Playstation kicked fucking ass

[Arkhan Asylum]

Rather than keep clogging the N64 thread up with PSX memories

I made a thread.


Obvious games aside, there were some other sweet experiences.  hybrid heaven reminded me of two:

Broken Helix and Fade To Black.

F2B was a little doofy, but overall a pretty nice transition from 2d to 3d for that game.  I wish we'd gotten more of that setting. 

At least we got that remake a few years ago?

.. and it's on Dreamcast now?



how about TRAG.  Anyone else play that ?

[Gredler]

I got my PS1 from my first "job".

I used to hang out at my grandma's office in a business plaza when I was about 13 or 14, would do homework and play gameboy and just hang out. Her friend had a neighboring office in the plaza, and had a PC in there that she was supposed to load her hand written spreadsheets into excel, and would constantly ask me for help to how to "work the computer". I eventually started just loading the sheets for her; it was purely volunteer and I thought it was fun "working" and could use the PC to play games when there weren't spreadsheets to load (played a lot of Warcraft II and Diablo on it.)

One day I came into "work" and she had gotten me a PS1 with Suikoden as a thank you gift for my help, and I was blown away surprised. At first I was like wtf is this Suikoden business, but I guess she and my grandma went together and told the people which games I was playing in that timeframe (FFIII, Chrono Trigger, Diablo), and I guess the dude who worked there gave a great suggestion because I frigging loved that game, and from then on was playing way too much PS1 for my own good.

I had a great time with PS1, and could post a bunch more memories! FF Tactics?! GTFOH

[Arkhan Asylum]

Suikoden has more characters than N64 has FPS.

ayooooooooo

[Gredler]

I still remember mind blowing when I got to the large scale battles, and learning that all of those characters increased your army size and added more to do at your tower. Such a fun game, I regret never playing the second one.

[Arkhan Asylum]

Go play it.

duhrrrr.

[nopepper]

I was going to respond in the other thread, but here goes:

3D platformers on the Playstation were great.   They were far better than the N64 games, because they played more like 2D games in that you were running through levels and not playing "grab all the shit" or "why is the camera being a cunt".

Spyro was one of the greatest 3D platforming experiences of growing up, I think.   

That game was just really well executed.

and Crash Bandicoot's halfbaked 3D was a great idea.  Instead of fighting with a camera and screaming alot, you just played basically a 2D platformer with a camera that scriptedly moved.

I did not include Crash in the 3D platformers, because as you indicated, it plays more like a 2D game. I have fond memories of going through Crash 2 with one of my best buddies while we were in college. Some of the platforming to get 100% was insane. I think we ended up 98% or something (lost the save years ago).

Klonoa was also very good, although I'd rather play the remake on the Wii than the murky looking original. Still looks great by PSX standards. Never got around to playing Pandemonium, but it was well received back in the day as one of the first 2.5D platformers.

The PSX was my system during that era, but by the time Spyro came out, I had already graduated and was in med school, so I never tried it. But I can name literally dozens of fun games that should appease any tastes.

Here are some of the "lesser" known favorites from my collection:

-Point Blanks (worth having a CRT for)
-Time Crisis (ditto)
-G Darius (not as good as Gaiden, but still great)
-Skullmonkeys (good little traditional platformer for the skilled with funny claymation)
-Raystorm (not as good as Layer Section, but still great)
-Wipeout XL (still the best WO IMO, with the N64 getting a remixed version [and worth checking out also])
-Castlevania Chronicles (essential)
-Strider 2 (essential as well)
-RTYpes
-Thunder Force V (Working Design's Spaz label was so awesome)
-You already mentioned SUikoden, which I prefer over FFVII, but there is also Vandal Hearts, which was a nice little SRPG that holds up great today.

One of the best systems ever. I still remember the excitement of playing stuff in real 3D for the first time, like Jumping Flash, Kings Field and Destruction Derby. Then, when the wave of Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, Wild Arms, etc. hit, it was just hit after hit of new experiences. Some of those have not aged well, but it was mind blowing at the time.

The SMS and then Genesis made me a dedicated gamer, but the PSX turned me hard core for life.

[Gredler]

Go play it.

duhrrrr.

That's the 2018 plan - I want to get through the first one again before I play the second one so I can continue my save between the two.

