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[notaskwid]

Firebugs

It's a fun racer, that tried to be something in between Rollcage and Wipeout. Not the best of the best, but still fun. Just found out that it was only released in europe? That'd explain it why I never see it mentioned. It also came with a set of stickers which was cool.

 

[Kyrios]

Well, it may not be one of the lesser known games, but relatively speaking I don't tend to hear a lot about the first Driver nowadays. I remember playing it a lot at my cousin's house, just causing havoc and doing nothing in particular except for racing. Pretty good memories.

I remember just seeing the cars get damage in real time was just mind boggling to me at the time haha

 

[RustyNails]

Well, it may not be one of the lesser known games, but relatively speaking I don't tend to hear a lot about the first Driver nowadays. I remember playing it a lot at my cousin's house, just causing havoc and doing nothing in particular except for racing. Pretty good memories.

Racing wasn't even the best part. It was the ability to direct your chases like a movie after completing them. I wasted so many hours directing my best French Connection scenes!

 

[bootsthecat]

Return Fire. It was my next-gen Desert Strike with land vehicles to boot. The soundtrack, while repetitive, was awesome!

 

[-tetsuo-]

 

[Indelible]

Omega Boost was a great on rails shooter similar to Panzer Dragoon.

 

[packetstorm]

 

[Vex_]

ONE

no one EVER mentions that game! It was my first PS1 game. Used to watch my older bro play it before playing it myself. Game was awesome!

First game I played with cinematic storytelling and ACTION PACKED gameplay. It had on rails sections where you had to keep on moving like Mario bros, and some SICK ASS HARD platforming sections all over!

 

[LoveCake]

This!

 

[pbayne]

Already been posted but Digimon Digital Card Battle.

That game has no right being as great as it is. Fun, fast gameplay that actually has a decent amount of strategy involved.

 

[Adamastor]

This game was so much fun, and without a memory card... a nightmare, but one of my all time favourite PSOne games.

 

[SOR5]

This!

Good gracious probably the most underused IP of all time.

 

[Genki]

Dead Ball Zone:

Gravitation, a Net Yaroze game:

An extended remake seems to be languishing on steam greenlight.


Never see anyone talk about the Discworld games. "That doesn't work!" got seared into to my mind as a 9 year old.

 

[deriks]

Gekido

 

[Phreakuency]

Came in expecting to find some rare classics, instead half the thread is people just listing games they liked. Games that many, many others did as well and certainly don't fall into the rarely mentioned category.

Ah well.

I'll mention one of my brothers favourite games.

Rapid Racer (or stupidly named Tubro Prop Racing in some regions I believe).

The water physics were rough but for it's time it seemed to be crisper, almost a higher resolution than most other games out there and it had a smooth frame rate too. Was also unique at the time as it had a fractal track generator.

I think the regions where it wasn't called Rapid Racer also missed out on the title track by Apollo 440.

Really surprised the water racing genre isn't much, much bigger these days. No next gen Hydro Thunder, Splashdown or most disappointingly Wave Race.

 

[tiebreaker]

Jesus, that's a total Spy vs Spy ripoff. Was playing that on the Atari 800 in 1984.

Anyhow, Incredible Crisis, Motor Toon Grand Prix 2, Jumping Flash etc. Poy Poy = best 4-player party game. Point Blank series is of course GOAT lightgun series.

How did I forget Spy vs Spy?? Great game, played the NES version.

And thumbs up for point blank.

 

[Bomb-Threat]

HammerHead / Psygnosis - Shadow Master

ASC Games / Visual Concepts - One

Ocean Software - Tunnel B1(Also released on Sega Saturn)

 

[like.a.ser]

I came to post Thousand Arms, was pleased to see it mentioned in the OP. It was one of my favorites. Still has one of my favorite opening sequences ever:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S5wMY-wcO8

 

[AColdDay]

And if we can talk about rare games we hated on PS1, I'd like to add Azure Dreams and Saga Frontier. Not all jrpgs were made equal during that era.

I'm the opposite, I loved Saga Frontier(rough edges and all) and wish that I could play a newer and more polished game that tried the multiple viewpoints/storylines like SF did.

While the game was absolutely rough, the idea that you could play as one character and see some random NPC in the world who would be an absolutely integral character in another storyline made a huge impression on me. It is a textbook example of "reach exceeding grasp".

 

[DeepEnigma]

Bushido Blade
Brave Fencer Musashi
One

 

[correojon]

Pandemonium is one, but my #1 pick would be Incredible Crisis. Very funny game, I laughed to tears many times as the story escalated and the different minigames were fun and challenging.

 

[lewismistreated]

Hogs of War.

Basically Valkyria Chronicles, but with pigs instead of anime. And a ever-so-slightly racist voiceover.

