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OPM - "100 Absolute PlayStation Essentials"

Amir0x

Banned
"The PlayStation 1, PlayStation 2 and PSP games you must play before you die."

I like lists, you like lists - everyone likes lists! So what would you add, take off from these lists?

1995

Jumping Flash
Raiden Project
Ridge Racer
Wipeout

1996

Bloom Omen: Legacy of Kain
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
Twisted Metal 2

1997

Bushido Blade
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Colony Wars
Final Fantasy VII
Parappa the Rapper
Rage Racer
Resident Evil 2

1998

Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped
Final Fantasy Tactics
Gran Turismo
Hot Shots Golf
Klonoa: Door to Phantomile
Metal Gear Solid
Oddworld: Abe's Exodus
Soul Blade
Spyro the Dragon
Suikoden II
Tenchu: Stealth Assassins
Tomba!
Tomb Raider II
Xenogears

1999

Ape Escape
Crash Team Racing
Medal of Honor
R-Type Delta
Silent Hill
Street Fighter Alpha 3

2000

Chrono Cross
Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
Rayman 2: The Great Escape
Smuggler's Run
Spider-Man
Syphon Filter
Vagrant Story

2001

ATV: Offroad Fury
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance
Dance Dance Revolution
Devil May Cry
Final Fantasy X
GTA III
ICO
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
NBA Street
Red Faction
SSX Tricky
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3

2002

Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies
Fatal Frame
GTA: Vice City
Kingdom Hearts
Mark of Kri, The
Medal of Honor: Frontline
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2
Rez

2003

.Hack
Amplitude
Beyond Good and Evil
Dark Cloud 2
Freedom Fighters
High Heat Major League Baseball 2004
Madden NFL 2004
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
Soul Calibur II
Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution
World Soccer Winning Eleven 7
Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner

2004

Burnout 3: Takedown
Final Fantasy XI
GTA: San Andreas
James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing
Katamari Damacy
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Onimusha 3: Demon Siege
Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005

2005

Dynasty Warriors 5
Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
Eyetoy: Kinetic
God of War
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
Gran Turismo 4
Lego Star Wars
Lumines
Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition
Resident Evil 4
Shadow of the Colossus
SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy Seals
Starwars: Battlefront II
Tekken 5
Time Splitters: Future Perfect
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory

Discuss
 
While there are a few noticable omissions, overall that's not a bad list at all, much better than the best of lists you usually see on sites and in mags. Jumping Flash is awesome, but 2's way better. I'd kill for a new one =/.
 
I did scratch my head pretty hard at Smuggler's Run and Spider-man, yeah.

Also I like how this list is categorized by year, and not an arbitrary ranking system.
 
Amir0x said:
Bloom Omen: Legacy of Kain
Twisted Metal 2
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Final Fantasy VII
Parappa the Rapper
Resident Evil 2
Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped
Final Fantasy Tactics
Metal Gear Solid
Oddworld: Abe's Exodus
Spyro the Dragon
Tenchu: Stealth Assassins
Tomba!
Ape Escape
Crash Team Racing
Medal of Honor
Syphon Filter
Dance Dance Revolution
Devil May Cry
Metal
Kingdom Hearts
Rez
Beyond Good and Evil
Dark Cloud 2
Burnout 3: Takedown
GTA: San Andreas
Katamari Damacy
Metal Gear Solid 3: Sons of Liberty
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
God of War
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
Lumines
Resident Evil 4
Shadow of the Colossus
SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy Seals
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory

There's my own version.
 
Error2k4 said:
been trying to find this game I rented and love it, hard as fuck though I want to play it.

Persona 2 was reprinted along with Rhapsody, you should be able to find it pretty easily for no more than 30-40 now almost anywhere, and EB and GS usually have them in-stock online and in-store depending.
 
Needs Street Fighter Anniversary Collection just for 3rd Strike.

Soul Blade is awful now. 3D fighters don't age well.
 
Also I would have picked Tomb Raider 1 over Tomb Raider 2. I think TR1 had just the right focus, and some seriously brilliant puzzles. TR2 was a start of the moving away from this tight focus, and it started losing its cohesiveness imo.
 