I was able to land a cheap loose working copy of the second game, but I have been sitting on it as I procrastinate on starting the first game again.



I have been playing Xenogears on PS3 and vita, and want to finish that before starting another PS1 jrpg.


BTW, PS3 = the best PS1 ever. I love being able to transfer saves between vita and the PS3, and play on any TV in my house from the CRT, to the 1080p Plasma, to the 4k LED.

[xcrement5x]

YASSS!  Wipeout XL was my JAM! 

I played the snot out of that game and the Ghost in the Shell game, the soundtracks alone were awesome to listen to. 

Also have fond memories of Wild ARMs 1/2 and a lot of the earlier SQUARE titles. 

[bob]

Akuji The Heartless

[Arkhan Asylum]

Akuji The Heartless

Yeha dude, that is one of those "did anyone else play that?" games that you never hear brought up.

best 2.50$ I ever spent on a PS1 game probably.

[Psycho Punch]

There's so many great games and B-side gems that I can't understand how someone would dislike the PS1 except for sega/nintendo fanboyism. Or maybe just a general dislike for early 3D graphics, I don't know.

[Gredler]

There are definitely a lot of horribly looking and playing games, and a lot of the mainstream stuff was inferno level garbage; Croc and go eat dirt.

[Arkhan Asylum]

A lot of that early 3D looks so bad it's good now.

You get this new appreciation for what they were trying to visualize, now that we have reached the point where you see fancy ass 3D games.

[jtucci31]

Go play it.

BTW, PS3 = the best PS1 ever. I love being able to transfer saves between vita and the PS3, and play on any TV in my house from the CRT, to the 1080p Plasma, to the 4k LED.

Is that easy to do? I played through all of FFVII on the Vita and that worked out really well. And I bought the PS1 version of FF VI because it was on sale and thought it might be cool to go back and forth.

[Arkhan Asylum]

If you can find a memory card adapter, those rule too.

I was loading up my old saves onto my PS3 and backing em up onto the cloud and playing around on the PS3 with them.

That memory card reader kicks ass.

Now if only they'd make a gameshark adapter so I can really fuck around.

[bartre]

My dudes.


DEVIL DICE.
maybe the best puzzle game ever.

also,
All-Star Slammin D-Ball
Clock Tower
Disney's Hercules
Gundam Battle Assault 2
Incredible Crisis
Inuyasha
Jumping Flash! 2
Legacy of Kain Blood Omen
Lego Racers
Mega Man Legends
Mega Man X4 - the last good traditional Mega Man game until Zero
Prasite Eve - maybe my favorite RPG on the system
Rising Zan: The Samurai Gunman - play it for the lulz
Rollcage 2

[Gredler]

Is that easy to do? I played through all of FFVII on the Vita and that worked out really well. And I bought the PS1 version of FF VI because it was on sale and thought it might be cool to go back and forth.

Yes it is very easy (but not as seamless as using the switch - you have to perform a transfer at the system level then load the game), I believe you can do it via wifi if you don't have a hacked vita, and if your vita is hacked you can use the USB to transfer files between systems (that's what I do).

If you can find a memory card adapter, those rule too.

I was loading up my old saves onto my PS3 and backing em up onto the cloud and playing around on the PS3 with them.

That memory card reader kicks ass.

Now if only they'd make a gameshark adapter so I can really fuck around.

Danm I didn't look into it enough, but I would definitely buy a PS to PS3 memory card adapter! I have all my old cards still, with saves on them (including my suikoden save!)

[bob]

Apocalypse is also another overlooked gem.  I think most people assumed it sucked because of the bruce willis/movie license.  It's an overhead run 'n gun with platforming.  Really could be themed after a number of different things.   The game itself is good fun.

[EmperorIng]

The PS1 has an awesome arcade port of Volfied, called Qix Neo. It's a budget title and dirt cheap. It's better than the PCE remake/port of Volfied by miles.

Also an underrated budget gem: the puzzle/battle game Builder's Block. It's weird and will take you some time to understand the mechanics, but it's really quite fun. It has a lot of different modes, many compelling (like the single-player leisurely puzzle mode redone in 3D, or the frantic arcade original with 2D sprites).

