PS1 REVIEWS Report: 30-21

We have reached the Top 30 PS1 Games according to Retro Sanctuary, and I feel that there is no longer any room to excuse the construction of the list. Games like Grandia, Silent Hill, and Front Mission 3 fully deserve their place while I am surprised that such an innovative title as Vagrant Story did not have a higher placement. However, we are still seeing too many games that had superior PC versions such as Quake II and Red Alert. Still, that is at least forgivable with such household names in a way that including the fun but the rather limited I.Q.: Intelligent Qube isn't.

I have extensively played three of the games on the list as a kid, and surprisingly all had remakes or remasters released on the Nintendo Switch. While I opted to play and review Grandia again, which was remastered without changing much of the DNA of the game, both Crash Team Racing and the three PS1 Spyro games had much superior remakes that effectively supplanted the PS1 originals. In a way, this proves the quality of these games, with Front Mission 3 also getting a remake soon while many people are clamoring for Square to do something with or like Vagrant Story. Finally, with the inclusion of Psygnosis's Wipeout pinnacle, this makes for a rather strong list of 10 games despite the aforementioned flaws.

Please enjoy:-

30- Quake II (1999):

• Genre: First Person Shooter.
• Publisher: Activision; Developer: id Software, HammerHead.

Like many of id Software's games, Quake II was hugely influential in the PC gaming scene and was consequently ported to every console that could handle it. Like Doom, those ports varied in quality, but almost all of them were inferior to the PC original which has better controls at the time and the luxury of modifications and patches to incrementally improve.

The PS1 port of Quake II, ported by HammerHead, is generally considered inferior to the PC version from day one despite their best effort. Of interesting historical record, this was the last game that American McGee worked on for id Software before he was surprisingly fired.

29- Grandia (1997, 1999):

• Genre: JRPG.
• Publisher: Sony; Developer: Game Arts.

From the moment the opening cinematic played, when the game's theme opening notes started and the music began to soar, I realized I was on to something great. That was my experience when I first played Grandia more than 20 years ago, and I am happy to say that my experience has not dimmed one bit playing it again on the Switch remastered port. If anything, I appreciate it even more now.

Made by the same team that successfully brought Anime to life in making the Lunar JRPG games, their magnum opus on the Sega Saturn and the PS1 was, and may still be, the closest homage to the adventurous spirit of Studio Ghibli classics such as Castle in the Sky. With its great story, charming cast of characters, innovative and brilliant battle system, and lovely sprite and portrait work, I can easily say that Grandia is one of the PS1's best games.

Grandia is not a perfect game. It lacks the challenge to fully push its amazing battle system, and it is comparatively linear to the great JRPGs of the era. However, it makes up for its flaws with its abundance of charm.

From its gorgeous character portraits and expressive spirits to its Ghibli-esque story and truly wonderful personal moments, the game drips with a sense of positive charm and adventure that is surprisingly unique for its time.

You will never forget the first time you cross the End of the World.

28- I.Q.: Intelligent Qube (1997):

• Genre: Puzzle.
• Publisher: Sony; Developer: G-Artists.

This was an admittedly addictive Puzzle game with little substance beyond its core gameplay hook. Rows of cubes advance in a linear track and you must "capture" all the non-black cubes before they reach the end of the track. There is both some physical and mental action going on, and it can get really hectic with two players, but there is little in the core gameplay to suggest that it deserves a place in the Top 30 PS1 games list. 

Known as Kurushi in Europe, this game's inclusion is yet another baffling choice by Retro Sanctuary, especially so high up the list.

27- Crash Team Racing (1999):

• Genre: Kart Racing.
  
• Publisher: Sony; Developer: Naughty Dog.

To this day, I think that Crash Team Racing, or CTR as it is commonly known, was the only Kart Racer with a realistic chance of competing with Mario Kart if it continued as a series. While it shamelessly ripped off another N64 Kart Racer, Diddy Kong Racing, it still was an extremely good game. With excellent stage design, brilliant driving mechanics that differed enough to make them unique (while not being as smooth), and a solid cast of characters, it had everything it needed to succeed going forward.

This was proven with the successful launch of the 2019 remake of the game Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled. Yet, in what may seem baffling to every observer, the series never capitalized on the success of the first game and simply ceded the throne to Nintendo's legendary racer.

26- Front Mission 3 (1999, 2000):

• Genre: Tactical RPG.
• Publisher: Square; Developer: Square.

The Front Mission series is one of the lesser-known Square franchises of the SNES and PS1 era. Despite releasing 4 games in 4 years, it never endeared itself to the public in the same way the Final Fantasy and Mana series managed to do, as evidenced by Front Mission 3 being the first game in the series to be localized for the West.

Thankfully, Front Mission 3 does a lot to advocate for the series, with its strong and mature storyline mixed with satisfying tactical RPG gameplay mechanics in the unforgettable modern-retro Cold War setting of the 22nd century.

The Front Mission series, despite its pedigree, doesn't get the same love as other Square games, which is a shame since there is nothing quite like them. Inspired by Mech anime and Cold War era history, it manages to explore humanity from a modern and grey lens that few games touch upon.

