With there being around a month before the revamped Playstation Plus service arrive to dedicated fans and a direct competitor to the amazing Xbox GamePass program. Playstation has a wealth of games in its back catalogue that unless you owned the physical copy of the game have not been able to play since the Playstation 3 generation.
Games from the PlayStation 1 and 2 era will finally be made available to everyone come June 22, but unfortunately PlayStation 3 games will not be part of the service in Australia for now.
Even so, there’s plenty of PS1 and PS2 games we’d love to see playable on the PlayStation Deluxe service – and here’s our wishlist:
Silent Hill – (1999)
While this first game managed to grace the PlayStation Classic Mini console release in 2018 and was widely forgotten after the amazing sequel, this is still the origin story of the entire Silent Hill franchise. While the game had a loosely made remake on PS2, PSP and Wii (Silent Hill Shattered Memories) this game set the tone for a series that has impacted the horror fans in a way that arguably has never been done in its time.
Back then you had Survival Horror games, this created the Psychological Horror genre where this game left an impact with its story and characters, leaving you with a lasting impression and questioning the meaning behind everything the game threw at you.
Thrill Kill – (1998)
Akin to the release of Star Fox Adventures 2 on the SNES Mini Classic, this was fighting game from EA was ready for release but never saw the CRT screens of gamers. While the game did have a release date, it was banned before it came out due to its violence and BDSM tones.
Although Mortal Kombat was credited with the reason the ESRB was developed in the first place, Thrill Kill was the first gaming title to receive an AO (Adults Only) rating. Bootleg versions of the game did manage to find its way to gamers – how this happened was anyone’s guess. I have played this game and its relatively tame compared to many titles of its ilk out nowadays. Developers back in those days were always trying to push the boundaries of what was acceptable, but this one was one of the ESRB’s first of many casualties. While unlikely to be included the PlayStation Deluxe service, it would be game preservation at its finest if it were.
Fear Effect Series – (2000 & 2001)
Very much in the old tank style controls of the majority of survival horror games of its generation, you take control of a female lead in the form of a mercenary in a futuristic Hong Kong with beautiful graphics and to memory, the game’s main character was the one of the earliest examples of LGTBQ+ representation in a mainstream game too.
All the ensemble of characters in this series were great to not only play as, but interact with (even if this was only in cutscenes), helped by great voice acting, and the game was full of shooting action combined with lots of puzzles to solve.
While a remake of Fear Effect 1 was announced back in 2017, there haven’t been any updates since the initial announcement at E3 of that same year.
Parasite Eve Series – (1998 & 2000)
Much like the Resident Evil series of titles on the PlayStation, Parasite Eve was an action/horror series but with RPG elements. Aya, the hero of the series (Parasite Eve 1, 2 and The 3rd Birthday) is tasked with trying to save the world in (where else) New York city.
Fighting hordes of mutated animals and people what set this apart from the previously mentioned tank-controlled style games was definitely the addition of the RPG action. In the first title it was a timed attract system, but upgraded to real time for the second – a change Square Enix was praised for.
The addition of Parasite Eve to this service would be great for the PAL regions considering only the second title made it to our shores. It would also be a great opportunity for the preservation team and Square Enix to temper the waters for any kind of revival…
Metal Gear Solid – (1998)
This was one of the first story based games there really gripped me as a young man. When I was asked at work about what I was doing in my free time, I would generally respond how I was saving the world as if I was actually doing it myself or watching a really good movie. That’s the impact that Metal Gear had on me – I couldn’t stop talking about it.
While this game did manage to receive a well-made remaster in Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes, it was a Nintendo Gamecube system exclusive and thus later PlayStation owners missed out on this covert ops game that introduced an over the top intriguing story (which only Hideo Kojima could come up with) mixed with stealth. This game was truly a treat for gamers in the 90’s with its top class voice acting, stealth and action for a series that has stood the test of time to today’s current date with a reinvention always being teased by Konami.
As a bonus: Back in the day this game came with a demo disc of another game on this list – Silent Hill.
“WHAT THE HELL IS A SLALOM?!” Is what I yelled as I had my first ever gamer rage moment in a game (this one!) and threw my controller (luckily not breaking it) as a result. After calling a petrolhead friend and getting the help that was needed (the internet was extremely new in our house and I wasn’t sure I could use it for looking up stuff like this), I was off!
