Best games for ps1 ever

No problem at all. Then I started listing my favourites, and soon I had around titles with more popping into my head every second. The PS1 was, and in many ways still is, a pivotal console in the world of gaming.

It was soon to be the home of some of the best games ever made, franchises that are still going strong today. Still, no task is too great for us here at Retro Dodo. Check out our 50 best PS1 games below. Lunar: Silver Story Complete gets things kicking off in our best PS1 games list, and what a game to start with!

Ok, so this is also one of the best Sega Saturn games ever released too, but the revised edition for the PS1 looks and plays a whole lot better. Follow Alex, a boy chosen to be a Dragonmaster. Complete trials set by wise dragons themselves to fulfil your destiny.

The simple early FF style visuals and interesting animations make this game a joy to play. Man, this game brings back some memories, swinging through cities, pulling off punch combos with enemies on rooftops; this was the closest I was ever going to get to being Peter Parker.

Chase and battle enemies, reach goals, and stop classic villains from getting away with dastardly crimes. With great power comes great responsibility!

You need to experience all the nightmarish devilry of this game in person to really understand it. Despite this game being on the PS1, the scenery looks fantastic. And, thanks to LAN multiplayer, eight people can go up against each other in supreme multiplayer races. Now, if you know the World Rally Championship like the back of your hand, then this news is going to blow your mind….

Players can choose from all of the rally cars used in the actual championship races themselves. Plus, Colin McRae gave his dulcet tones to the title, making it even more authentic. This game has always been one of army favourite racing titles. The tracks are second to none, the cars are spectacular, and the backdrops have stood the test of time very well.

Nightmare Creatures II slashes its way into 56th place, showing once again that Konami are a bunch of sick puppies that love a good horror title. Escape from monsters in crypts, uncover more mysteries of the occult, and fight demons of all shapes and size.

What more could anyone possibly want. Dino Crisis claws its way into the 55th spot on our best PS1 games list. Play through quiet, abandoned jungles and laboratories, messing yourself every time a Dino jumps out at you.

It certainly makes me panic when I play it! Tenchu: Stealth Assassins is not, I repeat not for people that like running in and asking questions later. This is a stealth game at its best and comes jam-packed with ancient Japanese lore and Samurai culture, definitely one for the Ghosts of Tsushima fans out there.

Work from dispatching small time enemies to murderous One goblins and trolls, demons that make up a large part of Japanese folklore and fairytales. Games like Syphon Filter and Tomb Raider that require a level of nous are very similar to the Tenchu series. Play through classic Japanese fortresses and epic mountain regions, basking in beautiful soundscapes and graphics that, for the PS1, look fantastic.

Every game character has a special feature that separates them apart from the crowd. Now that might sound a little creepy to some people, but we all loved the BFG, and he basically did the same thing! Alundra washes up on a beach and is taken in by a smith. Once he feels better, he discovers that there is a hidden evil lurking on the island by stepping into peoples dreams. Bishi Bashi Special brings two games for the price of one!

Essentially, this is like a PS1 version of WarioWare meets Mario Party, with players taking part in bonkers minigames such as cake throwing, afro growing, and many more weird concepts. Even back on the PS1, up to eight players could compete, with random players being picked for each mini game with zero time to prepare. Grandia , one of the best looking RPGs of all time, kickstarts this list of the best PS1 games of all time! Championing the skill development of characters and a superb magic system, this game is a credit to the genre.

But what is Grandia all about? Well, players follow a dude called Justin. Like all kids, he wants to be an adventurer, and after chancing on a clue as to how an ancient presence vanished, he sets out on an epic quest. The graphics in this game make it one of the best on the console, and the battle system is intuitive while giving lots of freedom for the player to attack in their own style.

Honestly, with thousands of games released for the PS1, sitting at 50 is still as high achievement. This game needs to be in your collection! These games all basically have the same premise year after year, but was the first game that I came to in the series and is a firm favourite in my collection. The commentary is superb, the pitch looks great, and all the pros from the time make an appearance.

The NFL Coaches Club License gets you closer to the action with close ups of managers yelling instructions and cursing their rotten luck at losing yet again. Even if you know nothing about American football, this game is a great way to get into the sport and the perfect way to dish some vengeance to your mates for all the crap they give you. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis takes the 48th spot in this list of the best PS1 games of all time, and boy is it a gruesome gorefest.

Resident Evil titles are known for their mindless Zombies and bloodlust around every corner. Guts galore and brains a plenty, Resident Evil 3 remains one of the most action-packed survival horror titles ever made. And The Nemesis is lethal! He just appears out of nowhere and runs after you like a crusty, half-eaten gorilla, determined to eat your throat and guzzle up your innards. A key feature in survival horrors is multiple endings depending on paths that you take in the game.

