appiah4 wrote on 2024-01-10, 10:17:

I thought the humor was perfectly balanced in Fallout 2 FWIW..

I think some people dislike the pop culture references that the game often makes, and feel that they didn't age well. This didn't bother me personally, but I did notice a shift in tone compared to the first game. The original Fallout had a greater sense of urgency and felt a bit more serious overall.

It might be because Fallout 2 was developed by a different team, as the creators of the original game left the company during early production stages of the sequel. They formed Troika Games soon after that.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-01-10, 10:40:

appiah4 wrote on 2024-01-10, 10:17:

I thought the humor was perfectly balanced in Fallout 2 FWIW..

I think some people dislike the pop culture references that the game often makes, and feel that they didn't age well. This didn't bother me personally, but I did notice a shift in tone compared to the first game. The original Fallout had a greater sense of urgency and felt a bit more serious overall.

It might be because Fallout 2 was developed by a different team, as the creators of the original game left the company during early production stages of the sequel. They formed Troika Games soon after that.

that's what i had read. i wouldn't mind pop culture, the more out of date that goes the more quirky the game becomes in fact. and is is an interesting idea about what cultural artefacts might make it into post apocalyptic times

there have been a couple of pure comedy bits in FNV (like 'Tabitha') that stand out jarringly, but Fallout isn't really supposed to be an exclusively dark world, more just a tech-fantasy scenario so i guess its ok. It does seem somewhat more varied in tone than fallout 3 though, perhaps a little less apocalyptic feeling.

gerry wrote on 2024-01-10, 17:32:

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-01-10, 10:40:

appiah4 wrote on 2024-01-10, 10:17:

I thought the humor was perfectly balanced in Fallout 2 FWIW..

I think some people dislike the pop culture references that the game often makes, and feel that they didn't age well. This didn't bother me personally, but I did notice a shift in tone compared to the first game. The original Fallout had a greater sense of urgency and felt a bit more serious overall.

It might be because Fallout 2 was developed by a different team, as the creators of the original game left the company during early production stages of the sequel. They formed Troika Games soon after that.

that's what i had read. i wouldn't mind pop culture, the more out of date that goes the more quirky the game becomes in fact. and is is an interesting idea about what cultural artefacts might make it into post apocalyptic times

there have been a couple of pure comedy bits in FNV (like 'Tabitha') that stand out jarringly, but Fallout isn't really supposed to be an exclusively dark world, more just a tech-fantasy scenario so i guess its ok. It does seem somewhat more varied in tone than fallout 3 though, perhaps a little less apocalyptic feeling.

Fallout is one of my favorite franchises, played them all, and I have to agree in terms of the pop culture references, but for me that's part of the game I like. I really enjoy the alternate 50's era aesthetic, the idea of what people of that era thought the future might look like, then just go hog wild with it. I've recently replayed the original Fallout, once time permits, I'll play F2. That is if I can put down Fallout 76 long enough. My wife and I both play it and just have a blast. I have no problems looking past what I don't like in a game, if there is enough "other stuff" to keep me entertained.

Haven't been in the mood for anything specific lately, so I decided to go through a bunch of PS1 games I've been sitting on for a while now to root out the ones I don't want to keep. Most of them are games I owned as genuine original or as a burned copy while some of them I loaned from someone, haven't played any of them in 25 years either because they weren't among my personal favorites or were effectively replaced by the PC version later. But there are a few games I've never even tried but am curious about.

Bushido Blade
A refreshing take on the 1v1 fighting genre, a single good hit kills. Fun time killer, a keeper

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (never tried before)
This is likely to be the biggest surprise among all the games I intend to test. I'll be honest, while I'm perfectly aware this is considered to be one of the best games PS1 has I really didn't expect I'd like it but something compelled me to try it anyway. Well I'm glad I did because against expectations the game seemed actually fun! Bonus points for the wonderfully terrible dialog. Definitely a keeper, I just hope I don't end up liking it so much I'd want to get the physical copy, not the cheapest game out there

Civilization II
Oh boy. The UI seemed cumbersome enough but they somehow managed to make the soundtrack extra grating, you could use the PS1 version of Aristotle's Pupil as a torture device. No thanks, I'll pass

