Anyone still playing some Playstation 1?

[Biscuit]

Decided to have a playstationy weekend. I've recently found myself taking an interest in the original Playstation again. Actually got a PS-One hooked up at the mo. A while ago I had been thinking about de-cluttering this stuff but ended up getting more. Got rid of some games but now have more I want to try.

I know a lot of people don't like the 90s 3D look and it can get pretty clunky but I'm really drawn to exploring it and the PS1 catalogue in general. Sure I missed out on some good stuff. Plus I quite enjoy janky games these days.

Some things that I tried.

Soul Blade, which got my attention with a pretty classic intro
[ Show youtube player ]

Played through Hwang's Aracde mode and got a weird ending movie where he gets possessed. I found you can kinda abuse the block a bit in this. Still haven't got the hang of all the moves but it's fun.

Is Mille Miglia the hardest racing game in history? Set it to easy and watch the robot cars drive perfectly off into the distance. It's one of the most de-motivating games I've played in a long while.

Also gave Ninja: Shadow of Darkness a go. Looks like it was inspired by Last Ninja. Liked it. Gotta get a bit better with the dpad and see how far I can get.

So, is PS1 bringing back the nostalgia and interest for anyone else? Got any hidden gems to recommend?

[Galahad/FLT]

Originally Posted by Biscuit

Decided to have a playstationy weekend. I've recently found myself taking an interest in the original Playstation again. Actually got a PS-One hooked up at the mo. A while ago I had been thinking about de-cluttering this stuff but ended up getting more. Got rid of some games but now have more I want to try.

I know a lot of people don't like the 90s 3D look and it can get pretty clunky but I'm really drawn to exploring it and the PS1 catalogue in general. Sure I missed out on some good stuff. Plus I quite enjoy janky games these days.

Some things that I tried.

Soul Blade, which got my attention with a pretty classic intro
[ Show youtube player ]

Played through Hwang's Aracde mode and got a weird ending movie where he gets possessed. I found you can kinda abuse the block a bit in this. Still haven't got the hang of all the moves but it's fun.

Is Mille Miglia the hardest racing game in history? Set it to easy and watch the robot cars drive perfectly off into the distance. It's one of the most de-motivating games I've played in a long while.

Also gave Ninja: Shadow of Darkness a go. Looks like it was inspired by Last Ninja. Liked it. Gotta get a bit better with the dpad and see how far I can get.

So, is PS1 bringing back the nostalgia and interest for anyone else? Got any hidden gems to recommend?

I just can't get back into it like I used to be back in the 90's.

I think what was its strength when it was released is now its failing, and its the 3D that you pointed out. I think the only way I could play it now is through emulation where the screen can be output better.

But it was an issue back then for me, playing Tomb Raider and not being sure if you were near a switch because the resolution was too low and blocky.

And when you compare a lot of SNES 2D stuff with the few bits of 2D games on PS1, I've got to say, the SNES stuff has stood the test of time better.

Jumping Flash was always good though, that was in a smaller window and I think it helped the visuals in not looking so blocky.

[dreadnought]

PSX is one of my most used consoles, probably gets more play than the other pre-HD 3D gen ones.

It gets a lot of bad rep for the allegedly "ugly" gfx, which is supposed to have "aged badly" etc, but I think it's a rather unfair opinion. For me, with the retro-mindset switched on, the concept of aging does not apply.
Either something was ugly then and it still is now, or it isn't. And comparing the early gfx to the latest offerings seems kinda pointless.

There is a whole bunch of awesome looking 3D games on PSX. Tiltles like Einhander, Nuclear Ops, R-Type Delta, Omega Boost, Gran Tourismo, Grandia and many others are really impressive even now, and others, like Syphon Filter or Driver still impress with their technical achievement. There's of course also a heap of bad-looking turds, but that's the same with any platform from any generation.

Most importantly though, these games are still immensely playable. I can sink countless hours into Twisted Metal or Vandal Hearts and its ilk.

As for 2D, my only huge regret is that there were only so few of these titles. PSX has outputted in 240p and still absolutely kills it when displayed on a CRT. And gfx in games like Castlevania, Metal Slug, In The Hunt or Lomax leaves SNES way, way behind.

[gimbal]

PS1 graphics were always rough and today they are even worse when viewed on a modern monitor/TV. Notable exceptions of course, the Gran Turismo games looked quite alright for example if you ignore the PS1 integer math popping.

