Ok guys, here?s something that?s been brewing in my head for a while now. I love the Playstations. Now before anyone gets upset over that, it doesn?t mean I don?t also love other consoles. But the Playstations gave me undoubtedly the best video games of my childhood.
As such, this will be the start of a trilogy of top ten lists discussing my favourite of each generation of Playstation games.
You may well find that games you love aren?t on these lists and if that?s the case then I apologise in advance. It could well be because I simply haven?t played it before.
Now onto the list.
10 - Demo 1:
OK, this one is a bit of a cheat, as it isn?t technically a game per se, rather a collection of demos of the PS1?s earliest titles which were still in development at the time. But despite that, it is one of my fondest memories as a kid. Until then I?d only known games to be 2D sidescrollers. Then this came along and boom, it?s like ?they?re in 3D now?? While it may not be a game in and of itself I definitely hold it as worthy because it essentially got me into the Playstation to begin with. Not only that, but it contained a pair of special features intended just for this disc. A simulation of the capabilities of the Playstation. Called ?Manta? and ?Dino?, the allowed the player to control a 3D image of a manta ray and T-Rex respectively. While not special by today?s standards, it was very impressive for the time, the manta one in particular staying in my mind all these years due to a combination of beautiful imagery and soothing background music.
9 ? Tekken 3:
You can probably blame rose-tinted nostalgia for this one as it was the very first ACTUAL PS1 game I ever played. Matter of fact, to this day it?s the only actual fighting game I?ve ever played. It provided a colourful cast of memorable character, was fun to play and contain a bonanza of special features that you really had to work at to unlock. I don?t know how it stands up against other fighter games as I haven?t played any, but this one really left a good impression on me.
8 ? Rayman 2:
One thing you?ll see plenty of on this list are games which took what made their predecessors great, and made it better. This game is no exception. It had a simple story. A guy has to save the world from evil robot pirates. Now I know that sounds cool, and it is, but what really makes this game worthy of the list is how fun it was to play. True you had a lot of that ?tedious item collecting? that plagued many games of this time, but despite that I never found myself bore while playing this. It was colourful, fun to play and had a story simply enough to enjoy yet not simple enough to make you feel like you were being looked down on.
7 ? Klonoa, Door to Phantomile:
If I had to describe this game in one sentence, it would be ?the PS1 version of Kirby 64?. This is not a bad things as both were very good games but shared many similar features. Both contained cutesy character and the ability to use your enemies as projectiles. Both featured ?2 and a half D? graphics and sidescrolling and both featured dreams and nightmares as story points. This is by far the most kid-friendly game on this list but being one of my earliest PS1 memories, I don?t hold that against it. The gameplay was simple, the story was simple and it was just a really fun game to play.
6 ? Breath of Fire IV:
If there?s one thing this Playstation has above the others, it?s the fact that it gave me a JRPG that I wanted to play which WASN?T another Final Fantasy game. While this game was often mocked in it?s time as being a ?Final Fantasy knockoff? that never bothered me. I found both the characters interesting and the environment colourful. Much of the time the story and characters are utterly devoid of all the melancholy and depressing elements that seem to mar other JRPG?s, which is a plus. The battles are engaging and you really feel like you have an impact on the development of their abilities. The only downside I can think of is the final boss battle, as I never beat it. Yes, you read that right. I?ve put a game on this list that I?ve never actually finished. The difficulty of that final battle is probably what?s keeping this game from being any higher but it still deserves a place on this list.
5 ? Crash Bandicoot 3:
This game, much like the game on the next number, makes it onto the list primarily because of how much better they were than their predecessors. This game featured many types of gameplay and all of them were fun to be involved with. And while this too contained a heavy emphasis on item collecting I never let it bother me. The only real criticism I can throw at this game was the inclusion of Coco Bandicoot as a playable character. Mostly because there?s nothing she does in her respective levels that Crash himself could not do. It really does seem to me that she was only put in here as a business ply to appeal to wider audiences rather than have her add anything to the game. But that?s a small criticism against what is by far a very enjoyable entry on the list.
