Header text
Established 1997
Wipeout was pretty iconic. And despite some
naysayers, on the UK launch day, this impressed
me.
Soul Blade (Edge) was quite amazing. I loved the
title-song too.
Released at a time when we in the UK had to wait
a year for a Japanese games Resident Evil
eventually made it here.
Ridge Racer. Awesome in the arcade, awesome
on the PS1. I still play this game to this day.
Destruction Derby, another game I had on UK
launch day (luckily I had booked a days holiday from
work) again, it was astonishing.
G-Police. I loved this game and it seriously needs a
sequel or a re-imaging. Always reminded me of
Beneath the Killing Cloud on ST/Amiga.
Squint and it’s real. Gran Turismo on the PS1 is
still beautiful to see.
Jurassic Park was still a relatively new film when
the PS1 arrived. And the Dinosaur demo on the PS1
Demo Disk, impressed everyone who saw it.
Loaded was heavily advertised.
A game by Crystal Dynamics, Legacy of
Kain was originally, so the rumour goes,
destined for 3DO. I really enjoyed this
game on release.
R-Type Delta received a hint of 3D but
remained a fantastic game.
Einhander. The English translation always
makes me laugh. Probably because I’m
pretty childish sometimes. Everyone
knows, and if you didn’t, you do now, that
this is one hell of a SHMUP.
Porsche Challenge was pushed hard at
the time, and it’s OK. Not brilliant, not
bad, just OK.
Raiden DX. It’s not the original Raiden,
neither is it Raiden 2, it’s somewhere in-
between. Really good mind you…
Ace Combat 3 Electrosphere. So, the
Japanese got a 3 disc version with cut
scenes and a story. Namco could not be
bothered with all that translation
shenanigans, so just gave us this
butchered version. Still, as a fly about and
shoot planes, it’s one of the best. Plus, it’s
visually stunning.
This game is best described as
enthusiastic. It’s not great, and plays like a
copy of Sega Rally, just no where near as
good.
Ahhh Tekken 2. The finest 3D fighting
game around. Here you can see Jun
celebrating with a little jig, after beating
up a retired gentlemen after remember
her 10hit combo after all these years.
Omega Boost. It’s kind of an on-rail(ish)
shooter but not really. I enjoy it. It’s
incredibly good looking and a lot of fun to
play.
While the Japanese queued up to buy the
PlayStation console in Akihabara in
Tokyo, those of us in the West looked
longingly at screenshots of this: Jumping
Flash. You’re a big jumping mechanical
rabbit and you jump about. That’s it in a
nutshell.
Psygnosis’ Colony Wars did blow socks
off. The spaceships were gigantic and you
could fly around them, and they looked
amazing. Plus there was missions and
stuff.
OK. It’s by Taito and has you racing to
catch up with bad guys and you bring
them to justice by repeatedly smashing
your car into them. Chase HQ? Nope, Ray
Tracers. I said “Ray Tracers’ not “Rage
Racer”… Easy enough mistake to make.
Entirely unintentional I’m sure. Always
get the Japanese version of this, as the
driver spends a lot of his time shouting his
name: “Spaaanker”. Which is worth the
price of admission alone.
Another Japanese launch day title
Mototune GP. Again, it’s easy to dismiss
this, but nothing in the home had been
seen like this before. Sure, the game play
is average, the spectacle at the time, was
timeless.
Believe it or believe it not, I had a limited
edition version of this game on its release,
and I sold it cheaply, because I wasn’t all
that interested. Proving, beyond
reasonable doubt, I’m an idiot. It’s
Castlevania: Symphony of the night. And
it’s all kinds of special.
I hear these were
popular…
…and the award for understatement of the year,
goes to…
I pre-ordered one, I stumped up £399, which
included three launch day titles, and booked a day
off of work to await it’s arrival and this, in my humble
opinion is the greatest console of all time.
PlayStation.
Lots of people say the graphics have dated badly,
but to me, they still bring a mountain of magical
nostalgia. The PlayStation revolutionised games and
games players. It was acceptable to be in your 20s
and still playing games.
It achieved, what had seemed impossible only 2
years before. Arcade quality games in the home. I
loved the Playstation and I still love the Playstation.
This is my original copy of
The Official PlayStation Magazine.
I’m not saying I loved this mag,
but many of the pages are still
stuck together.
