20 Games You Can ONLY Play on PS1

20 Games You Can Only Play on PS1

Welcome to MojoPlays and outside of sailing the high seas or emulation, the only way you’ll be able to play any of these classic PS1 games is to find a working PlayStation 1 and a copy of the game. Good luck to your bank account!

“Vib Ribbon” (2000)

Vib Ribbon is a title that defined the experimental nature of the PS1. With purely monochromatic and basic graphics, players guide Vibri through rhythm-based vector lines drawn on the screen with numerous obstacles the player needs to navigate to complete the level. What made Vib Ribbon even more unique besides its art style was the ability for players to create their own custom levels by inserting their own audio CDs and the game would automatically generate a level based on the track selected. The sheer inventiveness of the gameplay, system and graphics have made Vib Ribbon one of the most refreshingly original and creative games on the PS1 that will likely never see a release outside of the PS1 hardware due to many of the game mechanics being tied directly to the PlayStation disc drive.

“Thousand Arms” (1999)

Few RPGs were as ambitious on the PS1 as Thousand Arms. Not only was it a traditional turn based JPRG, but it was also a deeply narrative focused dating sim which can directly affect your combat prowess as well as how strong the weapons would be you could create in the final piece of the game, weapon forging. The better and more affectionate you were with your female companions, the stronger your weapons and attacks, forcing you to focus primarily on the dating sim mechanics of the game to be more successful in literally every other aspect of the adventure. While later JPRGs would incorporate romance options into their games, no other game has dedicated so much of the core RPG experience to romancing your companions the way Thousand Arms did. Sadly, without a PS1, you’ll be unable to experience one of the most unique RPGs and its wonderful characters on the system.

“Alundra 2” (2000)

Few games have gone through such a dramatic tonal shift within the same generation as between Alunda and Alundra 2. While the original was your typical Zelda-like, Alundra 2 not only went fully 3D, but completely reinvented its gameplay and style and overall tone. Although the sequel went through several changes, the core gameplay loop of platforming, combat and puzzle solving was still as solid and challenging as ever, and Alundra 2’s more lighthearted storyline balanced the lighter moments with the original game’s darker ones much better than its predecessor. Although both were well received by both critics and fans, the series never really hit the mainstream audience it needed, but if Lunar Silver Star Story and its sequel can get remasters, anything is possible.

“Legend of Legaia” (1999)

Gameplay first was typically the style most games of the PS1 were designed around and Legend of Legaia follows this mantra to the letter. The story is merely there to ferry players from one area to the next, while the main draw of the game is the incredibly inventive, even by today’s standards, combat system. Players can almost completely customize their fighting style, chaining powerful attacks together with simple button presses. The game is surprisingly linear for a PS1 JPRG, but when most of the focus is on the game’s combat, you’re unlikely to care or notice outside of the big story moments as you aggressively beat down your foes using your own customized attack patterns. Due to the sheer number of RPGs released on the PS1, naturally many have been all but lost to time, and without a working PS1 and disc, Legend of Legaia is another of these forgotten gems.

“C-12: Final Resistance” (2002)

Released a whole two years into the PS2’s lifecycle, C-12: Final Resistance was already facing heavy resistance from the high fidelity experiences most players were experiencing on the PS2 and obviously got overlooked for every other major release in 2002. That’s not to say the game was bad, I mean it wasn’t great, but it was still a fun throwback to the late PS1 days when devs were finally figuring out 3D movement. The environments were nicely detailed, combining elements of typical sci-fi with H.R. Geiger style architecture, and the shooting mechanics were solid enough to keep you alive. C-12: Final Resistance might not have been the swansong the PS1 deserved, but the game still offers a fun playthrough that no one without a copy and PS1 will get to experience as the entire game has basically been memory-holed by everyone, even Sony themselves.

“Koudelka” (2000)

The success of Resident Evil cannot be understated, and soon clever developers were using the survival horror series as the basis to combine elements of the classic RE games with other genres, which is how we ended up with hidden gems like Koudelka. Combining elements of Resident Evil exploration and puzzle solving with existential Lovecraftian horror and turn based combat works shockingly well. The traditional turn-based battles of Koudelka would later influence the Shadow Hearts series and exploring the increasingly horrific castle is just as chilling if not more so than navigating the Spencer Mansion. The turn-based battle system might be a bit slower than others in the genre and the weapon durability mechanic will always split the player base, but for those who stick it out will find a thoroughly entertaining and haunting RE inspired title that can sadly only be played on its home console.

“NASCAR Rumble” (2000)

Taking the traditional sim racing genre of NASCAR and instead applying arcade style racing with Mario Kart-esque power ups never should have worked as well as it did in NASCAR Rumble, let alone been this much fun. Taking familiar NASCAR racers and their cars off the track and letting them do more than turn left, as well as a series of increasingly ridiculous unlockable cars, Rumble added some much-needed adrenaline and action to the NASCAR license. The races were just pure chaotic fun, filled with car crashes, near misses, and ridiculous powerups that could change the tide of the race at the last second and it’s fantastic and anyone who didn’t hit the track on day one will likely never get to live out their arcade NASCAR dreams without a PS1. Funnily enough, everything that made NASCAR Rumble great would be updated in Rumble Racing for the PS2 the following year, also unplayable on modern hardware.

