For pretty much my entire adult life I would have immediately answered “Super Nintendo and N64” as to which consoles were my favorites growing up. I owned a PlayStation (and Dreamcast and Xbox) but it really didn’t register with me as a super nostalgic piece of hardware for a long time.
This changed a few years ago when I traded an N64 game for a fat PlayStation 2. My initial intention was to solely play PS2 games, a console I had never owned before. At some point, I decided to start grabbing some PS1 titles. A Final Fantasy Tactics here, a Brave Fencer Musashi there, you know how these things go. Core memories were unlocked and, soon enough, I found my original PlayStation library being the largest in my collection.
One of those fond childhood memories that came rushing back include selling my Virtual Boy to a friend, gathering up all of my life savings so my mom could take me to Toys ‘R’ Us so I could buy a PS1 along with NBA In the Zone (a game that will not be featured on this list) and Resident Evil. I also remember talking to a friend at school about this new game I got called Final Fantasy Tactics, bringing the instruction manual to school, and his mom dropping him off at my house that weekend for a few hours of tactical goodness.
After a while, I’ve come to accept the original PlayStation as not only a console full of great games, but one that stands among my very few favorites ever. Yes, you have to deal with a significant amount of “of the era” control and camera jankiness. Don’t like tank controls? Want sensible control over the camera in a 3D game? Hate jagged polygons? My friend, the PS1 is simply not for you.
For those of us who have grown accustomed to the quirks, maybe even grown to enjoy them, the PS1 library is absolutely packed with classic games across many, many genres. It was the original JRPG king, but also features some of the best games in racing, fighting, shmup, vehicular combat, 3D platforming, and many others. It was not only groundbreaking at the time, but also managed to create many games which are still fun today..
Criteria
Any game released on the PS1. This list will be a mix of nostalgia and recent playthroughs with no rhyme or reason as to which wins out in any particular case. I have gotten the chance to experience quite a few new-to-me PS1 games in the last few years and those will feature prominently on this list but I will also throw in a game I haven’t touched in nearly 30 years.
It all boils down to this being my list and there being no actual rules so I’m just winging it and we’ll see how it all turns out. Note that this isn’t to say I didn’t agonize for long stretches of time over which games to include and where to rank them.
The List
Honorable Mentions:
You didn’t think I was going to actually only name 10 games on my top 10 list, did you? Well, new reader, you have a lot to learn about how we do things here at TTG… Here are an extra 10 games. I would not consider these my 11-20 favorite games, as many different entries in series’ represented somewhere on this list would probably mess up that nice ordering. These ten, however, are amazing and worth a shout-out.
Ape Escape: An early 3D platformer that makes wild use of the dual analog sticks. Ape Escape is pure, silly fun and a necessary play for any fans of the genre.
Bushido Blade: The idea of being able to one-hit your opponent in a H2H fighting game is absolutely wild. Even outside of that, the sword-based combat and massive levels lead to this being an incredibly unique experience in the genre.
Gran Turismo 2: I remember getting absolutely hooked on trying to hit license goals on this game as a kid. I’d never gotten into a simulation racing game before, and haven’t really since either, but GT2 had me absolutely hooked with its incredible graphics and tight controls.
Parasite Eve: A wonderfully unique game that blends elements of RPGs, survival horror, and action games. Throw in some of the most memorable cutscenes on the console and you have an incredibly unique experience that was probably the hardest game to leave out of my top 10.
R4: Ridge Racer Type 4: One of the best arcade racers out there. It offers some different cars with wildly different handling mechanics to elevate it a bit above the standard arcade racer.
Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage: The original laid the blueprint, and this sequel perfected that formula. A quick-paced 3D collect-a-thon, this always felt like a true spiritual successor to the Sonic games to me. There are a lot of fun games from this genre around this time, but Spyro definitely did the best job of allowing you to move fast through tight controls and great level design.
Suikoden: A fairly straightforward JRPG with the fun hook of being able to recruit 108 allies to help build your home base and fight in your party. The game also throws massive war-scale battles and one-on-one fights in the mix. The result of all of this is a wonderful JRPG that stands among the best on a system full of classics.
