PS Plus Premium launched in 2022 as Sony’s answer Xbox Game Pass. The service has had a rocky start and the Sony faithful are frustrated with a lack of new content. The service promised to deliver not only PS5 titles but a robust classics catalog through the integration of PS Now, Playstation’s streaming service. What we received though has left something to be desired.
The classics catalog offers games from the PS1 through the PS3 era, and even includes a handful of PSP titles. The PSP was Sony’s first handheld platform and delivered gamers with a bevy of classic titles that are difficult to find and play today. Hopefully, Sony will continue to expand the lineup and add some of these great PSP games to PS Plus premium.
10 God Of War Ghost Of Sparta
Ghost of Sparta is Krato’s second outing on the portable system and fills in the gaps between the first two entries in the series. In this game, Kratos is haunted by visions of his past as a mortal and seeks out members of his family in a futile attempt to find solace.
Ghost of Sparta is a must-play for God of War fans. The game delivers the same classic formula as the PS2 and PS3 titles but on a smaller screen. The game also helps to fill in some gaps for the God of War mythos, like Atlantis falling into the sea and Athena being Kratos’s sister. Hopefully one day we’ll be able to re-live this tale on PS Plus Premium.
9 Death JR
Death JR launched shortly after the release of the PSP and was marketed as the must-have game for Sony’s new portable system. While it may not have been the killer-app that Sony was hoping for, Death JR was still a charming action platformer with strong Tim Burton vibes.
The game stars Death’s teenage son DJ and his misadventures as an undead adolescent. The game received two sequels, one on PSP and the other on Nintendo DS, neither of which are available outside their original hardware.
8 Tony Hawks Underground 2 Remix
The initial run of games in the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series is some of the best action sports gameplay ever put on consoles. The Underground series brought that same skateboarding fun into an open world with juvenile humor. The two games in the series are fan favorites, and the best version of Underground 2 was a PSP exclusive.
Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 Remix featured the same gameplay as the original, but with additional levels, cutscenes, and characters. Some graphical sacrifices had to be made for the jump to portable, but Underground 2 Remix is still the best way to play this Skateboarding classic.
7 Hot Shots Golf Open Tee 2
The Hot Shots Golf series has been a Playstation staple since the original Playstation system, and Open Tee 2 is the best Hot Shots Golf game available on the PSP. Open Tee 2 retained all the charm of its console counterpart while also adding online play to a portable device.
While the servers have now shut down for this title, the single-player game is still a fun and engaging arcade golf game. We would love to see Sony bring this classic back with PS Plus.
6 Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars
Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars was released for the Nintendo DS in early 2009 before being ported to the PSP later that same year. The PSP version abandoned the cell-shaded look of its DS counterpart, featured extra missions, and abandoned the touchscreen controls to better suit the PSP’s hardware.All of these changes make the PSP version the best version of this game.
There were three different GTA titles released for the PSP, but Chinatown Wars stands out for having the most interesting story and location. The game is available on mobile platforms, but it would be great to see it come to the big screen through PS Plus.
5 Killzone Liberation
Killzone was Guerilla Games’ middling first-person shooters series before they pivoted to the Horizon series. The Killzone games failed to live up to their initial hype, but the game that appeared on the PSP showed a re-imagined Killzone and was possibly the best entry in the series.
Liberation abandoned the first-person shooter mechanics due to the PSP’s lack of a second thumbstick and instead turned the game into a quasi-dungeon crawler shooter. Throw in a compelling story and addictive online multiplayer and Killzone Liberation is the most fun we’ve ever had with the Killzone series.
4 Resistance Retribution
The Resistance series never found a large audience on Playstation 3 despite being well-received critically. The series made the jump to portable with Resistance Retribution and made the wise decision to switch from a first-person view to a third-person view to alleviate hardware limitations.
Retributions story takes place between the first two Resistance entries and also offered a multitude of different online multiplayer options. We would love to see this game come to PS Plus just so we can experience the full series again, but sadly as of now only Resistance 3 is on PS Plus Premium.
3 Pixeljunk Monsters Deluxe
Pixeljunk Monsters is a tower defense game that was released for the Playstation 3 in 2008. A year later the deluxe version came to the PSP, offering all the DLC plus additional content that couldn’t be found on the PS3 version, making Deluxe the ultimate edition of this game.
Pixeljunk Monsters Deluxe was not just a fun tower defense game, it’s one of the best tower defense games ever to hit the market. That’s why it’s such a shame we haven’t seen this game come to PS Plus Premium. The sequel is available for download through the Playstation network, but we would still love to see this ultimate edition brought back as part of Sony’s service.
2 God Of War Chains Of Olympus
Chains of Olympus was the first God of War game to appear on portable systems, sans the mobile-only entry Betrayal. This game shows Kratos during his time as a servant of the gods. The story is full of lore and features the same classic God of War action from the console God of War titles.
The main reason we want this game on PS Plus Premium is that it fills in a lot of details about Kratos’ life before the events of the original God of War. Kratos is a very different character in the 2018 game and Ragnarok, but seeing his beginning as a servant to the Greek gods provides a lot of context for the original trilogy. It’s also just a fun hack-and-slash game that deserves a spot on Sony’s subscription service.
Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker is an important entry in the Metal Gear Solid series that covers Big Boss’s time in Costa Rica before the events of Metal Gear Solid 5. The game featured stealth combat similar to the rest of the series and a recruitment system for Big Boss to create his army.
Peace Walker is one of the more grounded entries in the MGS series which makes it such a shame that this game isn’t available on PS Plus Premium. An HD remake of Peace Walker was released as part of the Metal Gear Solid Collection, but copyright issues have led to this being delisted from digital storefronts. Hopefully, these issues can be resolved, and we get the chance to sneak around the Costa Rican jungle once again.
