15 Best PS Vita Launch Games

Mutant Blobs Attack was developed and published by DrinkBox Studios, and it is the sequel to Tales from Space: About a Blob. It reached the Vita in North America on February 21, 2012, the day before the big launch. You play a blob of alien origin with mutant powers and an insatiable appetite, and you have escaped into the world. Physics-based puzzles are mixed in with the action, so it is not all eating.

It is a small game next to the boxed blockbusters, and a very polished one. Critics received it positively, and it was later released on Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Players still name it among the downloads every new Vita owner should grab.

Dynasty Warriors Next is a hack and slash game developed by Omega Force and published by Tecmo Koei for the PlayStation Vita. It is a spin-off of the Dynasty Warriors series, and it was released as a launch title for the console. You still cut through hundreds of soldiers at a time, which is the whole point of the series.

The new part is the Vita controls. Tilting the system aims your Musou attacks or marks an enemy's weak points, and the touch screen blocks and deflects projectiles. Some of that feels like a demo of the hardware, but the core game is the same fun button mashing that fans already loved on PlayStation 2. Players who want a Musou game on Vita still bring this one up next to the later Warriors releases.

Escape Plan came out on the Vita in North America on February 14, 2012, a week before the hardware. It is a black and white puzzle game about two hapless heroes, Lil and Laarg, trapped in rooms full of traps. You swipe, squeeze, poke and slap them through each room using the front screen, the rear touch panel and the motion sensor. If you fail, their captor Bakuki recycles them into his minions, or sheep.

Critics did not agree on it. One review said "Sony has a knack for finding and funding indie developers with a refined sense of style", while The Digital Fix called it "a missed opportunity". An update later added 19 prequel puzzle rooms. It is still one of the few launch games that would not make sense anywhere else.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus is a port of Ninja Gaiden Sigma, and it was released in North America and Europe on February 22, 2012. That is Team Ninja's famous Xbox game, rebuilt for PlayStation 3 and then squeezed onto a handheld. You play Ryu Hayabusa, cutting through ninjas, fiends and the Vigoor Empire on a quest for revenge.

The Vita version adds an easier difficulty called "Hero" mode, and tapping symbols on the rear touchpad boosts Ryu's Ninpo. Tilting the system aims the camera in first-person views. That gyro aim is the part to watch out for, especially with the bow. Everything else is the hard, fast action game people remember, and players still name it as one of the best ways to play Ninja Gaiden on the go.

The Vita version of Virtua Tennis 4 is called Virtua Tennis 4: World Tour Edition, and it came out in North America on February 15, 2012. It is an action tennis game built on fast matches, with a career mode where you take your own player to the top in four seasons. The career menu is laid out like a board game, and you train with arcade minigames along the way.

The Vita added gyroscope controls and a first-person mode. You can also photograph your face with the front camera and turn it into a player. Players still name it as the sports game to own on Vita, and its quick matches make it a good game to play for ten minutes at a time.

Dungeon Hunter: Alliance is a hack and slash action RPG developed by Gameloft Montreal for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. Up to four players can fight through it together. Each player gets a color and can only pick up loot in that color, so nobody steals the good sword.

Critics were hard on the Vita version. It scored 49/100 on Metacritic, well below the PS3 release at 67/100. Players are kinder, and it keeps showing up when someone asks for a loot game on Vita. It is a plain Diablo-style dungeon crawl, and on a handheld with few games like it, that turned out to be enough for a lot of people. You will not remember the story, and that is fine.

Plants vs. Zombies is a 2009 tower defense game by PopCap Games, and it came to the Vita in North America on February 21, 2012. You protect your house from waves of zombies by placing plants on a grid-based lawn. Each plant has a job, from shooting peas to blocking the path or exploding. The game moves from the front yard to the pool, the fog and the roof, with puzzle and survival modes on the side.

It has since been considered one of the greatest video games of all time. Reviewers praised its humorous art style and Laura Shigihara's soundtrack. Players still recommend it as the tower defense game to get first.

Touch My Katamari came out in Japan on December 17, 2011 and worldwide on February 22, 2012. Namco Bandai made it, and it is the Vita entry in the Katamari Damacy series. You still roll an ever-growing ball of bits and bobs around, and it still gets silly fast.

