This is a little cheeky bonus post to draw a line under Henning’s “list of 5” week long posts. I’ve narrowed down 5 classic PSone games that are worth playing today despite the dated visuals and possible prehistoric gameplay.

The PS3 should support the majority of PSone games if you actually still have them lying around somewhere, and they may even be available to download, so below is a list of my top 5 PSone games (only 5 😥 ) to play on your PS3. These games hold special memories for me from my time with the PSone and define what the console was all about:

1. Final Fantasy VII.
   THE greatest RPG in my opinion bar none. I still have it on top of my DVD stand full of PS2 games & DVDs. It’s actually the only PSone game I still own.

   No game has hit me so hard emotionally like FFVII (well until a certain PS2 game arrived). A certain character’s death brought tears to my eyes & I related so much with Cloud at the time it was almost as if he was based on me! 🙂

   I’ve finished it twice so far (each time clocking up over 200hrs gameplay) and I’m on to my 3rd go at the minute. The graphics, especially the FMV, were stunning and a lot of PS2 games failed to even match them (the FMV not the in-game graphics 😉 ).

   The gameplay is also a joy with plenty of characters to interact with, loads of side quests where you could spend hours and not even advance the main story (especially the Gold Saucer) and so many items, abilities, weapons etc to find.

   There’s been a lot of talk about a PS3 remake (I want!) but regardless if you haven’t played this game before it’s well worth it even on the PS3.

   To be fair FFVIII & FFIX were also fantastic RPGs so get all 3!

2. Resident Evil

   What a game. It was so good they remade it for GameCube owners. 😀

   It might not have been the first 3D survival horror game (Alone In The Dark takes that honour) but very few games since Resi 1 have been able to match the shocks & atmosphere that it brought to the table not to mention the terrible acting! 😆

   On top of that it played pretty damn good aswell.

   I will never forget the first time I walked down the corridor & the dogs jumped through the window! Man I wasn’t wearing brown underpants before I opened that door…

   It was so great I actually got 5 different people to play that part of the game just to see their reaction & every single one of them jumped almost 5 feet into the air.

   Well worth you playing the original again despite the dated visuals.

3. Tomb Raider
   Want to know why Tomb Raider was so highly rated before it took a major dive for the worse after Tomb Raider 3? Then pick up a copy of TR1, or TR 2 for that matter, and marvel at the sheer scope of the game world. It was one of the first true 3D 3rd person adventure games and it still remains the best in the series and one of the best of it’s genre today.

   The way you had to explore massive environments and faced with some devious traps not to mention some hungry animals, made TR one of the most visually beautiful and enjoyable experiences at the time. I will never forget the Pyramid levels or the first time Lara swan dived off the top of a waterfall. I actually used to spend quite a bit of time making Lara dive into various pools of water. Just because I could.

4. Metal Gear Solid
   This was also remade for the GameCube entitled MGS: The Twin Snakes with the major difference being the graphics which were similar to MGS2 on PS2.

   You still can’t beat the original however for some truly great gaming moments.

   By far the most memorable is Psycho Mantis where he asks you to place the controller on the floor and he moves it via vibration. He also predicts your every move during the battle until you plug the pad into port 2! 😆 That had me stumped for a good while! 😳

   It’s still a great game and in some ways MGS2 & MGS3 have failed to outshine it in the gameplay & legendary gaming moments department. Definitely a classic.

5. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2
   I’ve mentioned before how THPS holds special memories for me, from the time I picked up the demo disc of Official PlayStation Magazine and popped it in to my PSone and spent an entire weekend just playing that one 2 minute demo trying to better my top score.

   It really was a toss up between the original and it’s sequel but I had to opt for no.2 as it improved on THPS’s excellent gameplay and controls and introduced ‘the manual’ trick into the series not to mention Create-a-Skater and Park Editor also making their debuts.

   My favourite skate area appeared in THPS, School: Miami Florida, which reappeared in THPS3 (the pinnacle of the series for me). I spent more time on there than any of the areas from the first two games combined but THPS2 has some memorable skate areas such as Hangar, School II & Venice Beach. However I remember no.2 fondly as you could unlock Spiderman as a playable skater! 8)

   Well worth a trip down memory lane for skate fans & fans of the series.

IF PSone games are made available via download, I would also like to see these games made available for nostalgic reasons: Oddworld (both), Broken Sword (both) Vagrant Story, Smash Court Tennis, Destruction Derby 2, WipEout, Ridge Racer (all), Tekken (1-3), Dino Crisis (both), Parasite Eve (never released in PAL territories) Driver (both) & Silent Hill.

There’s loads of other great games that I could’ve mentioned but that’s for you guys to discuss. 😉