It says a lot about the un-met potential of Sony’s handheld that it can seem like the underdog when compared to a mobile phone that has only been a games platform for a year or so. Whatever its fortunes to date, however, with the release of its new Minis line, the PSP seems determined to tackle the iPhone head-on when it comes to bite-sized downloadable gaming.

Although Sony has never mentioned Apple as a direct competitor, it’s almost impossible to look at the Minis without measuring them against the quirky bestsellers of the App Store. The PSP’s initial line-up is a colourful, rather likable rabble for the most part, but the service is going to have to work hard if it’s going to make a name for itself in one of the most fickle markets in gaming. With almost 20,000 titles available on the App Store, the Minis are unlikely to be able to compete in terms of range for the foreseeable future.

And yet, the sheer variety on offer for the iPhone may provide the PlayStation brand with a promising opportunity. If Sony clings to the platform-holder’s traditional role as gate-keeper for its own system, it should have little trouble beating Apple’s terrible signal-to-noise ratio, creating an ecology where quality is a safer bet for a developer than choosing the lowest price point.

Getting to the decent titles shouldn’t be as hard for the audience, either, as the PlayStation Store’s interface is far more fit for purpose than the muddled lawn sale of the App Store – a regular cause for complaint for developers whose titles have been buried alive on the day of release. Balancing that, however, is the fiddliness factor: most iPhone Apps can be downloaded in the time it takes you to buy an ice cream, while purchasing and installing a Mini, on the other hand, will probably give you an opportunity to eat it before it’s finished, and even dispose of the wrapping.

Crucially, developers seem willing to try out the Minis. Tag Games, maker of iPhone favourite Car Jack Streets is working on a PSP project, and there are a few extremely familiar faces already turning up on the PlayStation Store, albeit in the form of ports. And it’s not hard to see why. Besides the chance to operate in a market which has higher pricing as standard, if you’re only just dusting off your PSP now after a long hiatus and rooting around in cupboards for its charger, you may have forgotten what a potentially lovely machine it is. Sony’s device has a large, colourful screen you won’t be covering up with your fingers, and, while recent Apps have proved increasingly imaginative in the way they deal with the iPhone’s awkward inputs, face buttons, triggers, and even a wayward analogue nub pave the way for more traditional games that simply wouldn’t be possible with touch and accelerometer control alone.

Ironically, what’s missing with both platforms at the moment is first-party guidance: home-grown software that lights the way for independent teams. The App Store spent a good few months in the wilderness before the development community itself worked out what to do and what to avoid, but the PSP, with its longer heritage and more conventional hardware, doesn’t appear to be suffering quite as badly in the early days of the Minis. In fact, as a look at some of the standout launch titles below might illustrate, it doesn’t appear to be suffering very much at all.

On the following pages, we've put together a list of five of the best Minis on offer so far.