Command & Conquer & C&C: Red Alert
I went in fully expecting the d-pad controls would do my head in, and to no-one's surprise that's exactly what happened. Also noted the green grass on Red Alerts second soviet mission was rather weird shade of green, didn't look great. These PS1 versions were how I played them back in the 90's so I admittedly do feel some nostalgia for them, but the mouse controlled SVGA PC versions blow these out of the water so hard I see no other reason to keep these than to wonder how the heck I was able to play them like that

Destruction Derby 2
The music track that plays in the main menu is great, but didn't really like how the cars handle. Pass

Dino Crisis (never tried before)
Considering I'm a huge classic Resident Evil fan it's a bit odd I never ended up trying Dino Crisis. I guess I didn't think dinosaurs were as fun as zombies. Seems alright and I like the protagonist, thumbs up

Doom & Final Doom
Like with C&C I expected the worst from the d-pad controls but turns out it wasn't nearly as bad as I feared, I'm actually fine with the controls. Which makes me happy, the PS1 versions of Doom have distinctly different mood to them compared to the PC original thanks to the moody horror ambient soundtrack they have. Sure the levels are partially simplified (and I'm sure some levels were cut entirely), animations have less frames and the framerate has issues in open areas, but they also have lighting effects PC versions don't have and sound has some reverb to it. Keeping both.

Driver
I like how the car handles, but the game swaps the low poly models of other cars on the streets to higher poly model distractingly close and I can't unsee it. Also it has some framerate issues. Haven't tried the PC version but I expect I would much prefer that, so I'll skip this one

Duke Nukem: Time to Kill
Tomb Raider is one of my all time favorite games, but I'll freely admit the game doesn't have to most fluent controls in the world. Well this one clearly was heavily inspired by TR but somehow managed to make the controls even more cumbersome. Otherwise seems like one of those fast food equivalents, not the worst game ever nor the greatest, might be alright if you don't have anything else at reach. The intro made me smile, but I think I'll pass it for now

Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown
PS1 version of Duke 3D. I've heard it has some major framerate issues but what I noticed right away is how you can only switch weapons in one direction. The game has three different button layouts, they all have just next weapon button. So if you want to swap chaingun to shotgun you have to go through every single gun to get to it. That alone is enough for me to give it a pass

Grand Theft Auto & Grand Theft Auto 2
I don't get motion sickness from non-vr games nor do I get headaches. These are giving me both. I clearly can't deal with fast moving camera too low to the ground anymore, I have to skip both out of necessity

Still plenty others to test

Sombrero wrote on 2024-01-11, 10:25:

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (never tried before)
This is likely to be the biggest surprise among all the games I intend to test. I'll be honest, while I'm perfectly aware this is considered to be one of the best games PS1 has I really didn't expect I'd like it but something compelled me to try it anyway. Well I'm glad I did because against expectations the game seemed actually fun! Bonus points for the wonderfully terrible dialog. Definitely a keeper, I just hope I don't end up liking it so much I'd want to get the physical copy, not the cheapest game out there

Yeah, SOTN is definitively a masterpiece of the genre. The cheesy voice acting is part of its charm, and I actually prefer it to the re-voiced and re-translated PSP version. In particular, the PS1 version of Dracula's "What is a man?" speech is considered legendary among the fandom. 😁

Gameplay wise, it's really good and thankfully not too difficult, unlike some earlier games in the series. I last played it several years ago on a real PlayStation 1 hooked up to a 29" Sony Trinitron CRT TV, using a high quality RGB SCART cable. It looked amazing on that setup.

Driver
I like how the car handles, but the game swaps the low poly models of other cars on the streets to higher poly model distractingly close and I can't unsee it. Also it has some framerate issues. Haven't tried the PC version but I expect I would much prefer that, so I'll skip this one

If you do end up playing the PC version, be sure to use a graphics card which supports paletted textures. Driver is one of the few games which uses that feature in a big way.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-01-11, 12:15:

Yeah, SOTN is definitively a masterpiece of the genre. The cheesy voice acting is part of its charm, and I actually prefer it to the re-voiced and re-translated PSP version. In particular, the PS1 version of Dracula's "What is a man?" speech is considered legendary among the fandom. 😁

Gameplay wise, it's really good and thankfully not too difficult, unlike some earlier games in the series. I last played it several years ago on a real PlayStation 1 hooked up to a 29" Sony Trinitron CRT TV, using a high quality RGB SCART cable. It looked amazing on that setup.

