2.5D Games And The PSP

Let’s just cut right the chase, the PSP is the best damn platform for 2.5D gaming ever, period. Games like Mega Man: Powered Up, Maverick Hunter X and Exit not only look and feel great on the screen of justice, they play to the consoles limited button set. The PSP is also fast becoming the platform of choice for many of Capcom’s classic 2D gaming compilations (whether that’s your cup of tea or not is personal taste). Throw in the ability to pause PSP games anywhere and enter sleep mode, the fact that it’s a technical powerhouse, it’s memory card and WiFi capabilities and you’ve got a winning combination.

There are so many classic 2D games just begging for a next gen portable sequel (we’re not talking remakes here). A new 2.5D Legend of the Mystical Ninja would kick so much butt, especially if you could play two player co op using infrastructure mode. How about some next  gen multiplayer Contra? Speaking of sequels, updates and remakes, Konami needs to make a 2.5D Castlevania for the PSP, they just need to. The height of the series is still considered by many to be Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, not just one of the best 2D games ever made but in this writers humble opinion one of the best games ever made. Replicating that kind of magic isn’t easy and some would say it was lost in the transition to the third dimension,(Castlevania 64 and the subsequent PS2 games were good but not a patch on SotN). The PSP affords developers not only the medium and the power but the perfect audience to exploit the 2.5D sub genre, the games are cheaper to produce, less technically demanding and great for on the go gaming. It’s because of the cheaper production costs that it’s the ideal platform to experiment with new franchises, ideas and gameplay mechanics.

It’s somewhat ironic that before the PSP debuted many thought it was the death knell for 2D gaming (the last bastion of which had been portable gaming) and now it seems that it might actually become a refuge for the genre. With games like Every Extend Extra, Lumines 2, Earthworm Jim, Loco Roco and Ultimate Ghosts ‘n Goblins on the horizon things are really looking up.

       

Let’s just cut right the chase, the PSP is the best damn platform for 2.5D gaming ever, period. Games like Mega Man: Powered Up, Maverick Hunter X and Exit not only look and feel great on the screen of justice, they play to the consoles limited button set. The PSP is also fast becoming the platform of choice for many of Capcom’s classic 2D gaming compilations (whether that’s your cup of tea or not is personal taste). Throw in the ability to pause PSP games anywhere and enter sleep mode, the fact that it’s a technical powerhouse, it’s memory card and WiFi capabilities and you’ve got a winning combination.

There are so many classic 2D games just begging for a next gen portable sequel (we’re not talking remakes here). A new 2.5D Legend of the Mystical Ninja would kick so much butt, especially if you could play two player co op using infrastructure mode. How about some next  gen multiplayer Contra? Speaking of sequels, updates and remakes, Konami needs to make a 2.5D Castlevania for the PSP, they just need to. The height of the series is still considered by many to be Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, not just one of the best 2D games ever made but in this writers humble opinion one of the best games ever made. Replicating that kind of magic isn’t easy and some would say it was lost in the transition to the third dimension,(Castlevania 64 and the subsequent PS2 games were good but not a patch on SotN). The PSP affords developers not only the medium and the power but the perfect audience to exploit the 2.5D sub genre, the games are cheaper to produce, less technically demanding and great for on the go gaming. It’s because of the cheaper production costs that it’s the ideal platform to experiment with new franchises, ideas and gameplay mechanics.

It’s somewhat ironic that before the PSP debuted many thought it was the death knell for 2D gaming (the last bastion of which had been portable gaming) and now it seems that it might actually become a refuge for the genre. With games like Every Extend Extra, Lumines 2, Earthworm Jim, Loco Roco and Ultimate Ghosts ‘n Goblins on the horizon things are really looking up.