PSOneClassic Reviews?

NaturalNarcissist

Hey all,

Does anyone know of a website that has reviews of all the PSOne Classics available to download? I'm in the mood for something simple yet addicting, but I'm unsure if I want to plunk down the 6 bucks some of the options.

I've never played any of the crash bandicoot games, but enjoyed Jak and Daxter and could perhaps go for a simple platformer...

I remember playing some of the Spyro series, but I wonder how badly they've aged or which ones were any good...

Rayman 2 was incredible on the n64, and although it is short I am tempted to try it out again...

And hell, how frustrating are the original Tomb Raiders?

freakish light

I think your best bet would be to pull up some old reviews from the original releases of the games, since the emulation is just about 100% in all cases. I know GameSpot at least still has some PS1-era reviews available, including Crash Bandicoot.

FWIW if you enjoyed Jak and Daxter you'd get a kick out of both Crash Bandicoot games.

maximumzero

NaturalNarcissist wrote: »

Rayman 2 was incredible on the n64, and although it is short I am tempted to try it out again...

Do keep in mind that Rayman 2 on the PSX is a completely different game than Rayman 2 on everything else.

They had to chop up alot of levels to fit into the memory restrictions of the PSX vs everything else.

Plus they added godawful english voices rather than the gibberish.

It's still a good game, mind you, it's just completely different from what you know of the N64 title.

The PlayStation version was developed by Ubisoft Shanghai, and it was the first one to have the characters speaking real languages (English, French, German, Spanish and Italian) instead of gibberish. Numerous level design changes were made, and some levels were just removed altogether. A good example of this is the entrance to The Cave of Bad Dreams, which is no longer in The Marshes of Awakening, but instead in The Menhir Hills, in front of Clark. There are only 800 Yellow Lums in this version and the number remains the same all through the game (the scene with Razorbeard eating one of the Yellow Lums was changed so that he would eat a Red one instead). Some exclusive characters are present in this version, including the pirate assassin Ninjaws, and characters that didn't have speaking roles in the other versions, such as the guardians Axel, Umber and Foutch, now speak to Rayman in their own exclusive cutscenes when he confronts them. It is no longer possible to choose between the treasure and the elixir in The Cave of Bad Dreams, since the player is given no interaction in the respective cutscene, and Rayman automatically chooses the elixir. Additionally, this version features an exclusive mini-game for players who collect 90% of the Yellow Lums, which is thought to be a very old beta version of Rayman 2, showing a playable 2D level in the same style as Rayman 1. Rayman 2 was later released as a PSOne Classic on PlayStation Network on December 18, 2008 in North America and on July 28, 2010 in Europe.

revolutionary bean

Get Jet Moto.

Chance

If you want reviews of PS1 titles, check out GameRankings. They have listings for old titles like that, and you'll often find links to reviews that are still online.

The only caveat I would suggest is to remember that these reviews were all written when these games were the newest, hottest, best-looking things out there - some older titles are very difficult to get into, if you've never played them before. But, if you're thinking of DLing an old favorite (Resident Evil 2, in my case), you'll find the game is precisely the same as it was back on the PS1.

UnbreakableVow

Spyro the Dragon has not aged poorly at all

Get Spyro the Dragon

Or Resident Evil 2

BloodySloth

Crash Bandicoot 1 and 2 are freaking great platformers and have aged real well from what I remember. I don't recall much of the third game but it was pretty similar to the second one.

Pooch

The crash and Spyro games were my favorite on the system at the time, and I think they still hold up really well. Keep in mind Crash 1 is pretty difficult at times though, and if you go back to it from the sequels some things seem really out of place (passwords and the save system for instance).

Still they're all really good games, I would describe the Crash games as 3D Donkey Kong Country games.

Dunxco

What was that evil level called, Sunset Vista?

Large enough for seven checkpoints. Now get through to the end of it without dying, and hitting every box, for the gem. I think my brother broke one of my controllers in frustration at trying that.