Tekken 3: I’m not much of a fighting game fan, but I will still drop into Tekken 3 every so often and clear the game with a random character and have a great time doing so. The game is extremely approachable with a reasonable CPU difficulty level and a slew of different game modes to play (even if you have to unlock some of them).
Tenchu: Stealth Assassins: A wonderful action stealth game that is incredibly easy to point at today and laugh at how important the 10 meter draw distance is to the gameplay. Accept the limitations it operates under, however, and you will find a really fun trial-and-error stealth game which does not force certain approaches on the player.
Toy Story 2: An early 3D platforming collect-a-thon, Toy Story 2 deserves to be in the conversation with the likes of Banjo-Kazooie and Ape Escape, in my book. I’ve played through this twice in the past few years
10. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
Once you start controlling Raziel, within a few minutes you will enter a room with two monsters. You will need to beat them into a stupor with your sword and then pick them up and throw them against the wall to impale them on spikes releasing their souls so you can consume them. You could also burn them on a torch, if that sounds like more fun. That, my friends, is how you start a video game! The rest of the game isn’t quite as perfect, but it’s still a great time. Explore the world, solve puzzles, fight bad guys, basically everything you’d expect from an action-adventure game. Soul Reaver has a great story and visuals, with strong gameplay to back it up. The end result is a game that holds up well today and is one of the first I think of when remembering the console.
9. Tomb Raider
Yes, the original Tomb Raider. The numbered sequels might be better, it’s been too long since I’ve played them and I’ve certainly never finished either. I did, however, replay the original a year or two ago and have a wonderful time. There is a very specific type of satisfaction in learning Lara Croft’s movements so you can know exactly where to stand on those blocks that make up everything in the game so you can flawlessly execute a difficult jump. The threat of instant death if you miss raises the stakes in a way that could be frustrating, but I found the whole thing to be a wonderful movement puzzle. Yes, the combat mostly stinks, but at least you get to shoot dinosaurs! I expected this to be a quick pass when I started it, but I enjoyed it thoroughly. The fact that I still had a great time with it now and it being an absolutely inescapable icon of the era makes this an easy choice for this list, but feel free to replace this with II or III, if you prefer.
8. Twisted Metal 2
I’m really sad that vehicular combat games like this have mostly died. The Twisted Metal games were absolutely massive on the PlayStation and TM2 stands as my favorite of the bunch. Expanding on the ideas of the original, the game lets you pick a character and their vehicle then start blasting away enemies to advance through the Twisted Metal tournament. The controls are not the best, but after a level or three you will get used to them and have a great time cycling through all kinds of special weapons to take out opponents. It is an incredibly simple concept that works through great level design and a massive, fun variety of vehicles to play as.
7. Final Fantasy VII
This was a tough call over Final Fantasy Tactics and IX, but ultimately I have to give credit to FFVII. It was the first JRPG I played and remained the only one I beat for about 20 years after I did so in the late ‘90s. The game was massive in scope of its story and areas you could explore. There is basically an entire game’s worth of content and then you hit the overworld map and realize you’d only seen a fraction of the game. The story is gripping, but the characters really elevate things here. As for gameplay, this is mostly a straightforward JRPG game, but some stunning visuals and really fun fights make the experience stand out.
6. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
SotN is one of the best Metroidvania games out there, and that happens to be one of my favorite genres. Sometimes it’s better not to overthink things with lists like this. The game melds the classic Castlevania setting and characters with many RPG-like elements with a massive selection of weapons, relics, and armor you can equip to completely customize Alucard and play how you want to. Featuring strong exploration and combat, the gameplay is still great while the Castlevania vibes elevate it to be something special. A must-play for fans of the genre, it also works as a great introduction for newcomers.
5. Brave Fencer Musashi
This stands as one of my favorite discoveries of retro games I had never heard about until the last few years. I didn’t even realize this shipped with a Final Fantasy VIII demo, which was possibly its more noteworthy aspect upon release. To my wonderful surprise, the game is amazing. It is a SquareSoft action-RPG which steals those wonderfully goofy character models from FFVII and applies them to a kingdom where everything is named after food. The titular Musashi is a lovable jerk who gets called in to save the day.
