Retro gaming

[Flabyo]

You won’t find a PAL copy of Final Fantasy Tactics for PS1, it doesn’t exist. PSP was the first time it officially launched here.

And recommending anyone play Heart of Darkness is just mean

[OldBailey]

So many brilliant PS1 games. I think you'll be able to pick these up for a reasonable sum.

Vagrant Story - Brilliant real time combat RPG with great visuals, cool cutscenes and good writing.

Legact of Kain: Soul Reaver- Dreamcast version is better but if you dont have one, play this game!

Ape Escape- Best 3D platformer on the system

Ridge racer type 4- Super slick racer, still looks beautiful.

Oddworld- Both games are great.

Alundra- The best Zelda-like of all time? Yes.

Final Fantasy Tactics- Brilliant tactics game.

GTA 2- Often forgotten about in light of it's sequels, well worth playing.

Kurushi- Cool puzzle game with a great aesthetic.

Front mission 3- My favourite of the series.

Silent bomber- Great, fast paced action game.

Klonoa- Lovely 2.5d platformer, may be a little expensive. Worth it.

Point blank- I'm guessing not but If you have a crt, get a lightgun and play this!

Bishi bashi special- Hilarious party game. One of my favourite multiplayer games of all time.

Vandal hearts- Another brilliant srpg.

[Alex79]

One thing about Alundra, I tried to play it recently again and it's punishingly difficult. Very difficult to acclimatise back to the days of death means start again from your last save, and death comes very easily! We've been spoiled with checkpoints, save states and the like.

[KSubzero1000]

I haven't either.

[OldBailey]

One thing about Alundra, I tried to play it recently again and it's punishingly difficult. Very difficult to acclimatise back to the days of death means start again from your last save, and death comes very easily! We've been spoiled with checkpoints, save states and the like.

Fun fact. The US and pal release was made massively more difficult than the original Japanese release during localisation. There's a rom patch available that restores the original difficulty to the western releases. Not sure which version I prefer but if the difficulty is putting you off give it a go if you have the means.

[Suits]

I’ve got a spare loose PAL FFVII disc if anyone wants it.

Not that’s it’s too hard to get hold of, but hey.

Haha, any disc specifically?

Errrrm, 3/3.

[Alex79]

I haven't

I haven't either.

If you play modern AAA games, then you have. Whether that affects your ability to enjoy older games, however, is a different matter.

And in your case, I'm fully aware it doesn't.

One thing about Alundra, I tried to play it recently again and it's punishingly difficult. Very difficult to acclimatise back to the days of death means start again from your last save, and death comes very easily! We've been spoiled with checkpoints, save states and the like.

Fun fact. The US and pal release was made massively more difficult than the original Japanese release during localisation. There's a rom patch available that restores the original difficulty to the western releases. Not sure which version I prefer but if the difficulty is putting you off give it a go if you have the means.

Huh, that's interesting thanks. I could play that on my Vita so many have a look sometime.

[Flabyo]

I like to think it’s because we have a much broader audience these days so there’s games out there for all tastes.

I happen to rather like open world games.

[Alex79]

Who's been deleting replies?

But yeah, I love old arcade games as much as I love current AAA open world Ubisoft and Rockstar style stuff. If I think of my favourite games, most of my high placements would be exactly those type of open world, mission based games.

[ColinAlonso]

Ridge racer type 4- Super slick racer, still looks beautiful.

GTA 2- Often forgotten about in light of it's sequels, well worth playing.

Point blank- I'm guessing not but If you have a crt, get a lightgun and play this!

While I'd play RR4 over Gran Turismo 2, do pick up a copy of GT2 for cheap if you can. It's where Polyphony really start to cram in as many cars as they can. There are nice 2 page descriptions for most of the cars in the game and tracks in the game are great. Its a shame that the AI is 5 cars driving in a line.

I played so much GTA 2 at the time. Its the bridge between the colourful world of the first and the gritty visual design of the third.

