The Sony Playstation is one of the most beloved game consoles among gaming, and it was what helped Sony become a gaming giant. From its beginnings as a SNES peripheral to it's continued success on the PS2 and eventually PSN, the original Playstation set tons of standards for the industry, including disc based consoles, dual analog, built-in rumble, and etc. It's also has had one of the biggest and strongest library of games, including some of the most iconic and classic games and franchises gaming as seen. The console itself played a huge part of my childhood, introducing me to some of my most favorite games ever, and this is what this list is about.

 

10) Medal of Honor

 

One of my favorite shooter franchises, Medal of Honor was one of the earliest console FPS games, and was heavily influenced from the N64's hit shooter, Goldeneye. It was also the first game to have a story from a movie director, as the game's story was written by one of the biggest out there, Steven Spielberg(who's also responsible for classic films like ET, Saving Private Ryan, Jurassic Park, and Indiana Jones). The game's music was composed by Michael Giacchino, which was what really made him big as a composer. The game's presentation and combat was great and would help set of the big WWII shooter boom during the 6th and most of the 7th gen console games.

 

9) Syphon Filter 2

 

Unknown to a lot of people, in 1996 Eidetic was involved in making Bubsy 3D, one of the worst games ever made. Yet Sony still saw some value in them, and in the end it looks like they made the right call. 3 years later they'd go on to make Syphon Filter, which wound up being one of the Playstation's most popular titles. And Syphon Filter 2 is exactly how you improve on an already great game, with better levels with more variety, a better story, and much more varied weapons compared to the first. And the air taser still kicks ass.

 

8) Legend of Dragoon

 

 

After getting introduced to Final Fantasy with the Playstation, I decided to try out other games like it. One game that caught my eye was Legend of Dragoon, one of the few JRPGs made by Sony themselves. This game was awesome, the Dragoon transformations and attacks, were awe-inspiring, I was amazed to see voice acting(especially with Final Fantasy opting out), the additions were fun and engaging and I absolutely loved the story. I'm still bitter that a sequel was cancelled...and that Dart was cancelled from PSASBR.

 

7) Megaman Legends

 

 

While many people prefer the second game to the first, the first still remains a much more special game to me. When it came out, seeing Megaman both in 3D and without a helmet was such a mind blower to me. And the radical departure was one of the biggest things that made this game special for me, I loved exploring the ruins just to find what goodies I could find, and trying out new weapons never got old, especially when you maxed out all of their stats. Even playing the game on easy with the overpowered Max Buster was blast. And it was probably one of the very few Megaman games that actually had a decent story to follow, and was full of character and charm. Also Megaman's voice wasn't lame like MM8, Legends 2 or X4

 

6) Final Fantasy VIII

 

Yes, Final Fantasy VIII is my preferred game in the main series, but can you blame me? FFVIII was the first game in the series I ever played, and was the game responsible for me getting into the series, which I still hold as one of my favorite franchises ever. I still remember my brother buying it,

. Visuals were great, FMVs still hold up very well which says a lot with how ugly a lot of them can be. Squall, Edea and Laguna still remains some of my favorite characters in the series, the OST fantastic and is one of my favorites of all time. Yeah, it has its flaws like the battle system, the utterly broken junction system(which actually add to the game's charm for me personally, nothing beats overpowering yourself to godlike levels in the beginning of the game) and how the story goes to hell by disc 3(Disc 1 and 2 though are fantastic, as well as the final dungeon), but goddammit those do nothing to deteriorate the sheer happiness I get from playing it.

