The 100 Greatest PSone Games 100-91

[Woo]

As many of you may know I am a big Playstation fan (Knox would call me a Sony fanboy, but that's not really true....my DVD player is Samsung, not Sony) No I am a Playstation fanboy, but seeing as how the PSone and PS2 have dominated the console war over the last 10 years and it's hardly surprising.

I first got my Playstaion back 1998, or maybe 1997, but I'm going with 98 as a decade ago sounds better than saying "11 years". I didn't even know what a Playstation was when my parents bought me one, it sounded like some sort of 'station' or table that you could 'play on' and I didn't know my Tekken's from my Toshindon's.

Since I owned my Playstation I have been eaten by a T-Rex, been chased through a mansion by zombified dogs, had my toy car destroyed by an annoying frog, been killed by an exploding tennis ball and told I was 'Uncool'.....by a an onion....a karate onion....a karate onion who happened to be rapping at the time... I also got paid once to run over a group of Hare Krishna’s- and I loved every second of it.

All of those games will be featured in this top 100 countdown. It was really hard to come up with this list. I searched the net and various magazines for expert and public opinions are like to find out what games are viewed as the best ever. In the end though opinions are like assholes, or a GTA game,- everyone has one so in the end the final decision on what games to include was mine.

I also had to set some rules as to which games could and couldn't appear on this list. First things first I decided to only allow one game from each series- otherwise this countdown would be dominated by the likes of Tomb Raider, Tekken and Resident Evil.

I did however make an exception for games in the same series which are significantly different to the rest i.e different genre. So for instance Resident Evil Dead Aim (a FPS) would be eligible in addition to the more traditional 3rd-person RE games.....only Dead Aim won't be in the top 100 on account of being shit. Also I decided to only include games that were released in Europe (Final Fantasy Tactics- fuck you!) as I am still bitter about Japanese developers deciding what games us Europeans are allowed and not allowed to play.



Now with the PS3 and the rest of the next-next generation consoles out many people have simply given up on older games that don't have a 4000+ polygon count or run at 1000Hz on their super-duper 70inch HD TV's, which is a shame as while a lot of these games are indeed showing their age now, some are still as playable and down-right as they were when they were first popped into the humble grey console.

You too might be sceptical about how any of these games can still be playable, but put on your rose-tinted spectacles and join me on this journey through memory lane and you might re-discover some forgotten gaming gems that are still fantastic. As the slogan goes- do not underestimate the power of the Playstaion.

Before I get started, here are some of the games which just, just, missed out.

WWF Attitude
What a better place to start than with a wrestling game eh? Now in many ways this is the best grapple-em-up on the console. It had blood, double team moves, battle royals, being able to pick the opponent up and actually throw them over the ropes, a stamina system, fully customizable rings/arenas and- omg decent commentating! Things the SD series wouldn't get for years, or in the case of good commentating- never.

The fact you could have a Royal Rumble and you know, actually choose who's in it was much, much better than the SD system where wrestlers would appear in the same damn order constantly. Also you could choose what order the wrestlers come out was a great touch...the fact you had to choose what order was a bit annoying though. The only problem is that despite all the extras and goodies the actual wrestling side of the game isn't nearly as good as the SD games and that's why it doesn't make the list.

Oh and Attitude features the custom song Agent X- my efed theme tune. What a game!

Beatmania
The idea of Beatmania is that you play as a DJ. It doesn't sound great, and indeed it isn't, but the games appeal lies in the fact you play it using a DJ control pad complete with a turntable and some of the songs you get to DJ include Moloko's 'Sing It Back' and some random other J-Pop shit that was probably huge in Japan!

This game started off a mini craze, especially in Japan, with games like Guitar Freaks and Drummania coming out soon afterwards with drum and guitar control pads. Then came the crazy Dance Dance Revolution games and this was followed by....well nothing really. Soon people got bored and GTA III came out so nobody cared about music games any more. Then out of the blue Guitar Hero and Singstar were released and now the music genre is top business, world-wide this time! But they may have never been released without Beatmania.


Porsche Challenge
A game where you get to drive, you guessed it Porsche's! It was a pretty big game at the time of it's released and gave Ridge Racer a run for it's money. For some reason though while it's rivals, RRacer, Destruction Derby and V-Rally all got better sequels poor Porsche Challenge never did and simply got outclassed.

