There are so many big-name game franchises these days that we are absolutely spoiled for choice when it comes to deciding what to play. All too often, we get swept up in the excitement of the next title coming to a long-running franchise, yet we often forget the origins of the series.

A lot of game franchises started out on the PlayStation 1, some of which fizzled out in later generations (though many hope for their revival), and some of which are still going strong today. Check out these great franchises that began way back when on Sony’s original console.

10 Tony Hawk

The early Tony Hawk games were phenomenal. Every kid you knew was playing them, whether it was at their house or mooching off a friend at their house — they became a sensation. Many a kid picked up a real skateboard hoping to be able to pull off the same tricks.

The first game, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, released for PS1 in 1999, and the franchise recently had a release with a remake of the first two games in September. Regrettably, there were some bad eggs in the series, with many titles not being worth your time at all. It’s the original two that will always stay in our hearts.

9 Persona

The Persona games are a subseries of the Shin Megami Tensei series, and the very first Persona title released for the PS1 in 1996 and was titled Revelations: Persona. It was later ported to PC in 1999, and then to the PSP retitled as Shin Megami Tensei: Persona.

Persona is still very much alive and kicking, with Persona 5: Royal having released earlier this year. The series used to be considered “niche” but it is becoming much more mainstream due to the critical acclaim of Persona 5.

8 Crash Bandicoot

Crash Bandicoot was developed by Naughty Dog and began life as a Sony exclusive. The PS1 was fortunate enough to receive more than one awesome Crash title before the series ultimately went rogue and third-party — heralding a series of awful titles that barely anyone played. After this, the series went stagnant for quite some time.

Fortunately, the series returned to form with a remake of the original three titles, which was received incredibly well. It was no surprise that this was followed closely by Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled and then more recently, Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time.

7 Silent Hill

Silent Hill first creeped us out with its survival-horror genre on the PS1, and though the graphics were grainy as hell, it just added even more to the spookiness! The series has gone to release more than one decent title over the years, spreading to a multitude of consoles and generations.

Sadly, it looks like the series may be dead now after the cancelation of Silent Hills, though fans can still live in hope that one day it will be revived.

6 Monster Rancher

The Monster Rancher games were arguably groundbreaking in that they utilized CDs to generate new monsters in the game. That’s right, you would pop open your PS1, then cycle through every music CD in your house in the hopes of getting a new and rare monster.

While Japan still gets the odd Monster Rancher title, including a remaster of the original for Nintendo Switch last year, western audiences are still waiting for their next monster-battling fix. With any luck, we’ll also see the Switch remaster at some point.

5 Grand Theft Auto

Made by British developer Rockstar North, Grand Theft Auto technically first released for PC, but it released two months after this for the PS1— the only home console it ever released for.

Looking at the above image, it’s crazy to think of just how far this series has come when you think of the expansive world the latest title now offers; amazing gameplay, great plots, online play, a host of characters, mini-games, and more. Grand Theft Auto is a series that looks like it’s not going to slow down any time soon.

4 Spyro

Spyro shared a similar fate to Crash; it began life as a Sony exclusive and pumped out a number of decent titles before it too descended into a life of third-rate third-party titles that made everyone cringe.

However, like Crash, Spyro was redeemed with the release of the remake of the first three titles as the Spyro Reignited Trilogy. After the massive success of the remake, it would be unsurprising to see a new original Spyro title announced at some point.

3 Resident Evil

The first Resident Evil game graced the PS1 in 1996 and was a critical and commercial success. The first title was such a well-loved classic that it was remade in 2002 for GameCube, but later also made its way to other consoles too.

The series is still going incredibly strong, though there were definitely a few lackluster titles along the way. Many fans are looking forward to the release of Resident Evil Village, which is set to release next year in 2021.

2 Medal of Honor

Medal of Honor has never quite managed to live up to the hype of the Call of Duty series, but for a long time, it seemed like the two were in quite close competition. The very first Medal of Honor title released for the PS1 in 1999.

While the series has continued, its most recent release in 2020 was Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond, which was for Oculus VR only. Before that, fans haven’t seen a proper console title since 2012.

1 Ape Escape

The adorable and enjoyable Ape Escape series started out on the PS1, with its first title releasing in 1999. The games offered a lot of fun gameplay combined with humor and pop culture references.

Sadly, we haven’t seen a proper Ape Escape game since 2010 when PlayStation Move Ape Escape released for the PS3. However, the apes have cameoed in other titles since, and even the recent release of  Astro’s Playroom paid homage to Ape Escape by recreating a scene from the first game.

NEXT: 10 Amazing-Looking PS1 Games With Terrible Gameplay