I give Sega Genesis the credit for being the system that truly introduced to me what gaming was. The Playstation gets the credit as the system that hooked me on gaming. The original Playstation had such a vast variety of games on it. Many fabled gaming series had some of their most popular entries on the system while many got their start during this era. This was an era where gaming was finally going into the 3rd dimension and Playstation, although going up against heavyhitters in Sega's Saturn and Nintendo's N64, held its own and to many, including myself, outshined them. If you frequently read my blog, it should come to no surprise what the top three or four games are as I have gushed over them plenty of times throughout the years. If you don't well, you're in for a good long read!
Honorable Mentions
Lunar: Silver Star Story
Wild Arms 2
Xenogears
Final Fantasy VIII
Top Ten PS1 Games
10. The Legend of Dragoon - Legend of Dragoon was called the American Final Fantasy and for good reason. It follows a lot of what made Final Fantasy VII successful on the PS1.
In LOD, you take control of Dart, who is on a journey to kill a creature that's called The Black Monster. The Black Monster killed Dart's parents and basically destroyed the town where Dart was born. As Dart is returning to his hometown, he finds out that his childhood friend Shana has been kidnapped so he sets off to find her. The game takes many twists and turns from there and eventually Dart finds out who exactly the Black Monster is. It's an enjoyable if not cliche romp.
The battle system is what sets LOD apart and you'll see, a lot of the RPGs that will be on the list, spoiler alert, have different battle systems than what is the norm. In LOD, you attack using skills called Additions. In battle, you select the main addition you want and try to do it correctly and you do this by pressing the X button at the time the two squares line up. As you get more and more Additions, they get more hits and become harder to do. This makes every battle that you do fun and makes you not commonplace with battles by just mashing one button. Later in the game, you get to transform into Dragoons, which is basically the strongest attacks you'll have to dispatch bosses late in game. They act the same way as Additions, you have to press X in the sequence. LOD has a great battle system that keeps you wanting more.
The production qualities scream big series but unfortunately, this is just a one off game, despite Dart being considered for Playstation All-Stars. Everything screams a huge series but it just didn't get a sequel, remake or no kind of love outside this first game. It's really such a shame because this is just a great game with plenty of potential but for whatever reason, it didn't get the support needed. Maybe one day.
9. Ape Escape - Ape Escape is a simple idea done great. There are monkeys that are loose. You have to capture said monkeys. THAT'S THE GAME.
There's more to it than that actually. So, Spencer, a white monkey, decides to put on an experimental helmet and when he does, it makes his intelligence increase and turns him evil. Spencer then puts the helmets on many different apes and they are now loose. They're somehow making a time machine now and they send the main character, Spike, back into time. Armed with a net and various gadgets, Spike sets out to capture the monkeys through various points of time.
This is the first game to fully use the Dualshock controller. The now commonplace controller was a new thing in 1999 and this game FULLY used both analog sticks. One was used for movement and the other controlled the gadgets Spike gets. He can use his net to capture apes, a stun baton, a RC Car, etc. It was all new at the time and felt very unique. The level design is unique and capturing an ape always feels rewarding and worth the trouble to get the ape in the first place.
There's not much to say about this game. It's a great game to get introduced to the world of dual analog gaming. This is one series that all the games are on the same level. 2 and 3 are more of the same great platforming presented in the first, just not unique as when the first one was released. Regardless, it's still an amazing game.
8. Parasite Eve - Parasite Eve is such an interesting mash-up of genres. It's horror, action and RPG all in one. Square Enix did a fantastic job with presenting this game. This game and the next game on this list were the start of me playing more mature games in my life. I would always play cutesy JRPGs or platformers but nothing on the level of Parasite Eve or my #7 pick.
In PE, you play as Aya Brea, a rookie for the NYPD. One night, while out on a date to see a play, a tragic event occurs, which sees almost everyone in the theater spontaneously combust, except for Aya and one of the girls onstage acting in the play. Aya confronts her and she start talking about cells in the body and such and eventually transforms into a being named Eve. Aya finds out that Eve's goal is to become pregnant and give birth to what she calls The Ultimate Being so the game is about you trying to stop that from happening. There's a lot of details I left out but I don't want to spoil to much because the game's story is one of its biggest strengths.
