Game Opinion Summaries: Playstation (short "reviews" for PS1 games I have)

[A Black Falcon]

Media for some of the more interesting games covered in the recent addition to the list. I decided to cover all of the games in the 'favorite games from this update' list, except for a few of the best-known games, Driver 2, Rage Racer, and Wild ARMs, which many people probably know about already. Do play them if you haven't, though! Great games. Below the main list (with images) are video links to videos of some of the more interesting games from the rest of the list. Those three games listed above do have videos linked in this section.


Egg (J)

Front and back of the case:


I really can't find anything of note for this game other than boxshots on GameFAQs. Maybe I should take some screenshots myself... note the 4-player support. Pretty awesome!

http://www.beyondjapan.co.jp/products_e.html (last entry on the page)
The developers' website does have a little bit of information about the game, though it's somewhat poorly translated:

EGG
1998 February released
For PlayStation software
Published by TOSHIBA EMI

"Egg" is simple and easy to play, but deep strategy boadgame.
If you tumble "Egg" on the field, the civilazations are incurred along to the trace of "Egg", and that area is owned by players.

The civilazations are evoluted and developed with affection from "Egg".

Win or lose is decided by how large space the player dominated.
There are complex factors like the way of "Egg" moving, and evolution & devolution of the civilazation.

No one can expect what's going on.

There are various mission like "Mission mode" or "Versus mode".

It's a cool game. Fun stuff.

It's too bad more isn't out there about this game, because it really was one of the most interesting games I played for this update, even if the summary was quite short. I kind of want to write a full review of the game, after playing it more of course.


Galeoz (J)


Yes, the title is in Cyrillic I believe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5d_nSvGRVE
This is a frustrating video to watch because the person doesn't really understand the controls -- those obstacles at the beginning are actually easy to get over -- but it's the only video of the game on Youtube as far as I know, and it does at least show what the game looks and sounds like and some of the gameplay as well, even if it's not the best. This game is a lot more fun than its basic graphics may make it seem, though the video does show off the good soundtrack!


Ganbare Goemon: Space Pirate Akoging! (& Ganbare Goemon: Ooedo Daikaiten) (J)

Back of the case. This is another game with one of those thick black plastic cases; they're slightly taller than a normal jewelcase and maybe twice as thick, and are solid plastic instead of clear like a jewelcase, except for the front which is transparent so the manual cover can be the game cover.


I got three of the four PS1 Goemon games. All four are covered decently in Hardcore Gaming 101's Goemon article: http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/goemon/goemon3.htm

I chose to mention this one in the 'best games in this update' list because, well, the other two are more flawed. This first game feels like a SNES game moved to a next-gen system, with an animated intro and some sprite rotation and such. The absence of Sasuke and Yae is the worst thing about a game that otherwise is a pretty fun 2d platform/adventure game. I LOVED the two N64 Goemon games, and while none of these thre are as good as either of those games, they are interesting or pretty good games that I'm very happy to have. Yes, even Kurunarakoi, it's not great but it's Goemon so I kind of like it anyway! :)

Make sure to talk to everyone in the first town. I got stuck at first because I missed one building, which happened to have a plot-critical guy in it I had to talk to... here's the first town: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX-k1E7LosM And here is the first level (sidescrolling area starts midway): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKNisZ-oXHI If you continue with this series you'll see that the guy eventually has problems with some of the grappling-hook sections.

While Akoging's grappling-hook sections can be tricky, I think that the third PS1 Goemon game, Ganbare Goemon: Ooedo Daikaiten,'s bounce pads are worse. Here's a video of Ooedo Daikaiten's first bounce-pad stage. You need to perfectly time each button press in order to jump high on the pad. Really frustrating stuff. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reyRKn7_FLE If I can master the bounce pads, I'm sure I will otherwise love this game -- it looks decent, has mostly good level designs, uses Goemon's Great Adventure's outstanding soundtrack, and more.


