Sony’s original PlayStation is a quaint piece of gaming hardware in retrospect, but its impact on the industry during the 1990s was incalculable. While the new standards that have been set by Sony with the PlayStation 5 are groundbreaking, and there appear to be even more exciting developments on the way, it's important to remember Sony's rich history of stellar gaming.
The PS1 has plenty of classic games that have received sequels, fancy ports, and ground-up remakes, but there is also a more elusive selection of PlayStation hits that mainstream audiences have overlooked.
10 Future Cop: LAPD Is Co-Operative Mecha Mayhem Like No Other
Future Cop: LAPD is a third-person shooter from 1998 that was easy to overlook due to its generic name and marketing. In reality, there's a rich and complex mecha combat game that's hiding in Future Cop: LAPD, which were in short supply on the PlayStation.
Future Cop delivers as a solo-player action campaign, but the title is at its best when it's played through in its cooperative two-player mode. There's even an extra strategy and tactics mode that's added to the experience for additional depth and replayability.
9 Intelligent Qube Is A Mind-Bending Puzzle Title That Defies Comprehension
Puzzle games can be hit or miss with audiences, and the new graphical capabilities of the original PlayStation helped Sony's console indulge in some atypical puzzle titles that experiment with different aesthetics and ideas. Intelligent Qube is a smart evolution of block- and ball-based puzzlers that increases its difficulty at an enjoyable pace, and benefits from the bizarre, existential decision to place a human in this cube-centric void.
A lot of titles attempt the approach that’s taken in Intelligent Qube, only to become empty, repetitive experiences. However, there’s still a dedicated crowd for Intelligence Qube that’s out there.
8 Jade Cocoon Indulges In Pet-Management Mechanics To Cultivate Competent Combat
The PlayStation was a wonderful home for RPGs, and plenty of series that are still modern gaming fixtures really came into their own on the original PlayStation. It's easy to celebrate the Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest titles on the console, but inventive experiences like Jade Cocoon get lost in the shuffle.
Jade Cocoon follows Levant as he strives to become a legendary Cocoon Master, a goal that incorporates the RPG's robust pet-management system. Jade Cocoon's battle system is dictated by different Minions that Levant captures, trains, and can even fuse together into greater elemental creatures. It's a breath of fresh air for PSOne-era RPGs.
7 Galerians Is A Resident Evil Clone With Psychic Powers And Smart Scares
Resident Evil and Silent Hill remain totemic survival horror franchises that both had their start on the original PlayStation. The success of these titles led to a slew of generic copycats following suit and hoping to find comparable success. Galerians is one release that doesn't get nearly enough attention, especially since it makes some genuinely innovative decisions, like the utilization of psychic powers over a gun or conventional weapons.
Amnesiac protagonist, Rion, becomes his own weapon, which creates so much more tension than what's present in the first Resident Evil game. Galerians did receive a sequel, but it deserves a proper modern reboot.
6 In Cold Bold Is A Smart Spy Thriller With An Emphasis On Stealth And Puzzles
The PlayStation's In Cold Blood is a third-person espionage adventure that feels like Metal Gear Solid meets The Bourne Identity. John Cord is an MI6 agent who's imprisoned in Russia and just as determined to figure out his identity as he is on how to escape this torture.
In Cold Blood features smart puzzles and stealth elements, which definitely learn from Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid, but there's an intelligent and suspenseful story that's more in line with classic spy novels than the heightened absurdity of Metal Gear Solid's universe.
5 Azure Dreams Is A Unique RPG That Incorporates Monster-Raising And Dating Sim Elements
Konami’s Azure Dreams is an RPG roguelike that throws a bit of everything at the player, but is better off for it. Azure Dreams crafts a generic fantasy story that hits all of the genre’s major archetypes, but the game also features monster-raising mechanics as well as a whole dating sim genre digression.
This versatility means that Azure Dreams remains a fresh, surprising experience. There’s even a randomized aspect to the game’s dungeons, which keeps them from becoming repetitive. Azure Dreams received a bare-bones version for the Game Boy Color, which is also one of the more underrated titles to appear on Nintendo’s fledgling handheld.
4 Ghost In The Shell Surpasses Expectations As A Superior Shooter And Tie-In Title
There's such a messy history with video game tie-ins that audiences largely write off these releases. The PlayStation's adaptation of Mamoru Oshii's Ghost in the Shell is regarded as one of the best anime games of all time, as well as one of the best third-person shooters on the PlayStation, period.
Ghost in the Shell is incredibly faithful to its cyberpunk source material, and the level of freedom that's present in the game's mecha-based machinery was unprecedented. Additionally, the game is accessible enough that anyone can appreciate its graphics and gameplay, and it's not purely for the Ghost in the Shell fandom.
3 Heart Of Darkness Indulges In 1990s Trends With Its Unusual FMV Sensibilities
The late-1990s was an interesting time in the gaming industry in terms of the rising trend of FMV sequences and increased production values that attempted to blur the lines between video games and movies. Heart of Darkness was an extreme labor of love that spent more than five years in development and went all out with its presentation style, so it's a shame that the game has mostly amounted to a '90s footnote.
Heart of Darkness heavily embraces the punishing qualities of '90s adventure games, like implausible, unpredictable deaths, but it never feels like a retread of something else.
2 Tomba! Is A Playful Platforming Experience With Lots Of Personality
The PlayStation/Sega Saturn/Nintendo 64 era was an enlightening time for the platforming genre. Super Mario 64 redefined what’s possible in these types of games, and a little more than a year later would mark the release of the PlayStation’s Tomba! The creative title makes inspired use of 2.5D gameplay, and the pink-haired protagonist arrives with a surprisingly fully-formed personality.
Tomba! 2 was also released on the PlayStation. While it’s far from a bad game, many consider its altered graphical style to be a step back from its predecessor. Tomba! also happens to feature the best use of pigs in video games, to date.
1 Ehrgeiz Is A Complex Fighting Game That Couldn’t Find An Audience Despite Big Cameos
Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring is one of the more comprehensive and creative fighting games for the PlayStation. Building off of the strong foundations of the Tobal series, Ehrgeiz recruits six playable characters from Final Fantasy VII, which includes the likes of Cloud, Sephiroth, and Tifa.
This injection of Final Fantasy characters certainly helped Ehrgeiz's reputation, but it's still an unknown gem, even for the Final Fantasy crowd. Ehrgeiz doesn't skimp when it comes to its core fighting, but it also includes a Diablo-like dungeon-crawling Quest Mode, which is complex enough to be its own game.