Top 10 PS1 Titles

[bawitback]

1. Trap Runner/Gunner

2. Team Buddies

3. G-Darius

4. Galerians

5. Ghost in a Shell

6. Destrega

7. Speed Power Gunbike

8. Tales of Destiny

9. Star Ocean: Second Story

10. Twisted Metal II

[rpawloski2458]

My list is probably predictable, but I have a couple of oddballs in their as well:

1. Final Fantasy 7 - some people dog it now, but I have never been more enthralled in a game in my life!

2. Metal Gear Solid - holds up remarkably well all these years later

3. Castlevania SotN - still great after all these years!

4. Tekken 3 - surpassed by sequels, but at the time, I couldn't put it down

5. Ape Escape - still my favorite non-Mario 64 platformer from that era

6. Tomb Raider - the first, and still the best in the series (though I loved 2 as well)

7. Ace Combat 2 - the best flight-based game of the era

8. Gran Turismo - I picked the first because, even though 2 was better, the first was so mind-blowing when it released

9. Syphon Filter - Despite some rough edges, still one of my faves.

10. Wipeout XL - I loved playing this game until the wee hours of the morning

There are so many other faves I had as well (Jumping Flash, Einhander, Alundra, Moto Racer, Oddworld, One, etc) that I will disagree with my own list ten minutes after I posted it.

[rpawloski2458]

Only my opinion but here it is:

1. Metal Gear Solid. (No need to explain why. It was/is perfect. One of the most memorable pop culture experiences of the entire decade.)

2. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. (Is there a better 2D game on the PSX? No. It's actually one of the best 2D games ever made.)

3. Final Fantasy 7. (This game made the series into one of the biggest moneymakers in gaming history. It was that good.)

4. Resident Evil 2. (One of the finest examples of Survival horror. Stands up well even to this day.)

5. Grand Theft Auto 2. (Excellent game-play with the freedom of the city. Go where you want, do what you want. For the time it was highly original.)

6. Silent Hill. (The first game in the series and a terrific creepy, atmospheric, and original survival horror title.)

7. Driver. (Definitely one of the more important action/driving games of the 32-bit era. Brilliant execution of game-play.)

8. Soul Reaver. (You want a high quality 3D action adventure game? Here it is.)

9. Tekken 3. (The best fighting game of that era. 'Nuff said.)

10. Gran Turismo 2 (Raised the bar for unparalleled realism in a driving game. The original Gran Turismo was excellent. The sequel was even better.)

Great list... I forgot how awesome Soul Reaver and Silent Hill were!

[Hekuta]

Resident Evil 2

Metal Gear solid

Resident evil director's cut

Ballistic

No one can stop MR. DOMINO

Parappa the rapper

Tomba 2

Mk trilogy

Tekken 2

Driver

[kitsunebi]

Oh hai there, ancient thread!  I would've posted my reply 4 years ago, but I wasn't a member of the site yet.

 

1. Vandal Hearts - Favorite (tactical) JRPG of all time.  One of the few RPGs I've played through more than once.

 

2. Parappa the Rapper - one of the best soundtracks ever that can only truly be enjoyed while actually playing the game

 

3. Wing Commander III (Yeah this games sucks on the PS1, but this isn't the "best" PS1 games list, it's the ones you personally enjoyed the most.  My PC couldn't run the real game at the time, so this had to do.  As compensation for the game portion being vastly inferior to the PC original, the PS1 version had better looking FMV (which was kind of half the game, really)

 

4. Spyro the Dragon - something very chill about this game.  Exploring the levels and finding 100% of the hidden treasures was very relaxing. All 3 games are enjoyable, so I'll just go with the first since it seemed freshest at the time.

 

5. Metal Gear Solid - finally delivered on all the untapped potential of the NES game, which was always so much cooler in my mind than it was in practice.  MGS was everything I wanted it to be.  Can't ask for much more.

 

6. Castlevania SOTN - love the game, love that this opened the doors for more games like it.  Without this, would Metroidvania be a thing?

 

7. Incredible Crisis - This game can be finished in a single sitting, and mostly has zero replay value.  But it's batshit insane - exactly the kind of thing you want when you're trying to convince yourself that the "wacky Japanese" stereotype isn't a stereotype at all.  The sort of game you would play again just so someone new to it could watch.

 

8. Resident Evil - maybe not as good as the sequel, but this is the quintessential survivor horror setting.  Can't beat being stuck in a giant creepy mansion.