Total Driven
Another racing game then. This one's appeal was that it didn't limit you to driven just one type of vehicle you could drive several. From sports cars to dune buggies and everything in between. Sadly it didn't perfect any of the different cars handling, but it was a good idea anyway and one the Toca series would copy years later.

Croc
Popular platform star Croc had two games for the PSone, neither good enough to give Crash or Spyro a scare though. The sequel was titled "Land of the Gobbos" I still have no idea what a Gobo is but they sure looked cute.

Pandemonion/Jinx
See the first sentence of Croc, then remove the word "popular". Some people at the time thought the Pandemonium games rivalled Crash Bandicoot. Those people were stupid. Jinx tried to revive the franchise, but nobody cared about PSone games back then to care....and nobody cared about the franchise to begin with.

Team Buddies
This was a fun little game which is only remembered for one thing. The offensive swearing. Yes years before GTA and Getaway games had cussing in this cute looking 2D game had it too and ruined the game completely. It’s clear the bad language was added to try and sell more, but it is the games biggest problem. Adults who could by this 15-Rated game probably wouldn’t due to the graphics and game-play and children who would play the game now couldn’t as they were too young. What a waste.


Bloody Roar/Bloody Roar 2
A fun, but shallow, fighting game where one minute you are some typical looking street brawler when you suddenly turn into a werewolf! There were eight fighters (yes, just 8. I did say it was shallow) and they turned into all sort of animals from lions to rabbits (bagsy, not rabbit girl). It was an enjoyable game, if only for a little while.

World Championship Snooker
"OMG it's just like real snooker!!!!" Said many excited people and indeed it was. A great little game this. The only problem is, it's too much like snooker.....

No-one Can Stop Mr. Domino!
A strange puzzle game were you play a set of dominoes and have to execute domino rallies to....I dunno- the game was too hard and too damn strange to make an impact. No-one Can Stop Mr. Domino apart from the 'Off' button and poor sales.

The Net Yaroze Demo Discs
Okay this is cheating really as the games were only released on demo discs that came with the Official Playstaion magazines every month, or all on one CD if you were lucky enough to buy OPSM #42 (The magazine which featured a certain stealth game on the font cover and went on to be the biggest selling issue). All these games were made on the Net Yaroze, which was a black PlayStation designed to let people create their own games. Most of these weren't very good. But some like Pushy 2 (pictured below), Thrust, Rocks N Gems, Psychotron and Blubber Boy were better than most full-price games at the time.


Legend of Dragoon
Some think that this RPG is one of the very best games on the PSone. I don't.

Other good, but not good enough games include- Discworld, Jonah Lomu Rugby, Mortal Kombat Trilogy Baldies, Eagle One: Harrier Attack, Poy Poy, Bobble Bubble, World's Scariest Police Chases, Matt Hoffman's Pro BMXer....Dave Mirra's BMX, Syndicate Wars, Alien Trilogy/Resurrection nor any of the Megaman games.

Anyway enough of what didn't appear, let's begin the countdown!

[Knoxville]

This is a great idea, can't believe Pandemonion or Croc didn't make the top 100 though. I have Attitude for my Dreamcast, still play it today.

[Woo]

100. Crash Bash
Crash is back! He's brought his friends too and they are all bashing together...

What better place to start this countdown of the best PSone than with it’s unofficial mascot Crash? Well some may say “anywhere else…” while others would moan about how Crash was a shallow creation, a cheap money-making scheme that stole Mario’s ideas and married them with Sonic’s personality. Blah blah blah... Those who expected to see the orange bandicoot on the in the top `100 PSone games might still be surprised that Crash Bash made it on the list.

So why is it here? Well I like it and since it is my list then it’s ultimately my choice. That’s not to say the game is bad, though admittedly it is the worst Crash on the console (coincidently the first that wasn’t made by Naughty Dog), it’s just that you need to have a multi-tap to fully enjoy the games. But the one great game though, the round where you run around on polar bears attempting to push 3 opponents out of the ring is worth the price of the game alone.


