Let's Reminisce: Japanese Playstation 2 (and 1)

[Some Stupid Japanese Name]

While I would agree on most PS1 games that attempted realistic 3D, I find some of the more stylized stuff to be very charming. I was never into Jumping Flash when it was current, but I adore the look of those games now.

[A Robot Bit Me]

Yeah, those early games that used almost no polygon textures look a lot better today than, like, Syphon Filter.

Also Hermie Hopperhead kind of sucks.

[MechDeus]

Oz: A Drakengaardy third person action game with an emphasis on tandem attacks. You can pop an enemy up with one guy, seize control of one of your AI allies to juggle the enemy with a projectile, then switch to another guy to jump in with an air combo. I can't find a video of someone playing it well. You'll just have to come over my house to see that.

This came out in Europe, in case you want to play the game in English at some point.

[gameoverDude]

Digital Foundry revisits the PS1 game-changer - and talks with its developer. (article by Richard Leadbetter)

The Ridge Racer arcade team did some good work in getting their System 22 arcade racer onto PS1. Of course cuts were needed to some things like resolution (way lower than System 22's), frame rate (60 -> a locked 30 FPS), and color depth (notable stippling). Still, the game plays smooth and holds its own against the original. Also this was totally built from the ground up, unlike a Taito Type X port job.

It holds its own against the arcade and some say it even plays better. RR helped make the PS1 look better than the Saturn, whose VF1 and Daytona conversions had their issues. Nintendo's and Sega's previous efforts with 3D games paled in comparison. One thing the author forgot to mention is the neGcon which came out around the same time.

The RR4 bonus disc, Ridge Racer Turbo unfortunately lets you race one opponent (sometimes two) but I guess that's a tradeoff for getting 60 FPS. Shame about the Vita RR being locked at 30 FPS. If the PSP can do a 60 FPS one with way more tracks, Vita should have also.

Unfortunately, this story didn't have an answer either way about a new RR for consoles. We need a Ridge Racer 8, as long as Bugbear stays far away from it.

[jyoung]

Daytona USA > Sega Rally > Ridge Racer

[Yoshi]

Obviously, but we can't even get a port of 2, let alone a new one of those.

[YellerDog]

Raiden Project was the game that really sold me on the PS1.

[kingoffighters]

Ridge Racer Type 4 is the pinnacle of RR, I never get sick of that game. It still looks good today too.

[GohanX]

Daytona USA > Sega Rally > Ridge Racer

While true, Daytona USA > Sega Rally > Ridge Racer > Everything else.

I still keep the Ridge Racer 1 PS1 disc out to play on whatever PS system I have plugged up at the time.

[Joust Williams]

we only have one non-open world non-sim racer this console gen, and it's Driveclub

my hope is that one of these indie games is amazing