Best PSX games of all time

We’ll always remember the release of the PlayStation as that magical moment when we stopped having to blow dust out of plastic cartridges and started having to wipe our greasy gamer prints off of shiny discs. Also, the graphics were good and there was that whole evolution of gaming media thing.

Anyway, here are our picks for the top 25 PSX games of all time...

Like many of the PlayStation rarities, Intelligent Qube is a game that falls under "blink and you'll miss it." While European and Japanese gamers have been able to relive it in the PlayStation Store (it was titled Kurushi in PAL territories), North Americans haven't been so fortunate. That's a shame, since it's system of rotating rows of rising and moving blocks was one of the first times many of us remember using the term "addictive" to describe a game without the typical negative attachments.

It's not as flashy as Lumines, and it's not the PB&J; that Puzzle Quest was, but damned if IQ wasn't one of the best puzzle games to grace the genre in the late 90s. If there was a game we'd lobby SCEA especially hard to see in the PlayStation Store, it'd be IQ. If you can track down a (rather expensive) copy on eBay, it's still an exceptional game.

Though they may have looked similar graphically, R4 was far from the racing sim Gran Turismo 2 was. Ridge Racer was always about arcade controls, drifting, and most importantly, accessibility. This meant that even gamers who weren’t so good at driving games could escape the degradation of kart racing and feel like a true pro.

R4 was the last and best Ridge Racer game on the PlayStation, and despite the franchise continuing on to the present day, some still consider R4 to be the pinnacle of the series.

Phew, it’s hard to believe we made it to the end of this entry without succumbing to the urge to type out a certain meme. RIIIIIDG - NO! Must resist!

The PSOne gets knocks from retro gamers for popularizing polygonal visuals over 2D sprites, but that ignores a good number of games that kept hand drawn graphics alive. A great example of that is the culmination of everything that Capcom got right with the Alpha series, Street Fighter Alpha 3 aka the pinnacle of 2D fighters on the PlayStation.

SFA3 not only featured multiple play styles and combo gauges to choose from, it also had and impressively rich roster. Fans got to see dream match-ups as Alpha originals like Rosie and Sakura faced off against SFII classics like Guile, Fei Long and Blanka. Ultimately SFA3 was proof that old school fighters still had a place in the era of polygons.

Besides Crash Bandicoot (who we'll get to later), Spyro was sort of the Mario of the PlayStation. The cute, purple dragon had a number of adventures throughout the years, though his finest moment was undoubtedly Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!, his second excursion in 1999.

Spyro 2 wasn't drastically different from the first game because it didn't have to be, but slight modifications to the controls and core gameplay made for a much more streamlined, enjoyable experience. Plus, you get to play as a dragon. A dragon! And he's adorable.

Crash Team Racing was PSX’s highly-successful answer to (or shameless clone of, depending on your level of rabid allegiance) Mario Kart 64 and Diddy Kong Racing. It may have been very similar to the Nintendo kart racers, but CTR was incredibly well-designed and the best option for PSX players looking to enjoy the sub-genre.

The crazy combat, wacky characters, and solid controls were all there. And the fact that the Crash universe was already well-established by the time CTR was released drew in legions of platform-specific fans. It’s just a shame all Crash-related offerings that came after this were, err, far from stellar.

It didn’t take much to sell a three-dimensional fighting game during the second half of the 90’s, but Tekken 3 definitely wasn’t content to rest on its laurels. The arcade port pushed the boundaries of the PlayStation’s graphical capability, and the highly-acclaimed gameplay improvements took the series even further into the 3rd dimension.

There we so many new fighters and so many things to do (thanks to the addition of mini games) that it was hard to believe Tekken 3 could even exist on the PSX. But exist it did, and it was awesome enough for many to still consider it the best of the entire series.