This keeps people playing again and again, which is good as the title itself is a little on the short side. Wrestling was everything when I was a kid, and playing as my favourite wrestlers in Smackdown! Watching those guys on Sky One and then playing as them right after was how I spent pretty much every Saturday morning. Pile-driving opponents through tables, brawling in the carpark; this was the real deal! Tables, ladders, and chairs matches were the best, as were tag-team matches with mates.

Well, players control a chap named Rion who has suddenly developed psychic abilities. Rion has zero weapons apart from his Psychic powers.

Colony Wars takes the 44th spot in this list of the best PS1 games of all time! This game is one for the Rogue Squadron fans out there. Wield EMP cannons, fire torpedos, and blast enemy fighters out of the sky as you bring peace to the galaxy. As with Lylat Wars, different actions result in different paths between levels.

Year of the Dragon boasts mini games for the first time. Yes; Spyro in a mini game; obviously I lost my freaking mind when this came out! The third and final game in the original bunch came with groovier music, slick graphics, and tonnes of new characters and features for gamers to sink their claws into.

And instead of just following the same form as the first two titles, Year of the Dragon felt more like a Nintendo platform game. Play as different characters, complete missions, and trade items for gems with Moneybags the Bear. Will you reach high with Sheila the Kangaroo or take Spyro for a swim without fear of drowning? Take a trip back to where it all began with the next title on our list of the best PS1 games — Resident Evil.

Step into Racoon City, a city swarming with zombies and horrifying creatures that would like nothing better than to eat you alive. Ok, so it might look a little raw these days.

Players take control of a special operative sent to determine what happened to the city. Enter Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield, the chosen characters who must uncover what really went down in a secret genetics laboratory.

If one thing Resident Evil is known for is its zombies, then the other is its array of guns. Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped takes the 41st spot in this list of the best PS1 games ever made! Released in , this is perhaps one of the toughest Crash games in the series.

Warped follows straight on from the events of Crash Bandicoot 2. Dr Neo Cortex and the vengeful Aku Aku are back to cause havoc once again, and Crash has to stop them from getting crystals and enslaving the minds of the people. Play as Crash or Coco as you leap over holes, collect apples, spin enemies, and try to stay alive. The music still sets my feet tapping and puts me in a great mood. How insane is that. Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assasins takes the 40th spot on our list of the best PS1 games of all time!

Well, this prequel to the original classic title sees players controlling the trained killers as teens. The story follows Rikimaru and Ayame while learning their craft from Ninja Masters. Like many of the following third-person PS1 games in this list, stealth is the key to both winning and surviving.

Tenchu 2 has a great level editor too. If you liked Mario Maker but want to see lots more swords and blood, then creating your own stealth-based ninja-battle levels should prove to be pretty fun! The game follows a plot line very similar to the film. All of the same bad guys and many of the same places feature, though gamers can now use Mace Windu and unlock other characters such as Captain Panaka and Darth Maul.

Many levels have jumping puzzles to overcome, putting those midichlorians to the test while traversing different stages. Some levels require piloting crafts, and most involve using R1 to deflect and take down Droidikas and other enemies from the film. It is a winner in my book, however, and Star Wars fans should certainly give it a try.

German readers may well be wondering where the one-handed sword is or what part it could play in a spaceship game. Well, the name refers to the fighter jets large manipulator arm, giving it the impression of being a fencer reader to strike. While classed as 2. The ships are used by kamikaze pilots in a battle between a colony on the moon with a colony on the earth. Players must square up against their own superiors in order to bring peace.

Jumping Flash! Robbit the robot rabbit first bounced into our lives back in He, along with the game itself, are often credited as championing 3D gaming on home consoles. Whether you care about impressive accolades or not, Jumping Flash!

Imagine, if you will, a first person Space Station Silicon Valley. The graphics might look a little dated now, but this was cutting edge stuff back in the day! Critics praised the groundbreaking success of this game and the immersive action spread across each of the 18 levels.

It still holds the world record for being the first true 3D platform game too. One took me absolutely ages to find pictures and links for, so the least you can do is stick around to learn a little more about it. Just lots of singular PS1 games, and none of them One!

On the contrary, One is an epic game that requires brains to beat. I always used to hate the long load times with PS1 games, though One never had that problem. It used asynchronous loading to keep gameplay flowing, leaving players to pump enemies full of lead and figure out clever ways of staying alive.

The main character wakes up with an arm missing. With only a tattoo of a barcode on his neck, players must try to keep the mysterious fighter alive long enough to find out who he is. One looks and plays like a PS2 game. Bushido Blade takes the 35th spot on our list of the best PS1 games ever made! Square Squaresoft feature a heck of a lot in this article. Imagine Mortal Kombat with Ninja Swords.

