20 Great Games For The PSOne Emulator: Part 2 of 2

Following up on yesterday’s article highlighting the first ten in our list of 20 great games for the PSP’s PSOne emulator, we’re back to finish what we started. As I stated previously this isn’t necessarily a “best of”, but rather a list of great games that are presented in no particular order, it’s a compilation of games that would most likely both work well and be feasible to play on the go on the PSP. Reading the comments made thus far, some of you brought up some pretty cool suggestions and compelling arguments for various titles you wanted to see included, let’s see what made the cut shall we?

Go ahead and find out what titles rounded out the list right after the jump!

Following up on yesterday’s article highlighting the first ten in our list of 20 great games for the PSP’s PSOne emulator, we’re back to finish what we started. As I stated previously this isn’t necessarily a “best of”, but rather a list of great games that are presented in no particular order, it’s a compilation of games that would most likely both work well and be feasible to play on the go on the PSP. Reading the comments made thus far, some of you brought up some pretty cool suggestions and compelling arguments for various titles you wanted to see included, let’s see what made the cut shall we?

Parasite Eve: Parasite Eve was a very different RPG from what Square or anyone else for that matter was putting out at the time. Set in modern day New York city on Christmas Eve of 1997, the festivities take a turn for the morbidly creepifying when an opera singer sets her entire audience aflame… without laying a finger on them. The singer, a young lass by the name of Eve has a nasty habit of causing animals and nearby folks to spontaneously combust and mutate into horrific creatures that threaten the general population. As NYPD officer Aya Brea, it’s up to you to unriddle the mystery of Eve and put a stop to her flamboyant pyrotechnic outbursts. At a time when most RPG’s featured mages, magic and high fantasy, Parasite Eve embraced science fiction and horror, implementing a pseudo real time battle system that evokes that found in Square’s own Vagrant Story.

Tenchu: Stealth Assassins: The first Tenchu still stands as easily the best in the series, it came out of nowhere and offered a completely unique approach to the stealth action genre differing itself from the myriad of Metal Gear Solid wannabees (it actually came out just before MGS). Tenchu was rough, and unpolished, but cut straight to the heart of the matter, delivering a pure gameplay experience that made you feel like  you’d slipped into the soft cloth sandals of a mad stealthy ninja. Sequels to the game are yet to do the original justice, let’s hope the upcoming Tenchu: Time of the Assassins can live up to expectations.

Legend of Dragoon: This exciting four disk behemoth was generously unleashed on gamers by Sony Computer Entertainment in the summer of 2000, suitably epic in scope, the games marvelled anyone patient enough to wade through the somewhat slow paced opening. Stick with it, and you won’t regret it. Had Legend of Dragoon been given a bit more development time to polish  the title and better handle the clumsy translation, it could have been a champion, as it is it remains a gem in the PSOne’s magnificent crown that few have fully explored, hopefully this fall will be its time to shine. Question is, will it all fit!?

Parappa The Rapper: Chop, Chop Onion Master says: Kick, punch its all in the mind, if u wanna test me I’m sure you’ll find, the things I teach ya, are sure to beat ya, nevertheless get a lesson from teacher now! (quoted from memory, please don’t kill me if I messed it up!) I still vividly remember borrowing this quirky little title from a friend of mine at school, I was pretty skeptical of the game as it had neither zombies, nor mages on the cover, still, I gave it the benefit of the doubt and popped the game in the machine. Ten minutes later I was at a total loss… what the heck is this? I asked myself. It wasn’t long before I had my answer, Parappa the Rapper was one of the weirdest and most imaginative videogames to hit the US in ages. It’s a shame the game was so darn short though, a little more would have been ace, but I guess that’s where Um Jammer Lammy comes in.

Rally Cross: Never heard of it? Definitely one to pick up when the emulator comes out. While many other games strived to achieve realism on four wheels, (V-Rally, Gran-Turismo, Sega Rally etc) SCEE’s Rally Cross pushed arcade dynamics to the absolute extreme. Imagine Motorstorm but a decade earlier and you’ve got a pretty good idea of the gameplay in Rally Cross, and yes, there was flying mud, dirt, and deformable car models that actually affected gameplay. This game was truly before its time and its pick up and playability and brutally fun multiplayer mode would make an excellent match for the PSP hardware.

Wild 9: Wild 9 was a brilliant 2.5D platformer made by Shiny Entertainment, the dudes behind the excellent Earthworm Jim on the SNES and the upcoming title of the same name on the PSP. Featuring some heavy influences from Earthworm Jim, this bizarre romp takes main character Wex through ten levels packed chock full of Shiny’s signature twisted humor. Using a Ghostbuster-esque proton pack style electro arm, Wex is able to pick up and carry, toss, and manipulate enemies, and objects. It becomes particularly satisfying when you figure out how to torture the enemies by roasting them over open flames or tossing them into giant steel mincers, sadistic good fun. Wild 9 also sported some of the best and most hilarious sound effects since Bobba Fett slipped into the sarlac pit.