Nameless said:
Holy Sh!t at half of the those year 2000 games making it over Final Fantasy IX!!!!

I have to agree about FFIX. Loved it.

The big surprise for me, however, was MARK OF KRI? I loved it, but I thought most people didn't, even though it was pretty much "critically acclaimed." I guess 2002 was a pretty dry year though, looking at the other titles.

No MAXIMO is a shame, though. An absolute shame.
 
SailorDaravon said:
Persona 2 was reprinted along with Rhapsody, you should be able to find it pretty easily for no more than 30-40 now almost anywhere, and EB and GS usually have them in-stock online and in-store depending.
really? thx didn't know that.
 
Valkyrie Profile is also missing :sigh:, man I was total RPG whore back in the PS1 days I have over 20 RPGs for the PS1 I believe.

edit:sorry for the double post.
 
kaching said:
No Warhawk? Tomb Raider 2 but not the original? Bizarre.

Hm, wow, no Warhawk. That's true. A very painful omission that is.

Fusebox said:
I'd take out all the Crash franchise stuff - who enjoyed that?

I enjoyed them to a degree AT THE TIME, but I was obviously somewhat younger then. I don't know how well they hold up. I liked Crash 2 better than Crash 3, though.

Edit: In the afterthoughts section, someone apparently fought pretty hard for Tail of the Sun. But it didn't make it. Also Gradius V was a hard fought one that missed it. Also Megaman Legends. And Sly Cooper
 
A good list, but would've been better if they stuck to exclusives. Madden and ATV and Tony Hawk and etc. aren't Playstation experiences any more than they're Xbox or Gamecube experiences. Certainly one or ALL of the Sly Cooper games should've made it over Madden or Tony Hawk.
 
FFVIII should not be on that list.

However, IX not being on there is a fucking travesty
 
I own every PSone game on that list, minus Rayman 2 (Have it on N64 and Dreamcast), and Syphon Filter. Yay me.

The PS2 list, I'm happy to say I don't own many of them. Sheesh, talk about crap.
 
As with any lists, notable are absent, but the list is pretty good overall, though in contextual sense these games listed show the then more impactful nature of their release and really playing the early PS1 games now is not the same, but something like Soul Blade in 1998 was incredible and so forth. A nice Playstation family timeline of great games. I hope I make sense.
 
They included the first Wipeout but not Wipeout XL or Wipeout 3? There are many things wrong with that list but that sticks out the most to me.
 
I think the PS2 list blows chunks. But I think it's a reminder of how great the PSone library is. I agree with a good amount of the PSone games on there, and can think of countless more. The PS2, eh... I don't agree with a lot of them (Smuggler's Run? I know the launch was barren, but that doesn't mean you STILL have to compensate for it..), but I can't think of many others that deserve to be on there.
 
qirex said:
They included the first Wipeout but not Wipeout XL or Wipeout 3? There are many things wrong with that list but that sticks out the most to me.

Though, making a list of only a 100 games out of the Playstation line is pretty restrictive even with a 100 games to work with.
 
I think you just have unique taste Soul4ger. Certainly Smuggler's Run is odd, but there are so many legitimately great PS2 games on the list that I certainly can't agree that it blows chunks. I'd be proud to own almost everyone of those games in my library (and I actually do own a lot of 'em).
 
Amir0x said:
I think you just have unique taste Soul4ger. Certainly Smuggler's Run is odd, but there are so many legitimately great PS2 games on the list that I certainly can't agree that it blows chunks. I'd be proud to own almost everyone of those games in my library (and I actually do own a lot of 'em).

I have a few of the games myself, but I don't think Midnight Club 3 is any landmark game, nor Tiger Woods 2005, nor Freedom Fighters (just to pick out a few). Maybe that's just me.

Honestly, having turned it over in my head a few minutes, I think it's just because I enjoyed more PSone games than I did PS2 games. I don't think there is a large PS2 list that I'd be pleased with, just because I haven't liked as many games. It's not a bad list by OPM.
 
Soul4ger said:
I have a few of the games myself, but I don't think Midnight Club 3 is any landmark game, nor Tiger Woods 2005, nor Freedom Fighters (just to pick out a few). Maybe that's just me.