I'm playing Suikoden now for the first time; the game is hella good.  Continues to underline why the 32bit generation was THE best for RPGs. 

[Arkhan Asylum]

Apocalypse is also another overlooked gem.  I think most people assumed it sucked because of the bruce willis/movie license.  It's an overhead run 'n gun with platforming.  Really could be themed after a number of different things.   The game itself is good fun.

I recently bought and played that for the first time and was like "wow, I should've rented this as a kid"

but I didn't really like the movie so I just skipped it.

[ParanoiaDragon]

I'll re-mention Suikoden 1 & 2 as those games just plain rule.

Alundra, only the first though, I beat the 2nd, but, sheesh, it might've been better if done with the first games engine.

Lunar 1 & 2, yeah yeah, I know, Sega CD forever, or perhaps the Saturn versions, but, these were the first versions I played, & I absolutely love em'!

Arc the Lad 1-3, I recently finally played thru them on my Vita, great games, probably enjoyed 3 the most.  I ended up picking up 4 & 5 for PS2 even though I heard negativity towards them.  I also got the HD version of 4 on PS4 when it was on sale.

Beyond the Beyond.  Say what you will, I enjoyed it, even with all it's quirks, including IIRC a high encounter rate.

Breath of Fire 3, never got around to playing 4, maybe someday.  I also picked up the PSP english version.

Castlevania SotN.  Didn't see anyone point this one out, kinda surprised!  It's not my favorite Igavania, that would be Dawn of Sorrow or Portrait of Ruin, but it's a great game!

Crash 1-3, & I picked up the recent remake.

Fighting Force, played thru this 3D Streets of Rage many a time!

Final Fantasy 7, twas my first FF, so, it holds a special place in my heart.

Crusader: No Remorse.  I'm sure people probably prefer the PC version.  Wish No Regret came out for PS1.  I think part of the reason I enjoyed this game is cuz it reminded me a little of Shadow Run for SNES.

Mega Man Legends 1 & 2 & Misadventures of Tron Bonne, finally played thru those recently on my Vita.

Mega Man 8 & X4

Metal Gear Solid, it may be half cinema, but, loved the game.

Parasite Eve, love it, but the sequel I couldn't get into.  Recently played PE2 on my Vita.  I do enjoy 3rd Birthday however.

Wild Arms, love it, if only for the soundtrack, but it's a great game in it's own right.  I've only beaten Wild Arms 1, 4, & Alter Code F.....which is a remake of one.  I swear I'll beat the others one of these days!

Vandal Hearts, great game, couldn't get into the sequels.

[bob]

Musashi was a disappointment

[Arkhan Asylum]

Musashi was a disappointment

I dunno, I loved it.  I also played the FF8 demo over and over to watch Selphie faceplant on those rocks.


I played a ton of Bushido Blade, too.

It was mindblowing to have a fighting game where you could one-hit kill someone.

Easily some of my most memorable action gaming came from Jumping Flash 2 and Tenchu , though.

and MOTHER FUCKING

TAI
FU
WRATH
OF THE
TIGERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

lol


I've recently gone through some of these games again and they still hold up fantastically, and I admittedly prefer them to some more recent 3D action stuff.

These still have a 2Dish, arcade feel to them.

Ninja: Shadow of Darkness is another one

OR HOW ABOUT FEAR EFFECT


EDIT:
Or, Deathtrap Dungeon, or Xena, or Nightmare Creatures!

[TDIRunner]

I did not include Crash in the 3D platformers, because as you indicated, it plays more like a 2D game. I have fond memories of going through Crash 2 with one of my best buddies while we were in college. Some of the platforming to get 100% was insane. I think we ended up 98% or something (lost the save years ago).

I don't consider getting 100% in Crash 2 to be that difficult.  I try to do it at least once per year.  It's a fun challenge that I look forward to.  Getting 100% on Crash 1 is much more difficult in my opinion.  I don't consider that as fun, and while I love the game, when I play it, I play it to beat it and that's it.  I've completed it 100% one time, and I doubt I will ever even try that again.  The fact that you have to get all boxes WITHOUT DIEING is what ruins it for me.  They fixed this issue in the HD remake on PS4, but unfortunately, the jumping physics are different, and therefore the game is unplayable for me.  I'll stick with the originals.

