PlayStation One Classics

I came across a tweet related to what PlayStation One games are considered the best. People were voting for their favorites and it got me thinking about the subject and quite a bit nostalgic. Of the ones being discussed, “Tekken 3”, “Tenchu – Stealth Assassins”, and “Metal Gear Solid” were on my list. “Driver”, “Twisted Metal 2”, and “Syphon Filter” were not mentioned but are favorites of mine that I might write about later.

What about this tweet prompted me to write a post on the discussion? In my gaming life, the only console I’ve owned out right is a PlayStation One. I shared an NES with my siblings, and my brother had the N64. The PS One was solely mine, and I possessed it during a pivotal time in life. I’d spend way too much time during late high school/early college playing games, oftentimes throughout the night, and the PS One was my companion. I never traded up to the PlayStation Two though, although I always felt my allegiance lied with it and not the X-Box. The main reason I surrendered gaming was because I discovered fly fishing during the great migration to the PS2, and that new hobby dominated my free time throughout my twenties. I did have a brief affair with a PS Vita, but I returned it after a few days when I concluded I couldn’t afford it and rent that month. It really wasn’t until recently that I got both a Wii and a 3DS right before the end of production, mostly just so I can say I experienced it (I love Nintendo). I know this makes me sound like a late adopter, and I am.

There are some games I really did enjoy amongst others when I owned my PS One. “Tekken 3” was a great fighting game, and although I loved “Mortal Kombat” (Rayden and Scorpion were my favorite), I’d play this fighting game often with friends. I still play the updated title on PC, although I tend to lean back into the great “Mortal Kombat” games out right now. The reason I liked “Tekken 3” was that the controls were fairly intuitive and newbies could easily pick it up to play with you. You could be good at it without knowing complex, special combos you need in the “Street Fighter” series to be taken seriously. It also wasn’t relegated to an X/Y axis style of combat, and fighters could move in/out which made the game seem more advanced than the others at the time.

I’m surprised there isn’t more love for “Tenchu – Stealth Assassins”. This game was fun and frustrating at the same time back in the day. It was easy to blow huge amounts of time on it. Game play centered around actual ninja type moves of stealth, which made it more puzzle like than action involved. There weren’t many other games like it at the time. Most ninja games were run and gun types (think Shinobi), which isn’t how historic ninjas probably operated. The game also shared Japanese mythology and the background music was totally amazing. I enjoyed this game quite a bit and I followed it to the Wii as well.

“Metal Gear Solid” is a classic by any means. This is the game that even ADHD players finish because it is so engrossing. I still get jazzed when I hear the “!” sound on other videos as an homage. It’s hard to not love this game when you play it. I’ve followed it onto the 3DS and the PC, the latter of which I can’t wait to play. I think you can even play this game today on a PC port from GOG.com if you feel that nostalgic.