 

5) Megaman X4

 

Easily one of the most fine-tuned Megaman games of the PS1/N64/Saturn era, as well as one of the best Megaman games, period. While Megaman X2 and X3 were well-liked by fans, they didn't have as much of an impact as the original Megaman X did which is still highly regarded as one of the best in the franchise, but X4 is the only game that could stand in equal footing to the original game. X4 took the best parts of X2(Speed) and X3(Zero playable), and took it to bigger and better things. The game was much more action packed and frantic than the last two, Zero opened up a whole new way to play with his up-and-front style combat, great music as usual for the series, and the bosses and characters were some of the most memorable since X1. And while the voice acting is atrocius,

 

4) Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

 

Much like what games like FFVII, Ocarina of Time, and Super Mario 64 did for their franchises, Castlevania would become the new standard of what future titles in the series would be like. Unlike the more linear platformers of the past games, Symphony of the Night actually takes a lot of influence from the more unpopular Castlevania II(as well as the Metroid series, thus coining the term "Metroidvania) and would focus more on exploration. The game is has some of the most finely-tuned gameplay in the series and sports some insanely good hand-drawn sprite work, the music is, as usual, fantastic, and exploring Dracula's castle was a blast. Also, much like Megaman X4, the voice acting is also several kinds of terribad, but still gave us some of the greatest lines ever

 

3) Metal Gear Solid

 

 

This is probably the biggest surprise that this is only number 3 considering how much of a fanboy I am of this series, but I digress. Regardless, the original Metal Gear Solid is a fantastic game that set a lot of industry standards. MGS was one of the earliest games to take a cinematic approach to its storytelling and game design, as this would influence a ton of future developers to adapt that same cinematic approach, for better or for worse(admittedly for worse is more common). It was also one of the first games to have voice acting that...well, wasn't awful. The game's visuals and music do a lot to help the game's cold and metallic atmosphere.The story is very engaging and does a great job at making you feel for all the characters, including the villains. Speaking of which, the game also sported some of the most memorable boss fights in gaming, such as Grey Fox, Psycho Mantis, and the fist fight with Liquid.

 

2) RESIDENT EVIL. 2

 

After the massive success of the first game which also came out on the Playstation, Capcom decided to capitalize on that and make a sequel. What we got was a game that improved on everything that was great about the first game and then some. Improved visuals helped add a lot to the game's creepiness, the controls were more streamlined compared to the last, more weapon variety and tons more scares than the last, and tons of puzzles that block your escape. Story was a great follow up to the last despite using mostly new characters, though they were just as great as the last cast. The voice acting is still bad but not as bad as the first game. Sometimes I still have trouble deciding which is my favorite in the series, RE2 and RE4

 

As usual, honorable mentions, since there's more than just the 10 games I listed that made the PS1 great:
- Final Fantasy VII and IX
- Chrono Cross
- Metal Gear VR Missions
- Resident Evil 1 and 3
- Megaman 8 and Legends 2
- Silent Hill
- Syphon Filter 1
- Grand Theft Auto 2
- Xenogears
- Soul Reaver
- Tekken 3
- Medal of Honor Underground
- Die Hard Trilogy
- Tail Concerto
- Persona 2 Eternal Punishment
- Misadventures of Tronne Bonne
- The Spyro and Crash Trilogies
- and tons more I'm forgetting

 

1) Final Fantasy Tactics

 

Best Spin-off ever. Best Final Fantasy Ever. Best PS1 game ever. Final Fantasy Tactics is one of the very few examples of how to do a darker take on generally light-hearted franchise without being "try-hard" or "edgy". It also takes the series to a new gameplay direction while incorporating almost everything from the Final Fantasy series fans know and love. The combat's great with tons of great and over the top spells and abilities, the story is fantastic and mostly refreshing in comparison to other Final Fantasy games, with tons of characters to love and hate. Hell, Cloud from VII is a hidden playable character which was mind-blowing at the time. The job system is one of the best in the series, and the OST is on par with other Final Fantasy games even without Nobuo Uematsu. The ONLY flaw I can think of with this game is that it can get a little grind heavy. Even with that said, it is still one of my favorite games and one, if not, the best game on the Playstation.

 

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Did your favorite game not make the list? What were some of your favorites?