[TDIRunner]

I see a few people already mentioned Vandal Hearst which I also highly recommend.  I still haven't played the sequels which I've always wanted to (finally picked up VH2 about a year ago). 

Another game I will mention that I rarely hear about is Felony 11-79.  It's a driving game where you are running from the cops on a time limit.  It was unique when it was new because it was sort of "open world" in that you could go wherever you wanted while you were trying to escape.  Although the strict time limit prevented you from doing any time of exploring.  Unfortunately, it's one of those games that makes up for it's short length by being extremely difficult. 

[Psycho Punch]

I see a few people already mentioned Vandal Hearst which I also highly recommend.  I still haven't played the sequels which I've always wanted to (finally picked up VH2 about a year ago). 

Another game I will mention that I rarely hear about is Felony 11-79.  It's a driving game where you are running from the cops on a time limit.  It was unique when it was new because it was sort of "open world" in that you could go wherever you wanted while you were trying to escape.  Although the strict time limit prevented you from doing any time of exploring.  Unfortunately, it's one of those games that makes up for it's short length by being extremely difficult. 

Is it as good as Driver though?

I saw the videos for that game and it looked hilarious, I'll check it out soon.

[TDIRunner]

Is it as good as Driver though?

Certainly not, but it was also released much sooner.  Felony 11-79 was the game that me me realize that an open world game would be pretty awesome.  Although, I never really got into Driver much.  GTA3 was my first true 3D open world game.

[Arkhan Asylum]

car games are stupid
youre all stupid

Twisted Metal is the one true religion.

lol

[geise]

Hermie Hopperhead

[Gredler]

I used to go frigging crazy scanning CDs into Monster Rancher. Some serious "magically mysterious" moments playing that game.

The game itself wasn't complete garbage either, was probably the only monster collecting and training game I ever put more than 5 hrs into

[Arkhan Asylum]

Yeah, I went through all of my parents CDs on that game.

I wonder if that's why my PS1 died.

[seieienbu]

I've got a few mixed feelings about the Playstation.  If I only got one console from that generation then yeah, I'd go Playstation.  The library of games was vast and there are so many classic games and definitely enough unique titles that the console is a must have.

I played dozens of RPGs/ARPGs/Tacticl RPGs on the platform during its lifespan.  In fact, I'm sure that's what I mostly used it for.  I played everything Square and Enix had to offer as well as the less common games like Azure Skies, Thousand Arms, and Jade Cocoon.  From some of the very best in the genre (Dragon Quest 7, FF7, BoF3) to some of the very worst (Beyond the Beyond) I played every RPG I could get my hands on.  Finally, these games were coming out stateside in droves.  Rather than every game in the genre being set in the middle ages you'd have games like Front Mission, Star Ocean 2, or Parasite Eve that would actually have some variety in the genre.  One thing that I especially enjoyed about the PS era RPGs was the pre-rendered backgrounds with 3D characters/objects/paths placed on top.  I thought that a lot of them looked very classy and would seemlessly cut to CG FMV based on the same environments that the pre-rendered backgrounds were from.  All in all, I feel it was a great time to be into RPGs.

After RPGs, I think I enjoyed survival horror games the most.  I realize it wasn't exactly a brand new genre on the PS but I never played any until then.  Between Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Galerians, and a few others I would enjoy playing these a lot.  Generally I wouldn't buy these but instead rent them once or twice as there wasn't That much content to see.  It felt like this genre was a reasonable solution to the problem of controlling a 3D camera that many 3D games were having at the time.  Rather than having a camera that's kinda wonky, make the game intentionally have obscured camera angles and leave you without good knowledge of what's in every corner. 

Another nice thing about the Playstation:  games just expected you to have a memory card.  Renting games was better than ever during this era.  You could save every game and always return back to your game.  You never had to worry about some jerk saving over your game anymore.

With all that said, what could the reason for my mixed feelings be?!?  I feel that console generation was still too early for 3D games.  Between the low resolution textures and the low polygon count I by and large find most of the library displeasing to look at.  Hardware wise I prefer the Saturn.  I feel like the best looking games on the system had copious usage of 2D rather than 3D and rather than playing stuff like the neutered Playstation port of Xmen vs Street Fighter with no tagging on PS1 you could play the excellent Saturn port.  Looking back, I still wish that the Saturn had received more love in the states and that Sega had used better judgement/leadership at the time.

