clickbliss

The Personal Top Five PSX Rundown

By Omar (@siegarettes)
—

The PSX was undoubtedly a milestone for games. While the Saturn dominated the sprite based scene, and Nintendo set the format for 3D adventure games with Super Mario 64, the Playstation undoubtedly led the charge for 3D videogames. In addition, Sony’s debut console had a huge variety of games in every genre. While I didn’t experience it firsthand, a lot of the titles from that era would go on to become some of my favorites. Here are my top five:

R4: Ridge Racer Type 4

• Developer - Namco
• Publisher - Namco
• Rating - E
• Also available for download on PSN

There’s no way I could make a list like this and leave this game off. I own a playable copy for every Sony console I own. Fifteen years later and this is personally still the finest entry in the Ridge Racer series. The first Ridge Racer made a case for 3D racing games, and R4 refined it in every way. The beautiful math of Ridge Racer's trademark drifting physics return in this entry, but there’s a certain weight to the machines that is missing from the rest of the series. 

From the streets to the menus, R4 is sick with a sense of color and style. Even the difficulty levels are well thought out, with each level accompanied by the story of a racing team whose situation determines which machines you’ll earn, and justifies the difficulty of the races. 

This is all accompanied by what is probably the best soundtrack in the series (which would be borrowed from in future installments). For me, this is the defining entry for the series, an example of mathematical beauty in motion. 

Gradius Gaiden

• Developer - Konami
• Publisher - Konami
• Rating - E
• Also available for download on the PSP via Gradius Collection

While it never reached the level of popularity that Contra did, the Gradius  series shone for a while as one of the premier action series, especially for fans of the shoot-em-up genre. Despite that, Gradius Gaiden never made it to the states, while it enjoyed success in Japan. In a toss up for best Gradius titles, it comes down to this and Gradius V (made by none other than previous Konami employees, Treasure). Personally, I find this one wins out, simply because it sticks closer to the personality and mechanics that are the series’ trademark. 

Gradius' unique gimmick (aside from the weapons fire duplicating Options) was always the powerup bar. While in other shooters you’d typically just pick up power ups, Gradius’ power ups advanced a selection bar at the bottom that would allow you to customize your loadout on the fly. It gave a sense of strategy typically absent from other shooters. It also lead to a balance issue where you’d be overpowered at one moment, take a hit, then have to start over with nothing. Gaiden solves this problem by allowing you to reconfigure your bar, putting more desirable weapons upfront and making it easier to get reequipped. Personally, I like to front load it with Options and shields to help tank through difficult areas. 

Gradius Gaiden also sports some of the best level designs and set pieces of the series. To this day there aren’t many shooters that hold up to it. Combine that with a simultaneous two player mode (a feature that only returned in Gradius V ) and four unique ships to choose from, and you’ve got a shooter than stands with the best of them.

Rakugaki Showtime

• Developer - Treasure Co., LTD.
• Publisher - Enix
• Rating - E

This one is a bit obscure. One of the few games Treasure produced for the PSX, it was subject to short print run and never left Japan. The most immediately similar title would be Capcom's Power Stone games. Rakugaki Showtime has a large emphasis on throwing items, with direct attacks limited to moves that are mostly designed to knock away opponents. It also features some interesting movement mechanics, where double tapping the jump button will send your character on a trajectory to one of the preset spots in the area. 

There are a variety of throwable objects which can played against each other, but most of the action will revolve around a ball emblazoned with a smiley face. Hitting opponents will shift the mood of the ball, until finally it glows with surprise accompanied by a “HALLELUJAH!”. Honestly. I didn’t make that up. From there the characters who pick it up can perform one of three character specific super attacks. These range from variations of the normal throwing methods (a slow, explosive lob, a straight throw, and a fast, multihit pitch) to moves like massive laser beams and Hadouken like bombs. It functions a bit like Smash Bros’ Smash Ball, except that its constantly in play like Power Stone’s titular gems.

Rakugaki Showtime is filled with Treasure’s trademark sense of style. The art style bolsters a handmade sketchbook style that looks like it was made in colored pencils (the health meters are actually pencils that get cut down as you’re damaged). Each character has a unique personality and playstyle as well. The cast has a wonderful range. The default goons look like something out of Kamen Rider or Ultraman. There’s an alien dog, a cocky fighter who later powers up with suspiciously yellow hair, and a cute little girl who turns into a morbidly obese woman upon picking up the smiley face ball. It’s all bound together with a kind of slapstick humor and personality. 

G-Darius

• Developer - Taito
• Publisher - Taito/THQ/Cyber Front 
• Rating - E
• Also available on Windows 95, PS2 (via Taito Legends 2), and Playstation Network (Japan Only)

Darius is a shoot-em-up series based around fighting giant robotic sea creatures. Arguably even more surreal than Gradius' Easter Island heads or R-Type’s Gigeresque monstrosities, Darius continued to exist mostly on that premise until the release of Darius Gaiden and finally G-Darius. While both are excellent titles, and I personally prefer the sprite based aesthetic of Darius Gaiden, G-Darius is the better of the two ports for the original Playstation. (Of course, you could simply pick up Taito Legends 2 for the PS2 and get both). 

The standout features here are the soundtrack and capture mechanics. (Again, I prefer Darius Gaiden’s bizarre space opera sound, but the PSX port is kind of unacceptable). While ZUNTATA are better known for their more uptempo work on things like Bubble Bobble, Ninja Warriors, or Rayforce, here composer OGR leads the charge with an atmospheric, melancholy sound sweeping you up. 

Building on the previous game’s ability to capture mid-bosses, G-Darius allows you to capture any enemy in the game and turn its firepower against the others. The ability to capture mid-bosses returns as well. Once captured, you can either use up that enemy as a bomb, or absorb them and fire a laser beam. Best of all, each boss fires off their own beams, and by timing it correctly you can engage in a laser duel. Set against some of the best set pieces of the series (dinosaur worlds, planet destroying machines, monstrous battleships that you destroy piece by piece) spread across branching paths, and G-Darius stands as one of the best entries in the saga.

Megaman X5

• Developer - Capcom
• Publisher - Capcom
• Rating - E
• Also available on Gamecube & PS2 (via Megaman X Collection), PC and Playstation Network

Tight action, well designed levels and bosses, rocking music, and a story that almost feels like it’s come out of an issue of Astro Boy. Poor voice acting aside (does anyone else think that the announcer sounds a bit flamboyant?) this is an entirely outstanding action game. In summary:

It’s one of the best Megaman X games made. ‘Nuff said.