 

9. Grandia - I judge JRPGs by my ability to endure them long enough to actually finish them.  Sure, a lot of people like FF7, but I got bored by the 3rd disc and never picked it up again - a pattern that repeats itself over and over on various other JRPGs across the systems.  This is one of the ones I finished, which means it's OK in my book.  Honorable mention to Lunar SSSC.

 

10. Medal of Honor Underground - The first one was also good, but this one had a more interesting story.  Kind of painful to look at those PS1 polygons sometimes, but the game managed to be enjoyable despite the hardware's deficiencies.

[formisc1]

Here's mine

 

MGS

FF 7

FF 8

FF 9

Twisted Metal

Resident Evil 1

Resident Evil 2

Resident Evil 3

Gran Turismo

Parasite Eve

[MGS]

1. Star Ocean: The Second Story

2. Wild Arms

3. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

4. Final Fantasy 7

5. Breath of Fire 3

6. Chrono Cross

7. Final Fantasy 9

8. Breath of Fire 4

9. Final Fantasy 8

10. Wild Arms 2

[Kitzm]

I would say in not in any order, but definitely my top 10:

 

Final Fantasy 7

Final Fantasy Tactics

Crash Bandicoot

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Tomb Raider

Doom

Omega Boost

Twisted Metal

Metal Gear

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver

 

There are quite a few more I could easily put here.

[Cloudconnected0]

Rayman

Crash Bandicoot

Skullmonkeys

FF 7

Tomba

Alundra

Wwf Smackdown

Medievil

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver

Madden 2001

[Guy In Rubber Suit]

Here's my top 10:

Xenogears

Chrono Cross

Final Fantasy VIII

Front Mission 3

Driver

Soul Reaver

Metal Gear Solid

Ape Escape

Street Fighter Alpha 3

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

[tedart]

Symphony of the Night, Final Fantasy and Hooters: Road Trip.

 

I won't name ten, because I think these were the only games we had.

[twiztor]

never was a big PlayStation player, but here's a list of games that i own (and a couple on my want list):

 

own:

Diablo  (D2 is one of my favorite games of all time, rivaling only the original Legend of Zelda)

Final Fantasy VII  (the first [only?] time i was ever sad when a video game character died)

Mortal Kombat Trilogy (own the n64 version first, but the PSX version is probably better)

Resident Evil ('nuff said)

Resident Evil 2 (again, knew the n64 version first)

WCW Nitro (oh god this game is terrible, even by wrestling game standards)

 

want:

Crash Bandicoot (never played it, but it always looked like a ton of fun)

Tomb Raider (was never a fan of the graphics in its day)

Spyro the Dragon (also never played it)

[dc2142]

Not in order:

 

Final Fantasy 7

Final Fantasy 9

Final Fantasy Tactics

Castlevania Symphony of the night

Street fighter alpha 3

Tony hawk Pro Skater 2

Breath Of Fire 3

Suikoden 2

Tekken 3

Wild Arms 2

. 

[te72]

I don't even think I could narrow it down to a top 20 list... heck, even 30 might be difficult for me. PS1 was easily my favorite system for the fresh experiences, despite my love for the NES / SNES / Genesis era.

 

Still, for anyone who doesn't have Suikoden 1 & 2, as well as Tomba in your memories, get to it, they're all available on PSN!

[consumer]

Im including sports titles and PC Ports that I enjoyed back in the day, so sue me...

 

1. Final Fantasy 9

2. Metal Gear Solid

3. Resident Evil 2

4. Final Fantasy Tactics

5. Suikoden

6. Command and Conquer Red Alert

7. Xenogears

8. Saga Frontier

9. NFL Gameday 97'

10. NBA Shootout 97'

[shinobi33]

Great lists guys.  My personal favorites and not in particular order are:

 

Resident Evil 2

Resident Evil 3

Syphon Filter 1

Capcom vs SNK Pro

Metal Gear Solid

Silent Hill

Street Fighter EX2 Plus

Final Fantasy 7

Mortal Kombat Trilogy

Spider-Man

[fousekis]

1. MGS

2. FFVII

3. RE 2

4. Spiderman

5. Gran Turismo 2

6. Medal of Honor 2 Underground

7. Silent Hill

8. FFIX

9. Syphon FIlter 2

10. Die Hard Trilogy

[lepkeleh]

Tekken 3

Wipeout

Resident evil 2

Final fantasy 7

Final fantasy 9

Gran Turismo

Fighting Force

Castlevania Symphony

Johnny Bazookatone

Destruction Derby

Some other great games however I did not include because they came first on PC and were superior on PC which is what I played them on.