“Covert Ops: Nuclear Dawn” (2000)

Taking inspiration from seemingly every source in the entertainment world and mashing them together, we get Covert Ops: Nuclear Dawn. Combining elements of Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil and Steven Seagal’s Under Siege 2, players must navigate an armored train, solving door key puzzles, battling terrorists and rescuing hostages all culminating in multiple endings based on the branching narrative choices. If you’re even remotely familiar with Resident Evil, you know what style of gameplay to expect here, replacing zombies with terrorists you can stealth your way around or engage directly in combat. While Nuclear Dawn did little to improve on the established formula, the environments were intricately detailed, and the character models were impressive. Given the deluge of Resident Evil clones, it was refreshing to play a game in the same style that wasn’t just recreating the horror of the original, but given the title’s obscurity, it’ll likely remain stuck on the PS1 until it's completely forgotten.

“Galerians” (2000)

Another Resident Evil clone, Galerians at least tried to do something original with the survival horror formula. Replacing guns and bullets with psychic abilities, players needed to escape the testing facility they were being experimented on while attempting to recover the memories of his past. It’s these psychic abilities at the core of the gameplay, allowing the player to solve puzzles, uncover secrets and engage in combat using their myriad of abilities. The game actively encourages players to avoid direct combat, and players need to manage the main character Rion’s gauges through numerous injectables or quickly find themselves on the autopsy table. The title was lauded for its graphics and its innovations to the formula, but much like Covert Ops, was lost in the over saturated market of copycats and with only one additional sequel in the series, there’s unlikely enough demand for the game to receive a port off the PS1 anytime in the future.

“Breath of Fire III” (1998)

The JPRG formula really hit its stride back on the PS1 and while many attempted to innovate or reinvent the tried-and-true formula fans were familiar with, other titles like Breath of Fire III played to their strengths and simply delivered an incredibly polished and solid JPRG experience. With an attention to detail even modern games struggle with, everything from the characters, the world building, the narrative and the combat were some of the best the genre had to offer. Breath of Fire III might be considered “safe” by today’s standards, but there’s nothing wrong with simply giving players an incredibly competent experience that they can enjoy without having to relearn how to play video games. Sadly, the Breath of Fire series is no more and demand for its return is almost non-existent, so without some retro hardware, gamers these days will never get to experience the simple joy of a quality JPRG from the genre’s golden age.

“Apocalypse” (1998)

Video games of the 90s were a different breed altogether. Case in point, Apocalypse starring none other than Bruce Willis. Getting such a high-profile action hero was certainly a big deal for pre Tony Hawk developer Neversoft, but unfortunately, few even remember this game exists. The shooting mechanics were simple enough to pick up and play and the typical apocalyptic narrative that only Bruce Willis can prevent with his many guns and one liners was quintessential 90s B-Movie fare and we loved it. Apocalypse plays like a time capsule of the early PS1 era, when shooters were focused on nothing more than throwing increasingly difficult baddies at you and your many weapons and we genuinely miss this style of game, even if Bruce clearly wasn’t as enthused about being in a video game as his fans were.

“Medal of Honor” (1999)

Long before Call of Duty dominated the WWII shooter genre, Medal of Honor was leading the charge with its realistic recreations of real-world historical missions that took place during the second World War. Conceptualized by renowned filmmaker Steven Spielberg, Medal of Honor was less about the explosions and bombastic cinematic spectacle of the war and the tense smaller encounters and missions that inevitably defined and changed the outcome of the war. The attention to realism didn’t make the experience any less engaging and instead further engrossed players in its world with its attention to detail and realism. Medal of Honor and its follow-up Underground have since long been forgotten back on the PS1 and with the series MIA for the last decade, a remaster, remake or even a port is extremely unlikely, meaning the only way to experience the shooters that launched a thousand WWII FPS is to dig into the past and boot up a PS1.

“Crash Bash” (2000)

As the unofficial mascot of the PlayStation, naturally anything Mario could do for Nintendo, Crash could do for PlayStation, which is how we got the Mario Party style game Crash Bash. Much like Mario Party, characters from the Crash Bandicoot series battle it out in various minigames of skill and luck. Much like Crash Team Racing, Crash Bash mixes up the familiar formula with additional rewards for completing and winning minigames as well as the inclusion of boss fights. Naturally with a party style game like this it was more fun with real world friends, and while the need to play through the single player to unlock more multiplayer mini games was a hassle it didn’t completely dull the overall experience and honestly gave you the practice needed to dominate the matches. Why we got Crash Team Rumble instead of a remake of Crash Bash is a decision so stupid only Activision could have made it.

