32 Years Later, A PS1 Classic Is Coming To Modern Consoles

There are so many incredible PlayStation 1 classics that are still trapped on old hardware, and it’s becoming a problem. Now that the PS1 has been long out of print, it’s getting harder to find one at a reasonable price, and the same can be said of its enormous library of games. Legendary titles that are frankly must-plays are simply unaffordable due to scarcity, which, naturally, means that the majority of people miss out. Even if everyone were able to afford a copy, there simply aren’t enough left in the world to allow everyone to experience them.

So, without going the way of Captain Jack Sparrow, that leaves only official ports, and they aren’t always guaranteed. We’d all love to see some of the best classic PlayStation games ported over to modern hardware, but that relies on either the original publisher or the right’s holder footing the bill, and there may not be the interest. Luckily, one PS1 game that has been stuck in limbo for 32 years is finally coming to modern hardware, something that is a rather big deal considering it is a part of one of the greatest gaming franchises of all time.

Tekken 1, the legendary fighting game that helped popularize the genre back in the early 90s, has finally arrived on current-gen consoles after an unbearably long hiatus. The port comes courtesy of Japanese publisher Hamster’s Arcade Archives series, which aims to bring retro titles to modern hardware. After the enormous success of the original Arcade Archives series on last-gen consoles, Hamster announced Arcade Archives 2, which, at the time of writing, includes 46 games, chief among them the recently added Tekken 1.

Tekken 1 is available digitally right now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and the Nintendo Switch 2, and costs $16.99. This version is a largely unaltered edition, featuring all the gameplay bells and whistles from the original. The only substantial additions are a Time Attack mode and VRR support, among a handful of other minor changes. It joins the likes of Ridge Racer, which has also been ported thanks to the Arcade Archives series, and is now preserved for quite some time to come, especially if the PS6 features backward compatibility.

It is great to see a title as influential as Tekken 1 finally be accessible to as wide an audience as possible, especially after the game sat largely unplayable, at least in its original form. Almost every other Tekken game has been ported at one stage or another, with the only exception being (aside from Tekken 1, of course), Tekken 4. It was a point of frustration for many, especially those looking to play through the entire Tekken saga to see how the somewhat divisive Tekken 8 innovated on past entries.

Now, practically the entire series is playable on current-gen and likely next-gen hardware. Of course, if you’re not a fighting fan or have other PlayStation 1 titles in mind that also deserve a port, then Hamster may get around to it. Tekken 1 is one of the more high-profile titles it has brought over, so it isn’t completely out of the realm of possibility. In the meantime, there are other PlayStation 1 games that have been ported over that are undeniably worth playing, that is, of course, once everyone has played Tekken for at least a handful of hours.