[te72]

Tekken 3

Wipeout

Resident evil 2

Final fantasy 7

Final fantasy 9

Gran Turismo

Fighting Force

Castlevania Symphony

Johnny Bazookatone

Destruction Derby

Some other great games however I did not include because they came first on PC and were superior on PC which is what I played them on.

Among your list, Johnny Bazookatone stands out. I recall the name, not sure if I ever played it or not. Everything else on your list, solid choices, but it's these off the wall ones that lead me to believe there's a story behind them.

 

Destruction Derby, I remember well. That game was incredible at the time, so much carnage, the sounds the music, the polygons haha... good times.

[kitsunebi]

Among your list, Johnny Bazookatone stands out. I recall the name, not sure if I ever played it or not. Everything else on your list, solid choices, but it's these off the wall ones that lead me to believe there's a story behind them.

 

I had to google it to find out what it was.

[lepkeleh]

Among your list, Johnny Bazookatone stands out. I recall the name, not sure if I ever played it or not. Everything else on your list, solid choices, but it's these off the wall ones that lead me to believe there's a story behind them.

Destruction Derby, I remember well. That game was incredible at the time, so much carnage, the sounds the music, the polygons haha... good times.

Thanks, I bought it on a fluke when it came out, at first I was like wtf then it grew on me as I kept playing it, great game

If able to you should try it.

[lepkeleh]

I had to google it to find out what it was.

I'm not surprised, I have also never met anyone else who played it even less know about it :(

[Areala]

Johnny Bazookatone always reminded me of a 32-bit version of those old Apogee side-scrolling platformers of the DOS era. Tons of fun, lots of animation, great sound and solid gameplay, but never one major thing that would put it "over the top" as far as a classic. It's a fun game though, and I don't fault its inclusion on a list like this. To the right gamer at the right time, anything could be "THAT game". And like te72 said, seeing a weird one on someone's list always begs a question with a fun answer.

 

*huggles*
Areala

[lepkeleh]

Johnny Bazookatone always reminded me of a 32-bit version of those old Apogee side-scrolling platformers of the DOS era. Tons of fun, lots of animation, great sound and solid gameplay, but never one major thing that would put it "over the top" as far as a classic. It's a fun game though, and I don't fault its inclusion on a list like this. To the right gamer at the right time, anything could be "THAT game". And like te72 said, seeing a weird one on someone's list always begs a question with a fun answer.

*huggles*

Areala

Nice meet a fellow fan

[te72]

Johnny Bazookatone always reminded me of a 32-bit version of those old Apogee side-scrolling platformers of the DOS era. Tons of fun, lots of animation, great sound and solid gameplay, but never one major thing that would put it "over the top" as far as a classic. It's a fun game though, and I don't fault its inclusion on a list like this. To the right gamer at the right time, anything could be "THAT game". And like te72 said, seeing a weird one on someone's list always begs a question with a fun answer.

 

*huggles*

Areala

Couldn't have said it better myself. Now, inspired by such an off the wall choice, I feel like I can finally narrow down my list. Consider, some of these are deserving of a "best of" list as well, they were fantastic games, but about half of them, you may never have heard of, but they were MY favorites.

 

In no particular order:

 

-Vandal Hearts. I've mentioned it before on here, but as far as JRPG's go, it is brilliant in its brevity. It sticks to a path and narrative, and keeps you focused on it. Plus the game design is rather solid, like a game of chess in more ways than one. Unfortunately has yet to be released on digital platforms that I'm aware of, but definitely worth the buy if you want a ~20 hour example of a solid strategy game.

 

-Suikoden. It's an old story, but one that holds up quite well even in the modern age. Perhaps best to think of this one as the very best of the 16-bit RPG era, as far as polish goes. I've played through Suikoden at least half a dozen times, maybe more, and yet... it hasn't gotten old. Special mention for the music, every town has its own theme, every moment its mood, and they're all worth hearing. It is a relatively simple game, yet deep enough that even veterans of the genre will enjoy it. Plus, it led to Suikoden 2... both of which are available on PSN, so go pick them up.

 

-Tail of the Sun. Otherwise known as Wild Pure Simple Life, it is exactly that. You play as a caveman / cavewoman. What do cavemen do? They hunt and gather, explore, and procreate, to further ensure the survival of the tribe. Now, I'll be the first to admit, this game is ugly. It was an early 3d game, and it shows. Get past that though, and you'll find much to enjoy. In fact, I dare you to play this for an hour and say you found nothing to enjoy. The "goal" as far as gameplay is concerned, is to find mammoths and slaughter them for their tusks, so that your tribe can build a tower to reach the sun. Don't ask me why, caveman logic, I suppose.    Unfortunately not on PSN that I am aware of.