I remember almost not playing Silent Hill 1 even back then because it looked like a mess; sluggish framerate, everything hidden behind fog, really excessive integer math popping and aliasing, tank controls... Thank god I pushed through that because it became one of my system favorites and one of the few games I'd boot up my PS2 for again (since it can play PS1 games just fine).

But besides that... I'll play a modern re-release on PC (such as Crash Bandicoot or Final Fantasy 7/8/9) or I just leave it as a happy memory

[Hewitson]

I'd much rather the Nintendo 64 (or even SNES). Better games, and the loading times on many of the PS1 games was unbearable.

[Galahad/FLT]

Originally Posted by dreadnought

PSX is one of my most used consoles, probably gets more play than the other pre-HD 3D gen ones.

It gets a lot of bad rep for the allegedly "ugly" gfx, which is supposed to have "aged badly" etc, but I think it's a rather unfair opinion. For me, with the retro-mindset switched on, the concept of aging does not apply.
Either something was ugly then and it still is now, or it isn't. And comparing the early gfx to the latest offerings seems kinda pointless.

There is a whole bunch of awesome looking 3D games on PSX. Tiltles like Einhander, Nuclear Ops, R-Type Delta, Omega Boost, Gran Tourismo, Grandia and many others are really impressive even now, and others, like Syphon Filter or Driver still impress with their technical achievement. There's of course also a heap of bad-looking turds, but that's the same with any platform from any generation.

Most importantly though, these games are still immensely playable. I can sink countless hours into Twisted Metal or Vandal Hearts and its ilk.

As for 2D, my only huge regret is that there were only so few of these titles. PSX has outputted in 240p and still absolutely kills it when displayed on a CRT. And gfx in games like Castlevania, Metal Slug, In The Hunt or Lomax leaves SNES way, way behind.

Theres nothing "unfair" about it, the 3D on most of the PS1 titles looks objectively bad today, and coupled with the low resolution, it doesn't help.

That isn't to say that all looked bad, a few were alright, but in the thousands of games that were released for the the system and the over reliance on 3D gaming, lots visually just haven't stood the test of time well.

You're welcome to your opinion, but mine can't be "unfair", its how I see it.

[ransom1122]

http://www.racketboy.com/retro/best-...tation-ps1-psx

Also some Jap imports hidden gems

[ Show youtube player ]

X2 is the sequel to Project X which is a ps1 sequel....

Don't forget our very own Retroplay has quite a few English Translated Ps1 games that he shares...

[dreadnought]

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

You're welcome to your opinion, but mine can't be "unfair", its how I see it.

The reason I consider it unfair (and I don't single out your comment, it's a coincidence, since it's a very popular opinion) is because by this logic modern games will be considered turds from gfx point of view in 50 years. It's not only PSX, the same is said about early 3D from otehr platforms, but PSX does get the biggest kick because of old animosities (sony suxxorz etc).

The low resolution does not matter, if you have skilled artists and coders.

There also wasn't any "over-reliance" on 3D because it was the dawn of new era and everybody and their granny wanted more and more of it. And Sony has rightly exploited it. It's only now that people get nostalgic for 2D, back then we couldn't care less about it.

[lesta_smsc]

I still do but not sure if it counts playing them on PS2!?

You're right about using CRT though, I was surprised how nice the console looked on my 28" CRT in comparison to HDTV!

Currently looking at Groovymame - built a VGA to SCART cable and now have pixel perfect output of all consoles which may eventually replace the original hardware for me.

[Galahad/FLT]

Originally Posted by dreadnought

The reason I consider it unfair (and I don't single out your comment, it's a coincidence, since it's a very popular opinion) is because by this logic modern games will be considered turds from gfx point of view in 50 years. It's not only PSX, the same is said about early 3D from otehr platforms, but PSX does get the biggest kick because of old animosities (sony suxxorz etc).

The low resolution does not matter, if you have skilled artists and coders.

There also wasn't any "over-reliance" on 3D because it was the dawn of new era and everybody and their granny wanted more and more of it. And Sony has rightly exploited it. It's only now that people get nostalgic for 2D, back then we couldn't care less about it.

Of course it was overly reliant on 3D titles. Sony made a point of putting off 2D games and wanting publishers to go for 3D.

Why?