You can roll with both analog sticks, or move your fingers across the touch screen to steer in the direction you want. It is a portable entry, so expect a smaller game than the PlayStation 2 classics. Players still recommend it to anyone who wants a relaxed game on Vita.

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is a crossover fighting game made by Capcom with Eighting. It is an update of Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, and it was a launch title for the Vita in Japan in December 2011. North American players could buy it from February 15, 2012. You pick a team of three characters from Capcom games and Marvel comics and try to knock out the other team.

It started life as downloadable content for Fate of Two Worlds. After the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami disrupted that schedule, Capcom turned it into its own game. Critics praised the bigger roster and better online play. Players still name it as the fighting game to get on the Vita.

Super Stardust Delta is Housemarque's sequel to Super Stardust HD, and it came out in North America on February 15, 2012. You fly a ship around a small planet and blast asteroids with the two analog sticks. The Vita extras are there too. You can make black holes on the touch screen and set off shock waves with motion controls, and a "Pure" mode turns them off.

There are four new modes, including Endless and Bomber. Ari Pulkkinen made three of the four soundtracks, and the Retro one has music from the 90s Stardust games. Players call it the best arcade game on the Vita and the one to grab for a quick session. It plays like the twin-stick shooters Housemarque made its name with.

Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational is called Everybody's Golf 6 in Japan, and it is a 2011 sports game developed by Clap Hanz and Japan Studio. It was released as a launch title for the PlayStation Vita in all regions, and it reached North America on February 15, 2012. It is the eleventh game in the Everybody's Golf series.

The series is cute golf with real depth underneath, and this one is no different. The courses start easy and get mean, and you will say words you did not plan to say. The DLC on the Vita version was free at launch, and the game was later ported to PlayStation 3. Players name it whenever someone asks which Vita games feel like a home console in your hands.

Rayman Origins is the fourth main Rayman game and the first since Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc in 2003. It came out on other consoles in November 2011, and the Vita version followed in North America on February 15, 2012. You run and jump through hand-drawn worlds, free caged Electoons and rescue the Glade Kings, who have been turned into monsters by Bubble Dreamer's nightmares.

It was highly praised for its graphical style and level design, and the Vita screen shows off the art well. The Vita version adds Relics to collect. Sales were slow at first, but it sold well in the end. Players still call it one of the best platformers on the Vita, along with its sequel, Rayman Legends.

Lumines: Electronic Symphony came out in North America on February 15, 2012, two months before Japan. It keeps the core gameplay of the earlier Lumines games. You match colored blocks into squares, and the Time Line sweeps across the board to erase them. The blocks are now animated 3D, and points turn into XP that unlocks skins and avatars, each with its own power.

Producer James Mielke first pitched it to Ubisoft as "Daft Punk Lumines". Daft Punk were too busy with Tron: Legacy, so the soundtrack went to other electronic artists, including The Chemical Brothers' "Hey Boy Hey Girl". One critic wrote that it "is actually one of the best titles in the PS Vita's launch lineup". Players still recommend it as the Vita's best puzzle game.

Wipeout 2048 came out in North America on February 15, 2012. It was the last game Studio Liverpool made before the studio closed, and the last mainline Wipeout. As the name says, it is a prequel to the 1995 original, set from 2048 to 2050. The campaign follows the first three years of the Anti-Gravity Racing Championships, and you can skip an event if you keep failing it.

Critics said its graphics showed off the power of the new Vita, but they did not like the long loading times. Those loads are still there. Players do not seem to mind, and they rank it right below the top spot. It is the racing game every Vita owner gets told to play, and for good reason.

Golden Abyss is a spin-off of Naughty Dog's Uncharted series, made by Bend Studio and released as a launch title for the Vita. Sony asked Bend for a launch Uncharted back in 2007, and much of the early work was done on PlayStation 3 hardware. It is a prequel set before Drake's Fortune. Nathan Drake tracks a secret Spanish sect through the jungles of Central America, caught between his old friend Jason Dante and Marisa Chase.

Naughty Dog oversaw the whole project, and Amy Hennig supervised the script. Critics praised its graphics and voice acting but criticised the story and some of the Vita-specific controls. Players name it more than any other Vita launch game, and it is still on the shortlist of the best games on the system.