 

-Metal Gear Solid. Most of you are familiar with this one, and with good reason. Let's look back at WHY we all love this game though... at the time, enemy AI was a simple thing, but MGS? The pursuit when you were spotted? Talk about being a hunted fox... the tension that created, the excitement, the thrill of fighting back only to see backup headed your way, it was great. That is, to say nothing of the goal of NOT being seen and the stress that arises from that. I think this is the first example of a slow paced game that has every bit of the excitement of the faster paced ones. Then, the characters, the voice acting, the music, the environments, the weapons, the plot twists... I'll say nothing to spoil it, but apart from Psycho Mantis, there was nothing really odd or impossibly unrealistic about the game. This... unfortunately got thrown out the window in the sequels, good as they were. The humor and education in the hours of codec conversations, this might have been the first game I played that fleshed out the characters to this much of an extent. It's a solid game, all around. Available on PSN.

 

-Final Fantasy 7. Another one on so many lists, and again, with good reason. It wasn't my first RPG (FF Adventure, FF Mystic Quest, Secret Of Mana, Chrono Trigger, Suikoden, and Vandal Hearts all came before), but at the time, this game was literally unlike anything else. For those that have forgotten, or never understood what all the hype was about, I HIGHLY recommend you read the LP on the Somethingawful archive by Elentor. I've played this game a LOT over the years, and Elentor's LP taught me things about it I never knew. To keep this short, FF7 was the first game that ever brought tears to my eyes. I had lost both my best friend and my grandma in the same year earlier in 1997, so there was some very close feelings about the theme of sudden loss in that game. Available on many digital platforms these days, and being remade as well.

 

-Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Not a PS1 exclusive, as most of the rest of the games on my list are, but a PS1 debut. I rented this one, and can't remember why. Perhaps it was the cover of issue # 2 of PSM, with its gorgeous artwork. Perhaps I remember the name from the NES days, I dunno. Whatever first got me to pick it up and play it for that first time... I'm grateful. Story? Almost non-existent. Atmosphere, music, gameplay, strategy, challenge, exploration, variety, and literally every other measure of a game? Fantastic. I never had an SNES, so I missed out on Super Metroid and the Castlevania games on there, so to me, SOTN is still the pinnacle of 2D gaming. Available on PSN and in the PSP game Dracula X Chronicles as an unlockable. Highly recommend it.

 

-Ridge Racer. Arguably, the later games (Rage, another one I forget the name of, R4) were better games for various reasons. This game was mind blowing in 1995 if you had not been to an arcade that had it. I lived in a small town until that summer in 95, so I may not have even played Cruisin' USA yet. RR was amazing for a home experience back then. The volume, the sense of speed (something you never had with racing games until then), the immersion and sense of space / distance (thank you massive polygons), the music, the precise control... all of it so good for an early PS1 game. Plus, you got to play a round of Galaxian while it loaded, that unlocked extra cars if you shot down all the alien ships? What about the time when you first discovered that you could pop the lid after the game loaded (oh yeah, no load times, sweeeeet...), and put in your own music discs? When you discovered that once you completed all the tracks, you got to play them all in reverse? Turns out (pun intended) that the tracks are very different backwards. Oh, and does anyone else remember the black Lamobrghini? I know, none of the cars were licensed, but we all know what it was meant to be. I very nearly beat that guy, ONCE. I made a very tiny error on one corner and that black monster of a car passed me on the very last stretch before the finish line. This was a race that required absolute perfection, or you lose. Yeah, there are some tough achievements and trophies in modern games, but let's face it, few would be as difficult as outrunning that black Lambo. Oh, and I still have my save file, all the way back from when I started it in 1995. Not sure if this is available digitally or not, but this is probably best left as a period game, as racing is one of those, like most other sports games, that get better with the latest version.

 

-Tekken... err... 2... no, 3. No wait, 2. NO! Tekken 3. Definitely Tekken 3. Hard to choose between those two... man. This is probably on a lot of lists, and understandably so. The control was spot on. The characters weren't all color swapped, minimally altered ninjas. The pre-rendered cut scenes and endings. The music (seriously, turn it up!). The impact of a solid blow. The accomplishment of executing a 10-hit combo in the heat of battle with a friend, hearing them mutter and scramble to counter to no avail... This is when multiplayer meant something, at least to me. Can't even begin to guess how many hundreds of matches I played with friends over the years. As far as polish goes on 3D fighting games, this one was among the very best. Pretty sure it's available on PSN, and if not, the series is still going and still good.

