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The Official Playstation Thread


NinjaWarrior

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I dug my trusty PSone out of storage the other day and hooked it up.  This console is a beast; I bought this thing used maybe 10 years ago and it still functions perfectly.  That includes a period of several years where I just had it stuck in a closet collecting dust.  It's also such a cool little system, really a miracle of miniaturization for the time.  I do hope someone will eventually come out with a ODE for this system, because I'm sure the moving parts won't last forever.

 

Anyway, I played a few games:

 

Biohazard Director's Cut

I resumed my game in progress and was immediately lost at what to do!  Unlike many of (all?) the other games in the series, the first game is actually quite non-linear, as you can explore a big portion of the mansion almost from the very start.  Luckily, the game has an automap that even fills in as you explore it, so it wasn't difficult to figure out where I should go next.  I didn't accomplish much... just explored a new area and got killed quickly (didn't prepare at all), but now I know that I'll need to bring a lot of ammo!

 

I must say that this game has aged extremely well.  The bakgrounds look great on a CRT or upscaled properly on a flatscreen, and the character models look quite detailed for the time.  It also doesn't take long to get used to the "tank" controls, and they work perfectly for this game.

 

Wizardry: Llylgamyn Saga

This is a very cool disc that includes the first three Wizardry games.  I've completed the original MS-DOS versions of these games (plus Wiz 5) years ago, but liked them so much that I decided to revisit the series.  This port (also available for Saturn) is almost a 1:1 conversion of the original PC versions.  You also have extensive options to customize the experience.  You can choose to enable/disable automapping, use B&W line graphics or polygons for the dungeons, use the original Japanese PC graphics or highly detailed art for enemies, and can even select whether to play in Japanese or English.

 

I cleared the first two dungeon levels without much trouble at all.  My thief died twice thanks to poison needle traps she failed to disarm, but I was able to resurrect her without a problem.

 

Minna no Golf (aka Hot Shots Golf)

I don't like golf, so I have no idea why I have this in my collection of PSX games.  Anyway, I decided to give it a shot (har har), and became quite addicted!  It's simple, but fun.  It does seem a bit too simple, though... I mean, in any given situation it seems like you would just pick the club that hits the ball farthest but without going past whatever point you want to reach.  Other than that minor decision, all you have left is the simple timing minigame to actually hit the ball.  I guess you have to consider wind, and the slope of the ground when putting.  It was a fun 15 minutes or so, but I had already started getting bored at that point.  Might be a good one to play for 10 mins or so every now and then.

Edited by newtmonkey
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I started playing Omega Boost about a month ago. I never took to it back in the day, but it's a pretty technically sound game and it has some interesting gameplay concepts for the time. It's basically just about dodging and shooting, but some other gimmicks are introduced in the later levels and it becomes a lot more difficult, with a bunch of trial and error involved. Still working on the last couple of stages, as they are giving me some trouble.

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4 minutes ago, SlidellMan said:

@Austin If you like Omega Boost, I bet you would like Philosoma.

 

I actually can't stand Philosoma. 🤣

 

I rate it as one of the worst shmups on the console. But to be fair, the PS1 shmup library is pretty good. I just find this game mediocre, dull, and very much "style over substance".

 

Omega Boost has much more in common with something like Panzer Dragoon than traditional shmups, but it still differentiates itself quite a bit from the PD games, with the free-roaming levels and boost mechanics.

Edited by Austin
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Today I woke up uncharacteristically early (6:00am) and played a few games:

 

Popolocrois Monogatari

A very charming little RPG, that's actually more interesting than it appears at first.  It's got some very excellent isometric graphics, nicely animated sprites, and a good soundtrack.  The story is very childish, but told and written well, like a good book for kids.  It starts you out in a very generic medieval knights and wizards type world, but before you know it, you're exploring a future town populated by robots. 

 

I was surprised by how sprawling the maps can be.  The game doesn't give you much direction, so you're free to explore, and there are definitely some good rewards for doing so.  The combat system is pretty cool, and feels like a very light and scaled down tactical RPG.  In addition to regular experience to gain levels, you also earn experience points on your individual spells, and leveling them up makes them do more damage.

 

I'll probably focus on this one for a while.  A nice breezy RPG with fun characters, so far.

 

Virtual Pro Wrestling

This is the first game in the series that would become quite famous on the N64.  It was released in the US as WCW vs. the World, though I am playing the Japanese version (different characters, mostly).  It's a fine game, but I need to sit down and practice, because even after reading the manual I still don't really get it.  The only other wrestling games I've played extensively are the Fire Pro games and a bit of King of Colosseum 1/2, and this plays quite differently.  Nice, clean, colorful graphics!