We had Point Blank 2 at the time. Both are good if you're going down the lightgun path.

Aside from BaileyBoy's list, I'd love to see how Medal of Honor: Underground hols up today too. Probably just a load of jank now, but playing as a female French resistance fighter drafted into the OSS for various missions around Europe was pretty cool.

[Alex79]

I remember loving the first Medal Of Honor on PS1, I remember a big thing was made of Spielberg being involved in some way. It might have even been the first FPS I ever really played properly, aside from Doom on the SNES.

Quake 2 was good on PS1 as well, playing multiplayer death match with cardboard taped down the middle of the telly.

Driver 1 and 2 were a lot of fun too, not sure how great they'd be now. Quite low frame rate and wouldn't be so easy on the eye I imagine.

[Suits]

Man, I played GTA2 on the Dreamcast again fairly recently and thought it was awful.

The controls and the camera, just made it frustrating.

It was a bad experience overall and one I wished I never went back to. It was one of those .

[Flabyo]

If you do have a CRT and can get hold of a couple of the Namco light guns then yes, the Point Blank games are a must. There’s a reason when we did that ‘ten arcade cabs for your dream arcade’ that I picked Point Blank. So good.

[Suits]

My mate has a nice Point Blank Cabinet in his arcade, me and my mate were in it for about three complete rounds.

The more I drank the better I got .

[Alex79]

I first played Point Blank on a ferry over to France. Bought it immediately for the PS1 on my return home. What a game. Time Crisis is also brilliant if you manage to get hold of a G-Con.

[ratsoalbion]

If you have a CRT and a modded PS2, there’s a Japan only quadruple pack of the Point Blank trilogy + Time Crisis.

[Suits]

If you have a CRT and a modded PS2, there’s a Japan only quadruple pack of the Point Blank trilogy + Time Crisis.

Wow, that would be blooming ideal package.

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

So many great recommendations from everyone!

Thank you all!

With the odd exception I’m ruling out most things I can get easily on modern hardware - e.g. Final Fantasy series - unless it’s just something I really fancy an original copy of. Also for some of the 2D stuff there’s a better version on the Saturn version (that I’ve probably got already!), and I’ve sadly not got a CRT for lightgun games!

Loads of games mentioned I hadn’t really thought about though, which is great!

Having had a look through all the recommendations plus a bunch of other lists, I think I’ve decided to chase down the following bunch as a start:

- Alundra
- Ape Escape
- Chrono Cross
- Colony Wars
- Final Fantasy Tactics
- Gran Turismo 2
- Heart of Darkness (I had on PC at release - glad Michiel reminded me of it!)
- Metal Gear Solid
- Policenauts (can patch with English language on the Polymega)
- Rayman
- R4 Ridge Racer Type 4
- Rival Schools
- Rollcage: Stage 2
- Silent Bomber
- Tekken 3
- Tomb Raider 2 (never played and was devastated when the Saturn version got cancelled back in the day!)
- Vagrant Story
- Wild Arms
- Wipeout 2097 (have on Saturn but doesn’t have to original PS soundtrack!)
- Xenogears

That’ll keep me going for a while...

[Alex79]

Everyone always mentions Vargrant Story, and I bought it back in the day, but really never managed to get in to it. It was just the trudging through endless brown dungeons, pushing boxes about, and getting lost. It looks nice, and I liked the cut scenes, but I really wish it had clicked with me the way it did for a lot of others.

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

Everyone always mentions Vargrant Story, and I bought it back in the day, but really never managed to get in to it. It was just the trudging through endless brown dungeons, pushing boxes about, and getting lost. It looks nice, and I liked the cut scenes, but I really wish it had clicked with me the way it did for a lot of others.

Yes I’ve heard it’s very complex, very hard, and very long! You’re not the first person to say they just couldn’t get on with it, but it’s got so many evangelists and is available for a reasonable enough price, that I thought it was worth a crack!

If I do pick it up I’ll let you know how I get on!