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Deleted member 44129

User requested account closure
Banned
May 29, 2018
7,690
I've been revisiting PS1 games for the first time in decades, and wow, they haven't aged well. I intentionally avoided the obvious candidates such as Crash, Tomb Raider, Resident Evil and played a bunch of other stuff. Awful controls, hideous graphics. Just......I'm actually surprised it was the success that it was when you then play some Super Nintendo or Megadrive games from the generation before, and they remain fun, and timeless and likewise, many PS2 games still seem fairly modern in comparison.

I thought I would have more fun and i really didn't. Any recommendations for PS1 games (not RPG though, not my thing) will be eagerly taken :) There were some good things to be found though. I thought I'd just offer some impressions because why not...

Pandemonium
I played this a lot at the time, but talk about rose tinted glasses. Horrendous, ugly visuals, a weirdly over-snappy controls, and what on earth are the baddies supposed to be on the first level? Ugly Ugly Ugly.

Jumping Jack
Ugly as sin, but to be fair, I played it for about an hour. I didn't like the corridor sections, but I'd love a VR remake.

MDK
MY EYES !! MY POOR, BEAUTIFUL EYES! This is another one that I remember enjoying back in the days, but this is an ugly, jaggy mess. I couldnt play it for more than 10 minutes, it just messed with my head too much

Fluid
I don't know why I liked this in the 90s. The graphics were kind of passable, but I couldnt work out what to do and did a weirdly calm rage quit.

Klonoa
OK, THIS was fun. I'm going to complete this. The graphics sort of hold up due to their cartoony nature, and the controls felt snappy, picking up and throwing enemies in a bubble bobble sort of way.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Seems to be cream of the crop. The graphics hold up, and I've heard so much about this game over the years but I never played it, so I'm going to try and get into this. I died shortly after meeting Death, and like, DIED. Please tell me there are save points.

DIE HARD TRILOGY
I remember playing this to death. I only played the driving section today and it's AWFUL. Nasty graphics, weird controls, and really shallow gameplay. I'm definitely ruining memories of my younger years. Also, I'm pretty sure that the terrible Samuel L Jackson impersonator is some random white guy doing something you wouldn't want to do these days.

Syphon Filter
The game played ok, but my word is it an example of how PS1 graphics have aged so badly. I found it unwatchable. Also, I'd forgotten about his way of running - it's like he's chewing a toffee with his anus.

Gex
Again, pretty ugly. 3D platformers really changed after Mario 64 came along, eh? Also horrified to learn that the US version of the game didn't have Leslie Phillips voicing it. Ding Dong!
 
Last edited:

chrominance

Sky Van Gogh
Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,634
I played Metal Gear Solid 1 for the first time a few years ago, and I think it held up surprisingly well for a 20+ year old game.

I think the Wipeout games are pretty decent too, but racing games in general probably hold up a little better. Lately I've been thinking about tracking down a copy of the original Ridge Racer for the nostalgia factor, but it's kind of pricey for what you get.
 

Unicorn

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 29, 2017
9,548
If you get a little drunk it becomes so much better. Twisted Metal 2 with a few beers - how it was meant to be played... At release and today lol.
 

ArjanN

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,114
Yeah, it's pretty much SOTN and MGS1 that hold up.

Most PS1 stuff has aged badly and almost all 3D stuff is an eyesore.
 

blondkayvon

Member
Oct 26, 2017
756
Twisted Metal 2. Arguably the only game in the franchise worth caring about. I loved the Jet Moto games as well - get Jet Moto 2 since it has all the tracks from the first one.
 

Tohsaka

Member
Nov 17, 2017
6,794
It would've been a lot better if the console had a dual analog controller from the start.
 

Aether

Member
Jan 6, 2018
4,421
I've been revisiting PS1 games for the first time in decades, and wow, they haven't aged well. I intentionally avoided the obvious candidates such as Crash, Tomb Raider, Resident Evil and played a bunch of other stuff. Awful controls, hideous graphics. Just......I'm actually surprised it was the success that it was when you then play some Super Nintendo or Megadrive games from the generation before, and they remain fun, and timeless and likewise, many PS2 games still seem fairly modern in comparison.

I thought I would have more fun and i really didn't. Any recommendations for PS1 games (not RPG though, not my thing) will be eagerly taken :) There were some good things to be found though. I thought I'd just offer some impressions because why not...

