Starting life as a failed attempt to bring CD-ROM technology to the SNES in the early 90s, Sony would go on to create their first game console, the PlayStation, in direct competition with their former partners, Nintendo. Despite having little experience in the video game industry, Sony has since remained a top contender among gaming companies since the creation of its first console.
While many of its titles were revolutionary, there were many games on the original PlayStation that tried to push the console too far and suffered as a result, either due to their vision outstripping its capabilities or simply due to being a product of its time.
10 Metal Gear Solid
A contender for the single best game on the PS1, Metal Gear Solid changed the way players saw video games, actively telling a compelling story that was improved by its stellar gameplay. While Hideo Kojima’s storytelling is something of an acquired taste, it’s hard to argue with the quality of any game he is involved with. However, Kojima’s vision was hindered by the small storage size of PS1 game disks at the time, requiring Metal Gear Solid to be spread across multiple disks to be able to play it. This wouldn’t be the only offender of having multiple disks, but it would be one of the more well known.
9 Final Fantasy
Like Metal Gear Solid, the Final Fantasy series, particularly Final Fantasy VII, changed the way gamers viewed video games forever. While not as graphically impressive as Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy VII made up for that with its rich world and deep RPG elements that have stood the test of time even decards later. However, just like Metal Gear Solid, several Final Fantasy games were so large that they required multiple disks to be able to play it, with Final Fantasy VIII and IX both needing four disks each, while Final Fantasy VII required three.
8 Ape Escape
Sont was a little late to the party when it came to analog sticks on their console’s controller, with the Nintendo 64 implementing it much earlier than the PS1 did. Once the Dual Shock was introduced, many future games would take advantage of the improvements to both camera control and movement, though none would embrace it as wholeheartedly as Ape Escape.
While Ape Escape’s control scheme was very different from any other platformer at the time, this both held it back as well as making it stand out, as it was entirely unplayable on the PS3 despite its backward compatibility with PS1 games, simply due to it needing a PS1 Dual Shock to be plugged into the console.
7 Arcade Racing Games
Looking back on how arcade racing games worked on the PS1, it’s hard to ignore the lack of both online functionality on the PS1 as well as the console only having two controller ports, limiting most games to 1 on 1 unless you owned a Multi-Tap. The fact that the Nintendo 64 didn’t have this limitation held many arcade racers back from being played on the PS1 and meant that, if they had the option, gamers would opt to play most split-screen games on a different console if they had the option.
6 Spider-Man
When gamers think of Spider-Man games these days, they tend to immediately think of Spider-Man 2 on the PS2 or the recent Marvel’s Spider-Man. However, there was a Spider-Man game all the way back on the PS1 that was fairly good for the time it was released, but definitely suffered as a result. With a limited physics engine that kept it from controlling as well as many future Spider-Man titles, this version of the web-slinger might have benefitted from waiting a few years for the PS2 to release and allow the player to feel more like Spider-Man.
5 Crash Team Racing
Like many other multiplayer games on the PS1, Crash Team Racing, despite how good it is, it was held back by the lack of a third and fourth controller port. With the remake now available, this is no longer an issue, but back in the days where the two main kart racers were Mario Kart or Crash Team Racing, many gamers would choose the former over the latter simply due to how much easier it was to implement four-player games. Crash Bash also suffered from this as, despite it clearly being a four-player game, many gamers couldn’t access this side of the game without additional hardware.
4 Tomb Raider
The original Tomb Raider games were a massive hit at the time, being both some of the greatest action games around as well as being fan service to a bunch of horny teenagers. That being said, it definitely suffered from outdated controls, largely due to the lack of a Dual Shock controller around the time of Tomb Raider’s initial release.
The infamous “tank controls” of Tomb Raider weren’t limited to Lara Croft’s adventures either, as many other games on the PS1, such as Croc, had this same, awkward control scheme that, even after the introduction of the Dual Shock controller, didn’t feel any better.
3 Diablo
It’s easy to forget just how old the Diablo series is sometimes, with the original title being released all the way back on the PS1. While many games suffered during the PS1 era due to rudimentary engines, graphics, or low disk sizes, Diablo suffered for an entirely different reason. Because the PS1 used disks instead of cartridges, save game files had to be saved on Memory Cards, with each game normally taking up one or two blocks. Diablo, on the other hand, takes up a whopping 10 blocks on a PS1 Memory Card, which is no small amount considering most Memory Cards had a maximum of 15 blocks.
2 Riven
Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid may be the most well-known games to require multiple disks to be run, but even at four disks a piece for Final Fantasy VIII and IX, they still don’t hold the record for the most disks needed for a single game. That title goes to a lesser-known game called Riven, which had to be split across five disks due to the high quality of its graphics, at least for the time it was released. Despite being a puzzle adventure game, Riven and its predecessor, Myst, were seen as revolutionary titles at the time that pushed both the PC and consoles to breaking point just to see their visions realized.
1 Premier Manager 98
One of the best football managing sims at the time of its release, Premier Manager 98 may have been a niche title, but that didn’t hold it back from gaining a wide audience at the time. However, what it made up for in gameplay it lacked in terms of Memory Card space. While Diablo would take up 10 slots on a Memory Card, Premier Manager 98 took up the entire card just for one save file. For many gamers, this meant that, in order to play the game, they would have to buy an entirely new Memory Card just so they wouldn’t have to erase their other save files.
