The PlayStation 1 era produced all-time classics that still influence the gaming world today. However, not every game released in the generation set the bar for quality of the standout games and franchises we fondly remember. Still, it’s worth looking back at that bygone era and celebrating a few largely forgotten titles that are lovable despite their flaws.
These aren’t masterpieces by any means. Serious flaws are to be expected and, for the list, encouraged. All those little imperfections gave the PS1 its charm. We were on the threshold of a totally different gaming landscape. The technology used to develop games was only barely turning the corner toward the juggernaut machines we have today. In some ways, it’s a miracle any of these games even exist. That’s what makes them so special.
5
Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi
Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi comes from a different era in Star Wars fandom. Fans were starved for new material. The prequels were still years away, but video games had proven to be a lucrative market for LucasArts. A Tekken-inspired fighting game could have made sense if approached right — but this was a good old swing-and-miss. Every action felt stiff or oddly weighed by the game’s collision system. In short, everything felt a little off. However, there was still fun to be had for anyone who let go of any impression that Teräs Käsi would be the next Mortal Kombat.
The most seriously charming element of the game was the unique weapons wielded by the oddly small roster of characters. Luke and Darth Vader’s lightsabers, Leia’s staff, and Chewbacca’s bowcaster were all featured and gave the game a sorely needed sense of variety. Mastering the different weapons and using the force bar to unleash devastating combos was fun. Maybe not fun enough to redeem the game, but hey, you can’t play as Mara Jade in any other fighting game. That means something to the original Extended Universe fans.
4
Shadow Madness
An amazing game exists somewhere underneath the jank of Shadow Madness. RPGs are incredibly difficult to make. A bad design decision can sink an otherwise transcendent experience. In this case, there were more bad design decisions than good ones. Yet, I still come back to replay Shadow Madness from time to time because its skeleton still intrigues me after all these years. It has a weird steampunk charm. Zany characters elevate a cookie-cutter plot through a flawed, memorable journey. Stinger, our main protagonist, is wonderfully sarcastic and never lets the player forget that.
Sadly, gameplay is where it underdelivered. A poorly thought-out combat system paired with a string of undercooked mini-games weighed things down considerably. Perhaps the only redeeming quality of the combat system was the ability to skip most of the overworld battles in the game via a cleverly constructed system where Stinger drops to his belly when he hears the battle-signaling roar that precedes all overworld fights. There’s certainly enough charm to make Shadow Madness worth a playthrough for fans of retro RPGs, but don’t expect Final Fantasy 7-level quality in the end.
3
Apocalypse
Bruce Willis was everywhere in the 1990s. The PlayStation 1 was no exception. Activision thought it had a hit on its hands when it delivered Trey Kincaid’s story to the masses. Unfortunately, that big-money move for John McClane proved to be ill-advised. Apocalypse is a completely twin-stick shooter with a messy, convoluted plot. Willis’ performance was terrible.
It’s hard to ignore how much it drags the game down. But that’s also what makes it good again all these years later. The laughably bad voice-acting trend from Hollywood A-listers wasn’t so funny back then, but as with PS1’s Bubsy 3D (or any other ever-chirping protagonist), Trey Kincaid’s grating personality is funny when you come in knowing what to expect.
This one sticks out because of the core conceit. It’s an absurd game with nothing substantial to offer the genre it was playing in. It shouldn’t have been enjoyable, but there’s something oddly nostalgic about the whole package. I wouldn’t reach for it first if I had to replay a PS1 game today, but it would have a spot on my list.
2
The City of Lost Children
The City of Lost Children has some of the worst puzzles in gaming, primarily because the answers are seldom clear, even after an unacceptable amount of experimentation. Players never get a sense of direction for what they’re supposed to be doing. That’s what makes this one weirdly fun. Abandoning all logic and testing your sense of whimsy by attempting to decipher the inherently broken puzzles gives the game a second life it truly doesn’t deserve.
I can’t recommend this one to anyone who gets frustrated easily, but making it through layer after layer of inane puzzles is rewarding in its own way. Also, it’s a tie-in game for the Jean-Pierre Jeunet film of the same name, starring Ron Perlman. Pair the game and the movie for an extremely odd double feature that will leave you with a deep appreciation for how much better game design is today. Not to mention the dozens of better puzzle games from its own console generation.
1
Rascal
The world truly could have been Rascal‘s oyster. The game world is full of incredible surprises and nearly unparalleled depth, rivaled only by the very best of its contemporaries. However, a grating fixed-camera perspective sank the game before it ever had a chance to wow anyone. Critics panned the game immediately for being nearly impossible to navigate, but the average gamer’s skills have improved immensely since 1998. That doesn’t make the camera work forgivable. It’s truly a nightmare, but knowing that ahead of time gives the game a longer runway.
Anyone willing to laugh off that constant nuisance and power their way through will find a rewarding platformer that other games promptly learned from in the years following. It took me twenty years to finally get around to powering through, and if nothing else, it was worth the journey to say I survived it.