When Dracula said "what is a man" out loud was the point when I realized I may have found something awesome, made me chuckle out loud. I'm usually highly sensitive to bad dialog but this could join Resident Evil in so bad dialog it's actually great in my books.

I haven't seen how PS1 or anything else for that matter looks on a good quality CRT in eons, but I'm sure it looks nice. I imported a brand new, factory sealed NTSC PSOne from US several years ago only to realize I wasn't happy how it looks on modern displays even with upscaler, just too low resolution for 3D and dithering running rampant which only gets even more noticeable with upscaling. Had to accept emulation with higher internal resolution for 3D games and removing dithering is the way to go for me personally, wouldn't still say no to a nice CRT to hook that PSOne into of course.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-01-11, 12:15:

If you do end up playing the PC version, be sure to use a graphics card which supports paletted textures. Driver is one of the few games which uses that feature in a big way.

Yeah I noticed that in one of the topics somewhere here. I might have to settle with a card that doesn't support it though, I've just about talked myself into selling my only AGP system. It was fun to build and mess around with but now it's just collecting dust.

Sombrero wrote on 2024-01-11, 10:25:

Doom & Final Doom
Like with C&C I expected the worst from the d-pad controls but turns out it wasn't nearly as bad as I feared, I'm actually fine with the controls. Which makes me happy, the PS1 versions of Doom have distinctly different mood to them compared to the PC original thanks to the moody horror ambient soundtrack they have. Sure the levels are partially simplified (and I'm sure some levels were cut entirely), animations have less frames and the framerate has issues in open areas, but they also have lighting effects PC versions don't have and sound has some reverb to it. Keeping both.

Yes, indeed many levels were cut, especially in Final Doom, where out of the 85 levels (both Final Doom episodes + Master Levels) only 30 were kept. However, the advantages you mentioned make it a very interesting port indeed.

Sombrero wrote on 2024-01-11, 10:25:

Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown
PS1 version of Duke 3D. I've heard it has some major framerate issues but what I noticed right away is how you can only switch weapons in one direction. The game has three different button layouts, they all have just next weapon button. So if you want to swap chaingun to shotgun you have to go through every single gun to get to it. That alone is enough for me to give it a pass

That port has an extremely interesting soundtrack, composed (in some cases, maybe just arranged) by Mark Knight. That's probably not enough to offset the gameplay problems you mentioned, but it is one of my favorite video game soundtracks to just listen to.

Sombrero wrote on 2024-01-11, 10:25:

Grand Theft Auto & Grand Theft Auto 2
I don't get motion sickness from non-vr games nor do I get headaches. These are giving me both. I clearly can't deal with fast moving camera too low to the ground anymore, I have to skip both out of necessity

That's a bummer. I don't recall having these issues with the first two GTAs, but their charm clearly wore off after getting used to the 3D gameplay in the III-VC-SA trilogy.

dr_st wrote on 2024-01-11, 14:25:

That port has an extremely interesting soundtrack, composed (in some cases, maybe just arranged) by Mark Knight. That's probably not enough to offset the gameplay problems you mentioned, but it is one of my favorite video game soundtracks to just listen to.

I agree! I've personally always really liked Mellow Cello

Sombrero wrote on 2024-01-11, 14:33:

I agree! I've personally always really liked Mellow Cello

That's a nice one. Did you notice that 303 includes a variation on the theme? Just like Stalker 2 and Stalker 1.

For me, those little intricacies add to the charm. And in general, it has many nice tunes, in different styles. Very refreshing.

Just played through the demo of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. Not very impressed, but I can see how the game could grow on me.

I hope the full game lets the controls be customized - I cannot stand being forced to using a mouse in a 2D platformer. The cartoony graphics are nice. The fact that you can avoid most combat entirely is also interesting, and very much not like Prince of Persia. The traps, spikes and blades, though, are exactly trademark Prince of Persia.

The map is a nice touch. The first (and only?) game in the series where I recall having one is PoP:SoT for the GBA, but I don't recall if that one let you put markers like this one does.

Just started Diablo v1.00 for the first time just like if I'd brought it new at the time.

Streaming as well so others can have a laugh. First 2 hours and 4 deaths 🤣
Death count is going to get very high I imagine!

