PS1 REVIEWS Report: A20-A11

 The PlayStation 1 had such a massive library of games that it is impossible to do it justice with a simple top 100 games list. As such, I decided to supplement my usual review of a top 100 games list (this time, I used the top 100 PS1 games list from Retro Sanctuary) with other games picked up from different lists. This parallel "Additional List" is not numbered in any ordered way, so the quality of the titles theoretically varies from top to bottom with no rhyme or reason.

This report covers 10 series, with a couple of games that obviously deserve a place in Retro Sanctuary's Top 100 list. Of these games, I fully reviewed six games, since the rest of these consist of genres that I don't usually cover in these reviews or games that have been ported elsewhere. From this report, I think that it is a huge omission that neither of the Lunar games was included in Retro Sanctuary's list, and a huge travesty that Tactics Ogre: Let's Cling Together and Vandal Hearts II were not granted a space as well. Yet, the most surprising omission is probably The Legend of Dragoon, which, despite having a negative reputation, is arguably Sony's biggest and most ambitious JRPG. Surprisingly, I thought I would argue for the inclusion of Twisted Metal 2 on that list, but the entire vehicular combat genre aged like milk in my opinion.

Here is a brief on these games and more, please enjoy:-

 

A20- Tempest X3 (1994, 1996):

• Genre: Tube Shooter.
• Publisher: Atari, Interplay Productions; Developer: Llamasoft, High Voltage Software.

This is a remake of the classic Atari arcade game, Tempest, initially made for the Atari Jaguar but then ported to every other console that could run it. Like the classic title, this is a game in the "tube shooter" genre, where you control a vague geometrical object that sits on a tube of sorts. With its sick disco beats and addictive gameplay, Tempest X3 always had its fans, but this has always been an arcade game at heart.

It is worth noting that while this was one of the best-selling games on the Atari Jaguar, the ports didn't do much with the increased power of the newer consoles, and some were considered disappointing as a result.

 

A19(S)- Lunar: Silver Star Complete (1998, 2025):

• Genre: JRPG.
• Publisher: Kadokawa Shoten, Working Designs, GungHo (Remastered).
• Developer: Game Arts, Ashibi Co. (Remastered)

For any game to be remade or rereleased, there must be a desire for the game from fans and love for it by the developers. That Lunar: Silver Star was both remade and rereleased several times, a testament to that love and desire. Originally released as Lunar: The Silver Star in 1992 for the ill-fated Sega CD, it had an expanded remake released for the Sega Saturn and PS1 in 1996 and 1998 as Lunar: Silver Star Story. Thanks to the suspicion of 2D art and JRPGs at the time, there were no plans to release the game in the West.

And that’s where Working Designs comes in, saving yet another Japanese JRPG from Western obscurity at the cost of an, ahem, unique localization effort. Regardless of what you think of the result, Working Designs release of Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete is the reason the game found many admirers in the Western world.

Thanks to this admiration, the game was released again, along with its sequel, Lunar: Eternal Blue Complete, as part of the Lunar Remastered Collection, which removes some of the “charm” of Working Designs localization for better or worse.

So, does this game warrant the extraordinary number of rereleases that it had as much as its developers, Game Arts, thought? While not a masterpiece by any stretch, I think that Lunar: SSSC is ultimately a charming romantic JRPG that is well worth playing. It was never an innovative or essential JRPG. However, it has always represented the essence of what is good and enjoyable about the genre. It is a basic story of heroism and romance in a world of adventure, and it wears that sense of optimism as a badge of honor. This is the reason that, despite its simplicity, fans of the game continue to revere it years later, despite it objectively being inferior to other JRPGs of the same era. 

 

A19- Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete (1999, 2025):

• Genre: JRPG.
• Publisher: Kadokawa Shoten, Working Designs, GungHo (Remastered).
• Developer: Game Arts, Ashibi Co. (Remastered)

Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete is the rare sequel that, while not departing much from its predecessor, makes many small improvements that turn a good game into a great one. If you enjoyed or loved the first Lunar, then you will surely love this one as well. This is yet another classic JRPG, filled to the brim with romance and adventure, with an engaging gameplay loop that should push you towards a great story's conclusion and beyond.

While I still would not call Lunar 2 a true masterpiece of the genre, I think it packages all the good things we love about JRPGs, even if it doesn't necessarily excel at any of them. As such, the new Remastered release of the first Lunar games is not only a good deal for two lovely games, but also a historical record of JRPGs at their root.

I can honestly say that writing this review was much harder than writing the review for Lunar: SSC, since both games are similar, and the only conclusion I can give is that Lunar 2: EBC is marginally better in every facet that it gains a whole point over its predecessor. Explaining that, I would end up writing almost the same exact review as the first game, but with a few additional superlatives.