Parasite Eve looks great, at least for 1998. The game takes place in New York, so you'll see a lot of New York attractions, such as Carnegie Hall, Central Park, The Statue of Liberty and if you play the game again after beating it, The Chrysler Building. Games really don't take you through actual places so the fact that this one does is pretty unique. The game also uses a lot of FMVs which usually depict the most disgusting scenes in the game. You'll see a rat and a dog transform into nasty creatures, all the combustion is shown and the nastiest scene in the game is shown like this as well. You come into a theater and all the people in there start to transform into this huge orange slimy blob. It was frightening as a child. I would close my eyes on cutscenes like this when my brother played it but they are some of the most amazing things about the game and showed just what the Playstation could do graphically.
Parasite Eve has one of my favorite battle systems in RPG history. I love the mix of action and turn based combat. Although this is a Square Soft game, you don't use the usual suspects found in those games, that being swords and sorcery. Well, there is some sorcery. Aya is a police officer so she uses guns and billy clubs as her main arsenal. You can upgrade the guns for improved ammo capacity, attack and range. Battles are random and will take place right in the area that you encounter them in. You attack based on the AT gauge, basic Square Soft mechanic. You can then attack. When you select attack, you'll stop and get a range that you're gun has. If the enemy is out of your range, you're free to move closer as you can move in the entire area where the battle is taking place. Once you lock onto your target, you can select how many times you want to shoot or attack it and do so. When the enemy uses big attacks, like beams or what have you, you are able to dodge them, like you would in an action game. This sets the game apart from others in the genre and always keeps you on your toes. The game has a lot of eerie music in it as well. It's some of my favorite music from the Playstation era. Just the walking around music is creepy and addictive.
Parasite Eve is an interesting combination of survival horror, action and RPG elements. And it works perfectly. While there are two other games in this series, they don't reach the original's combination of all three elements. 2 plays more like Resident Evil and 3 is just....not what I wanted at all. PE is a dead series but I will never forget the feeling of being so terrified in my youth. If they would reboot this series for the next gen, I would be eternally grateful.
7. Dino Crisis - I didn't really play Resident Evil growing up. I always saw it being played but it was too scary for 8-10 year old Marcus. My survival horror fix came from this game. Dinosaurs are less scary than zombies right? Wrong. You play as Regina, who along with her team of special ops agents, go on a mission to investigate a mysterious island facility. Things are never as they seem and the team finds out there are dinosaurs of the island. Yes, real life deadly dinosaurs. The team then try to find out what exactly is wrong with the island.
Dino Crisis is Resident Evil with dinosaurs so if you played Resident Evil, Dino Crisis should feel very familiar. The voice acting, graphics and core gameplay are all the same. That being said, you can expect the wonky camera angles as well. They were bad then and they're bad now. While dinosaurs are much more vicious than zombies, this game is still survival horror. You get the same amount of ammo and are expected to survive. The sequels are more like action romps but this one is mechanically a Resident Evil spin-off. The puzzles are difficult to grasp, you have to recover life the same way, everything about this screams Resident Evil. It's not a bad thing though.
As a person who never played Resident Evil before, this was a fresh experience different from what I was getting from other games.It featured a mature story and content I wasn't used to seeing in video games. This, along with the previous entry Parasite Eve, were my first mature games. This continued my trend of playing more mature games and my look on video games in general. This game opened my eyes to different genres and themes in gaming, even though I was only 9-10 when I played it. Dino Crisis is definitely Resident Evil meets Jurassic Park but to the young Marcus, it was his first mature game that he played through, thus earning its spot on the list.
6. Tomba! - Ah Tomba. Many games of this list are ones that I hold dear to my childhood and are responsible for why I'm the gamer I am today. I remember playing the original demo for Tomba like 50 times. I loved the first area and it was awhile before I got the main game in my hands but once I did, I tore into the game. Tomba is a fun experience that fans of 2D platformers will sure to enjoy.