“Tekken 3” (1998)

If you owned a PS1 in the late 90s, Tekken 3 was a staple of your weekend sleepovers and hangouts with your friends. For the time, the graphics were mind blowing and the mechanics were deeper than ever before, leading to long play sessions where fights could be decided by single blow. The wealth of playable characters meant that there was someone for every player’s fighting style and enough unlockable costumes to make every match feel like a custom bout. Although Tekken 2 is playable on PSN, the definitive PS1 Tekken experience Tekken 3 isn’t and is arguably the ones fans want to replay the most. Here’s hoping for some kind of compilation in the future, but we wouldn’t bet on it.

“Spider-Man” (2000)

With the release of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films and the tie-in games that defined a new generation of Spidey games, many fans completely forgot the stellar entries Spider-Man and xref Spider-Man 2 Enter Electro back on the PS1. Spider-Man on the PS1 was the first game that made us feel like we WERE Spider-Man. Whether it was beating up baddies, swinging between skyscrapers, climbing on ceilings or stealthily eliminating foes, this was the first game that let us truly embody Spider-Man. The inclusion of numerous villains and heroes made the story feel lifted right from the pages of the comics and Stan Lee encouraging us and showing us the webs early on created the pinnacle of Spidey experiences. Sadly, these titles have been completely overshadowed by other Spider-Man games these titles helped influence, but if you’re able to find a way to play them, they’re still some of the best the webhead has to offer.

“Tenchu: Stealth Assassin” (1998)

When most gamers think of stealth games on the PS1, naturally they think of Metal Gear Solid and rightfully so. However, there was another stealth series that snuck onto the PS1 the same year as Snake and took an even stealthier approach to the genre. Giving players fully 3D environments to explore and scout their plan of attack, Tenchu was incredibly ambitious and one of the earliest sandbox games that allowed players to approach missions their own way. Tenchu was not only incredibly ambitious, especially as a debut title from a studio, but one of the most influential stealth games of all time. Sadly, we not only haven’t received a proper Tenchu game in literal generations, but both the first game and its sequel are still trapped on the PS1 with no port or remaster unlikely to ever emerge from the shadows.

“Disruptor” (1996)

Like many new developers on the PS1, Insomniac’s breakout hit Spyro the Dragon completely overshadowed their first game Disruptor on the PS1. As one of the earliest first-person shooters on Sony's new console and the debut game for the developer, Disruptor showed the promise of not only the genre on console, but also the talent of the future landmark development studio. The story is surprisingly complex despite being rather generic, but the shooting mechanics are still as solid as ever and Disruptor already demonstrated Insomniac’s creativity with weapons in the game’s varied arsenal of psychic abilities and firepower. Unfortunately, it would seem even Insomniac has forgotten their humble origins and Disruptor, making the chances of a port or remaster even more unlikely as the studio has become too big to make time for a simple FPS game from the PS1 era.

“Gran Turismo 2” (1999)

Given how important the Gran Turismo series is to PlayStation, it’s shocking how none of the older games are playable on modern hardware. Not only is Gran Turismo 2 one of the best-selling games on the PS1, it’s also one of the most influential and genre defining racers of all time, setting the benchmark that even Polyphony would only occasionally match within their own series. No matter what Jim Ryan says, the graphics still hold up surprisingly well and the gameplay is as solid as the series has ever been. With over 600 cars and almost 30 tracks, the amount of content available in Gran Turismo 2 was so expansive, it took 2 discs to hold it all. For racing enthusiasts, the Gran Turismo series THE definitive video game racing simulation series, and fans deserve the ability to revisit the series’ early days whenever they want.

“Parasite Eve” (1998) & “Parasite Eve 2” (2000)

Believe it or not Square used to get quite experimental back on the PS1 and there’s no better example of this than the Parasite Eve duology. Combining elements of Resident Evil with a new “hybrid” turn based combat system made the Parasite Eve series completely unique in a time when the genres were often completely separated. Players could even upgrade their equipment outside of battle for additional power-ups and special attacks, adding a traditional layer of JPRG progression to battles. Both games also included a New Game Plus feature that drastically altered almost the entire game, including brand new areas and content. Despite the continued popularity of the Parasite Eve series as well as demand for ports or remasters, the duology remains trapped on the increasingly aging PS1 hardware and Square has never created anything else like the series in their extensive catalog.

“Vagrant Story” (2000)

Arguably one of the most beloved RPGs on the PS1 outside of the Final Fantasy trilogy of games, Vagrant Story being locked to its original hardware is a crime against gaming. One of the most gorgeous games on the PS1, Vagrant Story also evolved the typical turn-based combat of the time, instead focusing primarily on targeting enemy’s limbs or weak spots adding some much needed strategic depth to combat. Vagrant Story would be nothing without its, um, story, and thankfully, Vagrant Story delivers a deeply emotional and ever evolving narrative that quickly pulls players in and keeps them invested until the end. Along with clever puzzles as well as weapon customization, and even platforming elements, Vagrant Story heavily innovated on the JRPG formula and modern gamers are missing out on one of the most defining and influential titles of the generation due to Square forgetting about its existence.

Which PS1 game do you hope is eventually playable on modern hardware? Mine is all of them. Share your picks in the comments.