Gradius Gaiden (J)


The only new Gradius game released on 5th-gen consoles, Gradius Gaiden is a very good 2d side-scrolling shmup. It's a classic Gradius game, and Gradius is my favorite shmup series so that's a good thing. I do think the sprites are too small compared to previous Gradius games, but otherwise it's fantastic. Two player co-op is a cool addition to the series. This game is probably somewhat well-known, but have you actually played it?

Video. It'll take a lot of practice to beat the game as quickly as it happens in this LP!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdtXtEj-T-U


Megatudo 2096 (J)


This game is in one of those thicker jewelcases we didn't get in the US. Nice cover too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyjE35BeOyA
This is the only video I've found online for this interesting fighting/shooting game. Give it a watch! It does a decent job of showing how the game plays.


Motor Toon Grand Prix

I'm not sure if the US or Japanese covers are better, but the US one is actually pretty decent. Europe got the Japanese cover, apparently.
US:

Japan:


This game is short but fun. It's from the team that went on to make Gran Turismo, though I like this kind of game more. The way the cars warp as they turn is amusing, but the game is a challenging and technical racer underneath its cute exterior, mastering it will take effort!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyXzOlbi-wE


Need for Speed: High Stakes

The PC version's cover is the same image, but larger of course for the larger box.


Here's a video of the Playstation version. It's fantastic for the PS1! Great game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJP0llgKGY

And this is the PC version. This is my favorite NFS game ever. Though the PS1 version holds up better than I thought it would, the PC is of course better overall. It's still absolutely worth getting on both platforms, though!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSUbflYd480


Puchi Carat (J)


Puchi Carat is great! Multiplayer Arkanoid with a puzzle game aesthetic really does work. Any block-breaking game fan (Arkanoid, Breakout, etc.) definitely should try this game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7KjkIQSpyM
This is a video of the European version. The Japanese version I have is the same apart for the text language.


Red Asphalt


The cover is very '90s and kind of cool. This is a combat racing game with lots of shooting. I came in expecting little, and it's great!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VC5w5P1lnY
Decent video of gameplay. It shows some of the fun action-racing gameplay.


Roll Away


This game is obscure in the US, but in Europe it's relatively well known (as Kula World). Prices are the opposite, though -- expensive for the European version, cheap for the US release. The cover made me think that the game would play like Marble Madness and such, which made me concerned about the digital-only controls, but it's not like that at all -- you don't really roll around, but instead move precisely from square to square and side to side. It's a tricky puzzle/platformer, not a twitch arcade game, and is better for it, probably; I like Marble Madness, but a d-pad could never do it justice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abA7UDMZgfw
Gameplay video. This is one tricky game after the early levels! It's a great challenge though, well worth playing.


Steel Reign


Here's a gameplay video of another highly under-rated vehicular action game. Steel Reign is great, one of the better console games of its time that generation probably.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD1SB7adQ4A


Videos only of some additional games:

Bugriders: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp-y5SPb9Pk - A weird but interesting racing game)

Tomarunner vs. L'Arc-en-Ciel (J): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WSoVaglKc4 - Another weird but interesting racing game, this time on foot!

Crime Crackers 2 (J): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sktfmk4clnM - FPS/dungeon crawler anime game, it's solid.

I would post videos of Kuru Kuru Cube, but there are none; I'll do that manual scan soon! I need help to figure out how to play this game. :(

Puzzle: Star Sweep: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvlWWjZA3nE Fun and tough little puzzler.

Rush Hour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8SDYM3BMXY - Fun topdown-style racer from Psygnosis. Underrated!

Summon Night: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYtpfIy48OU - Tactical strategy game with lots of story scenes, as always in the franchise.

Tiny Bullets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6tWf0z34fw - Solid third-person action-adventure game. Useful full video series of the game for if you get stuck because of the language barrier. Clearly emulator footage though, though I'm sure a lot of these are that.

The Unholy War: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4hqYD1pYGs Archon goes 3d! It's interesting.

Wild ARMs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvVSSCNjZeo Great music, good gameplay!

Driver 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfEF_z0JfcQ A better game than I was expecting, it's about as great as the first one is.

Rage Racer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbwJxKC1fmo I don't know exactly why, but for whatever reason I like this game more than the other PS1 Ridge Racer games.