Warhawk: Remember when Archer McLean’s Mercury was supposed to ship with a tilt sensor for the PSP? That would have made a PSP version of Warhawk the absolute mutt’s nuts. I guess we’ll just have to “settle” for the amazing first game in the series. With a reboot of sorts for the franchise headed to PS3 this November, it seems like a great opportunity for those who’ve never played the original to see what all the hoolpah’s about, and for those weaned on the Warhawk’s steel teat to sup once more.

Abe’s Oddysee: Bizarre beyond comparison and easily defying rationale and logic, the guys at Oddworld crafted a universe filled to the brim with characters that gamers have come to love with a passion. A combination of platforming action and puzzle solving fun, as well as the innovative use of gamespeak, Abe’s Odyssey just drips personality and the tender touch of a developer who truly cares. Wikipedia factoid: Abe was originally a four fingered character, but was changed to a three fingered one because the Japanese apparently do not allow four fingered characters (not that I blame them, four fingers are creepy)Mudokon’s and Glukkon’s and Slig’s oh my!

Einhander: A quick look through this top 20 list should reveal just how influential Square was to the success of the PlayStation brand. Einhander was Square’s first forray into the side scrolling shooter genre, and they arrived with bang.  Einhander was that rare union between substance and style, it offerred exhilirating fast paced gameplay, and a unique 3D presentation that allowed the developers to explore cool camera angles that amazed and entranced players everywhere. War rages between the earth and the moon, and as an Einhander pilot on your first mission it’s up to you to take down wave after wave of enemy aircraft. Wikipedia factoid: Those of you blessed with an over abundance of schoolin’ will already know that Einhander means “one handed” in German, but did you know that the the name also ties in thematically to the manner in which the player must defeat the entire enemy horde single handedly?

Final Fantasy Tactics: Why this was never released in Europe, only Square knows. Squire’s, knight’s, ninja, samurai, summoners and countless others waged bloody war in the open fields of Ivalice. Despite the cutesy stylised characters the story against which the Lion War played out was truly epic, with real thematic depth, and vicious twists, turns and betrayals that would make Brutus blush.  Consider this, when Final Fantasy Tactics first debuted as a “Greatest Hit’s” title (to the consternation of eBayer’s everywhere) it became the first game not to have reached the required 200,000 copies mark. Few people got to play it, but those who did loved it, be sure to add this one to your virtual shopping lists.

Well that’s the list folks, that’s it, with over 800 titles available for the platform it was truly pleasurable torture coming up with just 20. Listing all the great games that came out on the PlayStation would take weeks, and it’s likely there are more than a few that you personally feel should have made the list, but that’s why you’re special, and I’m special 🙂 Here’s some clarification as to why some of the “big guns” didn’t make the list:

Final Fantasy 7 through 9: Everyone and their brother’s played through FF7, and if you haven’t, it’s really not that difficult to find. If I was going to include one of these on the list, it would be Final Fantasy 9, because the title came out right at the end of the PSOne’s life cycle when everyone was eyeing Metal Gear Solid 2 and the PS2’s shiny newness. Plus, everyone already knows FF7 is a must get title 😉

Tekken 3: The first “modern,” Tekken game, it’s influence can be felt deeply in all the PS2 sequels. It would most certainly have made the list, were it not for the fact that Tekken: Dark Resurrection will be hitting before the emulator’s even ready. There’s also the simple fact that while a great game at the time, a lot of improvements have been slowly added to the series over time that really make Tekken 3 seem somewhat slow and a little dated by comparison.

Metal Gear Solid: Adding this to the list would have been like telling an Xbox fan “you know you should really try out Halo, you might like it”. MGS is an awesome game, and most will pick it up anyway, unless they get their MGS fill from the Metal Gear Solid Digital Comic, either way it’ll be a good warm up to Metal Gear Solid: Portable Op’s.

Gran Turismo: Similar to my Halo comment above, GT helped define the PlayStation and everyone knows the brand, we’ve also got Gran Turismo Mobile coming (if it ever comes out) which would most likely render the original GT moot, better graphics, more cars, more tracks, better game right?

Crash Bandicoot: Being the default PSOne mascot I figured everyone would know to get their hands on the Bandicoot, plus, there were other platformers I wanted to give props to as people might not necessarily have been able to get their hands on them (Heart of Darkness and Wild 9 for instance).

So you see, there’s s reason to my madness, hope you guys enjoyed the list, it was as much fun compiling it as it was reading all your comments, here’s to the fall (that’s when the emulator is scheduled for release!)