The Golden Compass has the lowest score of any PSP game with enough ratings to count, 39 out of 100. One critic gave the PSP version 2 out of 10, his lowest mark of any version he reviewed, because "it suffers from incomprehensibly awful glitches that essentially break the game".
Not every game here is unloved. For some players, one of them is their favourite game on the system.
We started with every PSP game that has at least 10 ratings and an average under 55 out of 100, then weighed how far under that line each one sits against what players say about it. Two of them came out on other machines first, which left 14, and these are the worst ten.
10. Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes (2007)
Ultimate Ninja Heroes was made only for North America and Europe, by CyberConnect2 and MiCROViSion, and it was the first Naruto game in English on the PSP. Compared with the Japanese game it was edited from, it lost the story mode, three characters and two stages, and it made up for them with three-on-three team battles like The King of Fighters. It averages 50 out of 100.
Players barely mention it.
9. Jackass: The Game (2007)
When Jeff Tremaine ends up in hospital, you take over as director of Jackass and collect footage from up to 36 stunts for a new season on MTV, which mostly means filming other people getting hurt. The whole cast voiced themselves except Bam Margera, who was tied to Activision. Director Mode, where you edit your replays from different camera angles, is only in the PSP version, and the readers of a big games site voted it their PSP game of the month for September 2007. At 54 out of 100, it has the best score on this list.
Players hardly bring it up at all.
8. Ben 10: Alien Force (2008)
Alien Force is based on the cartoon of the same name. Ben, his cousin Gwen and Kevin Levin help a Plumber named Gorvan collect alien tech, until it turns out he's gathering parts for the Highbreed, who build a weather tower to make Earth fit for them and fatal for humans. It received generally unfavorable reviews and averages 50 out of 100.
Nobody we surveyed had a bad word for it, mostly because almost nobody brought it up.
7. Family Guy Video Game! (2006)
Family Guy Video Game! splits its 22 levels between Peter, Stewie and Brian, and each plays differently. Peter's levels are a beat 'em up and Stewie gets the platforming, while Brian's are stealth with a catch: stand near a potted plant or a fire hydrant too long and he pees on it in front of everyone. Mini-games copy the show's cutaway gags and usually last less than 10 seconds. It averages 48 out of 100.
Players love it anyway, as a silly and genuinely funny platformer, and that love keeps it out of the top five.
6. Eragon (2006)
The PSP Eragon is not the console game. The handheld versions are significantly different, and this one focuses on multiplayer action and aerial dragon levels. It came out in November 2006, along with the film. It averages 49 out of 100.
It barely comes up when players talk about the PSP.
5. Ape Escape Academy (2004)
Ape Escape Academy is a party game of 47 mini-games, many of them borrowed from Ape Escape 2. You play a monkey working for Specter and climb from junior class to senior class, and each class is nine mini-games scored like tic-tac-toe: an O for a pass, an X for a fail, and you need lines of three Os to move up. Reviewers criticized how hard most of the mini-games are, since the controls are never fully explained, and one found some of them impossible, such as catching the contents of a kebab on a sword. It averages 46 out of 100.
Players hardly bring it up, good or bad.
4. Micro Machines V4 (2006)
Micro Machines V4 shrinks racing down to toy cars on courses built around household things, from pool tables to the edge of a bathtub. Every racer shares one screen, so pulling far enough ahead that a rival drops out of view scores you a point. Fall below five bars of health and you lose a wheel, which makes your car slower and less grippy. Reviewers found it competent, but its poor graphics and shallow gameplay held it back. It averages 49 out of 100.
Players hardly talk about it.
3. Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Republic Heroes (2009)
Republic Heroes is a tie-in to the Clone Wars cartoon, made by Krome Studios and set between the show's first and second seasons. It came out on six systems on October 6, 2009. The Separatists recruit a scientist called Kul Teska to build a superweapon, and the Jedi and their clone troopers have to stop it. Critics complained most about the fixed camera and the repetitive gameplay, and one review opened by saying that "pretty much regardless of which system you play it on, it looks rather terrible." It averages 46 out of 100.
Players barely mention it.
2. Dragonball Evolution (2009)
Dragonball Evolution is a PSP fighting game based on the live-action film, made by Dimps on the same engine as its Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai games. It is the first Dragon Ball game with Bulma as a playable character. Reviewers noted that pressing the same button over and over was enough to win the story mode, and one called it a "competitor for the worst game on the PSP." It averages 44 out of 100.
Players still can't believe anyone made a game out of one of the worst film adaptations ever. A few defend it anyway, because underneath it plays like the Shin Budokai games.
1. The Golden Compass (2007)
The Golden Compass is the game of the 2007 film, made by Shiny Entertainment. You play either Lyra and her dæmon Pan, who platform, sneak and solve puzzles, or the armoured bear Iorek Byrnison, who mostly fights. Pan can turn into four different animals, each with its own ability. On the PSP, four or five seconds of loading can hit in the middle of a jump: a cliffhanger, technically. It happens every minute or two during action sequences. It averages 39 out of 100, the lowest score here.
Players only ever mention it as a name in a list of games.
