with my psp from my mom. I didn't really like it at first but I had that and spiderman 2 the actual movie that came with the system so I just kept playing it and now it's my favorite launch game on the system and one of my favorites in general.

Yooo I didn't know Rengoku was a launch title such a underrated gem it did get a sequel and it has better gameplay but I do still prefer the story of the first game

I remember buying 2 PSP's on launch day at midnight, I got nfs, twisted metal, ridge racer, ssx and midnight club 3, I'm sure the uk had a slightly different launch line up.

Enjoy the Iowa touches, always put in Des Moines for NFS

Saving this one for a rainy day.

Good video this was cool

You have the same narrative as madseasonshow and its wholesome and makes me happy

You've been working on this PSP video for quite and I've been looking forward to it for quite a while; wonderful to finally watch it. Also, Happy Boxing Day once again! 0:07 - Until the N-Gage arrived with it's handheld port of Tomb Raider... actually, there probably was the odd 3D game on the GBA before he N-Gage even released. Oh wait; you actually do end up mentioning the N-Gage at 0:26. I was not expecting that. 2:06 - I didn't get the PSP on launch, but funny enough, Ape Escape was one of three games I got when I received one for my Birthday. I'd enjoyed playing the PlayStation game via demos but the PSP was the first time I got to properly play this intriguing game. 7:32 - There was a Darkstalkers game on the PSP at launch? I always thought that happened later down the line. Also, I'll admit, I'm the maniac who likes to stretch out his games to fill the screen. I guess I just dislike the empty black bars, be they at the sides or for the cinematic look where they are at the top and bottom. 9:57 - I am surprised they didn't give a subtitle for this game, to avoid potential confusion with the original Dynasty Warriors, which was completely different in genre. I suppose by this point already people had forgotten about that original PlayStation Warriors game. 19:10 - Gosh, there certainly were a lot of sports games on the PSP. Did it really need two Baseball games on the same day? At least the Street games seem to differ in tone and style to their more traditional counterpart. It's funny you bring up the "not knowing sports" thing when talking about American Football, because as a Brit, I've also got no clue about all those odd formations and squiggly lines. 22:17 - Metal Gear Acid and Lumines seem to be the PSP launch games I hear talked about the most; the former perhaps because of the absurdity of it... which seems kind of normal for Kojima. I do like my card games so I've a strange curiosity about Metal Gear Acid. Glad to hear it holds up. I imagine if my PSP memory card had any space left in it, there would be a handful of PSP games I'd go back and try. 28:03 - The lighting of the Need for Speed certainly gives it an impressive visual quality and it's interesting that despite the greater graphical power that the PSP Ridge Racer has, style and colour choice helps give the PlayStation original the better overall look. 37:11 - I've never heard of this (Untold Legends) series before, though it does rather look like my cup of tea. I do find it strange that a top-down game like this even needs control of the camera; feels like it just needs better placement rather than having the player worry about controlling it themselves. 41:32 - Love the cancel button tally. Fantastic coverage of all these PSP games by the way. As for launch games recommendation, well naturally as a Wii fan I'd suggest the Nintendo Wii. You did bring up both the Game Gear and the N-Gage at the start of this video, though they might be harder systems to acquire the games for.

I really enjoyed watching this video. If your Mom ever told you that you were wasting time playing video games, she just might have been wrong. Well done!

Tiger Woods PGA Tour on PSP is one of my most nostalgic games of all-time. I only had money for the PSP and one game, and I played the shit out of it!

Seeing Ethan Suplee in a gameboy ad is just wild. That's just Randy to me!

I begged my Dad for a PSP on release and he broke down and bought me one with Wipeout Pure, was an amazing game and made all my friends jealous. I used the psp for everything, tv shows, movies, little downloadable minigames; it was so far ahead of its time.

My eyes seriously lit up when I saw that metal gear acid has a card system like that, I'm legitimately buying this game *IMMEDIATELY*

An extra in a music video for one of the biggest nu-metal songs of the generation and now covering video games with the vibe of Jon Wilson. A legend!

So cool that you were in Duality video!!!! It's always been one of my fav videos of slipknot's

4:32 that's the music from Twisted Metal 2: World Tour on the LA map?? hahah awesome

best handheld ever made

Great vid! 2 notes about games you mentioned: Dynasty Warriors's name is misleading, its actually made out of assets from Dynasty Warriors 4, and its sequel, Vol. 2, does the same thing to Dynasty Warriors 5; you mention how Untold Legends feels similar to 2 games, im happy to tell you there is a reason for it: the snowblind engine, the engine powering all 3 of them, also used in that weird PS2 fallout game and the alien syndrome reboot. EDIT: it might be interesting to make a video of "sequels to launch titles" as on PSP there is a staggering amount of them, even leaving sports games aside you still have plenty.

Rengoku was the first game i ever played. To be honest I could max out the character limit here talking about it but its one of those games thay either interests you or it doesnt. No in between but im happy you gave it a try. Always happy to see more rengoku coverage. If you wanted better gameplay the sequel is objectively better but in my opinion the story, aesthetic and music in the first game is something ive never seen in any game before or since

Ape Escape OTL is my in my top 3 games of all time.

Oh, hey, I had the Untold Legends game. I think I traded something for that disc.

Your hometown is Des Moines? I live an hour away in Iowa. That's pretty neat.

Metal Gear Solid got a NGage version. Played like the ps1 version but is completely original. not sure if it was released prior to psp

Psp was the first time since a gamegear that I actually enjoyed a handheld I liked the gba and learned to appreciate the DS, but I need the feel of a true console in my hands.