Deano wrote on 2024-01-12, 21:45:

Just started Diablo v1.00 for the first time just like if I'd brought it new at the time.

I can relate to this, with regards to another Blizzard game: StarCraft.

My "Bestseller" re-release of StarCraft is already pre-patched to version 1.06. With RTS games, patches introduce a lot of balance changes, and that makes perfect sense for multiplayer. However, I'm guessing the single-player campaign was balanced around version 1.00, which is how I experienced StarCraft back in the day. This is why I got that version as well, and will be using it the next time I decide to replay the campaign.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-01-12, 22:20:

My "Bestseller" re-release of StarCraft is already pre-patched to version 1.06. With RTS games, patches introduce a lot of balance changes, and that makes perfect sense for multiplayer. However, I'm guessing the single-player campaign was balanced around version 1.00, which is how I experienced StarCraft back in the day. This is why I got that version as well, and will be using it the next time I decide to replay the campaign.

That's an interesting point. It is conceivable that the patches would also, in some cases, introduce changes to the campaign, but one would have to dig deep into the changelogs of every version to figure that out.

I believe I played through most of StarCraft's campaigns on 1.06 (Battle Chest release), which I patched to 1.16 at some point. Mostly for the removal of the CD check, I think. Also have a copy of what is probably the latest physical retail release.

And somehow I never got into Diablo. I've been thinking about picking up one of the complete Battle Chest copies that include Diablo & Diablo II, but that would be likely mostly for collecting sake. Many years ago, I watched a friend of mine play a lot of Diablo, and somehow it never seemed fun to me. Obviously, it was fun, otherwise it wouldn't have been so popular. I just don't know if it's enjoyment that does not translate well to spectators, or simply not my personal cup of tea.

PS1 extravaganza continues:

Formula 1
Not much of a F1 fan, grabbed this mostly out of pure nostalgia as this was one of the two games we originally got with my PS1 back in '96. My brother picked this while I chose Final Doom. Seems decent enough as a racer, but I think I'll keep it for quick nostalgia shots rather than to sit down and actually play

I.Q: Intelligent Qube
I had a demo disc that had this, I believe this was called Kurushi in europe. I remembered kinda liking it and yeah, seems like something I could get into since I do like good puzzlers, keeping it

Independence Day
First of two games I considered to be a pile of crap even back then but still grabbed just for giggles. I didn't giggle. Deleted

Little Big Adventure
I remember feeling like I was a little too old for it even as a ~14 year old, time hasn't exactly improved that. Admittedly I didn't straight up hate the gameplay, but I know I'm never going to pick it up and start actually playing, passing it

Medal of Honor
Another PS1 FPS game, one that I liked quite a bit back then. Obviously a bit clunky as far as aiming goes but still seemed pretty good to me, staying in

MediEvil
Had this one on a demo disc too, I remember having pretty mixed feelings about it but I gave it a shot. Otherwise seems like something I could actually like and have fun with but the combat system is kinda messy and more importantly the camera is a constant pain in the ass ceaselessly fighting you, have to pass

Mortal Kombat Trilogy
It's been a long while since I last sat down and actually played the first two DOS Mortal Kombat games more than to just give them a quick spin, but I don't remember them being this hard. Opponents are very aggressive, it might be me just sucking at it but seems to me you'd had to resort to what I'd call pretty cheesy tactics to win in later matches. Didn't seem fun to me, pass

NBA Live 97
The only basketball game I've ever played and I remember thinking it was alright back then, especially with two players. And sure, I can still have fun with it. Once I find a handheld device that fits my needs I'm sure I could go for a few hoops when travelling, keeping it

Need for Speed II
I already noticed that I don't find NFS2 all that fun anymore while playing the PC version, but I gave the PS1 version a spin too just in case. Nope, just isn't my cup of tea anymore

NHL 98
Not the only hockey game I've played, but it is the only hockey game I've played a lot of. Absolutely loved it back then, but never even tried any later hockey game and never went back to it after selling my PS1. Until now, and it surprised me how much I still like it! Didn't realize I still could enjoy hockey, staying in

Nightmare Creatures
Another game I had a demo of. Would be right up my alley if only the controls weren't so stiff, pretty sure I'd just get frustrated sooner or later. I'll make a mental note of it as something I could try to give a real chance someday but I'll skip it for now