Yes, there are some excellent 2D games on the PS.  Symphony of the Night and Megaman X4 specifically stand out here.  Off the top of my head I also enjoyed Lowmax, Odd World, Silhouette Mirage.  On the other hand there are some excellent 3D games on the platform too, despite the current hardware limitations.  Metal Gear Solid, Spyro, Soul Blade, and Ghost in the Shell were some of my favorites.  But man, I really feel that the extra power of the (then) modern systems could have been much better spent on making really badass 2D stuff than on what most 3D games were.  I think a fair comparison here is Playstation to 3D is like Atari 2600 to 2D.  Yeah, there's some fun stuff but a whole lot of this generation is nonsense like Bubsy 3D where devs just seemed to be banging their heads against a wall trying to figure out how to make this fancy 3D stuff fun and enjoyable.  There are a lot of growing pains with the advent of 3D gaming and the PS is full of games demonstrating that fact.

Oh, and I don't like the controller.  Not the original, not the Dual Shock, and not any descendant of the Dual Shock.

[Arkhan Asylum]

PS1s 3D isn't great but man was it smooth compared to N64!

[seieienbu]

Heh, I think I'd rather play no 3D games than most 3D games from that era regardless of which console they're on.

[ParanoiaDragon]

3D, yeah, in general I agree, 3D didn't hit it's stride maybe till Dreamcast.  Still, there were some great games that were 3D.  I forgot to mention Tenchu, I have no idea how I forgot about that game!

[ClodBusted]

As told numerous times before, I was pretty late to any PlayStation 1 related things.
Sure, I played a lot of Tekken 3 at a friend's home when it was the new hot shit, but that's all I experienced back in the day.

I bought my own PlayStation 2 SCPH-9x in 2008, so I could play MGS2 and 3. As soon as I learned about SDF Macross being a fantastic PS2 game, I got the console modbo-chipped, and from that moment on, I started importing Japanese PS1 and PS2 games. Mainly Konami shooters, Castlevania, 3d fighting games and quirky puzzle games. I've got almost no interest in the regular PS1 games that were well-known in Europe back then. Maybe I'll give Tomb Raider II a try someday.

-Castlevania Chronicles (essential)

It is indeed.

[nopepper]

I don't consider getting 100% in Crash 2 to be that difficult.  I try to do it at least once per year.  It's a fun challenge that I look forward to.  Getting 100% on Crash 1 is much more difficult in my opinion.  I don't consider that as fun, and while I love the game, when I play it, I play it to beat it and that's it.  I've completed it 100% one time, and I doubt I will ever even try that again.  The fact that you have to get all boxes WITHOUT DIEING is what ruins it for me.  They fixed this issue in the HD remake on PS4, but unfortunately, the jumping physics are different, and therefore the game is unplayable for me.  I'll stick with the originals.

No doubt Crash 1 is more difficult, but it's also much worse designed (at least from what I can remember). I only rented it and never bothered to get back into it.

It's been too long for me to remember why we never 100% completed Crash 2, but I'm sure being in college and distracted by everything that entails had a lot to do with it. I've also never been the best platformer gamer, or an OCD completionist either, which is a testament to how good that game was, as it kept me entertained long after I had gotten to the ending. Not even Mario was able to do that.

Naughty Dog is one of the best developers out there. I don't care what anyone says, but every game I've played from them has been a masterpiece. Uncharted series, Last of Us, Crash 2. Reminds me I need to one day try out the Jak and Daxter series and perhaps Rings of Power.

[TDIRunner]

I think a fair comparison here is Playstation to 3D is like Atari 2600 to 2D.

I have made this exact same comparison before.  The 5th generation of gaming is to 3D the way the 2nd generation of gaming was to 2D.  The games were a lot of fun, but nothing has aged well in terms of graphics.  I love my PS1, but yes, many games are hard to look at.  In fact, I remember thinking that some of it was ugly even when it was brand new.  However, myself and many others were willing to overlook the graphical styles because the games were so much damn fun. 