In Tomba, you play AS Tomba, who is on a quest to retrieve his Grandpa's bracelet, which was stolen from him by evil Pigs. Tomba himself is a caveman like creature who doesn't talk. Instead, he jumps on people and BITES them. I can't make this up. Tomba eventually finds out that there is a gang of Evil Pigs who are stealing various items from people. Tomba decides to end the evil pigs' reign of terror by capturing them. The only way to capture them is to put them into their corresponding pig bags. Once again, can't make this up. Tomba is a lighthearted story that doesn't take itself too seriously.
Tomba is made up of events, which consists of main quests and side quests in the games. Whenever there is something that you have to do, an event pops up with a title. Upon completion of said event, you're treated to a nice little jingle and AP, which stands for ability points and are used for certain abilities and boxes you can open in the game. There are a total of 130 events but not all of them need to be completed to finish the game. The events range from finding missing people or items, completing races or just talking to people. They're all very different and add to the overall experience. The downside is that you don't get ANYTHING for doing all 130 events except the satisfaction that you did everything. The sequel changed that but in this one, nothing.
Tomba is basically a Metroidvania-esque game. In the beginning of the game, there's a body of water that you can't pass because Tomba is not able to swim. This opens up the 'I Can't Swim" event, which isn't completed until you have someone teach you how to swim later in the game. You have to remember that so you can progress further in the story. There's also various treasure chests in the game that can't be opened right away, due to Tomba not having the keys for said chests. There's 4 different types of chests with four different keys corresponding to each chest. You may see a chest early in the game that you don't have a key for just yet but there's an item in that chest that you'll need later in the game. Any time games do this, I call it Metroidvania-esque because the key to those games are getting new abilities and backtracking through the game. These are fine examples of it but aren't the only time you'll be revisiting areas.
This is a 2D platformer, with the emphasis being on jumping, running and attacking. Tomba can learn the Animal Dash in the first half hour in the game, which makes him go much faster than his normal walk. You'll be swinging from poles, climbing platforms and jumping A LOT in this game. The platforming is great in some points but horrible in others. There's one area in particular that's absolutely horrible when it comes to this and will frustrate many gamers, including myself. Be prepared for it because it's an area filled with chests and items. Tomba's main form of attack is jumping on his enemies but not in the Mario like way. Tomba will jump on them, latch onto them and has the ability to THROW them. This is his basic attack. The more you throw them each type of enemy, the more Tomba learns about each enemy, which is displayed on a gauge each time you jump on them. This becomes important during different events late in the game. He also gets different types of weapons, including a flail, a boomerang and a grapple, which is mainly used for platforming, especially in the difficult area I mentioned earlier. There's even a flail/grapple combo weapon to get but that's through an optional event.
Tomba is a fantastic, fun and colorful platformer adventure that's ONLY on Sony's Playstation. It's a throwback to the NES/Genesis/SNES platformer days. It has a lot of things to do although there is no real game reward for doing all the events. The events get harder as you progress, with the hardest being a race event that you have to get a specific time for. It's infuriating and not getting anything for it is insane. Regardless of this fact, Tomba is still an amazing adventure that shouldn't be missed. This game has a great sequel and it's fully in 3D but it doesn't capture the same feeling of the original. Both are great games that can be played on your PS3 or Vita for low prices. If you're a fan of these types of crazy platformers, I would definitely give it a try.
5. Mega Man Legends - Man, I love this game. I wasn't the hardcore fan of Mega Man that I am now but this game got me interested in the series when it released for Playstation. I love everything about this game. The graphics, the exploration, the boss fights, being able to turn Mega Man black, everything! This game is awesome!
You play as Mega Man Volnutt who along side Roll and her grandfather, are explorers who go digging in various runes for large refractors. While searching, they end up crash landing on Kattlelox Island. The game goes from there but Mega Man eventually ends up fighting pirates and discovers some of the island's secrets and even the origin of himself. It's a really solid story with some laughable voice acting. I guess it was go in 98.