4 ? Spyro 3:
Like Crash 3, this game took all of the elements that made it?s predecessor great and took them to new levels. The story is largely the same from previous games. Some big baddie somewhere is doing ad things and you need to collect ?X? in order to beat them. Lather rinse repeat. But much like Crash 3, the enjoyment in on playing the game rather than thinking too deeply about it. There is a huge swathe of side activities to keep you occupied in this game. The option of taking control of many new character and play in new and different way that you would as the titular dragon himself is really engaging.
3 ? Abe?s Exodus:
Much like the original game, Abe?s Odyssey, this is what I like to refer to as ?Sony?s version of a sidescroller?. By which I mean it takes sidescrolling and designs it in that techno grim and gritty way that their games have been known for. This game features many new elements to the gameplay like language for all the creatures you can possess and the puzzles, while difficult at times, were enjoyable to solve. The story may not be that different from it?s predecessor but at the time it felt fresh and new, which it still does in hindsight. Many may get tired of the constant fart jokes but it never really bothered me. I just ignored them. Nevertheless, this was an enjoyable game that continues the tradition of one the PS1?s earliest good games.
2 ? Final Fantasy IX:
I wrote a review some time ago saying how much I love this game. While it?s been accused over the years of ?drawing too much from the well? in terms of a return to the more steampunk medieval feel of earlier games rather than the more techno-futuristic emphasis of more recent titles (like VII and VIII), I actually like that they did that. It IS a fantasy game after all. The battle and levelling up systems may not be too different from other Final Fantasy titles of the time, and the trance system got rather irritating at times, but despite that I enjoyed the battles in this game. The characters were fortunately a far cry from the more depressing case we?ve been getting on both the two aforementioned titles and the games that have been made since. The music is superb and is by far one of the best overall soundtracks you will ever hear in a video game.
1 ? Metal Gear Solid:
On some level, you all knew this was coming. This is the game by which I have measured all others. The story is superb and is still one of the best examples I can think of in terms of an attempt to make games more like film. The gameplay is brilliant, offering a variety of options both in combat and for stealth. The characters are larger than life and it is the first time in a video game where I?ve been made to cry at the events happening on screen. The music is superb and is the only time I would hold a single game soundtrack above that of a Final Fantasy title. The graphics were, in my view, the best the PS1 ever gave. This is one of those rare games that I can find no fault in. And for that reason, it was easy for me to decide that it deserved the top spot on this list.
As such, this will be the start of a trilogy of top ten lists discussing my favourite of each generation of Playstation games.
You may well find that games you love aren?t on these lists and if that?s the case then I apologise in advance. It could well be because I simply haven?t played it before.
Now onto the list.
10 - Demo 1:
OK, this one is a bit of a cheat, as it isn?t technically a game per se, rather a collection of demos of the PS1?s earliest titles which were still in development at the time. But despite that, it is one of my fondest memories as a kid. Until then I?d only known games to be 2D sidescrollers. Then this came along and boom, it?s like ?they?re in 3D now?? While it may not be a game in and of itself I definitely hold it as worthy because it essentially got me into the Playstation to begin with. Not only that, but it contained a pair of special features intended just for this disc. A simulation of the capabilities of the Playstation. Called ?Manta? and ?Dino?, the allowed the player to control a 3D image of a manta ray and T-Rex respectively. While not special by today?s standards, it was very impressive for the time, the manta one in particular staying in my mind all these years due to a combination of beautiful imagery and soothing background music.
9 ? Tekken 3:
You can probably blame rose-tinted nostalgia for this one as it was the very first ACTUAL PS1 game I ever played. Matter of fact, to this day it?s the only actual fighting game I?ve ever played. It provided a colourful cast of memorable character, was fun to play and contain a bonanza of special features that you really had to work at to unlock. I don?t know how it stands up against other fighter games as I haven?t played any, but this one really left a good impression on me.
8 ? Rayman 2:
One thing you?ll see plenty of on this list are games which took what made their predecessors great, and made it better. This game is no exception. It had a simple story. A guy has to save the world from evil robot pirates. Now I know that sounds cool, and it is, but what really makes this game worthy of the list is how fun it was to play. True you had a lot of that ?tedious item collecting? that plagued many games of this time, but despite that I never found myself bore while playing this. It was colourful, fun to play and had a story simply enough to enjoy yet not simple enough to make you feel like you were being looked down on.
