Both 2 and the prequel 3 eventually came to Vita as Metal Gear Solid HD Collection in 2012, ported in style by Armature games who ensured smooth performance and tweaked controls. Hideo Kojima’s long-awaited followed up to his generation-defining masterpiece Metal Gear Solid was covered endlessly by gaming magazines and even went to great lengths to conceal the identity of the main character – and when the game finally released, fans loved the end product (even if they were a bit confused by the story). If there was one Japanese game which could rival Final Fantasy X in the anticipation stakes, then it would be Metal Gear Solid 2. It’s worth noting that the previous game Persona 3 Portable is also available through PSP backwards-compatibility, although in a chopped-down format with some elements removed. Mixing life-sim elements with dungeon crawling and turn-based combat, the remake ended up being the highest-rated game on Metacritic for Vita as well as topping many user’s ‘best-of’ lists – cementing it as the definitive way to play the game. Very late in the console’s life, publisher Atlus released two titles in their flagship Persona series, the latter of which was ported to Vita as Persona 4 Golden in 2012. Of course, it wasn’t just Final Fantasy that was flying the flag of Japanese support on PS2. Featuring a variety of new features including trophy support and a re-arranged soundtrack, the handheld ports were a brilliant way to re-live the classic games. A direct sequel followed – X-2 – and both games made the leap over to Vita in 2013 as part of the Final Fantasy X/X2 HD Remaster. The series has always seen major anticipation between mainline releases, but this was at an all-time high with X due to the shift from PS1 to PS2 and all the technological jumps that could be made with this. Undoubtedly, one of the major factors in the console’s success were fantastic Japanese-developed games and leading this charge was Final Fantasy X the first sixth-generation entry in the storied franchise. It’s difficulty to truly describe what defined PS2’s library – it really did receive a little bit of everything throughout its run ranging from simple puzzle games to gigantic open-world adventures. Sadly, the Sony’s newest handheld never reached the mass-market success of the PS2 yet in spite of this it still managed to obtain a great number of franchises from the home console. While speculation had been rife that the PSP was as powerful as a PS2 when it was first unveiled, it never quite managed to attain this goal – whereas the Vita did have the necessary power to fully recreate home-console experiences. I’ll be including straight ports of titles and emulated versions, as well as sequels to popular series and (in some cases) spiritual successors.Īfter a successful article looking at how Vita provided a surprisingly decent portable version of SEGA’s ill-fated Dreamcast, my next piece focuses on a console that had a much different fate – Sony’s PlayStation 2, which is currently pegged as the highest-selling console of all-time. I’ll look at what games are available on the handheld (including PS1 & PSP versions through backwards compatibility) as well as what titles are missing that were re-released other platforms (and titles that have never been updated beyond the original hardware). The second in a series of articles I’m writing, looking at Vita’s success in providing a portable version of classic consoles.
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