Anyway, just like other Mega Man games, shooting is life in this game. In the originals, Mega Man was limited to his 2D plane but not in Legends. This is the first 3D Mega Man game as many developers were transitioning their franchises to 3D. It worked in my opinion. Mega Man can do plenty of things his 2D version couldn't. He can strafe, lock on, etc. This is essentially a 3rd person shooter and nothing is wrong with that. This version of Mega Man doesn't take his powers from fallen robot master, mainly because there are NO robot masters. His main enemies are the Reaverbots and they don't have real powers to steal. Instead, Legends has a different take on how to power up Mega Man. The game allows you to upgrade your regular buster. You can upgrade its power, range, energy and rate of fire. He can also equip side weapons, which range from cannons, blades and mines. They're all unique and have a limited supply, displayed by a gauge. To get the sub-weapons, you must explore the world and find random parts so Roll can make them. It's a pretty cool system.
Mega Man Legends is a fun side adventure for the tried and true Mega Man series. It's not too long, probably 8 hours, and it's fun playing with Mega Man in a 3D world. The production quality hasn't aged too well but the game still holds up gameplay wise. The camera will also mess you in up in the many dungeons you will explore but if you can overlook all of this, you will have a fantastic experience with Legends. It's really a shame that they cancelled 3. It was one of my sole reasons for buying a 3DS. This is another game so close to my childhood and playing this game always takes me back so I was really looking forward to a new experience basically a decade later. Legends will always be my favorite Mega Man game, simply due to the memories it provided to me as a youth. In my youth days, this was was amazing and while it may not live up to today's standards of gaming, I still love it nonetheless.
4. Final Fantasy Tactics - When it comes to genres, I'm the most picky about strategy RPGs. They just don't all click for me, for whatever reason. Shining Force clicked with me, even though I was very young. Something about how the game was go me hooked and I play it whenever I get an opportunity on my Genesis collection. Final Fantasy Tactics instantly clicked with me. Whether it was from the name Final Fantasy or the fast paced combat, I just adored this game as a youth.
The story is a political one and to this day, I still don't know the details 100%. It's a shame really, as I've played through this game and have seen it played through over a dozen times. You think I would pick some details up about it. Nope, it was way too confusing for me back in 98, it's still confusing in 2015. Some things never change. That should tell you how much I love this game. For me, story is pretty important in RPGs. It tells the reason why you're doing what you're doing. In FFT, I don't really care what I'm shooting for story wise as I'm too busy trying to play around with my party and have an absolute bomb squad.
Final Fantasy Tactics uses a job system, similar to ones found in the main entry games. Unlike those though, you don't have to progress the story and find any crystals to unlock more classes. You can get classes by leveling up the ones you have. You start with the basic of the basic. Knight, Black Mage, White Mag etc. Eventually, after leveling those up and the ones that follow, the choices get a lot of variety. You can have a Bard, a Dragoon, a Ninja etc. If you spend a lot of time leveling and grinding, you could have any class you want before the end of the first chapter. I love having the ability to class the characters my way, even if I have to grind a bit to get it. It's worth it to see my main character Ramza, equipping two swords so he can attack twice a turn but with the increased strength of a Knight, not a Ninja. It's a great system that make all battles, even the random ones, mean something. I love all the music in the game as well. The tracks really tell what kind of battle it is. If it's a serious battle or a no chance at first battle, FFT has the music for it.
Final Fantasy Tactics means a lot to my childhood. It's a game that I love replaying once in a while just so I can experiment with my party members. While I STILL don't understand everything that happened in the story, FFT is a great SRPG that Final Fantasy fans shouldn't miss. I mean, you can play as Cloud in the original and Balthier in the PSP version.
3. Breath of Fire III - Turn based JRPGs were very successful on the SNES and the Playstation continued where SNES left off. Breath of Fire was a series that started on the SNES being published by Square Soft in North America while being developed by Capcom. The 2nd entry was handled entirely by Capcom and the 3 made the jump over to the Playstation. This was an age where many RPGs followed the exact same formula and didn't try to reinvent the wheel so to speak. It's not a bad thing but for people who may play this game in the year 2015, BOF3 is VERY BASIC.