Frankly, I think that this is exactly my conclusion: Lunar 2: EBC is the rare sequel that is only just marginally better than its prequel, but in such a way that it elevates the game from just merely being good to actually becoming great. 

A18- Strider 2 (1999, 2000):

• Genre: Hack 'n Slash.
• Publisher: Capcom; Developer: Capcom.

The massive success of the PS1 took the success of home consoles to a new level, in a way signaling the death knell of the game Arcade, along with the types of experiences made for that format. Strider 2 is exactly the kind of game that was built for the arcades, but was so extremely short that very few people could justify paying the full price for it.

At least, no one was planning on playing it only once. Like any Hack n' Slash game worth its salt, Strider 2 invites players to play it several times in the pursuit of perfection, and it has the mechanics to back up that conceit, but not the stage design to pull me back for more.

If you love the action-packed gameplay and the unique movement options of Strider 2, then you will love this game regardless of any of its shortcomings, or even its short length (which becomes a bonus). This is exactly the kind of experience that the Arcades were built for. Some challenging and cool games that could grab your attention, and just maybe, drive your quest for perfection with stellar gameplay. While it straddles the awkward junction between brilliant sprite work and soulless polygonal work, Strider 2 will still deliver for fans of the genre, if not for anyone else.

A17- Tactics Ogre: Let US Cling Together (1997, 1998):

• Genre: TRPG.
• Publisher: Artdink, Atlus; Developer: Quest Corporation.

The precursor to the famous and well-loved Final Fantasy Tactics, at least the precursor in style and substance if not in story, Yasumi Matsuno's Tactics Ogre: Let's Cling Together was a TRPG masterpiece. First released on the SNES, an updated version was made for the PS1. Not content with one updated port, the game was again updated for a PSP port, and is now remastered completely for the newest consoles. As such, there is little reason to go back to the PS1 original, which is why I chose not to play or review the game.

Yet, the presence of such a seminal game in the "Addendum" list instead of Retro Sanctuary's list should be discussed. There is simply no way that this game doesn't deserve to be part of any Top 100 PS1 games, considering its impact and legacy. I am looking forward to playing it on my Nintendo Switch 2 when I get the chance.

A16(S)- Vandal Hearts (1995):

• Genre: TRPG.
• Publisher: Konami; Developer: Konami.

In a time when every major Japanese video game company tried to compete in every genre, Konami had a notable lack of RPGs in its portfolio. On the SNES, it did not publish a single game of that genre despite being one of that console’s best publishers. Yet, that changed on the PS1, which demanded more narrative focus in games, and the company released Suikoden in 1995.

Vandal Hearts was Konami’s first foray into Tactical RPGs, and it chose to be as traditional as possible, for better or worse.

There is something to be said about solid Tactical RPGs that cannot be said about the same level of typical RPGs, and Vandal Hearts typifies that dichotomy. Regardless of how standard a TRPG may be, the nature of the genre at least suggests that the story and world may still have some promise. That is indeed the case with this game from Konami. While its TRPG gameplay is basic and its story structure is incredibly linear, it still packs enough of a punch with its story that I don't think anyone would begrudge the 20 or so hours spent with the game.

A16- Vandal Hearts (1999):

• Genre: TRPG.
• Publisher: Konami; Developer: Konami.

While the first Vandal Hearts game was Konami's attempt at making a traditional Tactical RPG, its sequel was in many ways a complete revolution of the genre. Through its innovative "Dual-Turn" System and abandonment of fixed classes, it went out of the comfort zone of the first game.

These changes could not have worked, and indeed, the new gameplay system will need some adjustments. However, thanks to a brilliant story that followed Konami's attempts at more "mature" storylines in the PS1 era, the game ended up being one of the finest Tactical RPGs on the system.

There was little reason for Konami to revolutionize the TRPG genre with this game. It would have been perfectly acceptable to iterate on the first game, especially with how good the story is. Instead, the game took a big risk with its new gameplay style; a risk that I can imagine some did not understand or appreciate.

For me, once I figured out that the "Dual-Turn" system was basically a massive programming logic puzzle, it made every battle such a brilliant strategic puzzle. One that is entirely unique within the genre.

A15- Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring (1998):

• Genre: Fighting.
• Publisher: Sony, Aniplex, Square; Developer: DreamFactory.