Pandemonium
I played this a lot at the time, but talk about rose tinted glasses. Horrendous, ugly visuals, a weirdly over-snappy controls, and what on earth are the baddies supposed to be on the first level? Ugly Ugly Ugly.

Jumping Jack
Ugly as sin, but to be fair, I played it for about an hour. I didn't like the corridor sections, but I'd love a VR remake.

MDK
MY EYES !! MY POOR, BEAUTIFUL EYES! This is another one that I remember enjoying back in the days, but this is an ugly, jaggy mess. I couldnt play it for more than 10 minutes, it just messed with my head too much

Fluid
I don't know why I liked this in the 90s. The graphics were kind of passable, but I couldnt work out what to do and did a weirdly calm rage quit.

Klonoa
OK, THIS was fun. I'm going to complete this. The graphics sort of hold up due to their cartoony nature, and the controls felt snappy, picking up and throwing enemies in a bubble bobble sort of way.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Seems to be cream of the crop. The graphics hold up, and I've heard so much about this game over the years but I never played it, so I'm going to try and get into this. I died shortly after meeting Death, and like, DIED. Please tell me there are save points.

DIE HARD TRILOGY
I remember playing this to death. I only played the driving section today and it's AWFUL. Nasty graphics, weird controls, and really shallow gameplay. I'm definitely ruining memories of my younger years. Also, I'm pretty sure that the terrible Samuel L Jackson impersonator is some random white guy doing something you wouldn't want to do these days.

Syphon Filter
The game played ok, but my word is it an example of how PS1 graphics have aged so badly. I found it unwatchable. Also, I'd forgotten about his way of running - it's like he's chewing a toffee with his anus.
Well, one of the big reasons why ps1 was so big was it was easy modable, i visited relatives in eastern europe and you couldn't even buy original games realy (there where 1 or 2 places), but on the streets there where people just selling copies.

Also for that time, the games looked at least intriguing. But shure, a lot if not most of them dont hold up, because while 2d had 30 years to get good, 3d game design was a new thing. thats why klonoa and Castlevania hold up.

(And yeah, there are Savepoints, i think you missed one before death. But there are enough of them, and the game is not that hard, since you can find overpowered weapons after a third of the game. At the same time i dont know how experienced you are with metroidvanias.
 
Oct 28, 2017
16,780
Die Hard Trilogy is still great if you stick to Die Hard 1. I still play it every now and then to this day. It's a goddamn travesty it never got a PS1 Classics release on PSN.
 

Mugman

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,369
Have a feeling this thread is just gonna be a bunch of people talking about Metal Gear and SotN, but there's still fun stuff on there besides those

Mega Man X4 and Mega Man Legends are (mostly) wonderful. Legends has obviously not aged well in some aspects, but I think it holds up as well as the N64 Zeldas do.

Klonoa is one of my favorite platformers ever, so I'm glad to see you have it listed. I've never played them but I know people really like the Tomba games, if you're in the mood for more platformers.

What about smaller, quirky stuff like No One Can Stop Mr. Domino (a personal favorite of mine) or Incredible Crisis? The former is a puzzle game where you have to figure out how to trigger as many actions as you can in the environment while building up a combo by knocking over dominos, the latter is like a proto WarioWare with a plot.
 

Rookhelm

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,690
Spyro probably holds up, but it's hard to recommend when there's a great HD remake version out
 

Lunatic

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,832
Man Klonoa was the bomb.

Play Tomba/Tombi too, those were some childhood greats for me.
 

ghostcrew

The Shrouded Ghost
Administrator
Oct 27, 2017
30,364
The greatest console ever made.

Get yourself THPS, MGS and Wipeout 2097/XL.
 

Aether

Member
Jan 6, 2018
4,421
Never played a Metroid. Never played a Castlevania. Did get right up to the last few bits of Hollow Knight. Got stuck, and gave up.
Oh, then this game wont be a problem. It is not as hard as hollow knight, and what benches are in hollow knight are save rooms with a spinning coffin as far as i remember. Battles are slower paced then in hollow knight, more in place with Dark souls. Good to great 2d art, great music, in satisfying gameplay. And is all in all shorter than hollow knight.
If it doesnt klick after 2 hours, i would not force myself through it, but it looks as if ti will be a fun ride for you.
 