Most driving games of the generation and even further back were all racing games and, with rare exceptions like Interstate ’76, almost never had a story accompanying it. Playing undercover hard boiled cop John Tanner you were tasked with bringing down criminals by becoming the getaway driver for the crime syndicate. Visiting many real world locations, the game took you to Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco to New York. The open worlds in this game were truly amazing for the time.
Three years later and a sequel was released and expanded the mechanics of the Hollywood styled chase missions of the game and even let players leave their cars to commandeer other drivers in the worlds cars. This was the third person equivalent of GTA, before GTA III itself came to the PS2.
EA Sports Titles – (90’s – early 2000s)
I’m going to take a few liberties with this selection. When I say EA Sports titles, this is going to range from NBA, NHL, NFL, FIFA, and Tiger Woods
The reason I would like these titles added to the list of Deluxe titles is because, while most of these games (much like modern titles) only have small improvements and roster updates each year, they are worth preserving for the yearly time capsule that each title of each year provides. Some of these players and teams will never be seen again and only ever read about in text and Wikipedia pages; so actually playing them in games helps provide a tangible sense of how accomplished or talented they really were.
Much like how I briefly spoke about in my previous story about 8 Awesome Xbox titles that are not Backwards Compatible I really feel that this one is realistically out of reach ecause of licensing of players names and likenesses, sponsors, golfing brands etc will hold back the preservation of these games – but we can still hope.
Tomb Raider Series – (1996 – 2000)
With the PlayStation giving birth to many fantastic franchises, it’s hard to look past the impact that Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider series have had on pop culture, including the revelation to many in the gaming world that a strong female lead character could not only carry a franchise but also win over legions of fans – including women, who were chronically underrepresented in positive ways in gaming at the time .With so many female gamers attributing their passion for video games to Lara Croft, it’s great to see the Tomb Raider series still relevant today.
The premise was simple brilliance – “let’s make Indiana Jones then cross it with a little bit of Tank Girl. Make her sexy, yet the smartest person in the room”, and in the process, the developers created a genre-defining action-adventure series that appealed to gamers across demographics and kick-started a love of gaming in many people – a lot of them women – who otherwise had felt video games weren’t something for them.
The Tomb Raider developers managed to release almost a game per year in the early PlayStation era; the last in 2000 being more of a compilation of Lara’s greatest hits. There is no denying Lara’s impact in the world of gaming.
Dino Crisis Series – (1999 & 2000)
It seems like every year there’s another rumour of a Dino Crisis revival, then only for the people who remember this series to be disappointed for another year with nothing from Capcom. But there is a good reason for these feelings of older generation gamers, this was a truly unique and interesting series.
A fantastic blend of Resident Evil crossed with Jurassic Park, this action packed survival adventure/horror title struggles for comparison to anything of (success) within the last few generations of games since this game was released. There was a third Dino Crisis game released on the Original Xbox, but this game was met with the same sort of reception that Resident Evil 6 received when it was released, gamers were upset with the gameplay being seen as having strayed too far from the game’s survival roots in favor of an action based title.
Much like the Parasite Eve games, this would be a great opportunity for gamers to see why people are always excited when we hear the title’s name be mentioned. It could be a great way to gauge gamers interest in a remaster or reboot by putting it on the program.
Dead or Alive – (1998)
While the Tekken series was vastly more popular on the original PlayStation, I think people seem to forget that Dead or Alive (DOA) made its worldwide release debut on PS1. While the series may have strayed from its roots in the form of (overpriced, in my view) DLC for costumes, the series had a humble start on Sony’s first console.
There was no shortage of fighter titles on the console which were all combo heave style games, but where DOA set itself apart from the others was its easy to play, hard to master style of controls. Not having a high and low punch/kick, it replaced that with a more simple punch, kick and grab/block control scheme that really was a game changer back in the day for the casual audience.
It’s also quite amusing to see the introduction of the jiggle graphics on the PS1 – while they were not as predominant as in the PS2 era and onwards games, there were definitely the seeds of what developers Team Ninja were apparently laying the groundwork for later there.
