13 PSP Minis available now for PSPgo Launch

Sony has announced 13 PSP Minis will be made available in the UK for your downloading pleasure from the PlayStation Store, in conjunction with the launch of the PSPgo.

The titles are as follows:

Alien Havoc (£3.99)
A cute top-down affair in which you play an alien bent on mischievously rounding up all of the earth livestock you can into your spaceship. The local farmers have other plans, however, and you'll need to make use of the various power-ups and terrain quirks to get through the 20 different farms. Geroffmylaaaaand!

Bloons (£3.49)
One of several iPhone hand-me-downs, Bloons is a pop-till-you-drop puzzler of sorts, in which the aim is to dart as many inflatables as possible. Limited darts and the chance to burst groups by hitting certain types of balloon bring tactics and dangerous levels of addiction into the mix.

Brainpipe (£3.99)
Going after the one-thumb crowd, Brainpipe is controlled with the analogue nub which you use to navigate the tunnels of your mind – that's deep. It's essentially a collect-and-avoid effort, though, and its simplicity belies its impressive psychedelic décor.

Breakquest (£2.49)
Music game meets brick breaker featuring the affectionately named Maniacs of Noise. There's 100 levels, ten different ships and, hopefully, enough different tunes to keep repetition at bay. Oh and it features a Gravitor, which although we don't know what it is, we know we certainly want to play with it.

Fieldrunners (£3.99)
An iPhone big hitter and surely one of Sony's great hopes for snaring gamers already sold on the idea of snackable titles. Not that Fieldrunners isn't a serious meal of a game. Tower defence is the game's foundation but the new visuals and extra levels give it an impressive new facade. Definitely a solid day-one recommendation for Minis early adopters.

Fortix (£3.49)
Remember Qix? Fortix does, and adds a dragons and dungeons backdrop in Fortiana but keeps the core elements of its inspiration intact. You can fence off parts of the battlefield to corner the invaders so as to pummel them with catapults and collect power-ups to better your chances of survival.

Funky Punch (£3.49)
A combination beat and dance-'em-up, Funky Punch has you doling out pugilistic rage with rhythm and soul. It's a fancy pants 3D offering and offers 12 fighters and five different modes. There are also ten skill belts to collect, which earns you the unusual and coveted accolade of 'Funky Warrior'. And who wouldn't want that?

Hero of Sparta (£3.99)
Greek mythology but with more 3D hack 'n' slash blood and gore. The formula was as solid as Mount Olympia on the iPhone, but the controls weren't fit for a Gorgon having a bad hair day. Hopefully the PSP's more traditional button set-up will allow this polished Gameloft gem to really shine.

Kahoots (£2.49)

Kahoots has the feeling of a game that's had some of Sony's expert finishing touch. It's a compliment to the title which deserves to set the tone for the Minis range (see our GC 09 hands-on here). A simple 'guide the brainless drones to the exit' affair, Kahoots' real strength is its superb presentation, not to mention a tutorial system that involves a singing pegbeast. This is hopefully destined for greatness.

Pinball Fantasies (£3.99)
Not much to report here, but it's nice to see a game so suited to the hardware getting some launch day attention. Available in portrait or landscape flavours and featuring all four tables of the 1992 Amiga original – albeit with updated sound a visuals – this should be a great slice of retro fun, so long as the price reflects the relatively meagre quantity of content.

Puzzle Scape (£2.49)
With some lovely up to date 3D graphics, not to mention a pumping drum and bass soundtrack, Puzzle Scape Mini sounds more extravagant than your average block busting title. There are only two game modes, Survival and Architect, so fingers crossed it's not just the soundtrack that's fresh.

Tetris (£3.99)
Tetris, but on the PSP. Is there really anything else to say? Electronic Arts is playing it safe by making this its first PSP Mini, even if it's living dangerously with the price, which is double the App Store equivalent. Vempire (£3.99)
No snackable gaming line-up would be complete without at least one match-'em-up and Vempire is the PSP Minis' first. There's a battling element as well as spell power-ups to keep things unpredictable. There are also 40 levels to best, so Vempire definitely has the meat and potatoes element of the Minis' launch line-up covered.

And that's your lot for now. Costing between £2.49 and £3.99, with each game weighing in at under 100MB, you can enjoy some early PSPgo gaming without having to break the bank.

More details will be made available as we get them.