Greatest PlayStation 1 games as ranked by DP members

[Cornelius]

I haven't actually played much variety on the PS1 at all, so my list reflects what I've played and had fun with. I won't for a moment claim that there aren't a lot of much better games.

1. FFVII
2. Bushido Blade
3. SOTN
4. Parappa the Rappa
5. Tenchu: Stealth Assassins
6. D
7. Star Wars Masters of Teras Kasi

[buzz_n64]

1. Crash Bandicoot
2. Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
3. Crash 3
4. Spyro
5. Spyro 2
6. Metal Slug
7. Metal Slug X
8. Street Fighter Alpha 3
9. Mortal Kombat Trilogy
10. Twisted Metal 4

[Koa Zo]

put way too much time into this. I hadn't considered my ultimate Playstation favorites in awhile, well here's the result:

I was late to the Playstation and even completely uninterested at first (mainly because of the original stock controller).
I've always been a mostly arcade oriented player so the first titles that caught my attention were Raiden Project and Viewpoint ...but I hated that controller. The system was completely off my radar in the year or two after its launch. Then visiting a friend one night, they had rented Namco Musuem Vol.4 - I knew nothing about these things, but lo-and-behold, there is Assault! ~ one of my all time favorite games! ...but I just couldn't play it adequately with that dang controller.

Fast forward to mid-2000s, I have a PS2 (mainly as a DVD player) but I'm starting to keep an eye on used PS1 and PS2 games ... I'm at Bookmans in Mesa AZ and there's a controller I'd never seen before - a twin stick controller like everyone was hyped on for Dreamcast and Saturn for Virtual On, only this Playstation one is analog and had way more buttons..hmm... then it strikes me! "What if this twin stick controller works with Assault?"!!
With an $8 price tag and mint condition, how could I pass it up? But that thing is big, I had to store it, and road trip back to PA with it in my car, and store it even more.

It was around 2+ years before I eventually got a copy of Assault. By then I'd also found out about the Namco Volume (paddle) controller and the neGcon and also the link cable. I was starting to see that the Playstation had all kinds of games I had no idea about.
When I finally played Assault with the twin analog joystick and my TV on its side, it was momentous to have that arcade experience at home.
That really set it off, the momentum was slow to build but the Playstation has become the console I'm most interested in.
At present I've got almost 350 Japanese PS1 titles, about 90 US titles, and 6 European titles. The GunCon, the neGCon, the ASCii optical joysticks, the Hori Pads, the link cable, the Volume Controller, the tambourine controller, analog joystick, dual analog, steering wheels... just so many good controllers!
The greatest aspect of the system and the games are the sheer variety.
Sifting over my collection of games I worked it down to the 10 games that I played more than all the others in my collection. It's still a close call with a few of them, like I definitely played more of ZanacXZanac (and other shmups) than most of the games in my 10 but I've tired of Zanac a little, whereas these games still absolutely enchant and entertain me every time. I guess these are the greatest!

01. Harmful Park
02. Namco Musuem series (particularly Vol.4)
03. Raiden DX
04. Pepsiman
05. Power Shovel
06. Point Blank series
07. Saiyuki: Journey West
08. Shingata Kururin Pa!
09. Sunsoft Memorial Series (Vol. 5 & 6 particularly)
10. Mezase Senkyu Oh (Battle Balls)


honorable mentions
all the ball & paddle games playable with the volume controller (Block Kuzushi games, Arkanoids, Block Kids, Bomb Bee, Cutie-Q etc)
Konami Arcade Classics
Finger Flashing
Choro-Q Marine Q-Boat
Arcade Gears series (particularly Image Fight and X-Multiply)
Capcom Retro series
Strider 2
Tiny Tank
Love Love Truck
Mad Panic Coaster
Speed Punks


wondering about, but haven't played enough of to conclude anything:
Adventure of Little Ralph
Crash Bandicoot series
Dezaemon Kids
Elemental Gearbolt
Gekitotsu Tomarunner games
Rally de Europe (supposedly has the Africa tracks too)
Serofans
Side by Side Special
Burning Road (2 system link, and analog joystick)
Battle Round
Muppet Monster Adventure
Steel Reign
Future Cop
Arcade Greatest Hits Atari Collection 2 (Paperboy, Gauntlet, Roadblasters, Marble Madness, Milipede, Crystal Castles) {neGcon support for Paperboy and Roadblaster?}
Alundra
No One Can Stop Mr Domino
Top Shop

[Spartacus]

I was late to the Playstation and even completely uninterested at first ...

I have a similar story to yours. I missed the PS1 era, in fact, I didn't play video games at all. I bought a PS2 to watch DVD's and it was a fluke that I bought a game for it - Metal Gear for the PS1. That was the game that sparked my interest in gaming on a console.

Metal Gear also started a love of finding and collecting what I feel are interesting PS1 games! I have always hoped my PS1 collection would have the largest library of all my collections. Just the sound of the PS1 console booting up gives me a shot of dopamine that no other console has ever come close too. It is a sound that I completely associate with fun experiences and I've hardly scratched playing my PS1 game library. A couple of months ago I bought my 2,000th PS2 game (Melty Blood Actress Again Limited Edition) and I'm starting to become resigned to the fact that my PS1 library - 1,921 titles that includes 97 long box versions, 799 Japanese games and 142 PAL games may fall short. But I can't ever imagine it not being the best gaming system I've ever owned.

Like you, I enjoy finding interesting PS1 controllers still in the original packaging. I have the Sony Analog Joystick Twin Sticks, Densha de Go! controller and PS Flight Force Pro controller to name a few. But I had no idea that there was a Namco Volume (paddle) controller! You see I happen to collect Arkanoid games and games that included a paddle are a special treat. So far I've found NES Arkanoid and Arkanoid II, The Sega Master System Woody Pop, and Nintendo DS Arkanoid with a paddle controller. Until I read your post, I had no idea about the Namco Volume paddle controller! A quick search on Ebay netted me a sealed Puchi Carat Limited Edition with a paddle controller inside and a boxed Namco Volume Controller. Boy am I happy to be able to add those to my Arkanoid game collection!

Funny thing about Arkanoid collecting. The first ball and paddle I played was Breakout on the Atari 5200 and I hated that game! The ball would always get horizontal instead of vertical and that suck ass Atari 5200 controller didn't help either. And yet here I am collecting ball and paddle games because, well, I find the collection interesting. Collecting is so inexplicable!

Thanks again for the heads up about the Namco Volume Controller Koa Zo!