PSP Emulation [May 16. 2016] UPDATED [May 22. 2016]

PSP game emulation

It has now come to the point where it is safe to say I have a conclution on the PPSSPP running on the Pine A64+ 2Gb board.

When it comes to performance during PSP emulation there are still a long way to go until we get a perfect ride, but still it does a darn good job on the less graphic-heavy games for the classic hendheld from Sony.

SPOILER ALLERT!!!

The PPSSPP on the Pine is simply not good enough to make me stuff that old PSP1000 in a box and throwing it in the garage.

On simple games (graphics-vise) like Loco Roco and Little Big Planet the emulator does a good job. Occationally there are some crackling noizes in the speakers, but thats mostly in the cutscenes and menus. In gameplay there has been little problem with sound (on the games that actually was playable).

I think thats enough stalling. Lets cut to the chase and present the findings of my test so far.

Here we go:

---

[May 27. 2016]

Princess Crown
●●●●○

This game provides a smooth gameplay and many hours of fun. There are some bugs running this in PPSSPP though. The sound is stuttering sometimes, and during intro-movie there was some lagging, but that went away once the game started. 
Another deal-breaker for many potential gamers are the fact that this game is only available in Japanese. 

---

[May 22. 2016]

LEGO Indiana Jones - The Original Adventures
●●●○○

These LEGO-games are fun and time-consuming, and this one is definitely time-consuming more than others.
The classic LEGO-gameplay is the same as all the other LEGO-games out there.
The problems occurs when you get past the menus and start the gameplay. There are some graphical glitches in this game, and a little low FPS is kind of killing the overall impression I get from this. After some tweaking in PPSSPP I did get this playable, but it feels a bit sluggish.
Not the best result, but totally playable.

Prince of Persia - Rival Swords
○○○○○

I was quite disappointed when I figured out this game did NOT work.
With a frame rate between 0 and 2 there is not even a slim hope to get this playable by tweaking the settings in the PPSSPP emulator. What a shame!

---

[May 16. 2016]

Loco Roco
●●●●○

This new-thinking game of the yellow blob rolling around in mystical bright-colored worlds, collecting red flowers and pink flies, really bring back memory.

This game works as it should, if you turn a blind eye to the fact that cinematics are a little bit laggy and with stuttering sounds.

Gameplay is good and no lag here.

The short test to see if the game was playable quickly turned into a three hour spree with LOTS of nostalgic memories.

Those were good times.

Loco Roco 2
●●●●○

This sequel is just as good as the previous game in the serie. When it comes to game play (technically) there are the same problems with Loco Roco 2 as there are with the first Loco Roco-game.

Some lagging in cutscenes and menus but during gameplay there are no problems to find.

When accessing the Loco-house there are some graphical glitches like stuff missing and text thats hard to read, but personally this is not the main reason to play this game.

Little Big Planet
●●●●●

This epic release from Sony has led to countless hours with gaming on the ridiculously small screen of the PSP.

With the game working this good I guess my fiance is going to kick my a*s as I am going to occupy the 55" TV for gaming evening after evening.

When it comes to the technical bit of the review there are NOTHING to point out as bad with this game. No lagging or stuttering.

Therefore the conclusion will be; "What are you waiting for?!? Get yourself a Pine and get going!!! Nostalgia here we come!"

FIFA 12
○○○○○

If you are looking for a good time playing some soccer, keep on looking.
This game is most definitely unplayable. With a FPS of between 7 and 12 this is just a plain and simple pain in the a*s.
I was hoping to be able to play some soccer on my Pine, but it seems I will need to stick with the Android-games for that instead of relying on emulation.

Buzz (all of them)
●●○○○

These games are fun but quite repetitive.
I must admit I wasn't very disappointed when I figured there were WAY to much graphical glitches to be playable.
The menus are working good, and no stuttering sounds or anything like that, but when you start the game all text are blurry as h**l and completely unreadable.
No need to try these games on the PPSSPP.

I have to say I have don little to non tweaking on each game to try to get them to run better. This must come in next round of testing. 

Need For Speed - Undercover
○○○○○

And than its done. My complete gaming night ruined... WHYYYY?!?!?
NFS Undercover are one of my favorite NFS games for the PSP. But unfortunately this game is so laggy I just dont know how to describe it to you.
The FPS is between 5 and 11 FPS.

So to make things short; Don't bother!

Tomb Raider - Legend
○○○○○

This is a fun game that has consumed many hours of my life through the years.
When running it in PPSSPP it looses all of its charm.
Watching Lara Croft rolling around on the ground, kicking some a*s is usually quite fun, but NOT when the game has a peak of 13 FPS and an average of 8...

Yet another title totally useless combined with the PPSSPP and the Pine.
It's a shame.


That's all I have for now, but more games will be tested in the future.

The conclusion I have come to is that the graphic-lite games like 2D (2.5D) works good, but 3D games is to heavy to get a good gaming experience.