Best games
Best PS Vita games of 2009
The 8 best PS Vita games released in 2009, ranked from 5,170 critic and player ratings.
The best PS Vita game of 2009 is Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, with a critic score of 90/100 — updated September 2026.
How this ranking is built
- Games are ranked on the aggregated critic score out of 100 imported from IGDB and Metacritic, never on Tier's own grades.
- A game only enters the ranking with at least 80 external ratings, so a single enthusiastic review never outranks a proven classic.
- Community grades from F to S are shown next to every game, and only stated as a fact above 5 Tier ratings.
- Release window covered: 2009.
- 8 games are listed on this page, carrying 5,170 ratings between them.
- Rankings are recomputed hourly; this one was last rebuilt on 29 September 2026.
Top 8
01
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is an entirely original entry into the critically acclaimed Grand Theft Auto series, and brings a new level of interactivity to its sprawling open environments. With the use of the DS touch screen, players navigate their way through the streets as they uncover the truth behind an epic tale of crime and corruption within the Triad crime syndicate, delivering the unprecedented amount of depth that has become a true trademark of the franchise.
90
/100
02
Machinarium
Machinarium is award-winning independent adventure game developed by the makers of Samorost and Botanicula. A little robot who’s been thrown out to the scrap yard behind the city must return and confront the Black Cap Brotherhood and save his robot-girl friend.
88
/100
03
STEINS;GATE
Steins;Gate is a Japanese visual novel developed by 5pb. and Nitroplus. It is the second game in the Science Adventure series following Chaos;Head. The game is described by the development team as a "hypothetical science ADV" and explores time and time travel in 2010 Akihabara. The gameplay follows non-linear plot lines which offer branching scenarios with courses of interaction.
87
/100
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is an entirely original entry into the critically acclaimed Grand Theft Auto series, and brings a new level of interactivity to its sprawling open environments. With the use of the DS touch screen, players navigate their way through the streets as they uncover the truth behind an epic tale of crime and corruption within the Triad crime syndicate, delivering the unprecedented amount of depth that has become a true trademark of the franchise.
90
/100
02
Machinarium
Machinarium is award-winning independent adventure game developed by the makers of Samorost and Botanicula. A little robot who’s been thrown out to the scrap yard behind the city must return and confront the Black Cap Brotherhood and save his robot-girl friend.
88
/100
03
STEINS;GATE
Steins;Gate is a Japanese visual novel developed by 5pb. and Nitroplus. It is the second game in the Science Adventure series following Chaos;Head. The game is described by the development team as a "hypothetical science ADV" and explores time and time travel in 2010 Akihabara. The gameplay follows non-linear plot lines which offer branching scenarios with courses of interaction.
87
/100
04
Persona 3 Portable
Persona 3 Portable is an enhanced remake of Persona 3 for the PlayStation Portable. The game features an option to play as a female character, which alters some aspects of the story. In addition to the new playable character, there are two new difficulty levels to select from alongside the original game's three. The game also features some other story related changes regardless of the player character gender. The battle system is also updated to be closer that of Persona 4.
84
/100
05
Flower
ESCAPE TO A DREAMLIKE WORLD From the studio behind the genre-bending titles Journey and flOw comes Flower, a unique gaming experience that lets you soar through a dreamlike world of luscious fields and rolling hills. Control the wind to carry a stream of flower petals around each landscape and watch as it comes to life. Every level has its own unique aims and little mysteries – but you don’t have to worry about them if you don’t feel like it. Flower is about doing what you want, when you want. Freedom is everything.
83
/100
06
S
Minecraft
Minecraft focuses on allowing the player to explore, interact with, and modify a dynamically-generated map made of one-cubic-meter-sized blocks. In addition to blocks, the environment features plants, mobs, and items. Some activities in the game include mining for ore, fighting hostile mobs, and crafting new blocks and tools by gathering various resources found in the game. The game's open-ended model allows players to create structures, creations, and artwork on various multiplayer servers or their single-player maps. Other features include redstone circuits for logic computations and remote actions, minecarts and tracks, and a mysterious underworld called the Nether. A designated but completely optional goal of the game is to travel to a dimension called the End, and defeat the ender dragon.