 

-Tomba. Never heard of it, you say? I'm not surprised, it's about a wild jungle boy with pink hair living life to the fullest until some evil pigs steal his grandpa's bracelet, his prized possession. Yeah, it's as silly as it sounds, but underneath it all, there is some VERY good gameplay, fun characters, a sense of progression and depth to the world you occupy. Exploration, puzzle solving, platforming, combat, new weapons and equipment, bosses to defeat... sound a bit like a Legend of Zelda game? Well, now that you mention it... the template may be similar, but the game is its very own. Made by a company called Whoopee Camp, whose only other game to date has been Tomba 2, it's a lesser known gem among a lot of other PS1 gems. Available on PSN, and I highly recommend it, fun for the whole family. Plus, it has a monkey named Charles in it. Say hi to Chuck for me.

 

-Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo. I may be a puzzle addict. I love Sudoku, Tetris, Dr Mario, SPF2T, Critter Crunch, Bust a Move, pretty much anything that allows you to use your brain to make the best of a situation thrown at you. Now, I know there were some decent puzzle games of the 16-bit era, but nothing that was really an improvement on the groundwork that Dr Mario and Tetris laid out on the NES. Now when Puzzle Fighter came out (this was the only one, despite the "2" in the title, well played Capcom), it was a breath of fresh air. Here was a simplistic, easy to learn, difficult to master puzzle game, on a system that until this point, was pretty flush with 3D games and few 2D experiences to be had, fewer puzzle games still. It was flashy, it was in your face, it had chibi versions of our favorite Capcom fighting game stars. Yet, it was a very well polished challenge, worthy of Capcom's efforts to balance their fighting games, all that effort translated well into a puzzle game. Still holds up just fine, but there is an HD version that was released digitally a few years back on PSN and other platforms. Great party game...

 

-Resident Evil. I have to give my vote to the original, despite 2 and 3 being better games. The sequels built on what was started here (and what was started here was likely started by Sweet Home), but for pure freshness, despite the rotten smell of zombies and other nightmarish horrors, this was the one for me. Why, you ask? The gameplay was pretty awful, particularly the controls, the acting was sub par, and darn those fixed cameras, right? To be honest, none of that bothered me. The cameras, had they been any other way, the game would have not been able to look anywhere near as good as it did, due to hardware limitations. Consider how far graphics had come in just a short time. The year prior, we were playing Super FX chipped games, Virtua Racer, early PS1 games that had depth, but little in the way of pretty textures, that sort of thing. Now, we had an isolated mansion, a dark horror theme, monsters that you could often hear, but not see, no auto-aim (complicated by a lack of ammo), and very limited resources. The game turned us on our heads, where we were raised with a "kill everything" mentality from older games. Now, we had to be smart about when to fight, and when to run. Even some bosses could be ran from... To me though, this game was the first game that had such an immersive atmosphere. The music (creepy!) and sounds played the biggest role in that respect. Plus, the memory of a friend panicking at a certain early jump scare is a story that I will never forget. Available on PSN and on various other platforms, as well as a remade version that is still one of the prettiest games I've ever seen, 15 years later.

 

-Doom. What could the PS1 offer to a game that had already been on the market for 2 years? One very simple thing: monitor size. See, back in the early 90's, screens were small, bulky CRT things. A computer monitor was usually only in the 12-14" range when Doom was originally released on PC. Now I think my TV back in the 1995-96 era was either a 19" or 20" screen. That's ~130-150% the size of a typical monitor of the day. That one simple thing made Doom fresh all over again. Plus, the music was quite good, if I recall.

 

-Need For Speed 3: Hot Pursuit. It may not be a big deal now, but back then, cops in a video game? You know the thrill of getting chased in the GTA games? Yeah... that all started with NFS3, at least with 3D graphics anyway. The original GTA games weren't particularly thrilling (although they were fun), but the police chases that NFS3 managed to present were nothing short of exhilarating at the time.

 

-Treasures of the Deep. I don't remember this one all that well, but I do recall that exploring underwater worlds was a lot of fun at the time. One of those games that brought back a lot of what made Ecco the Dolphin a good experience. Consider this one a solid runner up, but probably best left as a period experience, I doubt it would hold up too well today.

 

 

Yeah, I know I went more than 10, but I had to leave off probably another 15 or 20 games to even get to this point... I tried, I promise!