July 02, 2025 is when Nintendo first cemented itself as the king of the handheld market, releasing the original Game Boy in Japan and changing the gaming industry forever. Since then, Nintendo has maintained its lead position, but during the 2000s, Sony gave it a good run for its money. Releasing in March 2005, Sony’sPlayStation Portablearrived just a few months afterthe Nintendo DS, and despite a skeptical crowd before launch, the PSP gradually managed to prove itself in the handheld market, comfortably offering a niche that Nintendo wasn’t providing.
The Nintendo DS launched at the beginning of the company’s big push toward family-centered gaming. While the juggernaut developer/publisher had always put family gaming first, that became the sole focus of the Wii, and laterthe Nintendo DS Lite. On the opposite end, Sony’s PSP offered a more high-tech handheld gaming experience, with graphics said to be just as good as the PS2’s. This niche worked out pretty well for both consoles, and the PSP’s launch line-up offers a neat glimpse at where the handheld was heading.
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The Highlights From the PSP’s US Launch Line-Up
The PSP had quite a diverse selection of games when it launched in the US in March 2005. Of course, no console launch is complete without its fair share of racing and sports games, and the PSP had plenty of those.Need for Speed Underground: Rivalsis certainly one of the biggest standout titles in the PSP’s initial launch line-up, showcasing the power of the little handheld console perfectly.Need for Speedmanaged to retain the bombastic nature of its big console counterpart, with intense racing mechanics, great track design, and superb visuals. However, the better-reviewed racing game on the PSP’s launch list wasRidge Racer, a racing game built from the ground up solely to showcase exactly what the PSP was offering, and what set it apart from the competition.
On the sports side of things, all the usual faces showed up. Early adopters of thePSPhad their pick between several baseball and basketball games, ranging fromTiger Woods PGA TourandNBAtoNFL Street 2 UnleashedandGretzky NHL, all of which were solid handheld versions of the iconic sports.Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 Remixwas one of the better launch-day sports offerings, being an exact replica of the excellent PS2 game and proving that Sony wasn’t lying during the console’s marketing.
A few familiar franchises came to the PSP on day one, though with a few little tweaks.Ape Escape: On the Looseis a remake of the beloved first game originally released on the PS1, but didn’t quite live up to fan expectations, suffering from some strange control choices and flat-out awful camera controls.Dynasty Warriorsalso made its way to the PSP, and critics had similar complaints to those found inApe Escape, with the game feeling like a clunky adaptation for the PSP.Metal Gear Acidreceived more favorable reviews from critics, but Konami decided to take a completely different route with it. As opposed to simply porting over a previous game in the franchise, Konami decided to produceaMetal Gear-themed card/action gamehybrid, and the results were surprisingly good, with a lot of passion clearly put into the project.
Even Marvel found its way to the PSP on launch day withSpider-Man 2, a direct tie-in with the 2004 movie. WhileSpider-Man 2lacks the open-world and web-swinging of its big brother console counterparts, the PSP iteration is surprisingly solid, offering some responsive combat and plenty of thrilling action set pieces. But by far one of the best-reviewed launch titles for thePSPisWipeout Pure, a phenomenal entry inthe Sci-Fi racing franchisethat earned near-perfect scores across the board for its incredible visuals, fast-paced gameplay, and wealth of content.
