The 20 Greatest PSOne Games of All-Time
The 20 Greatest PSOne Games of All-Time List:
- Spyro: Year of the Dragon
Back before he was a part of Activision's diabolical action figure videogame empire, Spyro was just a dragon doing what dragons do. You know, hanging out with dragonflies and collecting eggs. If you didn't have a Nintendo 64 and you wanted the open worlds afforded to Mario and Banjo-Kazooie, the little purple dragon was your best bet besides like, going outside. Spyro represents childhood to a lot of people, which is a lot of the reason you have such conflicting feelings for Elijah Wood.
- Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
Resident Evil 3 is the original pre-sequel. Taking place both before and after RE2, Nemesis follows fan favorite Jill Valentine as she navigates the undead-ridden city with an arsenal of weapons and a really bangin' tube top. Stalking her throughout the entire game is Nemesis, a biological superweapon with a propensity for bursting through walls and giving S.T.A.R.S. members sugary fruit drinks and also punches to the neck. The unstoppable villain defined RE3, even though they sort of already did the Michael Myers-style villain thing with the Tyrant in RE2.
- Mega Man X4
It took three sequels for the X series to get its own Mega Man 2, but X4 finally delivered an installment against all other games in the franchise would be compared. It wasn't revolutionary, or really all that different than the previous games in the series -- you still fought eight robots and cannibalized them to gain their powers -- but it turned out to be the most refined. It helped that this was the first sequel that let you play as the sword-wielding Zero, who finally proved - against all odds - that badass robots with laser-swords could be cool.
- Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage
Spyro games weren't always exciting and new, but you always knew what you were getting - even if it was basically the exact same thing you just got. Back before he was apart of Activision's diabolical action figure video game empire, Spyro was just a dragon doing what dragons do. You know, hanging out with dragonflies and collecting eggs. If you didn't have a Nintendo 64 and you wanted the open worlds afforded to Mario and Banjo-Kazooie, the little purple dragon was your best bet besides like, going outside. Spyro represents childhood to a lot of people, which is a lot of the reason you have such conflicting feelings for Elijah Wood. Even though Spyro 2 wasn't a revolution, to say that it used "cut and paste" would be a little insulting.
- Crash Team Racing
Mario Kart can go ahead and take their blue shells and launch it on themselves in first place -- kart racing fans know a superior imitator when they see one. It's true, Crash Team Racing wouldn't exist without Mario Kart, but it improved on the formula in so many ways. It's got the mechanical skeleton of Mario Kart, the Adventure Mode of Diddy Kong Racing and the great battle modes of...uh, Mario Kart. Naughty Dog tried the racing genre again with Jak X, but it just wasn't the same. Here's hoping they can return to form with Unkarted.
- Resident Evil
With its full motion video and infamously cheesy dialogue, the original Resident Evil remains one of the corniest games ever made. It's incredible then, that even after all these years, the original survival horror game can still spook the shit out of you. Whether it's reading increasingly haggard journal entries of a man slowly turning into a zombie, or scrounging up barely enough ammo to make it by, there are still some great experiences to be had even for a first-time player in 2014. Jill Sandwiches never get stale.
- Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
The game that inspired thousands of knee scrapes and ass bruises, there was really nothing else like the original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater on release. Its inspired combo system, combined with tight controls and a goofy sense of humor really left a mark on the games industry. You know, until Activision ran it into the ground so hard that they tried digging it up with a plastic skateboard peripheral. But for a few sweet years, even the demo was good for hours on end. You can thank Neversoft for game is the reason that Goldfinger's "Superman" will be in your head until the day you die.
- Tekken 3
Tekken 3 is up there with the Dreamcast version of Soul Calibur for one of the best arcade fighter ports ever made. The tight mechanics and huge roster would have been more than worth the MSRP, but then Namco added a full Final Fight-style campaign and a ton of other additional content. There was even a beach ball mode for absolutely no discernable reason. Even today, you'd be hard-pressed to find a fighting game fan who wouldn't be willing to plop down on the couch for a few matches. Just don't pick Eddy Guerrero.
- Silent Hill
While Resident Evil veered off into the action/boulder-punching genre, the Silent Hill series has always been about horror. The first game in the series remains one of the best, thanks to its fantastic atmosphere and truly creepy enemy encounters. Sure, the whole town is super foggy because of the PS1's technical limitations, but that endless mist added another layer of mystery to an already spooky town. It's too bad that later games in the franchise (and the movies) ruined that mystique with unneeded explanations. Maybe we can just pretend all of the UFO endings are canon.
- Crash Bandicoot Warped
The third Crash Bandicoot game is the lowest on the list, but it's no slouch. Warped is the best-selling game in the PS1 Crash trilogy -- it even outsold the original Metal Gear Solid, if you believe the people who have the time and resources to edit a Wikipedia page. Changing up the scenery with an array of levels in different time periods, Warped let you play as Crash or his little sister, Coco Bandicoot. Don't think too hard about their last name.
- Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back![11.jpg]
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Though it might not have the bells and whistles afforded to Warped, Crash Bandicoot 2 still has rock-solid design and great gameplay variety. It squeezed every inch out its 25 levels, hiding collectibles in every nook and cranny. It's tough to say why Crash 2 is just slightly better than Crash 3, but the flawless and objective scientific methods of the Dorkly Toplist must not be questioned.
- Chrono Cross
The follow-up to the beloved Chrono Trigger wasn't what anyone was expecting, but in this case it was a wonderful thing. The crazy amount of playable characters (each with their own goofy dialect) and branching paths encouraged multiple playthroughs of the trippy and whimsical story. Fans are so attached to the plot that even today they'll yell at anyone who spoils the part where you switch bodies with Lynx, the transmogrified version of the hero's father. To be fair, that would be kind of a dick move.
- Resident Evil 2
The mack-daddy of PSOne Resident Evil games, the second entry in the franchise took the zombie outbreak to a whole 'nother level. Players got to choose between Claire Redfield and Leon Kennedy, and afterwards were forced to play as the one that they didn't pick if they wanted to finish the game. The locations, story and grisly enemies all a huge improvement over the first game. That Brad Vickers wasn't around Bradding up the place was just a nice bonus.
- Crash Bandicoot
Back when people still cared about video game mascots, Sony had a pretty big vacancy. Sure, they had Lawnmowe-- I mean, Polygon Man, but next to Sonic and Mario he might as well have been Bubsy. When Crash Bandicoot hit the scene, he was relevatory. Not as dopey as Mario, not as 'tudetastic as Sonic, Crash was just a goofy dude doing his thing. As it happened, that involved a lot of running towards the camera away from danger.
- Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fantasy has seen a lot of terrible spinoffs -- you know something's wrong when a Chocobo kart racer is better than a game starring Vincent from FFVII -- but Tactics is a great exception. Just as meaty as a mainline Final Fantasy game (maybe longer if you include sidequests), FFT introduced an entire generation to strategy RPGs. More importantly, it was many gamers' first experience with permadeath, teaching the important lesson "Everything you love dies."
That's funny. This is the first Final Fantasy game on the list. Guess the others didn't make it. Oh well. On to what's sure to be a diverse and balanced top five!
- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
SotN's cornball intro might be the Monty Python and the Holy Grail of overquoted games, but that's partly because people keep coming back to it year after year. Though many of the subsequent Castlevanias used the same Metroid-like structure and ability progression, there's still nothing quite like sliding backwards through the castle as Alucard. By the end of the game you're an unstoppable powerhouse -- that is, just before the entire map flips upside down and your mind is blown out your ass.
- Final Fantasy VIII
The "least" of the proper PSOne Final Fantasy games is still one of the best games ever made. Square took a lot of chances with FFVIII, like the crazy magic draw system. It was a little bit more grounded than previous games, but that didn't mean you couldn't fight a giant mustachioed cactus. Cloud and crew were a tough act to follow, but Squall did an admirable job of picking up the slack. Still, we'll never forgive him for introducing us to the card game crack that is Triple Triad.
- Final Fantasy IX
After a few really heavy games, Final Fantasy IX took it upon itself to lighten up the the mood. Sure, the world is in peril and you and a scrappy bunch of rebels have to destroy the evil villain, but having a hero who isn't always doing his best Eeyore impression makes a world of difference. Even the battle system harkened back to the early days, back when fighters were fighters, thieves were thieves, and red mages were rightly ignored. It was the last of the "classic" Final Fantasy games, and no, we absolutely do not count anything you play on your phone.
- Metal Gear Solid
MGS touts itself as a Tactical Espionage Action game, but it was really so much more than stealth. There was the cinematic story, half crazy John Woo movie and half two-man radio play. You also had some insane puzzles, one of which required you to look for clues on the back of your physical game jewel case (Kojima's prank on renters, and later, anyone buying the game digitally). Still, there was a reason so many stealth imitators followed Snake -- choking out a whole room of dudes was just too fun
- Final Fantasy VII
Don't give us that look. Everyone knew this was coming. Final Fantasy VII tops a lot of lists of games from every console, so it's only natural that it's on top of the PSOne. Look, we get that you're too cool to like everyone's favorite Final Fantasy game. That's fine. Nobody's making you try every game in the arcade. You don't have to spend days finding just the right strategy to fight the Ruby Weapon. We get it, chocobo breeding isn't everyone's thing. You go and play the hottest new releases. We'll be starting a new game for the 11th time. Maybe we'll finally go on that date with Barrett.