20 Notoriously Bad PlayStation 1 Games That Everyone Played (And 10 Classics No One Did)
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Not every PlayStation 1 video game was a classic, but a lot of them completely missed the mark.
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The original PlayStation was a landmark console that shaped the future of console gaming as we know it. For all we know, Nintendo might’ve been the only gaming powerhouse present in the modern day-and-age had it not been for this bold business venture by Sony that paid off in dividends. Aiming to capture more of a mature gaming market as opposed to Nintendo’s age-friendly offerings, the console was a roaring success and boasted some of the most iconic games of all time that are still fresh in the minds of anyone lucky enough to experience the PlayStation’s golden years first-hand. While console gaming might’ve progressed by leaps and bounds over time, the games on the original console are still fondly remembered to this day.
However, while the support of third-party developers might’ve gone a long way in sealing the PlayStation’s runaway success, it also had its downsides. Along with a litany of incredible games that graced the console and became legendary in the process, the PlayStation was also marred by numerous subpar, mediocre, and downright awful titles that have left a bad taste in the mouth of gamers who were unlucky enough to play these abominations. The worst part is that a large number of these titles have actually been played by a substantially high proportion of the PlayStation’s fanbase, which is certainly quite saddening, to say the least. So, let’s take a look at 20 of the weakest titles on the PS1, coupled with 10 hidden gems that no one remembers.
30 WORST — Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero
It’s unfortunate that we have to talk about Mortal Kombat in a negative light. After all, the series has some of the best fighting games that have revolutionized the genre as we know it.
However, Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero is not a part of this esteemed category.
If anything, it’s a smear on the Mortal Kombat name that most people would prefer to forget. While the foray into an action-adventure genre might’ve been admirable, it turned out to be pretty wasteful endeavor at the end of the day.
29 WORST — Mary-Kate & Ashley: Magical Mystery Mall
You’d think that the PlayStation would have at least one good tie-in game with the entertainment industry, but you’d be oh-so-wrong. The fact of the matter is that Mary-Kate & Ashley: Magical Mystery Mall is an absolute bummer that you need to avoid. If you’re really into playing badly designed games, then boot this game and try to play some of the most broken minigames you’ll ever bare witness to.
28 BEST — Metal Gear Solid
When one talks about one of the most legendary games in the PlayStation era, then they would be remiss to not mention an iconic game that popularized the stealth genre as we know it.
Yep, you guessed it — we’re talking about none other than Metal Gear Solid.
Hideo Kojima’s status as a genius in the world of gaming was established early on with this title that went above and beyond the call of duty and introduced fans to the sheer possibilities that gaming could enable. From an epic story to challenging gameplay — Metal Gear Solid has it all, and then some.
27 WORST — Spice World
Whoo boy.
Now, we all know that making games for the sole purpose of marketing can be quite counterproductive. Just take a look at Pepsiman or the endless Spider-Man movie tie-in cash grabs. However, Spice Girls takes the cake as a bad “game” meant solely for marketing purposes.
The “game” — if one can even call it that — is just a collection of lame minigames that serve as nothing more than a waste of a person’s precious time. If this game was actually entertaining for you somehow, then shame on you.
26 WORST — WCW/nWo Thunder
There are actually numerous quality wrestling video games that were released in the 90s. After all, wrestling was in its heyday, and the rivalry between WCW and WWE (WWF at that time) was at its most ferocious. Unfortunately — seemingly as an indication of the times to come — WCW/NWO Thunder was largely forgettable.
The gameplay wasn’t refined, the overall experience was pretty boring, and there was little to no improvement between this game and WCW Nitro, which in itself was pretty mediocre.
25 BEST — Vagrant Story
A criminally underappreciated JRPG that most people have forgotten, Vagrant Story is an excellent game released by Squaresoft during its heyday. The game could’ve arguably performed better commercially, had it not been released at the end of the PlayStation’s life cycle.
Featuring a unique combat system that took a fair bit of time getting used to — basically, the game was extremely hard if not approached correctly — the game was lauded on all fronts but wasn’t a commercial success… at least, by Squaresoft standards.
24 WORST — The Crow: City Of Angels
Games based on movies generally don’t tend to perform well, but at least they have some semblance of quality. However, The Crow: City of Angels falls well below these poor standards and provides gamers unlucky enough to buy this drivel with some of the worst beat-’em-up action seen on the PlayStation.
The hit detection is so useless that most of the time, you’ll just be hitting air and nothing else. This makes the game either incredibly hard… or incredibly easy, since the enemy AI is so broken that they’ll either stunlock you to smithereens or get stunlocked to smithereens.
23 WORST — The Simpsons Wrestling
The Simpsons in the 90s was a cultural phenomenon, boasting some of the wittiest content that kept the majority of us glued to their screens as they roared in laughter. So, you can imagine the disappointment of gamers all over the country who wanted to control their favorite characters but ended up playing a cruddy game instead when they purchased The Simpsons Wrestling.
Boring combos, broken gameplay, unbalanced characters (just choose Ned Flanders and you’ve won) — there’s no end to the problems in this garbage title that does wrong by the Simpsons’ legacy… kinda like what the latest seasons have been doing.
22 BEST — Suikoden II
You’re bound to see numerous JRPGs in this list, and for good reason. The PlayStation was the place for Eastern developers to showcase their creativity when it came to the sheer number of tools at their disposal. Just take a look at Suikoden II — a game that boasts over a 100 recruitable characters.