I think these are just games that are great for PS2 library, "essentials." So they often pick the best out of the series instead of just all. There's a few exceptions (FF, GTA, Metal Gear) but that's when the quality is so overwhelming that it can take the place of other games.

Tiger Woods 2005 is one of the best 'realistic' golf games on PS2, so they went with that. Freedom Fighters is great on any platform period, not many games like that. Not a landmark PS2 title, but a great one nonetheless.
 
It's a screwy list since it can't seem to decide if "essentials" means "games that were influential in their time" or "games which still rank among the best on the various Playstation platforms."

I'm guessing it means the former...but if so, there are still some head-scratchers there by those criteria: Amplitude instead of Frequency? Time Splitters: Future Perfect instead of one of the earlier games in the series?

If they mean the latter, then MANY of the games simply aren't worthy. Ridge Racer PSP has got to be better than an RR game from 10 years ago -- the technology is simply better now. Likewise, for many of the games, you'd have to pick the most recent version by default -- Hot Shots Golf: Fore! would trump any of the earlier console versions of HSG, and so on.
 
Legacy of Kain is completely overrated. It has awesome art, and decent voice acting ... but that's all for me.


Essential should mean: Games you have to buy if you own a PS.

Some of it seems like they are just trying to fill genre's ... instead of truely picking "essential' games.
 
HomerSimpson-Man said:
Though, making a list of only a 100 games out of the Playstation line is pretty restrictive even with a 100 games to work with.
I understand that but the second and third games in the series are pretty much universally regarded as better than the first, especially WipeoutXL/2097.
 
phantomile co. said:
i'll keep that in mind when writing my new book 'More Complicated = More Fun'

It does when the change makes it where the only way you won't have a perfect drift is if you intentionally keep the car turned too long.
 
Resident Evil 2

1998

Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped
Final Fantasy Tactics
Gran Turismo
Hot Shots Golf
Klonoa: Door to Phantomile
Metal Gear Solid
Oddworld: Abe's Exodus
Soul Blade
Spyro the Dragon
Suikoden II
Tenchu: Stealth Assassins
Tomba!
Tomb Raider II
Xenogears

I'm pretty sure RE2 came out in 1998, not 1997. On top of that listing Crash 3 and the lousy oddworld game over Tekken 3 is pretty dumb.
 
Good list, nice mix of the familiar and the unusual. I like the inclusion of Rage Racer, which is the only RR game that is markedly different from the original IMO.
 
Mooreberg said:
I'm pretty sure RE2 came out in 1998, not 1997. On top of that listing Crash 3 and the lousy oddworld game over Tekken 3 is pretty dumb.

Almost 100% positive they left out Tekken 3 because they put on Tekken V, which has Tekken 3 Arcade already in it.
 
Amir0x said:
Almost 100% positive they left out Tekken 3 because they put on Tekken V, which has Tekken 3 Arcade already in it.

Certainly would explain why the 1996 list doesn't have Tekken 2. First time seeing that blew me away, long gaming nights because of that game.
 
Amir0x said:
Almost 100% positive they left out Tekken 3 because they put on Tekken V, which has Tekken 3 Arcade already in it.

Makes sense I suppose but it overlooks the fact that it was when 3D fighters hit their peak for critical response and sales (only higher fighter than Tekken 3 on gamerankings is Soul Calibur). Although to be fair I think VF2 would have gotten an even better reaction if it hadn't come out on a system doomed to third place. I still remember GamePlayers magazine giving it a 99% and naming it GOTY aftering dumping on VF1 because Toshinden had side stepping and projectile attacks. :lol
 
While I wouldn't necessarily put Smuggler's Run on a list of Playstation essentials, I had a lot of fun with it at the time.

But no Jet Moto on that list is a travesty.
 
kaching said:
While I wouldn't necessarily put Smuggler's Run on a list of Playstation essentials, I had a lot of fun with it at the time.

But no Jet Moto on that list is a travesty.

ANOTHER thing I agree on.

Also, Dynasty Warriors 5 is the lowest scoring game on the list (3.5)
 
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