Golden Abyss is a proper Uncharted game, rather than something cobbled together from bits of old ones – with an original storyline, a new female interest for Nathan Drake and heaps of classic shooting, climbing and puzzle-solving. There are also plenty of Vita-specific features (key clues, for example, can be uncovered by rubbing the touchscreen). A portable translation that loses little by comparison with the PS3 releases in the series.

Must-buy rating: 9/10

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Sony

Sony consoles invariably launch with an accompanying WipEout game, and this version of the futuristic hover-racer is a fully fledged addition to the series. The customary dance music soundtrack and huge, rollercoaster-like tracks are present, but varied game modes (including Combat, in which racing takes a back seat to unleashing weapons on your rivals) and, for once, a gradual difficulty curve give the single-player game a coherent feel. You can play it online against PS3 gamers and it looks spectacular.

Must-buy rating: 9/10

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Sony

Football games on portable consoles have always been a bit rubbish, right? Until now. FIFA 12 on the PS Vita is more or less indistinguishable from the PS3 version. Additional features include the option to aim through-balls with the touchscreen or place penalties with the rear touch-pad. Though the downsized PS3 menus are fiddly, this is a proper, grown-up football game on a handheld console which refuses to make any important compromises.

Must-buy rating: 8/10

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EA

ModNation Racers: Road Trip is all about user-generated content, from designing your karts and characters to the circuits on which you race. The engine that lets you accomplish the latter is particularly impressive, as it’s all about painting tarmac with your finger and manipulating the landscape with the touch-pads. There’s also a decent single-player if you can’t be bothered to get your hands dirty, plus an already-thriving online community.

Must-buy rating: 7/10

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Sony

This third-person action-adventure game is infinitely more original than we would normally expect at the launch of a new console – it was originally planned for the PS3. It’s shot through with that Japanese nuttiness that always goes down well in games, with great anime visuals, cut-scenes relayed as comic strips and an insane plot which sees you playing as Kat, an amnesiac who can manipulate gravity thanks to a magic cat, and who uses that ability to (literally) kick the ass of monsters. A potential cult classic.

Must-buy rating: 7/10

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Sony

Like EA Sports’ FIFA, Sega’s venerable tennis franchise has made an impressive transition from PS3 to PS Vita. It looks and feels like home console versions of Virtua Tennis, but you can carry it around with you. There are a few concessions to the PS Vita’s touch interfaces, but you can safely ignore them. Impressive to behold and to play.

Must-buy rating: 7/10

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SEGA

On the surface, Michel Ancel’s latest opus looks like little more than an old-skool, 2D side-scrolling platformer. But (as more people should have discovered when it came out for the consoles in late 2011) there’s an awful lot more to it than that. Where better to succumb to its charms – including Ren & Stimpy levels of anarchic weirdness and a fierce difficulty quotient matched only by its moreishness – than on the PS Vita? It’s hard, but it’s thoroughly absorbing, and it will make you cackle.

Must-buy rating: 7/10

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Ubisoft

This endearing monochrome side-scrolling puzzler has been compared with the much-loved (and long-lost) Oddworld games. It features two lovable - but spectacularly dumb - characters called Lil and Laarg, who are trying to escape an oppressive institution which may well be their workplace. You help them achieve this using the touchscreen and touchpad, plus a bit of brainpower when the amusing mechanic puzzles are at their most arcane. It's fresh and imaginative and, because it’s a download game, it will only set you back £9.99.

Must-buy rating: 7/10

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Sony

The PS Vita seems especially well served with driving games from the outset, but this is the only one that can claim real-life simulator credentials. It should delight motorsport devotees, as it has the ring of authenticity, is supremely playable and looks fantastic. The ability to carry around a remarkably convincing facsimile of the pinnacle of four-wheeled racing is rather exhilarating.

Must-buy rating: 7/10

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Codemasters

Reality Fighters is not the most sophisticated of beat-em-ups, at least in gameplay terms, but it makes great use of the PS Vita’s cameras, touch-pads and motion sensors, enabling you to paste your face onto your characters and turn your immediate surroundings into fighting arenas. Combine that with some hilarious virtual costume possibilities, some wacky special moves and some implausible fighting styles, and what you get is proper augmented reality fun. This is promising – previously, augmented reality has been much more about flashy technology than enjoyment.

Must-buy rating: 6/10

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Sony