Because the PS1 was so much better at 3D than the Saturn, it was the area it excelled at. However, the Saturn was far more powerful for the 2D stuff, and at no point did Sony want publishers to exploit the Saturns strengths in that arena because then it might alter the very carefully cultivated view that the PS1 was more powerful at everything.

It was so overly reliant on 3D, that lots of titles were converted from 2D to 3D that clearly had no business being changed.

Someone else explained it to me recently who works for Codemasters, and he hit the nail on the head.

The reason the PS1 gets such a bad rap today, is because the style of games that it helped introduce, are still being played today, and the progression in the graphics is easy to see and compare.

The reason the SNES 2D stuff still looks good today, is because the 2D style for the most part stopped/slowed down at its height, and has been infrequently revisited, whereas the Call of Duty style games has been a staple of a very long time so its so much easier to make the comparison.

The leap between PS1 and PS4 (ignoring PS2, PS3) is quite large, but the incremental steps between each generation isn't so big.

I can still play a PS2 title and certainly PS3 and not feel the same as PS1 stuff.

I still think Shadow of the Colossus is a great looking, great atmosphere game.

Lionheart on the Amiga is older than any PS1 title, and still objectively looks good. The reason why people don't look at Lionheart with the same "disdain" even though its older is because Lionheart can easily be described as a pinnacle title, i.e. whilst i'm sure a 2D platformer could look better, is any newer 2D title going to make Lionheart look primitive when comparing?

Unlikely.

But the same can't be said for the PS1 because we are still playing the same style of games as back in 1995 today, and the progression is more obvious.

And with respect, you can have the best graphic artists and coders in the world, but if your machine is going to turn everything into a low resolution blocky shaky experience, no coder or graphics artist can help you.

However, the few 2D titles the PS1 had, some were really nice.

Lomax was a highlight for me, but even then, compare that to the same developers previous effort Flink for the Mega Drive, whilst the former does look better, it doesn't look siginficantly better to make Flink look crap in comparison.

And the 2D stuff largely still looks excellent today on PS1, but unfortunately, there just wasn't enough of it.

[lesta_smsc]

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

Lionheart on the Amiga is older than any PS1 title, and still objectively looks good.

I remember when I first got this game and was amazed by the detail and graphics in comparison to other games of its time (or since)! The into movie is still something I am in awe of to this day!

[alexh]

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

I think the only way I could play it now is through emulation where the 3D can be output better.

Oh I'm so glad it's not just me! I don't enjoy going back playing "Must play" PSOne or Sega Saturn 3D titles that I missed 1st time round. (Nostalgia for ones that I played back in the day is another thing!)

The low resolution unfiltered textures, no anti-aliasing, and most obvious the lack of perspective correct texture mapping (the texture warping) does my head in.

Originally Posted by dreadnought

modern games will be considered turds from gfx point of view in 50 years.

I disagree. (1) It has only been 26 years since PSOne. (2) The delta in 3D GFX is slowing exponentially.

Look at Xbox 360 games vs Xbox One-X games. You can struggle to see the "added value" in the improved visuals even with 10x 3D performance improvement. They are subtle, shadows, lighting. There is little wow. Even RTX games sometimes have no WOW.

[seuden]

I absolutely love the PlayStation version of Street Fighter Alpha 3.

[gimbal]

Originally Posted by lesta_smsc

I still do but not sure if it counts playing them on PS2!?

Of course it counts, the machine does not change the games themselves. Although you can play them with nicer controllers

[Sgt Jack V]

IMO the PSX has the best port of classic Doom

[sneeker]

I sort of agree with galahad, looking back the video on the ps1 is very very blocky but so was the saturn at the time, but the dreamcast was much clearer, even compared to the ps2 imho.

[dreadnought]

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

Of course it was overly reliant on 3D titles. Sony made a point of putting off 2D games and wanting publishers to go for 3D. Why? Because the PS1 was so much better at 3D than the Saturn, it was the area it excelled at.

So Sony went for 3D not because it was the obvious future, but only because of the need to one up Saturn? Interesting way of looking at it

It does not matter how powerful Saturn was in 2D. People wanted Doom, Tekken and Ridge Racer. I generalise of course but this is what made the gaming world spin back then. Sure, there were some silly mistakes along the way, but overall I think it has worked out all right. We do have a 2D revival these days, and it's a great thing, but it's not like TES 6 will be made using pixel art. Even FF7 remake wasn't.

