Best PSP Beat 'Em Up Games, Ranked

Sony may have overtaken Nintendo in the console market, but they couldn’t repeat their success in the handheld one. The Nintendo DS became the next best-selling machine after the PS2, while Sony’s rival portable, the PSP, didn’t come close to those heights. But unlike past contenders like the Atari Lynx and Bandai WonderSwan, it wasn’t a flop.

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The device had some fun games that held their own against the DS’ lineup. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, and Locoroco were top-notch entries for the device. Then, in an era that was a lull for the genre, it had some great beat 'em-up games.

8 Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble

Metascore: 63/100

• Mission-based brawler with head-to-head platform fighting.

The original Viewtiful Joe games on the Gamecube weren’t a million miles away from the beat ‘em up genre. They essentially played like 2D brawlers with a hack 'n’ slash game's grading system and some platform puzzles to test the gray matter. Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble just tones down the latter two aspects for more of the former, with a little Super Smash Bros sprinkled in there.

Joe and the gang have to battle each other in a variety of missions to get the lead role in Captain Blue’s next movie. These include seeing who can beat up the most enemies, collect the most gems, or deliver the most damage to bosses, and direct combat. It wasn’t much compared to the mainline games, but it was a fun little brawler. The PSP port even had Dante from the Devil May Cry series as a bonus character, alongside Trish, Vergil, and Sparda.

7 Guilty Gear Judgment

Metascore: 77/100

• Traditional side-scrolling beat 'em up with Guilty Gear-style gameplay.

It can’t be said ArcSys Works hasn’t tried to branch out with Guilty Gear. The problem is that their attempts, like Guilty Gear: Dust Strikers, Guilty Gear Isuka, and Guilty Gear 2: Overture, weren’t received very well. Guilty Gear Judgment may be the most popular of the bunch as it included Guilty Gear XX#Reload as a backup (Japan got its next revision, Guilty Gear XX Slash, instead).

The main Judgment game saw Sol, Ky, May, and/or Millia head into Villtania to take down the evil sorcerer Raymond. The rest of the GGXX cast can be unlocked as the main four go through the story mode, beating up mooks with a rearranged version of GGXX’s controls. The game supported 2P co-op play and a Survival Mode to really test the player. While it's not on par with, say, Streets of Rage, GG: Judgment is a nice break from the norm.

6 Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble

Metascore: 70/100

• Open-world brawler where the player instigates fights with a glare.

Inspired by Technos’ Kunio-kun games, Spike Chunsoft made Kenka Banchō, a series of budget brawlers for the PS2. They eventually got popular enough in Japan to get an otome spin-off, Kenka Banchō: Girls Beat Boys, and an anime series based on said spin-off. However, back in 2009, the only trace of the series outside Japan (officially) was Kenka Banchō: Badass Rumble.

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It saw Takashi and his friends battle each other on the streets of Kyouto (not Kyōto) in a bid to become the “toughest guy in all of Japan.” The game had customizable options, stats to level up and gain new moves with, and the ability to recruit defeated Banchōs as assists. It was like a mini-version of Yakuza/Like a Dragon, right down to the story-free “Night Out” Mode, which was similar to Y/LAD’s Premium Adventure mode. Simple by comparison, but fun.

5 Great Battle Fullblast

GameFAQs Score: 3.5/5 Stars

• Tokusatsu/anime crossover beat 'em up.

Kenka Banchō: Badass Rumble’s only Western release was in North America, which wasn’t too bad for other territories, as the PSP wasn’t region-locked. This also meant players could technically give Great Battle Fullblast a go. Part of the Compati Hero series, it crossed over different generations of heroes from the Ultraman, Kamen Rider, and Mobile Suit Gundam series.

As Ultraman, Ultraman Mebius, Kamen Rider 1, Kamen Rider Decade, RX-78-2 Gundam, and/or Freedom Gundam, players can take on a whole host of aliens and kaiju. They could even get help from other characters from these famous series by picking them as assist characters. It sounds fun, and it was, but it also was exclusive to Japan. If players didn’t already know Japanese or have a language patch, they’d have trouble getting to grips with the game.

4 Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Impact

Metacritic User Score: 7.4/10

• Dynasty Warriors-like crowd brawler with Naruto characters.

Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Impact was the last of six games for Sony’s handheld and is generally regarded as the best of the bunch. Probably because it was essentially a Naruto-themed take on Dynasty Warriors. Players could now pick nearly everyone from the Shippūden series and take on hordes of mooks to build up a KO count in the thousands.

The game spices things up by recreating storylines from Shippūden in the story mode, and it offers 100+ missions to complete and 300+ collectibles to look out for. It even had a Tag Battle mode for connected play. Granted, it may be tricky finding a partner with a 2nd PSP and another copy of the game to do that with today. But for Naruto enthusiasts, it was a good way to use some jutsu on some fools while on the go.

3 Warriors Orochi 2

Metacritic User Score: 8.2/10

• Giant Dynasty Warriors/Samurai Warriors crossover.

If Naruto isn’t one’s cup of tea, the PSP has a few main Warriors/Musou games in its library, too. Dynasty Warriors and Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce got favorable fan feedback, though not as much as Warriors Orochi 2. Ported from the consoles, it’s the second Dynasty Warriors/Samurai Warriors crossover as figures from Three Kingdoms-era China and Sengoku-era Japan continue their fight against Orochi.

Related: Best Anime Warriors/Musou Games, Ranked

The game offers the same amount of mook-maiming as the individual Warriors games, with new weapon fusions and upgrades and a lengthy story featuring all 92 characters. It also includes additional modes for variety, like Steeple Chase (horse racing), Treasure Hunting, and Tower Mode. There’s even a Dream Mode where players pick three characters to follow their own unique story through different stages of the game.

2 Kurohyo 1 & 2

GameFAQs Score: 4/5 Stars (K1 & 2)

• 1-on-1 beat 'em ups based on Yakuza/Like A Dragon made by the Def Jam/WWF: No Mercy developers.

After Like a Dragon: Ishin finally got an official English release, there’s hope that the series’ other unlocalized gems may get a fresh release or remake, too. Ryū ga Gotoku: Kenzan, the first samurai game, is perhaps the most anticipated of the bunch. Yet there’s also a dedicated audience for the Kurohyō ('Black Panther') games, a unique take on the beat 'em up genre made by the ex-Def Jam developers syn Sophia (formerly AKI Corporation).

They combined the static cameras of the original PS2 Yakuza games with Def Jam: Fight for NY’s combat system, as new hero Tatsuya fought foes in a series of 1-on-1 brawls. It’s quite a departure from Kiryu’s crowd-brawling gameplay, but Tatsuya can still take a break with hostesses, bowling, and baseball like the Dragon of Dojima. The games were popular enough in Japan to get a live-action TV series each, but there's no word on them reaching the West...yet.

1 The Warriors

Metascore: 81/100

• A mission-based 3D beat 'em up based on a classic Seventies movie.

Perhaps Rockstar Studios’ most unsung game, The Warriors was their adaptation of the cult classic 1979 movie. Players took control of different members of the gang as they tried to get back to their home turf without getting killed by rival gangs or captured by the cops. It also threw in a few flashback missions to explain how the members joined the Warriors or how they ended up so far from their home ground in the first place.

The game had a pretty broad combat system, with combos, throws counterattacks, weapon attacks, and stats that could be improved with training minigames. Players could use their Rage gauge for a power boost or take a break from brawling with other activities. For example, some missions involve spraying the Warriors’ tags all over town or grabbing items for quick cash. Whether on the PSP or consoles, The Warriors is a must-play game.

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