[nopepper]

There's so many great games and B-side gems that I can't understand how someone would dislike the PS1 except for sega/nintendo fanboyism. Or maybe just a general dislike for early 3D graphics, I don't know.

I agree.

Even if you can't get past the early 3D graphics, the system has a lot to offer. I already listed a bunch of 2D stuff, but there is more, like Harmful Park, Gradius Gaiden, Gunners Heaven, Zanac x Zanac, Raiden Project, In the Hunt, Metal Slug X, Panzer Bandit, Silhouette Mirage, Oddworld, etc. etc.

And if you can get past graphics, there are a lot of 3D games that play like traditional 2D games such as the aforementioned Apocalypse, One and Silent Bomber.

[in99flames]

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

Thats all I have to say. An absolute mountain of awesome games for PS1...but that game is one of the ones i always seem to mention first.

[SiberianSpForces]

I remember the first night the PS1 came home. My brother got it on launch day and traded the SNES in towards it and me not knowing rented a SNES game for the weekend... He used to play D&D with some pals and they'd take game breaks. Order pizza and play Twisted Metal, then Tekken. He got me my own in '98. When he moved out, we swapped systems so I could play imports. Here's some gems I have;
Bushido Blade 1 & 2
SOTN
Deception
Hangtime(also have it on the 64)
MK Trilogy
Pocket Fighter
Real Bout Special Dominated Mind(JP)
Tekken 2(JP)
Shadow Madness
Strider 2
SF Collection vol.1
Tenchu
I also burned Thrill Kill and MK II. 

[TDIRunner]

Over the weekend, I put a few hours into Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit.  That game is still a lot of fun.  I played that game endlessly when it first came out and it still holds up really well.  It isn't nearly as pretty today, but I think we all agree that the same can be said for most 5th gen games.  But the gameplay is really fun and the course design is great.  They really nailed the drifting in that game and the police chases are a lot of fun. 

[Arkhan Asylum]

A lot of games back then look fuckin goofy now, but some looked goofy at the time, too.


I was playing Battle Arena Toshinden, lol...

they look so derpy.

[TDIRunner]

A lot of games back then look fuckin goofy now, but some looked goofy at the time, too.

Back in the day, a lot of it was easy to overlook because it was new and most of us had no experience playing stuff in 3D.  However, even when it was new it used to bug me when something that was obviously supposed to be a straight line was all jagged, and of course the general graininess of the PS1 was very noticeable.  But I've always made the argument that gameplay outweighs graphics anyway.

[ParanoiaDragon]

Looks like some PS1 games might now get the HD treatment, seeing that they're putting MediEvil remastered on PS4.  Makes me wonder what other games might get this treatment?

http://www.siliconera.com/2017/12/09/medievil-remaster-announced-for-playstation-4-in-4k-resolution/

I never played this game, but I assume it's going to be literally the PS1 version cleaned up & not a remake like the Crash Trilogy, which I need to get around to playing.  It would be nice if they HD'd Daxter & Lost Frontier, for completions sake, though, Lost Frontier was pretty meh.

[Arkhan Asylum]

I don't remember the PS1 being all doofy with Tomb Raider textures.

It's funny how they jiggle.


I don't want these games to get HD treatment.

They will fuck it all up

[ParanoiaDragon]

Maybe, maybe not, I'll just wait back & see what happens.

[TDIRunner]

I don't remember the PS1 being all doofy with Tomb Raider textures.

It's funny how they jiggle.


I don't want these games to get HD treatment.

They will fuck it all up

The Crash remake hurt my soul.  I shouldn't have allowed my hopes to get so high.

[nopepper]

A lot of games back then look fuckin goofy now, but some looked goofy at the time, too.


I was playing Battle Arena Toshinden, lol...

they look so derpy.

Battle Arena Toshinden, Wipeout and Jumping Flash were the games that sold me on picking up a PSX over the Saturn. It was a good decision in hindsight, but even back then, I remember how disappointing BAT was.

It's kinda funny looking back, because that game got some heavy praise when it came out, with some mags (Game Players...) proclaiming it was the best fighter ever.

[Arkhan Asylum]

The majority of those 3D fighters were all doofy.

I liked Tobal No. 1 though.