You play as Ryu in BOF3, a child who awakens in a forest with no clothes and no memories to how he got there. He is found by local trouble makers Rei and Teepo, who take him in and make him one of their own. The kids go on various missions for certain people in the village, including killing a rampaging monster to helping rob a rich man for the good of the village. That doesn't sit well with the rich man so he sends unicorns to burn down the house where they live. UNICORNS. I can't make this up. Did I forget to mention that Rei is some type of tiger cat creature? Sorry, probably should have said that. Anyway, Ryu gets separated from his friends and goes on a journey of his own, one that involves him protecting his love interest Nina and finding out about his true origins. It's a pretty generic story but it gets the job done.
IF you have ever played a turn based RPG, there will be no surprises when you play BOF3. You walk around, an exclamation point will appear over the lead character's head and you'll do turn based battle. Ryu and a couple other party members can transform. Ryu's later transformations can take the other two members as well. Ryu can morph into various forms of dragons, from a small little guy that you play as in the beginning to a huge behemoth of a creature. You cam also learn skills from enemies as they used them on you. For example, you face these acorn nut soldiers that hit you with double blow, an attack that does regular damage twice. If you examine the enemy while they use the attack on the character who used examine, you have a chance to learn that skill. Other than those unique features, it's all pretty basic. The character that is the fastest, acts first and it goes from there. BOF3 is never super difficult but it does feature some crazy tedious moments.
There are two particular moments in the game that make me fear replaying it from time to time. One, there's a part in the game where you have to train this nerdy kid so he can defeat a bully and win the love of a girl. There's something story related to it and it's something you have to do. It's a very gimmicky thing to do in game and the battle itself can be frustrating. This is one of the only times where you're going to have to grind as the nerd, Boyd, only gets stronger through fighting him. The other tedious part requires you to catch a fish for something you have to make late in the game. This forces you to learn HOW TO FISH, which up to this point in the game, is optional. They are very minor gripes to an overall fantastic game but they're still there. There are some later dungeons that have some hard puzzles as well and will also force you to play with the camera to see certain things, so be prepared to get somewhat upset during your 30-50 hour playthrough.
While not breaking much new ground, Breath of Fire 3 is amazing, simply because it nows it's roots. It doesn't venture too far from the norm but sometimes, that's alright. The game feature lovable characters, basic but sometimes challenging combat and some jazzy tunes. BOF3 holds such a special place in my heart as the first RPG I remember playing by myself. This was the gateway to all the various RPGs I would play in the future, like Final Fantasy X, Persona 4 and Xenoblade Chronicles. Without first falling in love with the misadventures of Ryu and his friends, I wouldn't have had the amazing times I did in Inaba. For that alone, it's my #3 favorite PS1 game.
2. Alundra - I love Legend of Zelda, which is why I love Alundra so much because it's a more darker and difficult version of the 2D top down platformer. One of my favorite things about the game is the story, which puts you in control of Alundra, a likeable boy who washes ashore to the village of Inoa, where, upon arrival, crazy things begin to happen and Alundra is thrown into the center of it all. You eventually learn that Alundra has powers to enter people's dreams, which is something that the people of Inoa have been suffering from. The story takes plenty of twists and turns from there and gets darker and darker the further you get into it. By the end, you'll basically be facing a dark god who has been plaguing the village. It's really kind of creepy how a game like this, which at the time, looked like it could be for kids ala Legend of Zelda, takes all of these crazy turns. It's welcomed but definitely watch out if you're not looking for a dark story.
The gameplay is inspired by the Zelda series and the game which is considered to be the spiritual sequel to, LandStalker. LandStalker is a great Genesis gem that features hard puzzles and the old not holding your hand flavor. Alundra is actually like that. Alundra is an adventurer and can use plenty of items in his quest. His main weapon of attack is a knife which turns to a sword. He also gets flails, bows and magic rods. Magic comes into play later in the game. Like Zelda, there are side items in the game as well such as the traditional bomb that must be used to break things! All in all, if you know what Zelda plays like, you know what Alundra plays like. The thing that sets the two series apart is the difficulty. The game is pretty easy for the first few hours but once you get further in, it's hard to conquer. Puzzles get harder and harder and then they throw the dreaded pushes ice blocks puzzle at you. This is a hardcore gamer type of game so be warned. Alundra will piss you off, it's inevitable. The dungeons get downright unfair late in the game. This is why I turned out to like Dark Souls so much in my young adult years. Alundra was killing me way before Dark Souls had the chance to.
