15 Best PS3 Compilations

Prince of Persia Trilogy HD holds the Sands of Time trilogy, The Sands of Time, Warrior Within and The Two Thrones, remastered in HD with 3D and Trophy support on one Blu-ray disc. Europe had already had the three games together on the PS2 in October 2006, but not looking like this. The remaster followed in November 2010 in PAL regions, and North America had to wait until April after a delay.

It was also the first Classics HD release that Sony didn't publish, and the title screen calls it Prince of Persia Trilogy 3D. Each game plays a little differently, so the set feels like three chapters of one long adventure. Players still put it on their PS3 lists, and it is one of the easiest ways to play the whole story in one sitting.

Devil May Cry HD Collection remasters the first three Devil May Cry games from the PS2, ported by Pipeworks Software and Double Helix Games. It came out on the PS3 and the Xbox 360 together in 2012. The third game is the one where Dante can swap between a variety of weapons and fighting styles, so it rewards anyone who likes to experiment.

This is where the series started, and the series has gone on to sell 41 million copies worldwide and win Capcom's Platinum Title award. If you only know Devil May Cry from the newer games, the style ranking and the swordplay all begin here. Dante is at his most stylish here, and the disc is packed with demons to slice through. Players still recommend it.

Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster is based on the International versions of both games, which made some of their content available outside Japan for the first time. It also adds a new audio drama set a year after X-2. The graphics and music were both revised, and X-2 includes the Last Mission extra dungeon, which plays like a roguelike on a grid.

Getting here was not simple, because the games' graphics used many functions unique to the PS2 hardware. The PS3 version supports 720p and 1080p, the first with anti-aliasing and the second without, and your saves carry over between the PS3, Vita and PS4 versions. The idea came from a reunion of the original development team and voice cast. Players still put it on their PS3 lists.

God of War: Origins Collection brings the two PSP games, Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta, to the PS3 in 1080p at 60 frames per second. It was announced at Sony's E3 2011 press conference, and Ready at Dawn did the port, which makes sense, since they made the games in the first place. It's also the only God of War release with stereoscopic 3D.

The weak spot is the lack of new bonus content, though IGN still said Sony "succeeded at making good games better". It liked how the set shows a developer growing from one game to the next. It is a fine way to play the two handheld prequels on a TV. Players still list it.

Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix holds Kingdom Hearts Final Mix and Re:Chain of Memories in HD, plus 358/2 Days retold as a cinematic made of its cutscenes and new scenes. The cinematic runs 2 hours and 50 minutes, since a full remake of the DS game would have taken too long. Final Mix had to be rebuilt from the ground up because the original assets were lost, and it picked up Kingdom Hearts II's Reaction Commands and a camera on the right stick along the way.

Chain of Memories and 358/2 Days got Japanese voice overs so that 70% of main story scenes would have full voice acting. Re:Chain of Memories reached Europe and Australia for the first time here. Metacritic gives the collection 77 out of 100, and players usually recommend it together with 2.5 Remix.

Silent Hill HD Collection remasters Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3 at 720p, with new voice acting. You can switch back to the original voices in Silent Hill 2, but Silent Hill 3 only has the new cast. Both games run at a locked 30 frames per second.

The trouble started in development: the team worked from incomplete source code, because Konami hadn't properly archived the finished games, so problems the original team had already fixed came back, including Heather turning blue. A patch in July 2012 fixed some of the technical issues, including the frame rate. Critics were divided, and players still warn people about it, which is a strange thing to be recommended for. If you want to play Silent Hill 2 and 3 on a PS3, this is the way, just go in knowing the flaws.

The Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection remasters both games in up to 1080p with 3D support, and Shadow of the Colossus finally holds a fixed 30 frames per second, after the PS2 version kept losing frames. The collection also restores content that had been missing from the North American release, and it comes with bonus video for Ueda's next game, The Last Guardian. Bluepoint, who had remastered the God of War games, did the work.

Fumito Ueda, who led both games, said Bluepoint's 3D work "made it into something beyond what I imagined". He and the team chose to stay faithful to the base work rather than add new content, worried it might look half-baked. Players count it among the PS3's must-haves.

Killzone Trilogy puts the PS2's original Killzone, remastered in 720p by Supermassive Games, next to Killzone 2 and Killzone 3, with every multiplayer map pack for the two sequels included. The first game was the first partnership between Guerrilla and Sony, and it follows Jan Templar as he battles the invading Helghast. The series is set in the 24th century, in a war between two human factions, the Vektans and the Helghast.