Sombrero wrote on 2024-01-13, 10:42:

Mortal Kombat Trilogy
It's been a long while since I last sat down and actually played the first two DOS Mortal Kombat games more than to just give them a quick spin, but I don't remember them being this hard. Opponents are very aggressive, it might be me just sucking at it but seems to me you'd had to resort to what I'd call pretty cheesy tactics to win in later matches. Didn't seem fun to me, pass

Mortal Kombat 2 was infamous for cheating, with computer opponents being able to perform movements and attacks that were impossible for the player. MVG has an interesting video on the subject. I imagine Mortal Kombat Trilogy might be similar in that regard.

In my experience, the Mortal Kombat games are most enjoyable when you play against a human opponent. Preferably in-person, with one of your buddies, and not online. Back in the day, I spent hours on the Sega Mega Drive playing MK2 and MK3 with my friends. It was super fun.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-01-13, 10:56:

Mortal Kombat 2 was infamous for cheating, with computer opponents being able to perform movements and attacks that were impossible for the player. MVG has an interesting video on the subject. I imagine Mortal Kombat Trilogy might be similar in that regard.

In my experience, the Mortal Kombat games are most enjoyable when you play against a human opponent. Preferably in-person, with one of your buddies, and not online. Back in the day, I spent hours on the Sega Mega Drive playing MK2 and MK3 with my friends. It was super fun.

Right, I've clearly just forgotten how MK2 was in single player, 100% agree with you on playing them with a buddy.

Watching the video Trilogy does the same, with the exception that its game speed is clearly faster, which as you can imagine doesn't help any!

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-01-13, 10:56:

Sombrero wrote on 2024-01-13, 10:42:

Mortal Kombat Trilogy
It's been a long while since I last sat down and actually played the first two DOS Mortal Kombat games more than to just give them a quick spin, but I don't remember them being this hard. Opponents are very aggressive, it might be me just sucking at it but seems to me you'd had to resort to what I'd call pretty cheesy tactics to win in later matches. Didn't seem fun to me, pass

Mortal Kombat 2 was infamous for cheating, with computer opponents being able to perform movements and attacks that were impossible for the player. MVG has an interesting video on the subject. I imagine Mortal Kombat Trilogy might be similar in that regard.

In MK2 and MK3 the CPU was 'cheating', but there were easy ways around it, and you could defeat it in what still looked like reasonable combat. In UMK3 and MK Trilogy it has gotten so bad, that it's almost impossible to beat the CPU high up the ladder without crazy exploits.

My MK Trilogy experience is based on the PC version, which, AFAIK, is very much a direct port of the PSX, just without the awful loading times (esp. on Shang Tsung's morphs). It's not a game that is fun to play.

PS1 bonanza part three

OverBlood
Have you even watched a pet do something it really shouldn't have and just gone awwww? Well this game is like a mentally handicapped dog that tries its best to be a good boy but still manages to set the house on fire and I can't help but go AAWWWWW! I knew this wasn't a good game by any metric even back then but part of me still kinda loved it, and after giving it a spin I think I might love it even more now. Absolutely stays in so I can revel in its glory

Overboard!
Yet another demo disc introduction, those discs were great. I liked the demo back then but not so much I would have gotten the full version. And sure enough seems like a decent game but not something I'd be interested to play more, pass

Quake II
Seems pretty good port, surprisingly so in fact. Bonus points for playing my favorite Quake 2 music track "Stealth Frag" right at the start, on PC it was originally on one of the expansions. Doesn't have anything unique about it like Doom and obviously it's a cut down version of the PC original with all the fun that comes with d-pad controls, but maybe my fondness of PS1 is doing its thing again because to me this isn't a terrible way to play it at all. Actually I'm finding it pretty fun, staying in

Sled Storm
Snowmobile racing. It's alright, but I evidently like to have more control of the vehicle I'm driving, these thrash around a bit too much for my liking, pass

South Park
Oh no, good god no. I liked this well enough back then, the mind of a teenager sheesh. PASS

Spyro the Dragon (never tried before)
Heard a lot of people being nostalgic about this over the years so I figured to give it a try. Clearly aimed at younger audience and collectathons have never really set me on fire, but seems alright. Doesn't seem big on story and probably isn't the most difficult game in the world, could be a nice game to play if I get sick or something and need to kill lots of time without having to pay too much attention, but knowing myself I'll probably get neurotic about finding every single gem and get pissed off if I can't find the last ones. I'll give it a chance but might end up tossing it later.