Alundra is a fantastic game with a killer soundtrack, tight and challenging gameplay and dark story. I can't stress enough how dark the story for this game is. IT'S DARK. There's a graveyard in the game near Inoa Village. At the beginning of the game, there's 8 empty graves I believe. By the end of your journey, all of them are filled with the bodies of the villagers. One of the villagers in a little girl who gets her neck snapped by a sick priest. I can't make this stuff up people. It's twisted, no pun intended. This game made me hate sleep for awhile because people were having nightmares, having demons possess them and dying in their sleep. This was the first game that scared and still scares be a bit to this day. Alundra's gameplay is fantastic but it's the dark and twisted story that hooked me in my youth.
1. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - Were you expecting something else? Seriously, were you? I've already talked about how much I love this game. Its effect on me as a child and teenage gamer is massive and is one of the games I truly fell in love with. While Metroid essentially started this whole 2D gameplay style, I believe SOTN perfected this formula of exploration in video games. This is the start of the rise to the term Metroidvania as most every Castlevania released after this took on this style of gameplay. While Castlevania 2 tried to do this, it wasn't successful as the later entries went back to how the original was played. Metroidvania games are about one thing; exploration. In these types of games, the world is usually fully open for you to explore, that is until you get to a certain spot that you can't progress past because you don't have a certain ability. In most Castlevanias' it's the double jump ability. Actually, in MOST of these games, it's the double jump that truly opens up the game for you. These games are all about filling out maps and finding areas where you can use your acquired abilities. Got it? Good! SOTN does this formula perfectly.
When you first get control of Alucard, Dracula's son, he's super powerful. The first monster you meet is this huge werewolf, who Alucard destroys easily with one hit. As you progress, you lose your powers thanks to one of Dracula's hencemen Death. Now, you explore your father's castle all while trying to get your powers back. In these types of games, exploration is key and SOTN doesn't disappoint. While the location is one big castle, it's split up into many different areas. The areas are all different from each other. One moment you'll be exploring a haunted library then you'll be in a clock tower. All the levels look amazing. The overall gameplay is basic but fun and easy to master. You run, jump and fight your way through the castle. This game implentments RPG tactics so by killing more and more enemies, Alucard will level up, increasing his HP count and stats. There are plenty of drops in the game as well. Alucard isn't limited to just his sword, as he'll get guns, hammers and spears in the adventure. You'll be doing all this to an amazing soundtrack filled with best songs from the era. Smooth jazz in Japanese games seemed to be the thing to do in this era. Anyway, all the elements click to make for a fun adventure.
The game isn't super long, especially if you know what you're doing but there are plenty of different endings and secrets in the game. I tell this famous story all the time but when I first played SOTN, I was a child, near 8-10 years old. I went through the game, beat the last boss Ricther and stopped playing because I figured I had beaten it. Nope. Little old me didn't even know the secret to get to the 2nd castle and to get the real ending. It wasn't until I was 18 that I finally did that. It was like playing a completely different game. It may sound lazy but all they did was flip the castle upside down but it makes for double the game as there are plenty more bosses and secrets in the second castle. SOTN is a game I try to beat every year if I have time with my best time of finishing the game coming in at 3 and a half hours back in 2011 I believe. Basically, the game has a lot of replability. Also, you can play as Ricther through the ENTIRE game after you beat it so it's like old school Castlevania in a new school setting. It's pretty cool actually.
Symphony of the Night is the best game Playstation has to offer. It was the great gameplay, graphics, world and soundtrack to back it up. This is the game to start the change of 2D Castlevanias becoming action RPGs and it's not hard to see why as SOTN is an amazing game. Why not continue to do the basic formula that the game presents? It's gaming at its finest and I have plenty of good reasons to keep coming back over and over again. SOTN is one of the only games that I can do that with 18 years later. In short, it's a masterpiece that has a special place in my heart as not only my favorite PS1 game of all time but my favorite video game of all time as well.
Playstation 1 is done! Next up, Playstation 2! Be ready to read about Persona, Rogue Galaxy and MANY others. Coming soon!
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