40:46 no you aren’t wrong about the original WipEout. The second game was the first good WipEout game

Acid was fine in the later half game. Just had to get going.

That was a sick darth maul shirt

Metal gear acid was incredibely good once you got used to it. Oh man the nostalgia

When i was a kid i had that ridge racer game(or was the 2, i cant remember), but i sold it with a bunch of other games, i regret utill this day

Hey what is the song used in the Darkstalkerd part? Looked everywhere for it but couldn’t find :(

I got my psp around 2007 along with a copy of GTA: Liberty City Stories as my first game.

You were in the duality video? OMG. I'm Jealous!

quality vid

27:05 I remember that one!

Ridge Racer is on ps4 right now, on ps+premium, is the psp version but with more pixels and better framerate

i fucking LOVED Rengoku: Tower of Purgatory, bought it off a whim and it became my instant favorite next to Untold Legends (which the music temporarily drove me insane at one point fun fact)

24:32 yo is that a Dodge Neon?!

Twisted metal was my absolute favorite on the psp

Of the lot, WipEout Pure is the one I'm interested in playing through emulation. As for others, Spider-Man 2 is an inferior port, Ridge Racer seems fine, Smart Bomb is an undesirable way for Core to end their tenure on, and Metal Gear AC!D is an interesting experiment, but as you pointed out, it would ultimately be rendered irrelevant in 2006/2007 with Solid: Portable Ops, which I'm more interested in and was actually the canon sequel to the events of Solid 3 until it was retconned by Kojima in favour of a broadstrokes follow-up titled Peace Walker. *CALLING TO THE NIIIIIIIGHT~*

24:02 why is caitlin jenner in metal gear 🤣

I was so pissed about Metal Gear Ac!d Please do a Dreamcast launch video next! Most solid launch ever!

Oh so Coded Arms must have come later huh fair enough then launch year then just not launch day or week or so. Either way interesting look at the launch titles. :) Didn't think Mercury was a launch game either. But still a good puzzle game. 2005 games are confusing me for other regions I guess. Great pick up on buttons though Square, Triangle and Circle can be changed by many and it can be confusing but for some series it's so suited/normal so isn't too bad. Otherwise interesting MGA was the tactics game at launch for that region at least. Hmm suggestions I could go super niche emulatable or not hmm. Best not. Whatever works of major consoles. Smart Bomb I didn't realise was a launch title. It's creative but I agree hard and I had similar issues great idea hard to play. Honestly though Ridge Racer (I own Racers 2/PSP entry 2 not the launch title entry but still it's probably just as good even if differences between the two) I find more interesting than Lumines. Even WipWout Pure which is a fairly handheld in mind structure and threw me off made sense besides Pulse being the more console like game experience. The other games shown seem alright for what they tried to do even if rough but not all launch titles are great anyways they do a fine job for early hardware trialing before getting used to it later. Lumines is a fine Tetris/falling block puzzle game and I own it but eh. I own it for the sake of 'I try it out a few times and pass compared to literally all other better puzzle games on PSP being so much more involved and exciting'. Lumines to me is literally the safest game out of all launch titles and even for puzzle games it's safe and snoreworthy. I don't think the music is good (I am very picky with music in games rhythm or otherwise. If I can tolerate it in rhythm games then I will but otherwise I don't like many music choices in games anyway). Ridge Racer or WipEout games to me have more exciting music because that era had really good music (racing games or certain others just had better licensed or original in the menus options besides other games being exceptions of good original music) but most others sure fit the environments so I let them pass but for licensed or original I don't care for licensed at all and if the menu music isn't good in a game with mostly licenses hen to me it doesn't count as worthy. I hate the boring music choices usually. Lumines are usually in order repeated (if possible to change I don't remember) and it's just generic singing and sound design sounds. Not even enjoyable. I guess they fit the vibe but I don't get into them I mostly want to play with the music off. I don't really get the vibe of it and the puzzles compared to others though maybe later entries it's more clear but for me I didn't get it as much. The puzzle mode is awkward in that mode I had to guess the first puzzle and surprised I even beat it I get the goal the execution is confusing to pull off at all, the timed sessions make sense for handheld play, the themes and visuals look good but it isn't hard for puzzle games to look good.

🎉🎉🎉

My sister Tanner got me my psp. It was awesome. It came with GTA liberty city stories.

What spikes voice is better in the psp version of ape escape and I hate the original controller scheme. But we can be cool because you know what an awesome game is :)

The psp is still amazing

PS3 would be interesting since it was such a divisive release in 2006

I’m watching this on my psp lol

You gotta do all PS Vita launch games

Imo I'll take the dpad over that stick that's not a stick any day

sorry but I have to agree with the sentiment of the sports comment. if you can figure out what combos do in Dynasty Warriors, or optimize your strategy in Lumines.....it's REALLY not that difficult to gain a basic understanding of how an NFL game works and I'm tired of people pretending it requires some Herculean level of effort to wrap your brain around. I don't have to be a martial artist or even a casual MMA fan to understand how Tekken or Mortal Kombat works, neither does someone necessarily need to be a football watcher to be able to play the video game

That Dynasty warriors game is the second worst game I've ever played after Cars for DS.

Next time, please provide a time code to skip to for folks like me who really, passionately hate sports games and don't want to see them haha

Any console apart from microsoft.i don't like em since they took sega's place in the console industry.