Ah_Pook

get n2o. its like tempest, but all tripped out and with music by the crystal method.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDQXjFnTDes

NaturalNarcissist

I picked up Crash 2 and Tomb Raider after a few days of deliberation. I was never a big fan of Crash Bandicoot - I later thought that my dislike of the games were because of my Nintendo bias. Unfortunately, I think 13 year old had the right idea. Crash 2 isn't a bad platformer. It is just... average in so many ways.

It does hold up better than Banjo Kazooie though. I picked that up on XBLA a few months back and was shocked at how much of the game was a dull, tedious fetch quest without any real "platforming".

And despite all the warnings about the controls of TR1, I'm actually progressing through the game at a decent pace. Just started the egypt section, and having a blast. Once I remembered the whole logic behind the grid system, platforming became a cinch. However, the save points can all die in a fire. They're by and large in the correct place, but occasionally the game won't give any guidance on when to use one or whether you're in a hub room that will take you ten minutes or a hub room that encompasses the whole level. St Francis' Folly nearly cost me a new controller.

I might pick up one of the Spyros, even though I'm really worried that I'll have an experience much like Banjo Kazooie. I might bitch about Crash 2's occasionally retarded design choices but it is still very much enjoyable. I slogged through BK's first five levels before realizing that I hadn't had much fun at all.

UnbreakableVow

Spyro the Dragon may well be my favorite platformer on PS1

I said it above, but I really don't feel it's aged poorly at all

Some might say that Crash has, but I think they're just as fun as ever. It's not something they could get away with today, however; this is the opposite of how I feel about Spyro.

Uriel

See my sig?

Guess what I am going to endorse?

Cannon Goose

Are any of the PSone games technically inferior on the PS3?

Icemopper

maximumzero wrote: »

NaturalNarcissist wrote: »

Rayman 2 was incredible on the n64, and although it is short I am tempted to try it out again...

Do keep in mind that Rayman 2 on the PSX is a completely different game than Rayman 2 on everything else.

They had to chop up alot of levels to fit into the memory restrictions of the PSX vs everything else.

Plus they added godawful english voices rather than the gibberish.

It's still a good game, mind you, it's just completely different from what you know of the N64 title.

The PlayStation version was developed by Ubisoft Shanghai, and it was the first one to have the characters speaking real languages (English, French, German, Spanish and Italian) instead of gibberish. Numerous level design changes were made, and some levels were just removed altogether. A good example of this is the entrance to The Cave of Bad Dreams, which is no longer in The Marshes of Awakening, but instead in The Menhir Hills, in front of Clark. There are only 800 Yellow Lums in this version and the number remains the same all through the game (the scene with Razorbeard eating one of the Yellow Lums was changed so that he would eat a Red one instead). Some exclusive characters are present in this version, including the pirate assassin Ninjaws, and characters that didn't have speaking roles in the other versions, such as the guardians Axel, Umber and Foutch, now speak to Rayman in their own exclusive cutscenes when he confronts them. It is no longer possible to choose between the treasure and the elixir in The Cave of Bad Dreams, since the player is given no interaction in the respective cutscene, and Rayman automatically chooses the elixir. Additionally, this version features an exclusive mini-game for players who collect 90% of the Yellow Lums, which is thought to be a very old beta version of Rayman 2, showing a playable 2D level in the same style as Rayman 1. Rayman 2 was later released as a PSOne Classic on PlayStation Network on December 18, 2008 in North America and on July 28, 2010 in Europe.

Wow. I don't know if I can get this game anymore. I played R2 on the N64 so many times and so thoroughly if it changed that much I think it would be unnerving. That and I would miss the gibberish too much. I loved that aspect of the game.

Shaggy

Oh man the original Tomb Raider was such a frustrating game. I thought about getting it to replay it, but I'm starting to remember all of the grief it caused me. That game was pretty unforgiving.

Resident Evil 2 is also a really good choice of games to get because it is the Dual Shock Edition, meaning it has the battle mode. I forget the exact name of it, but it is basically the precursor to Mercenaries mode from the future games.

maximumzero

Ah_Pook wrote: »

get n2o. its like tempest, but all tripped out and with music by the crystal method.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDQXjFnTDes

n20 is one of the few actual playstation discs I still own.

And I only had a PSX for like 6 months before I got rid of it.