Syndicate Wars
Some time ago I got the original PC version which I've still yet to even try, so if I'm going to play this it's going to be that. Definitely another game that's pretty compromised control-wise but still perfectly playable. I did play the PS1 version quite a bit back then and liked it a lot, so I'm going to keep this too for warm and fuzzy feelings

Syphon Filter
Also known as the Taser: The Game. Still seems like a fun game, but I'm going to have to get used to the controls; when you press up on the d-pad you'll start running forward, when you then also start pressing left or right you start steering in that direction as expected, but for some stupid reason when you let go of the up button entirely and only press left or right you STILL keep running forward while steering in that direction. Only when you also let go of the left/right buttons you stop running forward, ran directly into some damn elevator shaft thanks to that. But I'm pretty sure I can get used to it with practice so it's staying in

Tenchu: Stealth Assassins
The nth demo disc game. Seems to emphasize stealth and stealth kills, but the controls seem way too cumbersome for it. Trying to peek around corners and then get behind guards without them noticing wasn't exactly fluent thanks to that. I suppose it's also something that would get better with some practice but for me to enjoy stealth games they need to have good controls or they become infuriating, so have to pass it

The Lost World: Jurassic Park
I previously mentioned Independence Day was one of two games I grabbed just for giggles, this is the second one. It didn't make me giggle either. As Dr. Malcolm put it: that is one big pile of shit

PS1 spectacular part four: the final skippening

Theme Park World
For some reason I expected this to be worse than it actually is, but at the same time it doesn't seem to have much depth to it. You slap down rides, shops and decorative stuff and that's either enough for you or not. I'm of the latter, need something else on top of it to keep me playing. Pass

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six
Both Doom and Quake II surprised me how playable they were with d-pad. That's because I expected every PS1 FPS to be like Rainbow Six here, as in NOT VERY GOOD. There's a training map with shooting range, I managed to miss every single target on my first try. The game does have auto aim that homes in as long you get the crosshair near enough which does its job pretty well on close range but if the target is too far and/or on different elevation level than you, well, good luck. I did play all the way through it back in the day but that's a feat I won't be repeating, pass

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
One of those popular and well liked games that I personally never found fun. Which evidently has not changed, pass

Top Gun: Fire at Will!
A game me and my friends liked was in fact an extremely bland shooter all along. Spiced with FMVs, got that bald guy from the movie to play his character but Cruise was, to everyone's shock, replaced by a camera on a stand. Pass

V-Rally
I don't like how the cars handle one bit, pass.

WarCraft II
Same issue as with C&C: d-pad controls. As a bonus the UI is also worse than in C&C and you get to see the loading screen ad nauseam. Also for some very odd reason the music in the intro has been noticeably sped up from the PC original, it sounds utterly ridiculous. It wasn't seen as extreme enough for PS1 audience or something? At least got a amused smile out of it but I won't be playing this

Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger
Never became much of a Wing Commander fan, this is the only one I've ever played. And it's not very fun to play now thanks to the d-pad controls. But it did open the door for space combat games for me back then, which first led me to TIE Fighter which I really liked and then to FreeSpace series which I still absolutely love, so I do have that to thank it for

WipEout 2097
The last demo disc game. I played the crap out of that demo but never got the full game fearing it might require more skill and practice than I was able to muster and I may have been right. Could be one of those games I'd want to like more than I actually do, a bit unforgiving for my taste. But that said I can see myself really liking it IF I put the time in to practice it enough to become good at it. I'll make an mental note of it as something I could try to get into, but I'll pass it for now

Worms
Good ol' Worms. Plenty of good memories playing it in multiplayer but never was much of an single player game and the weapon repertoire is really short from todays perspective. Also I haven't quite made my mind on do the cgi cutscenes qualify as so bad they are actually funny or are they just stupid. But the theme music is still great! Nevertheless I can't see myself playing this, so off it goes too

That's a full srike, all of the last batch got the boot. That's it, trimmed my digital collection by about half. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night really was the one that surprised me the most, I was just about certain I wouldn't like it but by first impression I was very wrong. Still need to check it out more thoroughly for final verdict but at least I'm now actually giving it a chance.