Here we had a very traditional RPG with a 2D, sprite-based world, turn based combat, etc. Its lack of graphical prowess had a lot to do with it originally being a Japanese Sega Saturn game from 1996, three years before the PlayStation version hit US shores. But that doesn’t mean that it was something to pass on - far from it, actually. It told a memorable story and the gameplay rivaled that of any classic RPG. But the standout feature involved what happened when you weren’t in control.

Instead of CGI cutscenes, fully animated cartoon sequences drove the narrative forward in between battle and exploration. This simple idea gave all the characters more depth and reliability than was normally seen in an RPG, and allowed players to more easily invest themselves in the story. It also didn’t hurt that the English localization and voice acting were top-notch.

Even though Klonoa was targeted more at children that adults, people young and old could appreciate the brilliant universe and unique game design. It was a cute, fun, simple platformer that relied on a relatively new approach to grab gamers’ attention.

The 2.5D (3D game engine with a mostly 2D style of play) design was a perfect way to keep the accessibility and desirability of older 2D platformers while simultaneously acknowledging the industry’s almost unanimous jump into the 3D realm. It made for very fresh platforming and a progression that never got stale. Klonoa may not have created the legacy Namco had hoped for, but at least he’ll always live on in our hearts.

Soul Reaver was one of the most memorable 3D action/adventure games on the PlayStation thanks to its dark story, impressive voice acting, and varied mechanics. It was surprising that it turned out so well, considering that stylistically, Legacy of Kain was a brand new take on the series, it’s prequel being a top-down RPG.

Switching between the physical realm and the spectral realm in order to solve puzzles was a fresh and fascinating element that helped cover up the fact that the game as a whole was pretty easy. But easy doesn’t necessarily mean bad, and we fondly remember kicking vampire ass with the Soul Reaver.

Remember that time when your parents walked into the living room and thought you were watching TV, even though you were actually playing a video game? Chances are, that happened during a race replay in Gran Turismo 2. Yep, it looked that good.

Though obviously, GT2 was more than just a super sleek tech demo. The series popularized the racing sim genre with its faithful yet accessible action, and GT2 was simply as good as things got on the PSX. Even those who were uninterested in cars and/or racing were drawn in by the influential power of the title. And let’s not forget the over 600 highly-detailed vehicles and a realistically robust customization system. Good times.

It’s one thing to create a great competitive puzzle game. It’s another to throw in cartoony, parodic sprite versions of the world’s most famous 2D fighters to represent your spatial relation triumphs in real time.

Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo pitted two players (or one and the computer) against each other to see who could keep their stack of gems from reaching the top of the screen. Your success directly translated into torture for your opponent, dropping junk blocks onto their stack and forcing them to act fast. All the while, your chosen fighters would battle it out via some of the most charming animations we’ve seen.

Simply put, SPF2T’s puzzle system was good enough to rival Tetris. Yes, Tetris. Everything else was just ridiculously colorful icing on the cake.

Wipeout, Sony’s answer to F-Zero, has always managed to scratch an itch that no car sim or kart racer could. Wipeout XL was the highly-improved follow up that took that concept of extreme racing to the next level, giving us faster vehicles, new weapons, and crazier tracks. Of course, the memorable (and licensed) techno soundtrack perfectly matched the futuristic setting (because obviously that was and will always be the music of the future).

Another notable addition was the 12-ship races (up from the original Wipeout’s 4). This upped the intensity of not only the racing, but the combat. Trying to maintain a decent line while a dozen competitors tried to blow you off the track was no easy task, but we enjoyed every single adrenaline-filled second of it.

The original Tomb Raider may have pioneered the 3D action/adventure genre, but when it was first introduced, the PlayStation was young and many gamers had never truly been aroused by a purely polygonal being before. By the time Tomb Raider II landed one year later, everyone knew who Lara Croft was. Everyone was ready.

And Core Design did not disappoint. The developer learned a lot from creating the first game, and in turn gave us a bigger, cleaner, more exciting world in which to maneuver the camera around to inspect Lara’s improved assets. TRII felt like a big step up from its predecessor - something we can’t really say about the slightly-tweaked cash-in that Tomb Raider III turned out to be.

