Let's Reminisce: Sony Playstation

[Some Stupid Japanese Name]

The Jag Fags found all kinds of issues with it, but i would bet money that if you havent played jaguar in a while, the psx version would be close enough.
I was all in the mood for Carnage Heart when i got home. But when i looked through the forty or so ps1 games i still have, it wasnt there. Must have sold it. Wah. I still have raiden project though!

[kingoffighters]

I still have Carnage Heart, I should dig it out.

[icarusfall]

Jumping Flash or gtfo

[bVork]

Let's spell check.

More seriously though, I spent the 32 bit generation on planet Saturn. I have zero nostalgia for this console.

That said, there's something about the early PSX games that somehow appeals to me. I always find launch or near launch (within about the first year or so) titles interesting because they either tend to be wildly experimental (before everyone figures out what you should and should not do with the hardware) or souped-up versions of the previous generation's games. I get a feeling of giddiness from Jumping Flash and how it takes advantage of all three dimensions in a way not possible on previous console generations. Wipeout's awesome graphical design and electronic soundtrack made it feel incredibly hip and cutting-edge in a way that I had never seen before with a game. Rayman is a 16-bit platformer taken to new heights in 2D beauty. And even ported-to-everything Doom has a really neat PSX version with coloured lighting and a dark ambient soundtrack.

[Pineapple]

Anyhow, I wish Deathtrap Dungeon was as titillating as the ad was.

This was one of the most effective ads ever at making me want to play the game. I still don't think I ever played it though.

[Tain]

Actually, I tried out Carnage Heart for the first time today without seeing this thread. It's a pretty wild game!

The PS1 generation for me was owning a Saturn while playing N64 and PSX games through friends. Rayman was probably the first PSX game I got to try (a friend of mine bought one before I had even heard the name). Wipeout and Warhawk came soon after. More and more of my friends went with the PSX, and thanks to that I got to see the huge games and a few of the oddball ones. The strongest memories are with the Resident Evil games, MGS, FF7, SotN, and Street Fighter Alpha 3.

I'd eventually get a PS2 in 2002 or so, but it was a Japanese system and I was focusing on PS2 stuff, so I hardly played PSX games on it. It wasn't until maybe 2004 or 2005 that I started really digging into the library beyond the big titles, and I haven't stopped.

[Shou]

I managed a Die Hard franchise store before the PS launched in the US so we had the Japanese units on display and I really only wanted to take one home with Arc the Lad 1 and Gunners Heaven but being a high school kid, I couldn't afford to have everything (unlike now as an adult) so never did get a unit until much later in the console's life around when Tekken 2 released in Japan and someone sold their Japanese unit to the store. There were always a handful titles like Blood Omen and Lomax that I wanted but the Saturn was far far more appealing with all of the then popular arcade ports. Being a VF and SNK player, I don't think it was until 1998 that I really got into the machine with MGS1 and the Yarudora series. Although, I did dabble quite a bit with Bushido Blade 1 (the endless turtling was annoying), Tobal 1-2, Tekken 2 and Soul Edge. To date, Dracula X, MGS1 and Double Cast are still fond memories.

I know that not everyone can play retro titles and appreciate their relative technical prowess but I can still enjoy 3D games on this platform. A few years ago, I luckily came across a NIB test PS with its dev tools and have since modded it for digital audio so can play any game/CDR proto on this setup.

[James]

Regarding Tempest 2000- Get the Saturn version. I don't know why people forget it exists but it's the Jag cart on disk. I've always sucked at Tempest without a spinner, but if you can play it, this is the version to go for.

I've got mixed feelings about the PS1. On the one hand, it had a great mix of 3D and, eventually, 2D games. On the other, when I think of PS1 3D all I can picture is zig-zag textures, ridiculously close draw distance, and argumentative game cameras. There was some fantastic stuff on there (and Alundra 1 is just so good!) but the early days of 3D were troublesome, at best.

I want a new Skullmonkeys!

James

[MechDeus]

Another game that I loved with horrendous technical limitations: G-Police. Playing as a VTOL future cop, you had to scan targets to make sure they were enemies or civilians before shooting them down. The draw distance was hilariously short and what none of the videos I looked at showed was that there was an option to increase it, which it pretended to do so by drawing in green wireframes of objects.



I never tried the PC version.

[ssbomberman]

Besides playing Shining Force on genny and mystaria on saturn, I hadn't played very many SRPGs prior to the psx, so the Ps1 is really where I started my obsession with SRPGs... and RPGs in general -- Parasite Eve (one of my all time favs), Front Mission 3 (man I love this game!), Grandia, Alundra 1, Arc the Lad collection, Lunar ports, FF Tactics, Vandal Hearts, Persona 1 and 2, Wild Arms 1 and 2, etc. Seriously, this system is an RPG dream not too mention great for 2D fighters and shooters at the time (though a lot of the fighters found better ports on Saturn or later systems)...