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

The reason the PS1 gets such a bad rap today, is because the style of games that it helped introduce, are still being played today, and the progression in the graphics is easy to see and compare.

Yes, and this is what I call out as totally unfair, for the reasons already stated. It's kinda okay when kids do it, or people with no interest in retro stuff, I can understand their lack of perspective, but seeing it in the retro gaming world causes me a heavy smh motion.

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

The reason the SNES 2D stuff still looks good today, is because the 2D style for the most part stopped/slowed down at its height, and has been infrequently revisited, whereas the Call of Duty style games has been a staple of a very long time so its so much easier to make the comparison.

But this, in a way, is precisely what I'm talking about. SNES was on the end of the long 2D line which has started in the late Seventies. You can go on and say that gfx from this era was also crap (as many people do: the common everything-before-NES-sucked trope), be it in the arcades or on the micros, because it was also zillion times more simpler, and it'd be exactly as unfair as comparing modern 3D gfx to its pioneer.

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

I still think Shadow of the Colossus is a great looking, great atmosphere game.

So is Silent Hill. And somebody above was complaing about the fog, totally missing the point of it being a crucial element of the atmosphere as well as a clever trick to bypass the hardware limitations.

Funnily enough I actually find most of the PS2 era 3D gfx actually quite boring and blan , and kinda prefer the dirty & wobbly PSX 3D - at least it had some character

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

Lionheart on the Amiga is older than any PS1 title, and still objectively looks good. The reason why people don't look at Lionheart with the same "disdain" even though its older is because Lionheart can easily be described as a pinnacle title, i.e. whilst i'm sure a 2D platformer could look better, is any newer 2D title going to make Lionheart look primitive when comparing?

Unlikely.

This is the same angle as with SNES, you're comparing the pinnacle of one style, on an advanced plarform, to a pioneer of another, on the weakest initial link. Does not compute. Lionheart et al didn't appear out of the blue but were successors of a very long line, which has started many years before with Space War and Pong.

And, again, looking with said "disdain" is something I can not fathom, because I much prefer to look with respect, and a sort of awe, at what these folks were doing with such a silly hardware. And I can appreciate the artistry behind it all the same today, otherwise I could as well turn my nose at 2D, which is what many youngsters do (pixel art is big these days but it wasn't always like that).

Anyway, this is one of these modern myths I'm not going to argue about because it's just too prevalent and fixed in peoples minds, despite being totally unreasonable. I just hope that in the future people will appreciate the early days of 3D much more than my contemporaries.

[-Acid-]

I still use my PS but mainly for 2D games such as Bust A Move 2, countless shoot em ups and racing games (still love Rage Racer). All played on a CRT of course and I have many light gun games as well like Time Crisis. I doubt i'll ever stop playing all of my old consoles out of choice.

[Retro-Nerd]

Yep, the PSX has tons of good 2D games. A much better software library than the N64 for sure.

[Mikerochip]

Depends on the game for me. Most of the average games, or 3D games, I've no interest in, but I still play some of the games I played way back when.

And games that are 2D still look gorgeous.
Castlevania: Symphony of the night is the best game on the system for me!

Wipeout 2097 will forever be one of my favourite racing games too.
F1 and F1 '97 were great, along with a bit of Destruction Derby 2.
Oh, and Die Hard Arcade. The mix of 3 different games was really cool.
Same with Tekken 2 (which I played to death, even though most people agree Tekken 3 is a better game)

I just bought Time Crisis and gun, but I'm finding it hard to get into.
(I loved Virtual Cop and VC2 when they came out)

I had Resident Evil and Wipeout 2097 along with Final Fantasy 7 on the PC, where they looked much better. (Wipeout especially where it ran at 1024x756, which looked super on the 17" monitor I had)
Once I got Colin McRae Rally though, on the PC, the PS1 was more or less forgotten. The Playstation version looked so much worse!

I could never get into Final Fantasy though, either. I finished disk 1 and 2, and got stuck, and never played it again.

So, yeah. It still gets some play in my house, but mostly emulated for the sheer convenience. (Apart from Time Crisis, where I need the CRT for the gun)

I liked Soul Blade, but it was forgotten when I saw Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast. (That's a game and system I still play today too)

I've started playing Metal Gear Solid, too, but finding the long sessions harder to take. The older I get, the shorter my attention span for games seems to be.
The Nintendo handhelds have ruined me