 

[SOR5]

Gravitation, a Net Yaroze game:

An extended remake seems to be languishing on steam greenlight.

I played Gravitation with my step-father and for some reason it would send me into an unfathomable rage, fucking great game

 

[Dee Dah Dave]

Wow it's been a long time. There was a RC Helicopter game I used to like. Can't remember it's name though.

Also Music?. Me and a mate would wire the PlayStation through the stereo and make some 'sick' tunes.

 

[Shmuppers]

Is Front Mission 3 not talked about?

 

[xDUMPWEEDx]

 

[Phthisis]

MY MAN.

Also:

 

[Sölf]

Poy Poy.

Especiallly the second one!

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

holy shit. in searching for this game on google i discovered that there is an exact clone of this game for android. it's called XP1728 for anyone interested

THANKS!

 

[Bomb-Threat]

Anyone mentioned Loaded yet...

 

[DSFan1970]

Correct me if I am wrong I don't think anyone gave Zero Divide any love.

I loved this game and its sequel. I even have the soundtrack.

 

[DoDonGouki]

Fantasic Pinball game.

 

[Davildinho]

I've not played it since the mid 90's, and it's probably born from a mixture of nostalgia and it being a really colourful game, and being of the age when you start 'experimenting' with things whilst having a few drinks and a game with mates.

But Motor Tune Grand Prix 2 still in my top ten games of all time!

Preface this by saying i've not played it since, and the only thing I can remember about it now is it being very fun and the cars sort of bending and gurning as they tried to corner!

 

[Sanctuary]

Not sure if the first counts, since it's been mentioned. Just not often.

1. Tenchu: Stealth Assassins
2. Devil Dice
edit:
3. Einhander (I didn't realize that it wasn't that popular. Nice to see so much love for it in this thread though)

What? That's definitely not a game that is rarely mentioned.

Loaded

sure, it's a Chaos Engine clone, but I had so much fun with it and it's sequel, ReLoaded.

LMAO. Thank you for posting this. Last week I was thinking of the earliest PS1 games that I had played, and I couldn't remember the name of that game, although I could remember the mascot and almost everything about the gameplay.

 

[Balb]

As someone who didn't dig THAT deep into the PS1 library past the notable releases, this thread has made me want to try a lot of these.

 

[JurassicUtility]

Anyone mention Alundra yet?

I remember liking it a lot. Kind of like zelda. The isometric view, combined with pixel perfect platforming challenges was kind of an odd choice though.

 

[tiebreaker]

MY MAN.

Also:

Hah, this game was the game that came with my system. I was blown away by it coming from NES. Good time.

 

[Sölf]

I should have looked through the whole thread. Many really good mentioned. I would love to finally be able to play Herc's Adventure again, but that's sadly not available on the EU PSN.
Future Cop L.A.P.D. I even rebought a few years ago. Haven't finished it since then (I think I died in stage 6 with the mutants way to often and lost interest), but I remember having many fun Multiplayer matches (or solo against the Sky Captain) and playing through the campaign together. <3
I never completely finished Azure Dreams, but I got 3 girls to love me and climbed to the top of the tower. Does that count? Also, the japnese version has voiced over text. It sounds so much better (because, well, it actually sounds). Great game.
Legend of Kartia was also another great tactical RPG. I never finished it (I got stuck on one of the last missions in Toxas's story, no idea where I was on the other), but I remember really liking it.
Then we have Legend of Legaia, with a really interesting battle system. I bought Legaia 2 for the PS 2 but never finished that (the difficulty on that one was also quite a bit higher in comparison, imo).
And finally, Yu-Gi-Oh! - Forbidden Memories. To this day, I haven't finished it, but I love the game, even though it lacks the modern rules and is a giant grindfest. But the soundtrack alone was worth it.

What I haven't seen so far is this gem:

Monsterseed is an intersting tactical RPG. I haven't beaten it to this day (but I am pretty sure I am really close to the end). But god damn, I love it.

 

[N00b Saibot]

Jackie Chan Stuntmaster was my absolute favorite PS1 game. Was in love with that game my whole childhood

 

[Gen X]

Tobal No 1 was our 4 player party game over cases of beer for a few weekend get together, that was great and underrated imo.

Also, the original Warhawk came out in the launch window so was ignored by many by.the time the PSone gained massive popularity.

never got enough love

That's because like most Square games, they didn't get a Pal release so there wasn't enough love! No Einhander, no Tobal 2, no Ergheiz, no Bushido Blade (or maybe not the sequel). Pal gamers were snubbed by a lot of NTSC games.

 

[KyanMehwulfe]

My first thought...

