Anyone have a soft spot for the 5th generation (Saturn/PS1/N64)

[entremet]

I really love this generation. The PS1 is still my favorite of the Sony consoles and I've owned all, including the portables. I was fortunate to play the best of all these thanks to friends. I was gifted an N64, bought a PS1 with summer job money, and borrowed a Saturn. It was also the first time arcade close ports were coming out with regularlity. I was a Capcom fighting fan, so the Saturn was amazing for that.

Let's not forget the portables with the GBC and NGPC.

The Neo Geo, both AES and MVS, while previous generation, was still very active and getting seminal entries, including Metal Slug and the KoF series.

And while not considered "generations", I loved the PC output as well during that time as well, LucasArts, Id, and so on.

Some of my favorites:

• Super Mario 64
• Ape Escape
• Dynamite Deka
• Wave Race 64
• Resident Evil
• Metal Gear Solid
• Nights into Dreams
• Majora's Mask
• X-Men versus Street Fighter
• Star Fox 64
• Tomba
• Wario Land 3
• Fighter's Megamix
• Metal Slug
• Tekken 3
• Smash Brothers
• Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

This generation is also in need of more official preservation, especially Saturn.

 

[Last Jon Standing]

I have a soft spot for the PS1 and revisit many of its games every once in a while. There are some N64 and Saturn games I love, but no soft spot for either system.

Edit: Typos and adding some favorites I revisit often:

- Chrono Cross
- Silent Hill
- Resident Evil 3 (and 2, but less often)
- Parasite Eve 2
- Urban Chaos
- Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee
- Ordworld: Abe's Exoddus
- Mega Man Legends 1 and 2
- Syphon Filter 1, 2 and 3
- Martian Gothic: Unification
- Harvest Moon: Back to Nature
- Vagrant Story
- Metal Gear Solid
- Medal of Honor (and Underground)
- Dino Crisis 1 and 2

 

[Jerm411]

I have a soft spot for it, esp. the N64....was the console me and my group of friends played and bonded over.

The nostalgia runs deep for me with it.....

 

[Zoph]

It is my favorite generation by a wide margin. Saturn and PS1 especially.

 

[Jombie]

PS1 is still amazing. I replay SH1 once a year.

 

[entremet]

It is my favorite generation by a wide margin. Saturn and PS1 especially.

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Lots of experimental stuff. Squaresoft was really creative.

 

[Iori Loco]

N64 was my first console so I have a lot of nostalgia for it. I'm one of the few weirdos that really likes those refrigerator sized polygons, prerendered stuff, and don't mind the chopy framerate that much.

The N64 Zeldas are very nice looking to me, especially things like the mirror shield (when it has elemental charge from the witches it looks pretty awesome), the colored fire, the skulltulas, etc.

 

[Deleted member 9241]

PS1 was a jrpg paradise. Coming off the SNES, which primed me with several classics, I was in heaven at the time.

 

[Necron]

Indeed! I've been playing a lot on a PS Classic these past few days.

 

[Morrigan]

It's far, far better than the 6th generation. Don't @ me

 

[entremet]

Indeed! I've been playing a lot on a PS Classic these past few days.

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I do hope Sega's next mini console is a mini Saturn. Apparently, they're doing more.

It's far, far better than the 6th generation. Don't @ me

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I would agree. Sixth generation had some amazing action games, though. Capcom was on fire that generation--Resident Evil 4, REMake, Viewtiful Joe, Okami (not really action but including it lol).

 

[SinkFla]

I miss my saturn. I was a fucking idiot and sold it to a friend many years ago for $50. I tried buying it back years later and my friend tells me he accidentally left it in his garage during a storm and it got rained on. Oh and he took it apart trying to fix the memory card slot.

 

[TheMadTitan]

It's like the main reason why I run emulators.

 

[Shark]

How could you not? It was definitely the gen that shaped my tastes and interests the most.

 

[petethepanda]

I got to play some PS1 and Saturn stuff at a friend's house at the time, but I only ever had an N64 myself. I gradually played my way through a lot of the PS1 stuff I missed in the 00s and it wound up kind of stretching out my experience of that gen in an interesting way. I don't revisit N64 stuff very often and Saturn has still remained a blind spot for me, but I have an incredible soft spot for PS1.

 

[entremet]

How could you not? It was definitely the gen that shaped my tastes and interests the most.