3rdman

Member
May 25, 2018
361
The biggest issue with many games of that era is simply that 3D controls and view angles wasn't yet standardized...everyone was treading new ground and experimenting.
 

EagleClaw

Member
Dec 31, 2018
10,694
Now you are ready to try some games on the commodore64.

Great games, i still remember how much fun i had with ...





....
oh, yeah, it was fun...
 

Jimnymebob

Member
Oct 26, 2017
19,635
If you have people to play local multiplayer with, Micro Maniacs is fantastic, although you kinda need to like Micro Machines in the first place.

I'm struggling to think of exclusives that aren't one of the big games like Crash, MGS etc. though, but aren't 2D like PaRappa and Lammy. Wip3out is amazing and easily the best one until the VR one, the Tony Hawk games are great, Tekken 3 is still one of the best fgs ever made, and Tenchu is cool.
 

Windrunner

Sly
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,500
Your mistake was playing western games that aren't made by Psygnosis (RIP).

On the PSX you want to stick to Japanese made games as they've held up the best.
 

ZeoVGM

Member
Oct 25, 2017
76,210
Providence, RI
Yeah, it's pretty much SOTN and MGS1 that hold up.

Definitely not.

Crash 2, Crash 3, a number of Square RPGs, Ape Escape, a couple of the Spyro games, Legend of Dragoon, Jet Moto, Twisted Metal 2, Mega Man 8, Mega Man X4, Silent Hill, RE2, Wipeout XL, Tony Hawk 2, Tekken 3, etc.

Lots of great titles the OP can choose from. Most that the OP mentioned just weren't great in the first place.
 

Omar310

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,704
UK
Revisiting the PS1 and not playing the myriad of utterly classic RPGs is kinda baffling. It's like eating only the crust of a pizza. Like, alright you do you, but what a waste.
 

Midgarian

Alt Account
Banned
Apr 16, 2020
2,619
Midgar
You have to consider the context in which they were made and play the games for what they are. Then make your judgements from there. I don't think it's fair to retroactively apply todays standards backwards, in that case it's all trash.

One point of contention I have is that Tomb Raider's controls are not designed poorly. That game was purposefully designed that way.
 

fiendcode

Member
Oct 26, 2017
24,925
Alundra, FF Tactics, Valkyrie Profile, Gradius Gaiden, Legend of Mana, Silhouette Mirage, SFA3, 2D stuff in general really.
 

ImaPlayThis

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,071
I haven't played the games you list but the ps1 games I play hold up surprisingly well, Metal Gear Solid, Tekken 3, Bloody Roar 2, Resident Evil 2 and 3, Final Fantasy 7, 8, 9 and tactics just to name a few, however I'm not gonna pretend it was all roses theps1 have both really ugly and jank as hell controls for some games and that's how it is, some games stand the test of time and others don't.
 
Oct 25, 2017
12,192
Heh, I had the opposite experience a few weeks ago. Expected to have a lot more trouble with graphics and controls, left pleasantly amazed at how good a lot of stuff looks and how fun/ambitious a lot of titles are.
 

GamerJM

Member
Nov 8, 2017
15,636
Some of these games like Gex and Die Hard Trilogy didn't even do well critically at release.
 

robotzombie

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,867
Replaying Vagrant Story at the moment and the game is absolutely beautiful still.

It is amazing how much more important the creativeness of using the graphics is over the actual power
 
May 30, 2018
1,255
61Q19Q1111L._AC_.jpg


Get this game OP
 
Oct 28, 2017
16,780
Toy Story 2 is one of the best 3D platformers on the era. Frankly it's one of the only Mario 64 structured platformers I've ever liked. Normally I'm a linear guy when it comes to 3D platformers but Toy Story 2 is an exception. It's excellent.
 

Kingpin Rogers

HILF
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
7,459
Well what do you expect when you yourself said you purposefully avoided the good games? Go get Crash, and RE 1/2 and enjoy yourself. MGS 1's pretty cool as well.
 

LeroyOctopus

Member
Oct 29, 2017
393
OP, the only way to revisit Syphon Filter is to set as many people on fire with the taser as possible. I hope you did this.
 
Oct 28, 2017
16,780
Try Army Men.....hear me out here......Air Attack. Say what you will about the other Army Men games on PS1, but Air Attack is legit great.