For many gamers, the original PlayStation – and the swathe of games released on it – hold a special place in their heart. There’s a countless amount of games that could be included on it, but here are the ones that missed out and definitely should have been on the console.
Now somewhat of a mascot for PlayStation, PaRappa the Rapper would be a welcome addition to the lineup of games. His participation in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale catapulted him into the spotlight again, as we were reminded just how catchy his songs were. It’d be a lot of fun to spit some more rhymes and besides, a rhythm game would help make the PlayStation Classic a little more genre-diverse.
Metroidvania games are certainly in vogue, but they would not be nearly as half as good as they are without the achievement that was Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. With nearly impeccable game design, SotN set the standard for side-scrolling action platformers. It holds up tremendously, and I’m sure there are countless players that would relish the opportunity to replay it, with near the same experience they did all those years ago. There are rumours its coming to the PS4 though.
The Twisted Metal franchise may have been dormant since an attempted reboot in 2012, but the original game is a PlayStation staple. The vehicular combat game earned Classic status back in 1997, with four games being released on the console. Sweet Tooth is another character to mascot for PlayStation, but whether he appears on the PlayStation Classic will have to be seen.
Humour us. Ape Escape is famous as being the first game to make analog controls mandatory to play the game, right? It is also, therefore, worth noting, that the PlayStation Classic controller replicates the original controller, so therefore does not have the analog thumb-sticks. However, Ape Escape was ported to the PlayStation Portable, where the controls were adapted to accommodate the PSP’s lack of dual analog sticks. Given its status in the PlayStation roster, we feel it’s worth making it work on the Classic.
Another frustratingly dormant game franchise is MediEvil. The series is a fan favourite; every E3 has us crossing our fingers that a reboot will be announced. With lack of new games to play, it would be fantastic to replay the original and join Sir Daniel Fortesque on his quest once more.
Few games earn the sort of sentimental attachment Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 did. Many will have vivid memories playing this game, with its soundtrack still playing on a loop in their head. The music may pose a problem – licensing is always difficult – but it would be our hope that one of the Tony Hawk games manages to find its way on the console.
Another must-have game is Wipeout. The series is hugely significant in the history of PlayStation, and another one to be made available on PlayStation 3 and the PSP. We can be pretty certain the game would be included, being one of the best known PlayStation One and early-3D graphic games.
Silent Hill is another PlayStation game to spawn an iconic series and define survival horror games as we know them today. Despite the limitations of the technology at the time, the game succeeded in terrifying its players. Although well received back in the day, the importance of the game has only been better appreciated with time and is widely considered as one of the best games of all time. It would be fantastic to have it on the Classic console.
Gran Turismo, the 1997 racing sim, was the best-selling game on the original PlayStation, and the best-reviewed racing game of all time, with a rating of 94.95% on GameRanking and 96 on Metacritic. Having launched one of PlayStation’s most commercially successful franchises to date, it is almost guaranteed to feature on the Classic.
As far as PlayStation 3D platformers go, Croc might not be your first pick. However, as one of the first ever iterations in the genre, developed by one of the pioneers of 3D console graphics, Argonaut Software, Croc: Legend of the Gobbos would be a sensible inclusion.
Once again, there are so many PlayStation titles worthy to be on this list. 20 games kind of feels too few. Some of our other favourites at Press Start include: Driver, Rugrats: Search for Reptar, Speed Freaks, Die Hard Trilogy, Rascal, Tenchu: Secret Assassins, Pandemonium!, Tomba!, Parasite Eve, Soul Blade, Battle Arena Toshinden, Ninja: Shadow of Darkness, Kula World, Motor Toon Grand Prix and Gex: Enter the Gecko.
Absent from our list to is the Crash Bandicoot and Spyro games. Given that Crash has received a recent remake, and Spyro will be in November, we figured they would not likely appear on the Classic console, as upsetting as that may be.
The PlayStation Classic will release on the 3rd December 2018 and is available for pre-order now.