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It gets shit on a lot since 3D was in its infancy. I feel I hear more love for the 4th (Genesis/SNES) and the 6th (Dreamcast/PS2/Gamecube/Xbox).

And many consider the N64 legit awful--they're wrong lol.

 

[Teenage Fansub]

Who doesn't?

 

[RatskyWatsky]

PS1 was the first console I owned. So yes, I have a soft spot for it. :)

 

[Combichristoffersen]

Still love the PS1, but was never a huge fan of the N64 due to the controller and its lacking library of games. Saturn essentially didn't exist at all where I grew up, and was just some mythical beast I only read about in gaming magazines. I didn't see a Saturn IRL until like two years ago, and never played one until earlier this year.

 

[Chackan]

My favorite gen is the PS2 gen (started with Dreamcast, ended up with the PS2, and damn what a ride that generation was), but I have a soft spot for every generation lol

 

[NewDayMarch]

Don't know if I miss the games (besides JRPGs, a lot of the genres have much-improved on later entries in subsequent generations)-but I do miss the culture of Couch Co-Op. I miss it being available in the majority of AAA Games. If you had told me in the 90s that in 2020 you could buy a 50, 60, or hell even 70 inch TV screen-and not be rich- I would have happily dreamed of being shoulder-to-shoulder with friends in a nirvana of local multiplayer. Online can be fun, but it's not the same.

 

[Taruranto]

... isn't it one of the most loved generations?

 

[lightning16]

It's a great gen and I'm always pleasantly surprised to go back to these games and realize how well so many of them have aged in terms of gameplay. Not so much visually, of course, but a ton of games from this gen are still a lot of fun to play. My favorite genres are JRPGs and platformers and they were superb during this time and still are.

 

[Android Sophia]

The PS1 has a lot of great games, but its the N64 specifically I have a soft sport for. Some of my greatest memories are on that console playing Star Fox 64 or Goldeneye.

Never owned a Saturn back in the day. So it's a magical piece of hardware, but not one I have a soft spot for.

 

[entremet]

... isn't it one of the most loved generations?

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I think 4th and 6th are the more beloved overall. I could always add a poll ;)

 

[AIan]

PS1 did have a certain charm to it but so did the PS2. PS3 just wasn't the same.

 

[nightstalker962]

Bring back Conker.

 

[Deleted member 1003]

Oh of course. The PS1 was such a generational leap.

 

[sir_crocodile]

Yes, of course I have a soft spot for the best console generation ever. Most of my fave games of all time came out then:

Breath of Fire 3
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Shining Force 3 S1-S3
Shining the Holy Ark
ISS64
Grandia
Super Mario 64
Panzer Dragoon Zwei
Vandal Hearts
Street Fighter Alpha 3
Xmen : Children of the Atom
Tetris Grand Master
Broken Sword 1/2
Mysteria : Realms of Lore
Soul Blade
Suikoden
Suikoden 2
Final Fantasy VII/VIII/IX
Star Ocean 2
Symphony of the Night
Vagrant Story
Shienryu
Banjo-Kazooie
Quake
Doom 64
Hybrid Heaven
Resident Evil
Fighters Megamix
Vanguard Bandits
Saturn Bomberman
Virtua ON
Valkyrie Profile
Wild Arms
Star Wars Supremacy

...I could go on forever.

 

[Renna Hazel]

N64 is my all time favorite console, so naturally I have a huge soft spot for this gen. Nintendo and Rare were just the perfect combo. 4 player social gaming really took off. It was a great time.

 

[julian]

Considering my avatar, I'm going to go with yes

 

[Winston1]

I grew up with the PS1. It had some of my favorite games from my early years, like Spyro and MediEvil. So I definitely still have a fondness for it.

 

[Mekanos]

It's the generation I "grew up with," so yes (though my first console was SNES). N64 is probably my favorite console of all time even if it's not the best. There was so much experimentation with early 3D that I miss nowadays.

I played the PS1 library mostly as an adult, but loved games like MGS and the FFs on it. I think generally speaking though the isometric and 2D games in the PS1 library have held up better than the 3D games. But still an excellent library overall.

Banjo-Kazooie is still a top 3 video game for me. The mix of whimsy, adventure, charm and mystery is unmatched.

 

[entremet]

Considering my avatar, I'm going to go with yes

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Where's your avatar from?