When the game is as good as Front Mission 3, then that makes for a winning and unique combination. Unfortunately, it doesn't like the recent remakes of the first and second games on the Switch have succeeded, so I am not sure if the remake of the 3rd would. However, on the strength of its PS1 release, I hope that it does. 

25- Spyro the Dragon 1,2,3 (1998, 1999, 2000):

• Genre: 3D Action Platformer.
• Publisher: Sony; Developer: Insomniac.

I loved the Spyro games as a kid despite not finishing any of them. They were an interesting mix of 3D Platformer with Action-Adventure elements that easily competed with the best in those genres at the time. They showcased the pedigree of Insomniac at an early stage and that studio is still thriving today.

Yet, there was simply no way I was going to play and review this game as part of my PS1 REVIEWS blogs since it had an excellent faithful remake that replaces it for all intents and purposes. Spyro Reignited Trilogy, made by Toys for Bob (who also remade the Crash games), is the go-to game if you ever want to experience the adventures of the purple dragon. Still, like with CTR, it is disappointing that the initial promise of the franchise and the success of the remakes did not result in any new game in the series.

24- Wipeout 3 (1999, 2000):

• Genre: Anti-Grav Racing.
• Publisher: Sony, Psygnosis; Developer: Psygnosis.

Along with F-Zero, Wipeout is the standout name in the hyper-speed racing genre and that's for a good reason. With the expert team of Psygnosis behind it, the Wipeout series was always at the forefront of 3D technology, and that's apparent with the fourth game in the installment (since it came after Wipeout 64) which retained the fast-paced racing gameplay while pushing the boundaries of what the PS1 could produce.

It was rare for a 1st person camera to work well in a PS1 game, but such optional view worked amazing in 60 fps in Wipeout 3. While the genre has evolved today, and Fast RMX today is probably better than all the other Anti-Grav racers in the past, there is not doubting the technical and historical importance of Psygnosis's work on this game.

23- Silent Hill (1999):

• Genre: Survival Horror.
• Publisher: Konami; Developer: Konami (Team Silent).

The Silent Hill franchise is often considered the second great Survival Horror franchise starting on the PS1 after Resident Evil, and that's largely accurate despite the two games being very different. While Resident Evil is defined by its campy horror influence and survival mechanics, Silent Hill leans far more on the horror angle.

It is to Team Silent's immense credit that the first game still manages to elicit fear and admiration from someone playing it today.

There is no question that age, as a PS1 3D game, wasn't kind to Silent Hill. Yet, since the game was a competently made pioneering effort in many areas, it did things that stood the test of time and made it a rewarding experience even today. Simply a seminal work in the psychological horror sub-genre of Survival Horror games, it still is effective today despite its graphics and cutting-edge CGI scenes aging a bit.

When you hear that industrial sound groaning in the background and the darkness creeping in, you will be transported back for a moment to the time in 1999 when everyone was scared of these 3D polygons on their CRT TVs without an ounce of irony. At least until you remember how to point and shoot. 

 

22- Command & Conquer: Red Alert (1996, 1997):

• Genre: Real Time Strategy (RTS).
• Publisher: Westwood Studios, Virgin; Developer: Westwood Studios.

Like many game in the Retro Sanctuary list, Command & Conquer: Red Alert is a brilliant game that is simply better on a different medium. PCs were the natural home for RTS games, and that was no different for Red Alert despite its competent PS1 game. The success of the PS1 meant many games were ported for it despite losing something in the process.

21- Vagrant Story (2000):

• Genre: Action RPG.
• Publisher: Square; Developer: Square.

Vagrant Story may be one of the most ambitious game made by Square on the PS1, and that's a big thing to say considering Square games were synonymous for ambition since the days of the SNES. That's a major reason why reviewing this game may end being my hardest review to write yet, since I am still unsure if I can do the game justice while looking at it from a modern lens.

This is, after all, the game I would consider to be the true inspiration for FromSoftware's Souls games. Yet, despite some truly revolutionary aspects in design, it doesn't mean that the game is free from hiccups that detract from the experience today.

A game conceived with such ambition rarely manages to deliver on that ambition, and that's certainly the case with Vagrant Story. Square have succeeded in making a great Action RPG that is unlike anything else in the market while showcasing the tried and true brilliance of Square in their second golden age.

This is a game that pushed the graphical and design limits of the PS1 to such a degree that it still looks great today, especially with the eerie atmosphere it manages to build in the game's central location of Leá Monde.

Yet, some of the game's design decisions, while ambitious for the time, contribute to bogging it down unnecessarily. Chief among its issues is the time you spend in menus to craft weapons and prepare for battles that would otherwise be unbeatable. Also, the same innovative battle system that made it unique is probably the aspect that time most left behind, with both turn-based battles and pure action gameplay being better fits.

It's a credit to the game that I don't regret a single minute spent playing it, even if I wouldn't ever play it again.

This report is a consolidated review of the top 100 list by Retro Sanctuary. It features the reviews I made for the list but also has a brief paragraph about each game on the list that I didn't review. For games without an official review, the opinions I express are purely based on some little playing time and general research about the game and its reception at the time.