Favorite PS1 Games / Recommendations

I've been playing through my PS1 library recently and was wondering if anything has flown under my radar. I was planning on making this thread, and now that the PS1 Mini thing has been announced, I figured why not.

I know a lot of people say that PS1 games haven't aged well, but I think it's a case by case thing. Or maybe a genre-by-genre thing, since I wouldn't recommend most 3D action games that I used to think were great, like Syphon Filter. I'm still really enjoying a lot of the games that I've either picked back up or am trying for the first time.

Here are my favorites / recommendations...

Ape Escape
Castlevania: SotN
Final Fantasy VII
Harmful Park
Incredible Crisis
Klonoa
Metal Gear: Solid
No One Can Stop Mr. Domino
Parappa the Rapper
Parasite Eve
Resident Evil 2
Silent Hill
Strider 2
Tenchu: Stealth Assassins
Thunder Force V
Vagrant Story

And these are the games I'm looking forward to playing...

Brave Fencer Musashi
Breath of Fire IV
Castlevania Chronicles
Cotton Original
Grandia
Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
R-Type Delta
RayCrisis
RayStorm
Wild Arms
Xenogears

Suikoden 1&2 (especially 2)
Einhander
Gradius Gaiden
Star Ocean 2
Dragon Warrior 7
Vandal Hearts 1&2
Arc the Lad 1&2
Chrono Cross


- May not have aged well:

Legend of Legaia
Alundra
Deception 3


- Looks interesting but yet to play:

Tactics Ogre
Tail Concerto
Gunners Heaven / Rapid Reload
Heart of Darkness
Front Mission 3
Valkyrie Profile
Wild 9
Legend of Dragoon
Ray Tracers

Tactics Ogre was better on PSP (as Let Us Cling Together) but it's still worth playing on PS1 if you don't have access to the former.

Sotn
RE
RE2
RE3
Castlevania Chronicles
Lethal Enforcers Arcade
Tekken 3
Ridge Racer
Ridge Racer R4
Strider 2
Einhander

favourites

final fantasy 7
rival schools
kula world/roll away
ridge racer type 4
silent hill
symphony of the night
tenchu

MGS
SOTN
R4
Guilty Gear
Raystorm
R-Type Delta
Tomb Raider 1-4
RE 1-3
Project: Overkill
One
Legacy of Kain
Soul Reaver
Evil Zone
Raiden Project
Philosoma
Twisted Metal 1&2
Jet Moto 1&2
Strider 2
Thunder Force V
Smackdown 2
Tekken 2&3
Einhander
Castlevania chronicles
MK Trilogy
Grand Theft Auto

I'm sure I'm missing some - PS1 was a great system.

FilthyRear said:

MGS
SOTN
R4
Guilty Gear
Raystorm
R-Type Delta
Tomb Raider 1-4
RE 1-3
Project: Overkill
One
Legacy of Kain
Soul Reaver
Evil Zone
Raiden Project
Philosoma
Twisted Metal 1&2
Jet Moto 1&2
Strider 2
Thunder Force V
Smackdown 2
Tekken 2&3
Einhander
Castlevania chronicles
MK Trilogy
Grand Theft Auto

I'm sure I'm missing some - PS1 was a great system.

Click to expand...

You got some good taste. Forgot about MK trilogy and the Twisted Metal's. The Twisted Metals are huge. Damn fun games to play.

Deathtrap Dungeon
King's Field

Bushido Blade 1 & 2 is a lot of fun with friends. You don’t even need to be good at the game.

Tobal 1 + 2 (1 for the dungeon, 2 for the combos)
IQ Final
As far as 3D action goes, check out Silent Bomber

Vs. Drinking game: Destrega

The Adventure of Little Ralph

A hardcore 2D platformer that was released only in Japan.

This game was in development for 8 years before it finally came out on the PlayStation, according to this interview. Apparently it was planned for the Sharp X68000 home computer first, which is why the game has an option to change the original BGM to a PSG/chiptune version.


Unfortunately physical copies sell for a small fortune nowadays. Alternatively, you can get a digital version for PS3 & PSP from the PSN store for about $6 USD (requires a Japanese account though).

I tried to not list any you mentioned you already played.

Must Plays, that I feel still hold up:
I.Q. Final
Gradius Gaiden
Tron Bonne
Mega Man Legends (both games)
Alundra (It HAS aged well, but only play #1)
Heart of Darkness (one of the few games better than the PC version, get 3D glasses)
Final Fantasy Tactics (but PSP version better)
Final Fantasy IX (in many respects better than VII, but I still prefer VII)
Chrono Cross (It's actually really good)
R-Type Delta
Lunar SSS and Eternal Blue (great versions)


Games I would play later, but are still good:
Hogs of War
Tomba
Bushido Blade
Silhouette Mirage
Einhander
Valkyrie Profile
Croc: Legend of the Gobbos (Controls are rough, but great game)


Side Notes:

**Grandia is getting a re-release on Switch, otherwise I'd recommend it.

** I would recommend the Resident Evils, but they are on almost every console at this point. The Dreamcast versions of 2 and 3 are excellent, and the remake of directors cut on the PS4 is amazing.

** I feel Wild Arms is pretty over-rated, but still a decent games. It should be one of the last games you play of interest.

** Xenogears... I'm not sure here. Most people seem to love it. Back in the day I played it like 30 hours and got bored. I feel I should give it another try.

** FFVIII gets a bad rap. It's a good games. It's no FFVII or FFIX, but it's still better than 95% of the shit on the console. If you have never played it, I would give it a go and decide for yourself.

My absolute favorites off the top of my head

Ape Escape
Castlevania Chronicles and SOTN
Crash 2 and 3 (1 has not aged well at all)
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy Tactics
Grandia
Parasite Eve
Tomba
Klonoa
Rayman
Resident Evil 2
Legend of Dragoon
Mega Man 8
Metal Gear Solid
Tekken 3
Street Fighter Alpha 3
Vagrant Story
Lunar (both)
Wild Arms
Xenogears
Suikoden 1 and 2
Bushido Blade

Forgot to mention "Gunners Heaven"

Metal Slug Style game.

I didn't see:

The Adventure of Little Ralph

Nice little 2D platformer, pretty basic (I mean it seems it could have been done on the SNES), but fun nonetheless

edit: I'm a tard, missed the post above!