5 Best-Selling PSP Games That Should Be Remastered in 2022

Remember the PSP? Of course you do. It was once as common and as popular as the iPod Shuffle back in its heyday, only with slightly more to offer than a 512MB song cache and a collection of Avril Lavigne bootlegs. It was actually, in all honesty, a revolutionary bit of kit that boasted thousands of great games, as well as a multimedia player and, of course, easy access to the internet. And while that all seems like the bread and butter of most modern consoles — the PSP was once considered to be as advanced as portable technology could possibly get, rivaling basically every Nintendo console that came before it.

But let's round back to the games that found a home on the handheld console. There were, if I remember correctly, at least 1,915 of them (thanks, Google). And so, it's only natural for us to want a selection of them to make an all-powerful return on modern hardware. You know, anything but the PS Vita, which we won't talk about for obvious reasons. Besides that, we're happy for anyone to pick up and breathe life into these following five.

5. Tekken: Dark Resurrection

Speaking of resurrecting PSP hits from the past, it seems only right that we push this one into ignition — if only for the name alone. Tekken, of course, isn't exactly running short on games for modern consoles, but then, that doesn't mean we're inclined to turn a blind eye to quality when we see it. And as far as this PSP chapter goes — it has an abundance of quality, both in its familiar roster and actual gameplay mechanics.

Okay, so technically speaking, Dark Resurrection was, in fact, a souped up version of Tekken 5. However, the PSP edition did feature more playable characters, as well as upgraded visuals all-around. And yes, it did also become available as a digital download on PS3 sometime around 2007. But that's pushing fifteen years ago, so it's only natural for us to summon it again in 2021. I mean, a PS5 remaster wouldn't go amiss, that's for sure.

4. Daxter

While you could quite easily argue that Jak was the go-to hero of the series, Daxter was definitely worthy of hosting his own show of antics, if only to help bridge a few gaps on his personality chart. Because let's face it, up until Jak 3 rolled out, Daxter played a pretty minor role in the story, and other than submitting a tongue-in-cheek remark every once in awhile, he just sort of faded into the background.

So, in order to flesh out the orange critter with some additional features, Naughty Dog made the slick decision to base a story during the build-up to Jak 2, where Jak himself was being kept captive for several years. During that time, Daxter found himself thrown into his own action-packed journey, and Naughty Dog was able to tell the tale remarkably well in a standalone chapter that surprisingly lived up to the prominence of the Jak franchise.

3. The Sims 2

It doesn't matter what you say about The Sims, because the fact is — it's still one of gaming's biggest cash cows, and EA will continue to milk it dry so long as there's players lining up to drink it. And partly the reason why it's so successful is because of the multiple spin-offs and expansions it builds on top of other games. Just take The Sims 2, for example. What started off as a PC game, eventually turned into completely different stories on console, and then eventually handheld.

That's where the PSP version came in, which again, was completely different from the PlayStation 2 and PC editions. And to be fair, it was also one of the best, albeit most glossed over entry EA had published to date. With an actual feature-length story to absorb and a boatload of missions to board, it was essentially a more ambitious world that the PC version simply failed to hone in on and replaced with a straight up sandbox mode.

2. Tony Hawk's Underground 2: Remix

On on hand, we did receive Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 for next-gen hardware, which of course we we're eternally grateful for. But on the other, we were still disheartened when Activision refused to let slip another passage in the Tony Hawk's timeline — especially surrounding the open world Underground chapters. And now, as we skate into 2022, we're left to face that harsh reality that neither will likely link hands with a full-on reboot.

Sadly, the last we saw of Tony Hawk's Underground was back in 2005, when Neversoft made the effort to carve up a rehash of the second game for PSP. And as much fun as it was to relive the antics from the brutal skating world tour, it was also still fresh in our brains from the original release which, funnily enough, was only a few months prior. And so, with that, we can't help but urge Activision to make a return and bring the two classics back up to scratch for 2022.

1. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories

Of all the great games the PSP boarded over its long and healthy tenure, nothing quite stacked up as well as Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories when it came to winning the popularity contest. It was also the highest grossing game from the mid-2000s, with an impressive 8 million copies sold since its launch. And although it did go on to find success on the PlayStation 2, as well as inspire Vice City Stories a year later, it did just fizzle out shortly after, leaving fans to mould over the possibility of seeing a reboot.

After the ground-breaking success of the PlayStation 2 trilogy, fans were eager to step back into Liberty City and, of course, Vice City for another action-heavy collection of adventures with all the same sparks. Come 2005, and Rockstar delivered on that front, developing two consecutive portable entries that would later cement a place in the hall of handheld greats. Fast-forward nearly seventeen years, and the demand remains at an all-time high, with players holding the pressure on Rockstar to remaster both for next-gen hardware.

So, what PSP games would you want remastered for 2022? Let us know over on our socials here or down in the comments below.

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