 

[Dogui]

Disconsidering pc stuff, the PS1 is still my favorite console ever. Jrpgs, classic REs and similar stuff, MGS...

Tho i can count the N64 games finished on the fingers of my hand and i actually never touched a Sega Saturn, unfortunately.

People bash this gen because of the early 3D stuff but i have zero problems returning to it nowadays. If anything, games that relied on camera change were the ones that aged the worst.

 

[AppleBlade]

Yup. I still get goosebumps thinking of that generation. It was an exciting time to be a gamer because of the whole transition to 3D and the advent of more mature-oriented games. PS1 is my favorite system ever. It was mind blowing experience after mind blowing experience (i.e. Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, Tomb Raider, Gran Turismo, Final Fantasy 7, Crash, Spyro, etc.). And then you had Nintendo basically teaching everybody how 3D games are supposed to work with Mario 64, Ocarina of Time and GoldenEye.

It felt like the industry was growing up but it was still goofy and immature.

 

[cheeseholidays]

I have major Saturn nostalgia. ❤️ longboxes

 

[sir_crocodile]

Where's your avatar from?

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You never played Shining Force 3????

Your soft spot for the 5th gen would be even softer if you had lol

 

[entremet]

You never played Shining Force 3????

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Not huge into tactical JRPGs.

 

[Machado]

N64 was my first console so I have a lot of nostalgia for it. I'm one of the few weirdos that really likes those refrigerator sized polygons, prerendered stuff, and don't mind the chopy framerate that much.

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You're not alone buddy.

I'm crossing fingers for an N64 mini.

 

[sir_crocodile]

Not huge into tactical JRPGs.

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Have you played any of the ones that don't let you create characters like the earlier Shining Force games and Vandal Hearts?

I can get not being into the ones that are big on you creating your own characters and fine tuning every little bit about them like Disgaea and Tactics Ogre as they often turn into an exercise in micro management. But there's nothing I love more then kicking back with an SRPG that just throws all the characters you will ever have, and just leaves you to get on with the business of battling with them.

 

[Mathieran]

I have a hard time going back to that gen. They were amazing when I was growing up but I find the early 3D games tough to play. I'd rather go back and play NES or SNES games.

 

[I KILL PXLS]

To some degree. That's where all my retro 3D nostalgia comes from. N64 was like the height of couch co-op times. PS1 was the beginning of edgy console gaming and when it really started to feel "cool" and it was exciting having that new player bust in to the Big 2 with cool new franchises.

 

[sir_crocodile]

I have a hard time going back to that gen. They were amazing when I was growing up but I find the early 3D games tough to play. I'd rather go back and play NES or SNES games.

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Many of the PSX/Saturn games were still 2D though. Capcom were making some of the most beautiful pixel art games ever, like Breath of Fire 3/4.

 

[Mekanos]

still the goat

 

[Poimandres]

It was an incredibly exciting time. The move from 2D to 3D, new companies entering the gaming space, console games targetting different age groups as I also "grew out" of mascot platformers. Going from a Mega Drive to PS1... Totally new world opened up.

I still play some PS1 games. Vib Ribbon, Um Jammer Lammy, R-Type Delta, Bloody Roar 2, Bishi Bashi.

 

[Tagyhag]

From all the gens that I've experienced, it's probably the smallest soft spot.

Had some great times with my N64/PS1, but it's probably the shortest gen that I played on, and don't have as many good memories compared to the gen before and the gen after.

 

[angelgrievous]

PS1 is the greatest console ever!
Hyperbole aside it is one of the greats. So many great games, I play on my PS1 very often. It's also my largest physical collection. It's the birthplace of a ton of great franchises that are still going "strong" today:

Crash
Spyro
Resident Evil
Gran Turismo

If I could only play the library of one console it would be the PS1 library.

 

[Mathieran]

Many of the PSX/Saturn games were still 2D though. Capcom were making some of the most beautiful pixel art games ever, like Breath of Fire 3/4.

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I only had an N64 so I guess that's what I have to base my impressions on. I do know there are some good 2D games but I guess I didn't get a chance to play many of them.

 

[Serule]

At the time I kind of hated it; definitely gamed less than the generations before or after. Now though I do have some nostalgia for gen 5 because of how weird eveything was. The shift to 3d was a sea change, and so many new ideas were tried out (some worked, some didn't).