Its a Sony

Recently I contemplated investing in a PS4. Not for one it's games, God no, but for the PS1 and PS2 games available on the PSN. As is often the case with digital distribution, I like the idea of having a classic game readily available that I can continue to enjoy long after the original console has claimed by the march of time.

Thing is, I've built up a large number of PS2 and PS1 games over the years so this does raise the issue of whether or not all of them are available to the PS4 in one form or another.

So let's take a look:

PS1:
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Darkstalkers: Night Warriors
Final Fantasy Anthology
Final Fantasy 6
Final Fantasy 9
Ghost in the Shell
Loaded
Metal Gear Solid
Raiden Project
Return Fire
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
Wip3out


PS2:
Burnout 3
Final Fantasy 10
God of War
Gran Turismo 3
Grand Theft Auto 3
Hyper Street Fighter 2
Ico
Madden NFL 2004
Metal Gear Solid 2
Metal Slug Anthology
Okami
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
Resident Evil 4
Shadow of the Colossus
Silent Hill 2
Soulcalibur 3
Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution


So we have seventeen games available out of twenty nine. And some of the omissions are glaring (No Return Fire?! But that game's great!). Geez Sony, you're not making a persuasive case for me to shell out for a PS4.

Okay seriously: I can see the appeal of having some of my favorite games readily available but I've spent hours on many of these games. In some cases I've achieved hard fought victories, other times I've achieved success through pure luck and other times still I've won through patience and careful planning (Final Fantasy X Sphere Grid anyone?). So is it worth doing it all over again?

Probably not

You're not the PS1 for me

When I was in High School (1994-1997) I wanted a PlayStation. Who didn’t? It was a big deal to have a genuine third contender to the Sega vs Nintendo conflict. And there were a lot of unique and impressive games on the console. Of course, I never got to own a PS1 – and it was only after I got a PS2 that I made an effort to seek out, and subsequently enjoy, some of the games that escaped my notice the first time around.

However with the passing of years, the fifth console generation grows further and further away. And in that time, my perception of the PS1 has grown from a tantalizing goal to a something more disdainful. Why the change? Well for one thing I find that a lot of games in the fifth generation have aged quite badly (especially considering I find many games of the fourth generation still appealing two decades later). But the main reason I have grown disdainful for the PS1 is this:

Ask anyone what the defining game on the PS1 and they’ll say one of the ‘Big Three’: Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy VII and Castlevania Symphony of the Night.  Beyond that, anyone may find coming up with another game something of a struggle. And it’s always this ‘Big Three’. Whilst another console may have a number of great games spread across it’s lifespan, it always this ‘Big Three’ that everyone keeps coming back to. It’s as if this ‘Big Three’ were the only games made for the PS1 and the console’s lifespan pretty much started and ended with them.

So for today, a little experiment: I want to tally up my collection of PS1 games and match their years of release against each other. And as I live in a nation situated in a PAL region (read: a place that doesn't matter), the years listed will be based on PAL release dates.

So here we go, by order of year:

1995    Doom
            Raiden Project
1996    Darkstalkers
            Loaded
            Return Fire
1997    Castlevania Symphony of the Night
            Final Fantasy 7
1998    Ghost in the Shell
            Metal Gear Solid
1999    Wip3out
2000    Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2
2001     Final Fantasy 9
2002     Final Fantasy Anthology
             Final Fantasy 6

Looking at this list, it seems that my hypothesis was correct: The PS1 era pretty much began and ended with the 'Big Three'. Based my collection, before the Big Three there was conversions of well-known games and attempts to get an IP going. And after the Big Three, not a lot else happened. Why, back in the day I recall seeing Final Fantasy 7 and 8 in stores but never 9. And the most recent games I have for the PS1 arrived when the PS2 had well and truly touched down and even those games are SNES conversions!

So maybe it is indeed true: The only games everyone remembers on the PS1 are the ‘Big Three’ and everything that came before and since was of little to no matter. All I can say is that I’m glad that the PS1’s successor, the PS2, boasted a wide and diverse gaming library that left PS2 users spoilt for choice.