83
/100
07
God of War
A remaster of God of War, an action-adventure hack-and-slash video game developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). Loosely inspired by Greek mythology, it unfolds in ancient Greece with vengeance as its central theme. The player takes on the role of Kratos, the protagonist, a Spartan warrior devoted to the Olympian gods. Tasked by the goddess Athena, Kratos is assigned to eliminate Ares, the God of War and Kratos' former mentor. Ares had deceitfully manipulated Kratos into killing his wife and daughter. As Ares attacks Athens fueled by hatred for Athena, Kratos embarks on a quest to locate Pandora's Box, the sole object capable of permanently stopping the vengeful god. The remaster features full HD resolution complete with 2X anti-aliased graphics running at 60 frames per second.
75
/100
08
Plants vs. Zombies
Zombies are invading your home, and the only defense is your arsenal of plants! Plants vs. Zombies is a tower defense video game developed and published by PopCap Games. As a horde of zombies approaches along several parallel lanes, players must defend their homes by placing plants, which fire projectiles at the zombies or otherwise detrimentally affect them.
71
/100
Persona 3 Portable
Persona 3 Portable is an enhanced remake of Persona 3 for the PlayStation Portable. The game features an option to play as a female character, which alters some aspects of the story. In addition to the new playable character, there are two new difficulty levels to select from alongside the original game's three. The game also features some other story related changes regardless of the player character gender. The battle system is also updated to be closer that of Persona 4.
84
/100
05
Flower
ESCAPE TO A DREAMLIKE WORLD From the studio behind the genre-bending titles Journey and flOw comes Flower, a unique gaming experience that lets you soar through a dreamlike world of luscious fields and rolling hills. Control the wind to carry a stream of flower petals around each landscape and watch as it comes to life. Every level has its own unique aims and little mysteries – but you don’t have to worry about them if you don’t feel like it. Flower is about doing what you want, when you want. Freedom is everything.
83
/100
06
S
Minecraft
Minecraft focuses on allowing the player to explore, interact with, and modify a dynamically-generated map made of one-cubic-meter-sized blocks. In addition to blocks, the environment features plants, mobs, and items. Some activities in the game include mining for ore, fighting hostile mobs, and crafting new blocks and tools by gathering various resources found in the game. The game's open-ended model allows players to create structures, creations, and artwork on various multiplayer servers or their single-player maps. Other features include redstone circuits for logic computations and remote actions, minecarts and tracks, and a mysterious underworld called the Nether. A designated but completely optional goal of the game is to travel to a dimension called the End, and defeat the ender dragon.
83
/100
07
God of War
A remaster of God of War, an action-adventure hack-and-slash video game developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). Loosely inspired by Greek mythology, it unfolds in ancient Greece with vengeance as its central theme. The player takes on the role of Kratos, the protagonist, a Spartan warrior devoted to the Olympian gods. Tasked by the goddess Athena, Kratos is assigned to eliminate Ares, the God of War and Kratos' former mentor. Ares had deceitfully manipulated Kratos into killing his wife and daughter. As Ares attacks Athens fueled by hatred for Athena, Kratos embarks on a quest to locate Pandora's Box, the sole object capable of permanently stopping the vengeful god. The remaster features full HD resolution complete with 2X anti-aliased graphics running at 60 frames per second.
75
/100
08
Plants vs. Zombies
Zombies are invading your home, and the only defense is your arsenal of plants! Plants vs. Zombies is a tower defense video game developed and published by PopCap Games. As a horde of zombies approaches along several parallel lanes, players must defend their homes by placing plants, which fire projectiles at the zombies or otherwise detrimentally affect them.
71
/100
Frequently asked questions
What is the best PS Vita game of 2009?
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars currently tops the ranking with a score of 90/100 across 198 ratings. Ranking updated September 2026.
How is this ranking built?
Games are ranked on their aggregated critic score out of 100, with a minimum vote threshold so a single glowing review never outranks a proven classic; the Tier community's own F-to-S grades are shown alongside each game.