The precursor for rhythm games such as DDR and Rockband, PaRappa the Rapper took the nifty idea of timing button presses to match specific beats and added charming paper-like animations, funny lyrics, and seriously catchy tunes. Even if the songs were about learning to drive a car and competing for turn on the toilet, the tone was always light-hearted and extremely enjoyable.

It didn’t take much for that enjoyment to quickly devolve into a hilarious mess if you mistimed your button presses. Honestly, hearing PaRappa miss his cues and come in at the wrong times was just as satisfying as winning the game. Well, for spectators at least.

If you’ve never played or heard of Suikoden II, it was probably because you just couldn’t get your hands on a copy. Despite high review scores a passionate following (that perhaps formed too late), Suikoden 2 was never reprinted after its initial limited run. Which is a real shame, because that forced one of the greatest PlayStation RPGs to fade into relative obscurity.

Story was the standout component here, and not just the one involving the game’s protagonist. You spent much of the game recruiting up to 108 allies to fight alongside you. It was a bit like Pokémon, only these allies could speak, kill, and were never constrained by magical ball-prisons. Hmm, ok, maybe it was nothing like Pokémon...

When the Dual Shock controller was introduced, few games took advantage as well as Ape Escape did. Instead of using the right stick for camera movements, players controlled a multitude of unique and fun gadgets in an effort to capture increasingly elusive simians. Whether it was an ape squirming under your net or a revved up dash hoop spinning around your waist, every precisely-controlled action was rewarded with unprecedented tactile feedback.

And honestly, who wouldn’t want to travel through time bashing rogue apes over the head with something that looked like a lightsaber before scooping them up in your Time Net and instantly zapping them back to the present? The concept sells itself.

Dammit, Abe’s Oddysee was beautiful. Maybe not in a conventional sense (a forcefully mute slave leading a revolt to escape death by meat grinder is hardly soothing), but the high artistic value of both the visual design and soundtrack were hard to deny. Oddworld was exactly as its name implied, and that was a huge part of the appeal.

Even the game engine was unique enough to garner its own name: A.L.I.V.E (Alive Life-Forms in a Virtual Environment). Enemies and allies both had personality, and responded in different ways to specific stimuli as opposed to just predictably walking left or right. The result was a world that engaged the player in a cerebral and contemplative way - a fresh concept for 2D platformers.

Silent Hill wasn’t content on mere jump scares and ugly creatures. It aimed to psychologically devastate you, to ensure you were afraid to go to sleep. And for some reason, we absolutely loved it for that.

With its dense fog, smothering darkness, and multiple dimensions, Silent Hill created one of the most terrifying yet memorable environments ever seen in a video game. Even more unsettling was that the game’s protagonist, Harry Mason, wasn’t some chain-smoking space marine: he was a normal dude who sucked at fighting. Whether this was an excuse for a poor control scheme or an intentional combat deterrent, we certainly gained a new appreciation for the term “survival.” Running away is exactly what you would do if being chased by deadly monsters, and we’ll always appreciate Konami’s understanding of this idea.

Also, an alien abduction ending was possible. Too cool.

As soon as cars were invented, drivers dreamed of mounting machine guns on them and wreaking havoc on other motor vehicles, violently and without judgment. Twisted Metal gave us exactly that. Then Twisted Metal 2 gave us even more, wrapped it all up in a straightjacket and set it on fire, creating one big ball of flaming insanity (see the game’s cover for proof).

Of course the extreme demolition derby aspects were satisfying, but the settings in which the battles took place and disturbing character portrayals injected personality into an otherwise mechanical and faceless game concept. Sony was banking on there being a demented sadist inside of all of us, and they were totally spot on.

In diverging from the aesthetic absurdity normally present in three-dimensional Final Fantasy games, Square proved that a more traditional fantasy world of swords, armor, castles, and magic could survive and thrive on the modern graphic powerhouse that was the PlayStation. Sure, a certain lack of guns, gun-arms, and gun-swords may have made IX less appealing to some (it sold relatively poorly despite the unmatched critical acclaim), we’ll always remember it as one of the most perfectly cohesive of the series.