99. Cool Boarders 2
Just how did that snow get inside them tunnels?…

Before SSX and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater came along Cool Boarders was the king of extreme sports games. Well actually Cool Boarders 2 was…the first one wasn’t very good. CB2 was a relatively simple game, featuring just four boarders, 2 men and 2 girls, all of whom handled relatively the same. The characters names are awful also- Yaggie, Irin, Cindy and Jin. Also the game only had about 4 courses to race down. However the courses are fun and involve dodging trees, grinding down rails, taking stupidly risky jumps and going through tunnels…tunnels which have somehow failed to prevent the snow falling…

The real fun is however when you do the trick events, the half-pipe mode or the jumping mode where you have to earn points by performing tricks such as tail grabs and alleyoops which you are cleverly told how to perform during the loading screens. Also the game has three hidden characters including an alien called Gray, who is the best person to use during the trick events as he can do an absurd amount of twists and turns on one jump. There’s also a snowman character…but the only good thing about him is that his head amusingly falls off. All in all this boarding game really is ‘cool’, much more fun that it’s sequels. Oh there is this stupid announcer who introduces the game like it’s a boxing fight “UEP System’s bring to you Coooool Booooarders!” He’s so annoying he makes the “Riiiiiiidge Racccccer!” voice-over tolerable.



98. Dancing Stage: Party Editon
"At home no-one can see you dance."

As I mentioned earlier after Beatmania was released music games were being made everywhere including dancing games such as this. The Dancing Stage games are the European names of the 'Dance Dance Revolution' series and this game had 5 songs just for us Europeans including Kylie Minogue's 'Can't Get You Out of My Head' and S Club 7's 'Don't Stop Moving'....just when you thought Japanese developers couldn't hate Europeans any more.

However the game also features songs by the Bloodhound Gang, Chakka Khan one of my all-time favourites 'My Favourite Game' by the Cardigans, more on that song further up the list... Those 5 songs brought the total up to "52 songs".......well actually 51. The "52" printed on the box was a rather comical blunder. However it still has more songs that any other DDR game and that's why it makes this list.



97. Bushido Blade[/size]
No health bars, no time limits- it’s a fight to the death!

I mentioned earlier that Bloody Roar only had eight playable characters, well Bushido Blade goes two better, or worse, and only has 6! But what this fighting game’s saving grace is it’s uniqueness. There really wasn’t anything like this game when it came out, and there still hasn’t been a game like it since, aside from it’s own disappointing sequels. So what’s so unique about this game? Well it takes everything you expect to see in a fighting game and chops them in half with a katana sword. Time limits? Gone away with. Health bars? Forget about it. Several different stages to fight on? Nope. Okay that last one sounds like a negative thing, but rather than set stages every fight here takes place across a small village and a castle, which is extremely liberating for a genre which usually confines you to tiny little fighting area.

Also rather than try and get a KO, like in Street Fighter or Tekken winning this game requires you to use your sabre, broadsword or even a sledgehammer (you get to choose the weapon) to kill your opponent. But the neat trick is that if you hit your adversary in the aim, they know longer will be able to hold their sword. If you hit one of their legs, they will end up hobbling around. You can even chops limbs off and end up fighting a one armed man as he crawls along the floor trying in vain to kill you. Or alternatively with one good swipe the fight could end in under two seconds! There are faults though- the graphics are very hit-and-miss depending on where you are fighting and the loading times are horrifically long. It’s still a good game though and one I hope gets a modern remake. With today’s improvement in graphics Bushido Blade could now become the incredible game it always threatened to be.



96. Formula One 97
Race Hill, Schumacher, Alesi and… ‘Williams Driver NumberOne’?

The first Formula One was the very first game I got with the Playstation and it was instantly impressive. It also came with a steering wheel and pedals which made the game even more immersive. This sequel took all the elements from the first game a generally improved them. Chief amongst these improvements was the inclusion of a ‘Grand Prix’ mode in addition to the original’s arcade game. The Grand Prix mode was more realistic than the arcade version, go on the grass while racing and you would almost always spin out of the race and it allowed you to face the full season, including full-race distance tracks. Also car damage was included this time around, so you could catch fire or lose tyres after a big crash The arcade mode on the other hand handled completely different and allowed you to just pick any care or driver (minus Jack Villeneuve who had copyrighted his name for some reason) and just race without having to worry about damage or pit-stops. Both modes played very differently so at the time it felt like you had two very games on one CD which was very good-value for money.

Other improvements were the in-cockpit view, Martin Brundle on commentating who now joined the always excellent Murray Walker and best of all- a two player split-screen mode! The first game had a two game, but it required people to have two play stations, two televisions, two copies of the game and a link cable, which never caught on. The graphics were great at the time and the way the game used the same fonts and style for the race positions and lap times that you would see on ITV really added to the experience. Sadly the people who made this game moved on after the this and the series plummeted as a result.