A bit of dungeon crawling, a lot of fighting, saving various villagers, buying goods, etc… There are a couple of needlessly difficult platforming sections mixed in, but the needlessly difficult final boss was a lot of fun to learn and master. It’s mostly pretty standard stuff, but the charm of Musashi and the world, combined with the very strong execution on all fronts, make this one of my favorite games on the system
4. Metal Gear Solid
Such a groundbreaking game, it’s a miracle that MGS still manages to hold up today despite how many novel ideas it introduced into mainstream gaming. Cutscenes rendered with the game engine? Spending a third of your playtime having conversations via your headset? Having to change your controller’s port and read clues on the back of the game box? So many wild concepts.
The game itself is a great action stealth affair. You’ll have a variety of options for progressing through rooms as pure stealth, stealth kills, or loud gunfights are all on the table for Snake. The boss fights are epic, even if some are a little tough today due to controls, and the story is great. It was the first videogame many people played which felt like a movie which makes it stand out in our memories, but it is also a great playthrough today.
3. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
I first played this about a year ago at the time of this writing and I still find myself thinking about it from time to time. It refines what Resident Evil 2 did so well so the gameplay is as smooth as it gets on the PlayStation. The addition of Nemesis as the un-killable enemy who occasionally shows up to wreck your day is amazing. Mr. X/Tyrant from RE2 was great with his methodical approach, but Nemesis ratchets that up a few notches by being faster than you and occasionally holding a rocket launcher.
This speedy antagonist perfectly mirrors my favorite aspect of the game: this is a Resident Evil game that actually feels like you are trying to get out of Raccoon City as quickly as possible. For all of the unspeakable horrors our favorite RE heroes see in their games, most of them make you stay in a police station for a few hours. RE3 has you blazing through various locations simply trying to escape. Yes, you stop to kill lots of ugly zombies and there are still some obtuse puzzles to solve, but the game has momentum that is fitting for a scenario where you are constantly being chased by the undead.
2. Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
In my head, Crash is the mascot for the PlayStation 1. I always found humor in the disconnect between the ‘90’s attitude style marketing they used with Crash and the fact that there was basically zero of that attitude in the game (for the better). Does doing a little dance after beating a level count? Maybe.
Anyway, Crash 2 is my favorite in the series. It took the amazing concept of a 2.5D platformer that the original laid out, expanded in smart ways via some mini-game style levels, and refined the heck out of everything along the way. The third in the series, another PS1 classic, took the mini-games a bit too far for my tastes, but it is also a fantastic game. Given that you don’t have to fight a camera at all, Crash 2 completely holds up today. The remakes are fine, but wholly unnecessary when the original is timeless.
1. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2
I will make no apologies for placing a sports game at the top of my list. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 is THE PlayStation game in my opinion. To start; it’s perfect. Every level is amazing, the controls are perfect, it looks good, Spider-Man is an unlockable character, and the soundtrack is an absolute all-timer. The best part is that it still holds up.
Drop into any level with any character and you can’t help but have fun in this game. The game, which you play two minutes at a time, offers unlimited different combinations to explore on each of its levels. The grind of trying to find the best path to hit the SICK score goals, while training your fingers to actually pull them off. It’s addicting in a way that should probably be illegal. No game has ever gotten the “just one more try” hook in me more than this one.
It’s a big jump from the original with some smart trick additions and I prefer it over THPS3 for the very specific reason of not being able to connect pipe tricks within the same combo (the introduction of the revert did this). This means you can’t hit a halfpipe and endlessly revert your way to ridiculous scores, you need to find good lines, execute a mix of grinds, manuals, and air tricks, and push your luck as your balance teeters along the way. Basically; “back in my day, we didn’t have reverts, and we liked it!”
I will never have anything but an amazing time when I pop Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 into my PlayStation. Whether it’s to try a few runs when I have ten free minutes or to work towards clearing stages with a different skater for a few hours. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 is the most fun I’ve had on the PlayStation, and that earns it my top spot.
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