The first game is the weak link. Before its release, several publications called it Sony's "Halo killer", but reviews were mixed, and it was criticised for its AI and technical issues. Players usually recommend the set alongside the Resistance games.

Metal Gear Solid HD Collection holds Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 3 and, outside Japan, the PSP's Peace Walker, all at 720p and 60 frames per second. Bluepoint Games handled the two PS2 games, and Genki worked on Peace Walker. Both PS3 and Vita versions have Trophy support. In Japan, Peace Walker got its own stand-alone disc instead. Two stealth classics on one disc is a hard deal to beat.

On the PS3, Peace Walker gets dual analog controls, so you can aim with the right stick. Saves from Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 can move to the Vita, and Peace Walker saves can move to the PSP over USB. Players usually pair it with Metal Gear Solid 4.

Mass Effect Trilogy holds the first three Mass Effect games, and it's how the first one finally reached the PS3, in a port by Edge of Reality in 2012. BioWare had planned the series as a trilogy from the very beginning, so you follow one character, Commander Shepard, from the first game to the last. It was first announced as an Xbox 360 exclusive in 2005, so PS3 players waited years for it.

The third game came out in March 2012, and its ending drew so much criticism that Electronic Arts released an expanded cut with extra scenes. The first game had its own weak spots: critics praised its interactive storytelling but disliked its unbalanced combat and poor artificial intelligence. Players still recommend the trilogy.

Jak and Daxter Collection remasters the first three games, The Precursor Legacy, Jak II and Jak 3, in 720p, usually at a fixed 60 frames per second. The games come from Naughty Dog. In July 2011 its co-president Evan Wells said the studio would love to return to the series but was focusing on Uncharted 3, and the PS3 version arrived in February 2012. It is the best way to see how Naughty Dog's platformer grew up into the darker Jak II and Jak 3.

The Vita version came later, in June 2013, and runs at an unlocked frame rate of around 30, which is a good reason to stay on the PS3. Players say this PS3 collection is still the best version of the trilogy.

Ratchet & Clank Collection remasters the first three games, Ratchet & Clank, Going Commando and Up Your Arsenal, at 720p and 60 frames per second, and it brings back Up Your Arsenal's online multiplayer for up to eight players. The ESRB has also re-rated all three games E10+, down from T. It was among the first in Sony's line of PlayStation Collections, released on August 28, 2012. Insomniac's originals are some of the most inventive platform shooters of the PS2 era.

Reviewers praised the quality of the stereoscopic 3D modes, and Metacritic gives it 83 out of 100. The graphics look dated, and nothing new was added, not even a change to the difficulty. Players usually recommend it next to the Jak and Sly collections.

The Sly Collection remasters the first three Sly Cooper games, Thievius Raccoonus, Band of Thieves and Honor Among Thieves, in HD with 3D support. It came out in November 2010 on a single Blu-ray disc. Sanzaru Games, who did the remaster, also made the fourth game, because Sucker Punch had turned its focus to the Infamous series.

The games run at 60 frames per second normally and at 30 in 3D mode. A year later each game was also sold on its own as a digital download. It is a funny stealth series about a raccoon thief, and it holds up as the friendliest pick on this list. Players keep it on their PS3 lists.

God of War Collection ports God of War and God of War II from the PS2 at 720p and 60 frames per second, with Bluepoint Games doing the work. It also started something: it prompted Sony to make a whole line of remastered games for the PS3.

IGN gave it an Editor's Choice award, called it the "definitive way to play the game" and praised the enhanced resolution and lower price. GamePro described it as "two fantastic games on one disc for a low price". All three PS3 God of War collections were praised for how the games were remastered and for their price. Players tend to name it in the same breath as the Origins Collection.

The Orange Box holds five Valve games: Half-Life 2 and its first episode, plus three that were new, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal and Team Fortress 2. Portal turned out to be the surprise favourite of the package and picked up several Game of the Year awards. It cost $59.95 on consoles at launch, which was a lot of games for the money.

The PS3 version is the catch. EA UK ported it, it arrived two months after the PC and Xbox 360 versions, and it had technical problems the others didn't, only a few of which a patch fixed. Every game except Half-Life 2 has developer commentary you can switch on. Players recommend it anyway.