7 ? Klonoa, Door to Phantomile:
If I had to describe this game in one sentence, it would be ?the PS1 version of Kirby 64?. This is not a bad things as both were very good games but shared many similar features. Both contained cutesy character and the ability to use your enemies as projectiles. Both featured ?2 and a half D? graphics and sidescrolling and both featured dreams and nightmares as story points. This is by far the most kid-friendly game on this list but being one of my earliest PS1 memories, I don?t hold that against it. The gameplay was simple, the story was simple and it was just a really fun game to play.
6 ? Breath of Fire IV:
If there?s one thing this Playstation has above the others, it?s the fact that it gave me a JRPG that I wanted to play which WASN?T another Final Fantasy game. While this game was often mocked in it?s time as being a ?Final Fantasy knockoff? that never bothered me. I found both the characters interesting and the environment colourful. Much of the time the story and characters are utterly devoid of all the melancholy and depressing elements that seem to mar other JRPG?s, which is a plus. The battles are engaging and you really feel like you have an impact on the development of their abilities. The only downside I can think of is the final boss battle, as I never beat it. Yes, you read that right. I?ve put a game on this list that I?ve never actually finished. The difficulty of that final battle is probably what?s keeping this game from being any higher but it still deserves a place on this list.
5 ? Crash Bandicoot 3:
This game, much like the game on the next number, makes it onto the list primarily because of how much better they were than their predecessors. This game featured many types of gameplay and all of them were fun to be involved with. And while this too contained a heavy emphasis on item collecting I never let it bother me. The only real criticism I can throw at this game was the inclusion of Coco Bandicoot as a playable character. Mostly because there?s nothing she does in her respective levels that Crash himself could not do. It really does seem to me that she was only put in here as a business ply to appeal to wider audiences rather than have her add anything to the game. But that?s a small criticism against what is by far a very enjoyable entry on the list.
4 ? Spyro 3:
Like Crash 3, this game took all of the elements that made it?s predecessor great and took them to new levels. The story is largely the same from previous games. Some big baddie somewhere is doing ad things and you need to collect ?X? in order to beat them. Lather rinse repeat. But much like Crash 3, the enjoyment in on playing the game rather than thinking too deeply about it. There is a huge swathe of side activities to keep you occupied in this game. The option of taking control of many new character and play in new and different way that you would as the titular dragon himself is really engaging.
3 ? Abe?s Exodus:
Much like the original game, Abe?s Odyssey, this is what I like to refer to as ?Sony?s version of a sidescroller?. By which I mean it takes sidescrolling and designs it in that techno grim and gritty way that their games have been known for. This game features many new elements to the gameplay like language for all the creatures you can possess and the puzzles, while difficult at times, were enjoyable to solve. The story may not be that different from it?s predecessor but at the time it felt fresh and new, which it still does in hindsight. Many may get tired of the constant fart jokes but it never really bothered me. I just ignored them. Nevertheless, this was an enjoyable game that continues the tradition of one the PS1?s earliest good games.
2 ? Final Fantasy IX:
I wrote a review some time ago saying how much I love this game. While it?s been accused over the years of ?drawing too much from the well? in terms of a return to the more steampunk medieval feel of earlier games rather than the more techno-futuristic emphasis of more recent titles (like VII and VIII), I actually like that they did that. It IS a fantasy game after all. The battle and levelling up systems may not be too different from other Final Fantasy titles of the time, and the trance system got rather irritating at times, but despite that I enjoyed the battles in this game. The characters were fortunately a far cry from the more depressing case we?ve been getting on both the two aforementioned titles and the games that have been made since. The music is superb and is by far one of the best overall soundtracks you will ever hear in a video game.
1 ? Metal Gear Solid:
On some level, you all knew this was coming. This is the game by which I have measured all others. The story is superb and is still one of the best examples I can think of in terms of an attempt to make games more like film. The gameplay is brilliant, offering a variety of options both in combat and for stealth. The characters are larger than life and it is the first time in a video game where I?ve been made to cry at the events happening on screen. The music is superb and is the only time I would hold a single game soundtrack above that of a Final Fantasy title. The graphics were, in my view, the best the PS1 ever gave. This is one of those rare games that I can find no fault in. And for that reason, it was easy for me to decide that it deserved the top spot on this list.
