PlayStation Network is back: Top 10 best PSP games to download

At Pocket Gamer, we're as pleased as punch to see PlayStation Network back up and running.

Since April the ailing web service has been attacked by anarchist hackers and credit card thieves, keeping the network offline for nearly 20 days.

Gamers have been unable to shoot each other over the web, do co-operative science, or buy new games. For those of us rocking a PSP, the store has been out of action and some of the console's best games have been out of bounds.

But hip-hip-hooray, because the service is back online. The shop is open for business and it's time to quit taking the service for granted and fill your handheld console with top titles. Here are ten that grabbed our attention.

If you're not totally comfortable with handing your credit card info over to Sony, remember that all top game retailers will sell you redeemable point cards for PlayStation Network over the counter.

This stunning button-mashy gore fest is the best-looking game on the PSP, hands down. Developer Ready at Dawn somehow managed to squeeze an entire PS2-style adventure onto the system, and the beefy portable doesn't even break a sweat.

If you've never played God of War, it's a combo-heavy action brawler that has Kratos - the eponymous war deity - smashing and slashing his way through the Greek bestiary. It's a bloody good time.

Heard the phrase 'you're your own worst enemy?' That pithy idiom is twisted into a gameplay mechanic in this ever-so clever Mini. As your puck collects crystals, it leaves a snake-like echo behind, which will hurt you when touched.

The game isn't about dodging obstacles or enemies - it's just about darting and diving around your own phantom tail. Add in a few shapely stages and power-ups and you've got the making of a unique puzzler. It's short, but worth a bash.

Get a taste of Hideo Kojima's barmy action-movie oddness on the go in this portable port of Solid Snake's 3D debut. The ice-cold stealth game has Metal Gear's gravel-gargling ninja sneak through Shadow Moses to snuff out some seriously-weird terrorists.

You'll meet an anime-obsessed tech geek, a psychic boss who can read your mind (or your memory card), and a bad guy who dresses like he's in a wild west shootout. Get this piece of gaming history on your PSP now.

Outside its dodgy racing debut, the PixelJunk brand has been a reliable mainstay on PlayStation Network. From ethereal web-swinging platformer Eden to environmental puzzler Shooter, these arty creations are top notch.

Same goes for tower defence classic PixelJunk Monsters, which got a fully-fledged PSP release last year. The game - which has you defending your tribal family from nasty insects and thugs - comes bundled with all the expansions and bonus content released thus far.

Chinatown Wars may take place in GTA 4's take on Liberty City, but it's nothing like the po-faced, restrained console game. This handheld-exclusive is bonkers with action-heavy missions, a sick sense of humour and more weapons than you can shake an RPG at.

The epic crime sim has a skewed isometric look that's more in line with the retro PC and PlayStation originals. If you prefer a proper 3D outing then search the store for both Liberty City and Vice City Stories. They're like bitesize versions of classic GTA romps.

This gorgeous futuristic racer was one of the first games to receive a bumper crop of free downloadable content, before Sony realised it could charge for that sort of stuff and nixed the idea of freebies altogether.

Which means you don't just get a slick and stunning hover-racer with endless tracks and challenges - you'll also get an extra batch of free vehicles to download, and a pack of lush new tracks with trappings by top graphics designers.

In this frantic platformer, it's not just about beating down on the dudes who (allegedly) kidnapped your lady friend. It's about daintily leaping from one platform to the next, racking up combos, and constantly keeping your score multiplying into the thousands.

Sure, some sloppy play and a few lucky moves will get you through the Story mode, but you'll never grab the most shiny medals without some serious smarts, a ninja-like grasp on the game's controls, and a few lucky jumps. It's like Doodle Jump, but with half a brain.

Technology, eh? What once came on four shiny CDs inside a king-size jewel case now comes in one bite-size file that downloads to your PSP in a matter of minutes.

Square Enix has plopped a bunch of Final Fantasy favourites on PSN, but we'd be remiss not to give the nod to the world's most loved RPG: FF7. This epic adventure will certainly wear out your PSP's battery more than once, as you save the world from crazy-haired loon Sephiroth.

We might have to wait for the NGP to see a Sony handheld with two analogue sticks, but this quirky pixel-art twin-stick shooter does alright without the added hardware.

From Aussie developer Halfbrick, Age of Zombies plops your gun-toting zombie basher into a variety of locations and sends waves of undead monsters towards you.

This satisfying time sink is an addictive way to while away the hours before the impending (and inevitable) zombie apocaplyse.

This adventuring epic offers up a massive, spooky castle for you to explore and fight through, asking you to traipse back across the map when you unlock a new power or move. In fact, Symphony is the game that put the word Vania in the description 'Metroidvania'.

This massive game (which is so huge and full of secrets that you can complete the game to a bewildering 200.6 per cent completion) is the perfect fit for PSP. It has so much to do and so many treasures to find that you could take a train journey across the entire continent without finishing it.