Sombrero wrote on 2024-01-14, 12:57:

PS1 bonanza part three […]
Show full quote

PS1 bonanza part three

OverBlood
Have you even watched a pet do something it really shouldn't have and just gone awwww? Well this game is like a mentally handicapped dog that tries its best to be a good boy but still manages to set the house on fire and I can't help but go AAWWWWW! I knew this wasn't a good game by any metric even back then but part of me still kinda loved it, and after giving it a spin I think I might love it even more now. Absolutely stays in so I can revel in its glory

Overboard!
Yet another demo disc introduction, those discs were great. I liked the demo back then but not so much I would have gotten the full version. And sure enough seems like a decent game but not something I'd be interested to play more, pass

Quake II
Seems pretty good port, surprisingly so in fact. Bonus points for playing my favorite Quake 2 music track "Stealth Frag" right at the start, on PC it was originally on one of the expansions. Doesn't have anything unique about it like Doom and obviously it's a cut down version of the PC original with all the fun that comes with d-pad controls, but maybe my fondness of PS1 is doing its thing again because to me this isn't a terrible way to play it at all. Actually I'm finding it pretty fun, staying in

Sled Storm
Snowmobile racing. It's alright, but I evidently like to have more control of the vehicle I'm driving, these thrash around a bit too much for my liking, pass

South Park
Oh no, good god no. I liked this well enough back then, the mind of a teenager sheesh. PASS

Spyro the Dragon (never tried before)
Heard a lot of people being nostalgic about this over the years so I figured to give it a try. Clearly aimed at younger audience and collectathons have never really set me on fire, but seems alright. Doesn't seem big on story and probably isn't the most difficult game in the world, could be a nice game to play if I get sick or something and need to kill lots of time without having to pay too much attention, but knowing myself I'll probably get neurotic about finding every single gem and get pissed off if I can't find the last ones. I'll give it a chance but might end up tossing it later.

Syndicate Wars
Some time ago I got the original PC version which I've still yet to even try, so if I'm going to play this it's going to be that. Definitely another game that's pretty compromised control-wise but still perfectly playable. I did play the PS1 version quite a bit back then and liked it a lot, so I'm going to keep this too for warm and fuzzy feelings

Syphon Filter
Also known as the Taser: The Game. Still seems like a fun game, but I'm going to have to get used to the controls; when you press up on the d-pad you'll start running forward, when you then also start pressing left or right you start steering in that direction as expected, but for some stupid reason when you let go of the up button entirely and only press left or right you STILL keep running forward while steering in that direction. Only when you also let go of the left/right buttons you stop running forward, ran directly into some damn elevator shaft thanks to that. But I'm pretty sure I can get used to it with practice so it's staying in

Tenchu: Stealth Assassins
The nth demo disc game. Seems to emphasize stealth and stealth kills, but the controls seem way too cumbersome for it. Trying to peek around corners and then get behind guards without them noticing wasn't exactly fluent thanks to that. I suppose it's also something that would get better with some practice but for me to enjoy stealth games they need to have good controls or they become infuriating, so have to pass it

The Lost World: Jurassic Park
I previously mentioned Independence Day was one of two games I grabbed just for giggles, this is the second one. It didn't make me giggle either. As Dr. Malcolm put it: that is one big pile of shit

If I ever get back into playing PSOne games, Tenchu is one of few which would bring me back. One of the tricks is to spend as much time as you can on rooftops, jump down behind the guards and then take them out, then pulley back up. Some other guards will check the body/area if you're not careful (or don't have much choice), but that also gives you another opportunity to strike once they give up and head back to their post. I spent hours (in playtime) waiting for just the right moment to strike. I mainly used just two of the special weapons throughout the entire game regularly, if I recall - the rice balls to lure the guards, and the shuriken to take out the animals. It's been a long time since I played - I may have forgotten a few things, but this game was one of my favorites (Castlevania Symphony of the Night, Colony Wars, and Vandal Hearts being a few others).

I loved that smooth jazz Japanese music, also. I remember the game was derided for it in reviews, but I loved it so much I bought the soundtrack.