Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Best handheld games of 2007

As another year comes to an end we enter that delightful period during which the "best of" list thrives. MSNBC has provided a list of the Best Handheld Games of 2007. Let's take a look:

Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Jeanne d'Arc
Pokemon Diamond/Pearl
Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters
Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness
Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions
Crush

DS: 2
PSP: 6

If we removed the retarded picks from the list (Syphon Filter, Ratched & Clank, Crush) we are left with three strategy RPGs for the PSP and two DS games.

Thoughts?

15 comments:

Kylebrown said...

while I'm willing to admit that the PSP is making a comeback on wave of good games for it. It does seem that the DS is being screwed, however, on the flipside, I can't seem to think of any good/great games for the DS that came out in 2007.

_J_ said...

I'm surprised that three strategy RPGs made it onto a list produced by MSNBC. No one plays strategy RPGs. If I were to make a list skewed in favor of the PSP it would include those three games.

Going through the list of DS games at gamestop I'm thinking about Rune Factory, Puzzle Quest, ... uh...

Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings looks like it could be good.

But, yeah, no real winners for the DS this year besides the pokeymans.

Kylebrown said...

I did think of puzzle quest, but that isn't a DS game per se. It came out for both platforms.

_J_ said...

The other part of it is that the DS has become the handheld your mom plays. So while the PSP can get Disgaea and FF Tactics the DS had many releases which were of the Brain Age or Inane Simulation variety.

That's not a bad thing. But when looking at a "best of" list one isn't going to put Brain Age on there unless your goal is to piss off the birthday boy.

_J_ said...

I think Puzzle Quest is on PC now as well as the 360. I think someone said it was on Live but I could be mistaken.

Puzzle Quest would have been a good game to add to the list because it was on both platforms and could spark the DS / PSP debate.

MA17 said...

People seem to like Contra 4.

And Picross DS might be one of the only games I never need.

_J_ said...

I still don't understand Picross.

MA17 said...

It's MS Paint: The Game

Uwe Boll is on to direct the film adaptation called "Crossed Out: Picross LA".

"There are a lot of squares in this line, and it's my job to separate the ones that should be filled in, and the ones that should be crossed out."

"Sir! We've just gotten our next clue!"
"Read it to me."
"One...two...two...one...and then another one."
"That bastard."

"Give it up, copper! You'll never figure out which box the last part of this five should go in!"
"Guess again, slimeball. You forgot about my partner, Try it Out Mode."
"Nooooooo."
"Conditionally prove him, buddy."

Mike Lewis said...

isnt there a guiter hero like game for the DS?

also - I've played the Ratchet & Clank for the PS2 i think

it was kinda fun - j's doesnt like platformers -

did anyone play the worms game?

_J_ said...

Even granting the premise that a platformer can be "kinda fun" it is not the case that "kinda fun" games belong on a "best of" list.

The DS game is called Jam Sessions and my understanding is that it is sort of like playing with one's self only there is no orgasm at the end.

_J_ said...

I heard thatthe worms game was "basic".

And not in the good "Kill Tom Nook" sense of Basic.

Roscoe said...

I'd give some ground to Ratchet and Clank.. the pedigree is fairly good, and I understand that unlike most liscence PSP fare, it's actually somewhat DESIGNED for the machine and the travel format.

Dunno if it's top calibre... but it's likely better than the company you give it.


As for the rest.. the Strat Games are all PSP. I don't know what that means.. but it worries me. Further, they're strat. games in the vein of the better, older, and more complex variety, than say FFT-A. I worry that the DS might have gotten a bum start, and that's all it'll get in Strat RPGS.

You can make a case that this was the year for the DS Variety titles.. Etrian Odyssey and the like. Maybe Izuna the Unemployed Ninja? or was that last year at this time? Anyways.. the games that get some decent niche appeal and are either a dime a dozen in two years or are selling for 8 times the new release rate, if you get lucky.

_J_ said...

I worry that the DS might have gotten a bum start, and that's all it'll get in Strat RPGS.

I assume that you mean a bum start in terms of Strat RPGs and not in general, right?

The other part of the DS / PSP aspect of this is that DS games that came out last year and before are still good games while the PSP didn't offer much. So even if the DS only had pokeymans and Celda to offer new this year the old catalog of games is still of high quality.

Roscoe said...

Yeah...

been a week.. not getting better..

such is.

Die for Darkseid and what not.

_J_ said...

Not getting better? Isn't the semester over Friday?