Matches in Bushido Blade are like playing a game of chess. A single move could prove fatal, and while the rounds may last a long time, the gory deaths are pretty quick and brutal to watch. Squaresoft RPG Chrono Trigger is still widely considered as one of the greatest video games of all time. The game features over 50 recruitable characters, each with a unique quest to follow, making it impossible to see everything in a single playthrough.

The connections to the first game are not obvious at first, but ultimately it ties them all together in an interesting and resonant tale that frequently meditates on loss and regret. You play as the amnesiac young man Fei Fong Wong in a quest to save the world from Deus, an ancient planet-killing weapon that gained sentience.

Gameplay features both conventional, Final Fantasy- style active time battles as well as fights in the eponymous Gears giant mecha suits that involve managing action points and developing combos. Like Parasite Eve , it features pausable, real-time combat and the ability to target and be targeted on specific body parts, crippling particular capabilities. Combined with an elaborate weapon crafting and armor system, it provides a rich and focused tactical playground that players enjoyed experimenting with over the years.

Square essentially retconned the game into Ivalice, the world of Final Fantasy Tactics and XII , but even without that, it stands alone as a beloved classic for its mature story and mechanical depth.

Following the explosive, global success of FF7 was a tall order, but Square managed to keep aggressively evolving the series for its immediate sequel, Final Fantasy VIII.

FF8 was the first in the series to feature realistically proportioned characters and continued the move from FF7 towards the fantasy-infused sci-fi aesthetics that defined later entries. The story revolves around Squall Leonhart and a party of other freshly-trained SeeD mercenaries in a quest that quickly turns from political to world-ending stakes. This system draws finite quantities of spells from enemies that you can cast or keep to buff up particular stats.

Suidoken II features both standard turn-based party battles in the vein of Final Fantasy as well as large-scale, strategic engagements on a grid more reminiscent of Fire Emblem. The Secret of Mana series grew up alongside Final Fantasy in the 8- and bit eras. It generally takes a slightly lighter tone and substitutes turn-based battles with more open, action RPG gameplay.

Legend of Mana is the fourth entry following the fantastic Seiken Densestsu 3 for SNES, which is still not officially localized in the west. Players accomplish this quest by literally placing parts of the land — which were previously sealed in artifacts — on the map.

Their relative placement affects the world. Instead, the studio filled it to the brim with lush, beautiful 2D graphics. The game is universally praised for rembling an animated film and aging exceptionally well. In its prime, Secret of Mana received criticism for making the story feel too diffuse. In retrospect, its nonlinear, system-rich approach now feels ahead of its time. Set in the world of Filgaia, you play a scrappy band of wandering adventurers called Dream Chasers.

Using both 2D sprites for exploration, and 3D rendered battle sequences, Wild Arms was an interesting transitional game between the and bit eras. It mostly stands out for its compelling setting, however, fusing science and magic in a way reminiscent of — but also completely distinct from — Final Fantasy VI.

In typical genre fashion, he assembles a motley crew for a quest that spirals up to defeating a world-ending god of destruction.

The story is standard genre fare. You assume the role of a martial artist from a village at the edge of the world that sets out on a quest to beat back the Mist. It consumed the surface and spawned countless monsters, pushing humanity to the brink. Legaia stood out for its combat system, which is turn-based but also heavily derives from fighting games. Legaia added a tactical richness to combat that few of its peers could match, and is a franchise worth re-examining.

Adapted from a popular, contemporary Japanese novel of the same name, Parasite Eve is a bit of a genre hybrid from developer Square. Equal parts action RPG and survival horror, it follows a New York City cop trying to stop an entity named Eve from destroying humanity through spontaneous combustion.

In retrospect, its infusion of RPG progression systems into a survival horror framework can be seen reflected in more modern games such as The Evil Within , though its pausable real-time combat has been less explored subsequently.

Several years before the original Call of Duty game kicked off the now-oversaturated WW2 first-person shooter genre, Medal of Honor set the bar. Steven Spielberg developed the story, working with the same historical military consultants he collaborated with on Saving Private Ryan.

Critics and fans also praised its gameplay as one of the most generally refined shooters released to date. The original Tony Hawk Pro Skater was an enormous success when it launched in , but the follow-up a year later truly cemented it as one of the most beloved skateboarding games of all time. The action centers around arcade-style gameplay, with the player flipping and grinding over open levels to rack up as many points as possible from tricks and combos within two minutes.

Collectibles and level-specific objectives keep it spicy, and the addition of level- and skater-creation tools give it a ton of replayability. The series continued through the ill-received Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5 in , but for many, the second remains the definitive entry and still one of the most highly rated sports games of all time.