Basically isometric Doom, or Alien Breed... a game of labyrinths, switches, keycards, bloody messes and space station corp stuff vs idiots and aliens. Very hardcore and challenging, 4 mercs with 1 life each, for four lives... a ton of levels, and an unorthodox but successful control scheme where the face buttons acted as your second stick for shooting. Took some finesse, but felt good when you got good at it.

This was the first PSX game that I bought. I had already played a lot of PSX and especially Ridge Racer at my friend's place. And I bought my PSX specifically for FF VII... and actually the 'most played' game that I got with it was a demo. It came with that Squaresoft FF VII demo, and I played that Reactor mission soooo many times. Bushido Blade was also on it and I played that a tonne, too.

But in addition to the PSX (and the FF VII demo that I wait for/bought the PSX specifically for), I also bought Project Overkill because I thought the destruction and gore was cool. So technically, though I played a lot of Ridge Racer before at my friend's and I played my FF VII/Bushido Blade demo more, Project Overkill was my first actual game.

I was rather bad at it but I did like the combat, and the mission structure/agents were kinda neat. But I was too into RPGs and racers back then so I didn't really appreciate the game until a long time later.

Simulation skateboarding way before the Skate series. Looked like ass and had odd but ultimately rewarding controls and an absolutely killer soundtrack

I played that Skate or Die demo (from an issue of OPM, I think) sooooo much. The rag doll system in that game was really one of the 'game changing' technology moments for me, almost up there with something like Super Mario 64 or Gary's Mod in Half Life 2. It was so fun just to goof around and see your body get ragdolled.

Front Mission 3

No one ever talks about it. This game is probably one of the best strategy games on PS1. I bought it randomly one day on PSN and instantly fell in love with it. I wish there was a Remake of this game on PS4

I was always a big fan of the first Front Mission and also Front Mission 4 (just thought the characters/setting were cool), but I just recently bought FM3 on a PSN sale over the Christmas holiday, and it was surprisingly cool. What I mean by that is, in addition to the basic tactics/mech appeal of the other Front Mission games, the sort of story of being a sort of demo driver/repairman at a manufacturing, and also the cool internet/email system in the game was actually really neat.

It's a small thing but the way the game let's you use the internet/email in FM3 is probably one of the coolest little features I've seen in any game in a long time. Reminded me a lot of discovering the internet in the 90s haha.

Damn it. OK, this:

Haha this game got a bunch of love recently in an ATV vs MX // ATV Offroad Fury thread.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlTkbk9oYwE

Love that intro =p Was so fun to try explore in that game.

 

[DCharlie]

oops - wrong thread !

Internal Section

Renders in PS1 "HD mode" - still looks quite good today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ePN3sVgGug

 

[Nomadic Sparks]

Well, it may not be one of the lesser known games, but relatively speaking I don't tend to hear a lot about the first Driver nowadays. I remember playing it a lot at my cousin's house, just causing havoc and doing nothing in particular except for racing. Pretty good memories.

That tutorial is fucking legendary because it's nut punchingly hard AF.

Never could beat it.

I always did "Chase"? mode, it was so cool just to watch.

 

[Murrah]

No One Can Stop Mr. Domino. Bought if for five bucks out of a bargain bin at kb toys when I was a preteen, ended up loving the hell out of it. Only series that's scratched the Mr. Domino itch for me since is Katamari Damacy. Great little quirky puzzler

 

[SpotAnime]

GTA London 1969 is still my favorite GTA game due to its setting. I'd love for them to revisit this in a new modern game someday.

Psygnosis. John Carpenter. What else do you need to know? It's a fun little puzzler that's more hide and seek, but the soundtrack really ratchets up the fear. Love, love love this game.

 

[timmyp53]

Not really a game fit for this topic.

My pick.

Use to die from laughter playing this with my brother because of the physics. Driving the wrong way was the only way to play this game.

 

[TheOmegaSpartan]

ONE

no one EVER mentions that game! It was my first PS1 game. Used to watch my older bro play it before playing it myself. Game was awesome!

First game I played with cinematic storytelling and ACTION PACKED gameplay. It had on rails sections where you had to keep on moving like Mario bros, and some SICK ASS HARD platforming sections all over!

"I made a mistake." The first line you hear and about as much context as you're getting for this game. Me and my brother quote that line, in the protagonist's tone, often because of this game.

 

[catmincer]

Auto destruct a cool game where you are a car and blow shit up.

 

[Nomadic Sparks]

I have such a soft spot for Thrasher: Skate and Destroy soundtrack.

That soundtrack is so fucking god tier for a skateboarding game.

Planet Funk GOAT

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

Does anyone remember this game (T.R.A.G./Hard Edge). It was released during the Final Fantasy 7 era I think, it was a bad Resident Evil clone.

I remember it, but from my memory it was more of an action/beat 'em up than an actual RE clone, it has way more focus on action than puzzles.

It was decent.