At a time when it felt Square could do no wrong, they dabbled in a lot of different genres other than their staple RPG roots. Naturally, that meant they had to try their hand at fighting games, with Ehrgeiz arguably being their crowning achievement after the decent Tobal series. This is a competent and well-animated 3D Fighting game that, while not as deep or complex as the best in the genre, is nonetheless surprisingly fluid in its animations and movements. Of particular surprise is the "Dungeon Crawler" single player campaign, which is completely different from the Arcade fighting mode style, and is a full-fledged rougelike Action RPG mode within a fighting game.

One thing that showcases Square's involvement in the game is the addition of many Final Fantasy VII characters as fighters. This won't be the last time we see Cloud and Sephiroth duke it out in a match, but I am sure it felt something special to fight Cloud while a brilliant remix of the battle music played in the background.

A14- Heart of Darkness (1998):

• Genre: Cinematic Platformer.
• Publisher: Infograms Multimedia, Interplay Productions; Developer: Amazing Studio.

I played Heart of Darkness as a kid and found it to be rather difficult, so I was hoping that age and experience would have made it easier the second time around. Well, age and experience didn't make it easier, but they made it obvious to me that I wasn't going to like my time with the game. This is a Cinematic Platformer (like the original Prince of Persia) with pixel-perfect platforming requirements. It is too stringent and has few other redeeming factors to persist with.

A13- The Legend of Dragoon (1999, 2000):

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

Seeing the massive success of the Final Fantasy franchise, Sony realized that they needed to make a JRPG of their own, and The Legend of Dragoon was their most serious attempt. At first glance, anyone would be excused to think that this game is another sequel of Final Fantasy VII or VIII (my uncle thought so when he saw it in gaming magazines), that is how much surface resemblance there is.

However, other than its looks, this game is not nearly as polished as Square's marquee JRPG, nor was it ever as well-received as any of them. Yet, in some of its awkward delivery and various hiccups, there is a rather good game. Unfortunately, that game takes about two CDs to show itself.  

The Legend of Dragoon was made with a clear brief: A Sony-made JRPG that can rival Final Fantasy VII. In that way, the game borrowed a lot from its rival without ever reaching that venerable status, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Even if this game did not come close to critically matching its inspiration, it was still crafted as a good JRPG with some unique attributes. With its unique music and action-focused attacking system, it did not imitate Square's JRPG more than on a surface level. Yet, it is in that surface-level imitation that the game mostly falters in its graphical looks. Today, we can see how ungracefully its polygonal characters have aged, and how muddy its backgrounds look.

Ultimately, while this game is not brilliant by any stretch of the imagination, it was always good enough in both gameplay and story for most of its run time, and it could have even been great with better editing and tweaking across its many systems. Alas, we never got a sequel to the game, and this "Super Sentai" JRPG is not left as little more than a memory for many people.

A12- Twisted Metal (1996, 1997):

• Genre: Vehicular Combat.
• Publisher: Sony; Developer: Sony, SingleTrac.

I remember having countless hours of fun playing vehicular combat games on the PS1, with the Twisted Metal series, especially the second game, being the best of the bunch. Today, I have no idea how the hell I managed to tolerate those games. With terrible graphics, poor control, and garish art design, none of those games is any fun today. Most probably, I liked Twisted Metal to align a bit with the mainstream taste of my school buddies.

Outside of that influence, I am not ashamed to say that this game and the whole series plain sucks.

 

A11- Jumping Flash! 2 (1999, 2000):

• Genre: Action Platformer.
• Publisher: Sony; Developer: Exact MuuMuu.

This is a classic early PS1 game that showcased its 3D graphical prowess to the best of its ability. Yet, although it's still fun to play, there isn't much to recommend First-Person action platformer with a garish and chaotic aesthetic. Sure, there may be some charm to the surreal graphics and design, but that angle has been picked up and perfected by Namco's Katamari Damacy series.

You control a Robot Bunny who saves an evil baron (the villain of the first game) from an egg-faced cosmic entity. In each level, you need to explore a vast 3D space searching for 4 MuMu creatures to complete the stage. You have 10 minutes to find the creatures and exit the stage, but that's plenty of time. As you may imagine, first-person platforming is not the best, and the fact that you can't control the camera while jumping makes things a bit harder. Still, the platforming is smooth, and the big jumps make things forgiving.

Besides your massive jump, you can also shoot a bunch of unmemorable enemies and collect some special attacks. It's best to save those special attacks for the bosses at the end of each world, who are fun to fight.

Honestly, while I was planning to write an extensive review of the game, I couldn't justify spending 3-4 hours writing a review when I finished the game in less than 3 hours.

That being said, I can imagine the game being enjoyed by speed runners who would try to find the perfect way to finish each level and get as high a score as possible. It is a fun game, but not a game that I would recommend playing in this day and age.

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 a little playing time and general research about the game and its reception at the time.