Not only did IX manage to surpass its predecessors graphically, but we actually liked the characters this time around and cared about what happened to them. By the end of the smartly-evolving story, we were so emotionally invested in the cast and thoroughly satisfied by the old-school, non-convoluted combat system that we couldn’t help but hold FFIX above both of its console brothers. Sorry, almost everyone else.

The original Resident Evil was a standout in its own right, but also contained a lot of flaws that kept it from true greatness (laughable FMV sequences come to mind). Capcom learned its lesson quickly, however, and bounced back two years later with Resident Evil 2: a game superior to the first in nearly every way.

Gore, horror, puzzles, developed characters, and of course, the anxiety of surviving as oppose to destroying everything in sight were elements essentially perfected (at least in terms of PlayStation’s capabilities) by RE2. RE3 may have offered some enhanced gameplay, but it had nowhere near the personality or memorability.

If Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater effectively combined two of the coolest things in the world - skateboarding and video games - to create gaming gold, THPS2 was gaming unobtainium. It was an instant classic that didn’t just blow the mind of current gamers, it created an army of brand new ones.

Increased level size, creating a custom skater, building your own skate parts, and using manuals to link combos were monumental additions proving THPS2 was way more than just a cash-in on a successful concept (though we can’t say the same for any Tony Hawk released in the last 10 years).

Plus, THPS2 is the reason why we all know Powerman 5000’s “When Worlds Collide” by heart, and why we still have an urge to bust out a frontside nosegrind every time we see an escalator - even if we aren’t skaters. Such was the impact of this incredible game.

For those who didn’t run away screaming when they realized it was unlike anything the franchise had previously produced, Final Fantasy Tactics provided a complex and rewarding experience with its chess-like approach to combat. Anyone who’s spent an hour with their party in a circle formation boosting exp by chucking stones at each other understands the sense of accomplishment to be had from mastering one of the game’s 20 job classes.

But it wasn’t all about experience points and hit percentages. The world of Ivalice was as visually stunning as an isometric, grid-based world could get, and the mature approach to storytelling was a perfect match for the gameplay. Granted, we couldn’t really understand some of the nonsensical translation until it was redone for the 2007 War of the Lions remake, but the groundwork was there.

Oh yeah, and the soundtrack contains some of our favorite video game music ever.

Upon hearing the Castlevania name, many gamers’ thoughts go directly to Symphony of the Night. And so they should; the game was amazing. If that descriptor seems a little too vague or generic for your tastes, that probably means you haven’t actually played this classic. And now we have a problem.

The expansive map, RPG elements, unlockable skills, and (enjoyable) backtracking of SOTN led to the coinage of the “Metroidvania” sub-genre title. And, thanks to Konami focusing on using the PSX’s power to amplify the 2D graphics instead of delving into the trendy territory of early 3D gaming, SOTN holds up extremely well. So much so, it’s considered one of the best games of not only the PSX era, but of all time.

Metal Gear Solid demanded a lot from its players. For one, we had to learn to stop mashing on our controllers like mindless sitcom actors for two seconds and simply watch a video game. When we did have control, there was a whole lot of careful sneaking and quiet killing. Go in guns blazing (well, as close as you could get to guns blazing in MGS) and you were met with swift, crushing defeat. Why did we ever put up with it?

Because not only did MGS deliver as a thrilling interactive experience, it was the next evolution in gaming. Its movie-like cutscenes and meticulously designed, stealth-centric levels were evidence of a production value not normally seen in a video game. Konami and Kojima tried for a lot here, and pulled it all off brilliantly.

Obviously not every game could make the list - there are only so many games that can be labeled the absolute best. We're sure that some of you have games you think should have been added, cut, or rearranged, so let us know in the comments below what you would change about our list of the Best PSone games of all time.