13 - Blast to the Past: Playstation Mar 13, 2011 10:27AM PST

I bought a Playstation due to shear technicality.  It had gained the lead in market penetration, and if I wanted to play some of the best games that were being released at that time I had to buy one.  I grew to respect the PSX platform.  Its CD format allowed for more storage and functionality than the N64 could ever pull off, like FMV and full length soundtracks (God forbid they ever got scratched).  Despite this, however, Sony is no Nintendo, and "Crash Bandicoot" didn't quite cut it for me.  

Nevertheless, many great games were released exclusively on PSX.  Sony stole Nintendo's RPG/Adventure thunder as Final Fantasy 7, Tomb Raider, and Resident Evil, among several other franchises, made a strong showing and pushed the envelope for what gamers could expect in future console generations.  

Multiplatform games seemed to fair better, too, on the PSX, as the N64 version always needed to cut corners due to ROM limitations.  This was never more striking than in the game I chose as my favorite PSX game of all time: "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2".

For me, THPS2 is the prime release of that franchise.  The soundtrack is superb.  It has a gritty look to it.  It had a well balanced curve of difficulty.  Even though some of the mechanics are unrealistic, it still felt like a simulator.  

What I enjoyed most about the game is that the format was perfect for establishing a ring of gamers who would pass the controller around after each 60 second attempt at accomplishing an area's goals.

We'd bedazzle each other with a sick trick or high score.  

We'd hoot and holler whenever one of us nailed a ridiculous gap.  How many attempts did it take before one of us ollied off the top floor at the beginning of the schoolyard and land a grind on the picnic table below without bailing?  Hundreds?  

We'd have a group discussion about what new character attributes and tricks should be purchased.  

We were in it together.  Not many games can pull this off, and when it happens it's a lot of fun.

I would also like to give a shout out to the greatest $10 video pinball game ever created: "Pro Pinball: The Web".  It's probably the best $10 game I ever played.

Edit | Delete | Unpublish

• 
• Share it:
• E-mail it
•  2

Comments (5)

• 

• PSX.

  Posted: Mar 13, 2011 12:00AM PST by  AlphaNerd
  

  I've been thinking a lot about the PSX lately, as I've been reading the issues of EGM from 1995 when the launch was getting closer and closer. I've been thinking about picking up an actual PSX system to see if that helps me get into the mindset I need to enjoy those games again. The games of the 32 and 64 bit era are just very hard to go back to, in my opinion.

  Flag | Reply | Delete

  • 

  • Maybe try downloading?

    Posted: Mar 13, 2011 12:00AM PST by  Raised_on_Nintendo
    

    I don't own a PS3, but I hear many titles from PSX are downloadable.  I downloaded Perfect Dark via Xbox Live on 360 and had a blast!  The reason I suggest is that, from my experience, PSX hardware can be unstable in its old age.  Good luck to you, though, if you take that route.

    I agree that games from that generation lack pizzazz.  It's kinda like you had to be there when it happened to get the full effect.

    Flag | Edit | Delete

  • 

  • it's a matter or hardware.

    Posted: Mar 13, 2011 12:00AM PST by  AlphaNerd
    

    I find that, at least for myself, I need to play an older game the way I played it before. There's always emulation issues with games that get reissued or rereleased, and in the case of the PSX games on the PS3, they look dreadful on an HDTV. I'm currently playing my SNES on an old tube television with S-Video cables, and I find myself being able to slip into the same mindset I had when I was playing it as a teenager.

    Flag | Delete

• 

• THPS and THPS2

  Posted: Mar 13, 2011 12:00AM PST by  metajay
  

  Those games were amazing. They were absolutely addicting. You are right about passing the controller around with them, also. I was one of the few people in my group of friends that knew how to do wallies, and dominated run contests because of it. Playing HORSE (poser, if you ever skated), drinking, winning HORSE, drinking, losing HORSE, drinking... good times. Maybe if we drank less and played THPS less, we would have been better skaters. Heh.

  Sucks about Activision killing the franchise by running it into the ground... But, hey... They're Activision. S'what they do.

  Flag | Reply | Delete

• 

• Reflecting back

  Posted: Mar 13, 2011 12:00AM PST by  BrokenH
  

  Fond memories! I loved me some Legend Of Dragoon,Street Fighter Aplha 3, and Parasite eve 1 & 2!