Final Fantasy Tactics , however, opened up into a much richer, isometric, grid-based encounter reminiscent of X-COM , with an elaborate job system allowing for deep, strategic party customization.

Set in the world of Ivalice which was featured in later entries like FF12 , it tells a mature tale of competing noble families, warring nations, and the intersection of church and state. Spin-off sequels for the Game Boy Advance were solid, but none ever quite captured the magic of the original. Like the first game, Resident Evil 2 features two protagonists, puzzles, exploration, and limited resources for ammo and saving the game, forcing careful and strategic play.

Resident Evil 2 also received a stellar remake in Where the early Resident Evil games rely more on jump scares and zombie movie tropes, Silent Hill takes a decidedly more psychological and surreal approach. You play as Harry Mason, whose daughter goes missing in the creepy town of Silent Hill as they pass through on vacation.

Still, this fog gives the game a memorably menacing atmosphere, particularly when played alone and late at night. Drawing from an interesting range of influences like Lewis Carroll and David Lynch, Silent Hill is seminal in establishing the subtler and more artistically interesting strain of psychological horror in video games.

Resident Evil established the now-standard genre gameplay of careful exploration, puzzle-solving, and resource management. Players remember this Resident Evil game most fondly for the creepy atmosphere and unsettling presentation.

It made clever and efficient use of the hardware with 3D characters on pre-rendered backgrounds to achieve unprecedented immersion. Much of the same team — including Mikami himself — also developed Dino Crisis , a survival horror game that happens to be set in a secret island research facility.

As the name suggests, you encounter genetically-revived dinosaurs running rampant. While this sounds remarkably similar to the Jurassic Park films, the similarities end with the basic premise. Dino Crisis takes a serious and notable departure from the arguably hokey premise of JP in many ways. Dino Crisis boasts commendable, real-time 3D backgrounds, in contrast to the pre-rendered gamescapes of its ancestors.

Even though the Raptors are the smartest predators and highest risk, there are plenty of species to fight. Tenchu: The Stealth Assassins With their long-held mystique both within and beyond Japan, ninjas became a prominent figure in the early days of video games.

Capcom canceled the third Legends installment during its development. Tekken 3 Street Fighter set the bar for the best fighting games in the early 90s, but Tekken focused on brawling in 3D instead. Street Fighter Alpha 3 While Tekken and Bushido Blade blazed new paths for fighting games in 3D, Capcom stuck to its roots with Street Fighter , the fighting franchise that started it all.

I knew so many kids who loved Hot Wheels when I was younger. Now, those kids are adults with disposable incomes, and they still love Hot Wheels just as much. If that description matches you, then this bonafide Hot Wheels racing game needs to be in your collection. Over 40 classic miniature vehicles are available to race with in this fast-paced, exciting racing title. Well, like super Smash Bros, new vehicles can be obtained by completing races or pulling off super-fancy moves during games.

How many games can you rock out to Primus while racing classic toy cars! Still, without the original title, the rest of this epic series would never even have existed. Boasting cars and some slick looking tracks, Gran Turismo could well be considered the grandparent of modern racing games. It boasted fantastic action from start to finish and is still one of my favourite multiplayer games to this day!

But GT is all about the Simulation Mode. In Simulation Mode, players begin with a second-hand banger, competing in races and earning cash to buy better vehicles and race on better tracks.

How does one describe the madness of Vigilante 8 in one sentence? A hired terrorist tries to sabotage oil refineries in the US so an evil regime can become even richer, and a group of vigilantes do everything they can to stop it from happening.

Set in a time where oil is scarce and the world is under the thumb of tycoons, a gang of vehicular vigilantes riding all manner of cars, buses and trucks souped up with insane weapons are the last line of defence. Play through the story mode or go head-to-head, listening to your own CDs through the PS1 while driving around!

Wipeout takes the 5th spot in this list of the best PS1 racing games of all time! To say that this game came out in , the graphics are fantastic. The neon lights and grungy feel of each level create a kind of Altered Carbon feel, and the music never failed to get my blood pumping.

Dirt Rally fans will be all over this epic title. One of the most interesting features in this game is the track editor. It gives users a chance to show off their skills by adapting the set up of each level. Inclines can be adjusted, corners can be mirrored and the whole track can be turned on its head. We should probably talk about the cars too.

Fancy driving a Subaru Impreza or a Toyota Corolla? Ok… nobody said that they were ever going to be pretty!

Compete in championships or four-way battles with your friends. There are endurance modes for hardy players and points based rounds for gamers that know the tracks better than they know their own families.

Gran Turismo 2 takes the bronze medal in this list of the best PS1 racing games of all time.