 

Gran Turismo

I had the US version back in the day, so it's interesting to compare.  I don't know (or care) enough about cars to know whether there are any differences there.  The soundtrack, however, is completely different, and for me anyway, much better (I do miss that one track from Garbage that was in the US version... it's forever linked with this game in my mind).

 

I think the game holds up quite well.  There's tons to do, it looks great for the hardware (especially the replays), and has solid controls.  Having to complete the boring license tests in order to compete is a drag, but I've just been doing the licenses until I get bored/frustrated, and then racing some time trials to get used to the courses and beat my own records.  Driving sims don't really hold my attention as I much prefer arcade racers, but I could see myself popping this game in now and then.

 

Omega Boost

Inspired by @Austin, I decided to finally take this off my shelf and give it a shot.  Very nice!  It looks quite amazing for a PSX game, running at a solid 60 fps with lots of enemies on the screen, and seems to run at one of the console's higher res modes (though not 480i).  It honestly starts out a bit boring, but by the third zone gets really interesting, really quickly.  I was able to get to Zone 5, but died on the boss and decided not to continue, as I think I'd like to 1CC it (on Normal anyway).  Although I hate FMV games, I do love live-action FMV cutscenes, and the intro to this game is awesome.

 

---

 

This happens everytime I drag my PSone out from storage.  I'll always drag it out just to play one specific game, but before I know it I'm grabbing handfuls of games off my shelves to play.  I sit there, playing game after game, and think, why did I ever put this system away?!?  Such an amazing library, from shooters to RPGs and all the weird stuff that's hard to classify.

Edited by newtmonkey
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I just played Abe's Oddyssee for the first time since 1997. It's visually a great game and the storyline is great but man are the controls hard to learn. Generally this is a challenging game which surprised me considering you have infinite lives, a save system, and the respawn point doesnt send you very far back. Im at the stockyards right now. Story and characters are compelling enough to want me to finish the game but it's hard for me to remember which buttons do what. Definitely put this game in the "challenging" category, not for casual gamers

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Got this beauty the other day!

 

I've never used a Jogcon before. I have to say.. it's quite interesting. Not really in a good way, as actually controlling the cars with it seemed nearly impossible, but I found it interesting that it's a force-feedback wheel. As in, it's actually motorized and swings back and forth on its own, like when playing on '90s arcade racing game cabinets. I haven't used anything else like this in handheld/controller form.

 

I'm still trying to figure out the best way to use this thing. There's a thumb indentation for spinning it around, but it just does not work well. It feels like the wheel gets stuck, but I think that's just the force-feedback mechanism doing its thing. However, I did attempt to use one hand to wrap all my fingers around it, which made turning much smoother. Problem is, default controls in RR4 use both sides of shoulder keys to gas and brake, but by the point I thought about re-mapping I had given up and busted out the NeGcon, which provided a much nicer experience (awesome controller for these games by the way, I highly recommend it).

 

I'm going to give it another go soon with remapped controls, basically keeping the gas/brake functionality to one side of the controller, then dedicating an entire hand to the wheel. We'll see how that works.

 

Grabbing this bundle kinda incentivized me to finally put real time into Ridge Racer 4. I had mostly previously played the original PS1 games (OG and Revolution), along with 5 on the PS2, a good bit of 64, and a bit of 6 and 7 on the 360 and PS3 respectively. This seems to be a major fan favorite however and I was able to make it through the Grand Prix with a single team. Good times! I'll definitely be trying to knock it out with other teams as apparently things change up when you do that.

IMG_2930.jpg

Edited by Austin
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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey lads, maybe someone can help me with my question. I try to remember the name of a game I read about more than 20yrs ago in a videogame magazine. It's a PS1 game, a kind of submarine simulator. No action, no shooting, no enemies at all. Just cruising around underwater, watching fishes, that's it. Iirc it was possible to build some coral reef or so. And somewhere was a old shipwreck. 

Someone here with an idea what I'm talking about?

 

Thanks in advance ... 

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21 minutes ago, newtmonkey said:

@evisu

I'm 99% certain that's Aquanaut's Holiday from Artdink.  I had that back in the day, and it matches your description (very cool, chill game).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquanaut's_Holiday

 

yup!

 

I have that game!   It's nice...Very relaxing.

 

FWIW,  I also enjoyed Tail of the Sun.

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