While the game is generally considered to be quite great in today’s times, its commercial performance was quite poor. This certainly wasn’t helped by the conservative reviews that didn’t realize just how innovative the title actually was.
21 WORST — The Fifth Element
Remember when we talked about shoddy movie titles? Good, because The Fifth Element is another such title that you need to stay well away from. Don’t play this game just because the movie piqued your interest, because it will forever tarnish your image of what might’ve been a great cinematic experience.
From the sluggish controls to the lackluster gameplay — nothing about this game is even slightly redeemable. Stay clear of this abomination, lest it warp your opinion of video games for the worse.
20 WORST — South Park: Chef’s Luv Shack
The South Park RPGs released by Ubisoft for the modern generation have gone a long way to redeem the series in the eyes of video game fans. After all, the other games that this series has churned out have been nothing short of stinky doo-doo. The South Park FPS-style game released prior was bad enough, but most people have heard enough about that game.
What they might not be aware of is another blemish called South Park: Chef’s Luv Shack, which is an unholy combination of trivia and minigames — none of which are executed properly, by the way.
19 BEST — Tomba!
Along with its fair share of JRPGs, the PlayStation was also littered with numerous platformers — some more memorable than others. One such game that slowly faded into obscurity even after receiving positive reviews for its art style and gameplay is Tomba!
While the game didn’t sell well, it did develop a vocal cult following. This led to its sequel, Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return. Unfortunately, the mediocre commercial performance of both games led to the eventual demise of its studio, Whoopee Camp.
18 WORST — Space Griffon VF-9
There are many games with great ideas that are executed properly. This is perhaps even worse than an outright bad game since this means that any promise that the game might’ve shown is squashed mainly due to poor implementation.
This is the story with Space Griffon VF-9, a mecha FPS survival-horror RPG that’s about as overstuffed as it sounds. While the developers tried to crafty a halfway-decent story, it was marred by an unusually high number of fetch quests that bogged down the overall experience.
17 WORST — Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat
The RTS genre isn’t really suited for consoles — after all, the idea of controlling one unit to attack, another to retreat, a third to forage, while a fourth roams the map is too much for a puny DualShock controller to handle. While we’re not saying that RTS games are a complete failure on consoles, the early attempts to integrate this genre in the console market was no good.
Case in point — Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat was a mediocre RTS game released for the PC. However, its port on the PlayStation was nothing short of awful, with lackluster and boring gameplay that serves as nothing more than a waste of your precious time.
16 BEST — Resident Evil
A pioneer of the survival horror genre along with Silent Hill, we’ve chosen Resident Evil because it’s still relevant to this day with the latest title in the series. Unfortunately, Silent Hill hasn’t received the same treatment, which is a darn shame indeed.
The title featured some revolutionary gameplay and introduced gamers to the concept of tank movement, for better or for worse. The tension building up in the game is nothing short of immense and goes to show that graphics don’t matter if you nail the atmosphere.
15 WORST — Kileak: The DNA Imperative
An ambitious FPS game with some admittedly great 3D graphics and cutscenes for its time, Kileak: The DNA Imperative should’ve been a roaring success. However, this wasn’t the case, mainly due to shoddy gameplay and repetitive levels that did nothing more than bore the player.
On top of everything else, the game can also get frustrating at times due to the slew of boring enemies that utilize cheap tactics to defeat the player.
14 WORST — Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker
Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker is an excellent animated movie that you should watch if you are even remotely interested in the DC Universe. However, the game based on this movie is nothing more than a complete abomination.
Batman’s moves are incredibly boring, and it can be really hard to even hit an enemy because of the cruddy hit detection. However, since the game is inherently broken, a player can use cheap moves and manipulate the enemy’s cruddy AI to their advantage.
13 BEST — Legacy Of Kain: Soul Reaver
The Legacy Of Kain series itself is one of the most underrated series of all time, featuring a slew of brilliantly odd games that garnered a sizeable and vocal fanbase. However, most modern gamers don’t know squat about this series, which is just so unfair.
Just take a look at Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, the game which coined the name to an as-yet-unnamed series. Featuring unique gameplay and non-linear design — a feature that received both praise and criticism — one might argue that Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver was way ahead of its time.
12 WORST — VIP: Starring Pamela Anderson
But you know what wasn’t ahead of its time? VIP: Starring Pamela Anderson, a ridiculous cash-in meant solely to entice teenage boys and people who actually saw the show to purchase this awful title.
To call this black hole a “game” is giving it too much credit. Instead of programming in the standard beat-’em-up action, the game is an overload of quick-time events disguised as the “action,” combined with a lame on-rails shooting that makes you wish for the garbage fighting segment to come back!
11 WORST — Barbie: Explorer
Quick, make a guess! What happens if you use a product that’s completely devoid of personality to emulate something as iconic as Indiana Jones but with none of the polish, passion, or pizazz? Well, you get Barbie: Explorer, a “game” notorious for being one of the worst titles to grace the PlayStation with its foul presence.
The game might’ve just been halfway decent if they’d bothered to fix the god-awful camera and integrate some new environments that didn’t seem like lazy copy-paste design.
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Link Source : https://www.thegamer.com/playstation-1-games-classics-everyone-played-not-great/