95. Monster Rancher
“No I wasn’t listening to ABBA….I was just seeing what monster I would get if I put the CD in…..honest!”

Okay up next is strange quirky little game that plays like the offspring of a Pokemon and a Tamogotchi. You basically have a little monster that you get to look after by feeding it and generally keeping it happy and you then eventually then have to battle your monster against other monsters in a big monster tournament….Yes it sounds stupid, but if you try explaining a lot of games to they sound dumb, a bit like Vib Ribbon actually.

Like Vib Ribbon Monster Rancher has a great twist that involves putting your music CD’s into the PSX, which will create a monster for you depending on the CD you inserted. Pop a Christmas CD in and you will get a Santa type creature, try Radiohead and you’ll probably end up with a Creepy beast that tries to kill itself. Try a Backstreet Boys album and you should be the one killing yourself for owning that crap… This game, like any other has a few faults, primarily the graphics are awful as you can see from the banner below.



94. Warhawk
Like Top Gun, minus the gay volleyball scene...

This is an ancient PSone flight game where you control a ‘Warhawk’ (a futuristic warplane) and have to shoot stuff using rockets, flash bombs and plasma cannons…whatever they are. There’s also a plot about the two main pilots Hatch and Walker, their commanding officer Jassic and their quest to overthrow an evil dictator named Kreel…or something like that…. The cut scenes featured real actors rather than CGI which was quite unique at the time, but the real hook was the great combat and dog fighting.

There were also funny game over screens telling you how you ended up getting eaten by a shark if you crashed into the sea, or telling you that you have been served as food for the evil dictator. Like most games here this has not aged well graphically at all and with the great PS3 version out it’s probably better off to get hold of that game if you like this sort of game.



93. MediEvil II
Hate dying in platform games? Don’t worry Dan’s already dead.

Useless bit of trivia: MediEvil is the most successful franchise on the PSone that never got a sequel. That is a bit of a shame really as the games were really fun and do something most games don’t do- make you laugh. You play as a skeleton named Sir Daniel Fortesque who’s friends include a friendly ghost and good-looking blue undead girl called Princess Kiya.

The gameplay is your standard hack’n’slash yarn that you’d expect in this sort of game, but it’s the humour and the fact the game doesn’t take itself too seriously that triumph over the bland premise of it all. I believe this game may be available cheaply on the Playstation 3 store if you fancy giving it a go.



92. NFL Blitz 2000
The ‘other’ US football game.

We all about the Madden series which has been a great franchise over the years, but NFL Blitz offered up something different. Rather than focus on being an ultra-realistic sim this offered up a more arcadey game like the earlier FIFA instalments. Rather than simply tackle opponents when they have the ball you were given the option to throw them to the floor, take them down with a German suplex and even give them a leg drop.

The Blitz series was quite popular until EA got scared and signed an exclusive deal with the NFL. EA blow. Blitz isn’t as good as Madden, but still good. Now this is what the XFL should have been like.



91. Star Trek Invasion
It’s a Star Trek game, but not as we know it.

Yep this Star Trek game isn’t like other Star Trek games for one main reason- it’s good. This game was made by some of the people who worked on Colony Wars and like that game this is a space shooter where get to fly around in Star Trek ships and shoot things.

It also features voice acting from Commander Worf from Star Trek Next Generation (the best Star Trek series in my opinion) and yes- Patrick Stewart himself as Captain Piccard! A great little game, not as good as Colony Wars, but good in it’s own way and fans of the series will like it. A good Star Trek game? Gah, invasion!

[Steala]

Monster Rancher = excellence.

[Phillies]

This is hands down the longest most thought filled post I've ever read. Did u do this by your self or did u hire ghost posters?

The way you handle these top 100 countdowns is amazing; VH1 should hire you…

[Woo]

Oct 12, 2008 0:13:43 GMT -1 Phillies said:

This is hands down the longest most thought filled post I've ever read. Did u do this by your self or did u hire ghost posters?

Lol, I did it myself. The hard part was coming up with the list, which I have been doing for fun for years. Then making the banners for each game was a complete bitch too.

Yeah I nearly had Pandemonium and Croc on the list Knox, but imo there are at least 7 better platform games out for the console.

I've got the next 20 games banners so I'll be posting the next 20 as soon as I write up the reviews.

Thanks for the feedback guys! Appreciated!