A launch title on the PlayStation and the first game I ever played on the system, Ridge Racer is a conversion of the classic arcade racing game from Namco.
Tag Archives: 1994
Sony PlayStation Special
The Sony PlayStation was the first machine in the PlayStation series of video game consoles and it came out in Japan first, in 1994, and in 1995 everywhere else. It is widely seen as being the console that changed gaming forever; the console that marked the transition from cartridge-based console gaming, to CD-ROM based games, and also the console that ushered in a new era of 3D gaming. It was also the console that made Sony a major player in the video game business.
Over its eleven-year lifespan 7,918 individual games were released for the PlayStation, accumulating just under a billion sales overall. The console itself became the first to sell over 100 million units.
This week I’m going to be featuring screenshots from a number of my favourite PlayStation games. Some you might have heard of (or even played), others you might never have seen before. One thing is for sure, though: interest in the original PlayStation is still going strong, some 27 years after its initial release. And that’s because these great games endure, and because emulation has breathed new life into the format.
Oh, and if you’re wondering what the blue PlayStation is: that is a development PlayStation – used by developers to create and test the games themselves. The photos are of my very own console, taken by myself, specifically for this blog.
Here’s a full list of what was published:
Rapid Reload
Kula World
No One Can Stop Mr. Domino!
Ganbare Goemon: Uchuu Kaizoku Akogingu
Devil Dice
Revelations: Persona
Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss
Pepsiman
Metal Gear Solid
Ridge Racer
Croc: Legend of the Gobbos
Strider 2
Jumping Flash!
Vib-Ribbon
Enjoy,
The King of Grabs
More: Sony PlayStation on Wikipedia
Ghoul Patrol, Super Nintendo
Ghoul Patrol is the 1994 sequel to Zombies Ate My Neighbors and it features gameplay and graphics very similar to its predecessor, which is no bad thing on the face of it, considering that Zombies Ate My Neighbors is a fun game.
Shin Megami Tensei If…, Super Nintendo
Shin Megami Tensei If… is a spin-off from the main Shin Megami Tensei series that is smaller and more confined than previous games. It was developed and published by Atlus in 1994.
This time the story is set in a school where a bullied pupil tries to summon demons in the gym, to deal with his harassers, only to wind-up being possessed by them and threatening to destroy the world. You play a group of schoolkids who team-up to try to stop him.
Shin Megami Tensei II, Super Nintendo
Shin Megami Tensei II is the direct sequel to Shin Megami Tensei and was first published in Japan in 1994 by Atlus.
While the basic gameplay is essentially the same as before, with tile-based movement and first-person combat sections, overhead city map sections, and magic, occult and religious themes, the developers deliberately chose not to connect this sequel directly to its predecessor, so story-wise it is somewhat different, being set in the far-flung future.
Ganbare Goemon 3: Shishijyūrokubei no Karakuri Manji Katame, Super Nintendo
The second sequel to the wonderful Legend of the Mystical Ninja, Ganbare Goemon 3: Shishijyūrokubei no Karakuri Manji Katame was again only ever released in Japan and was recently given a fan translation, allowing English-speaking audiences to finally enjoy it.
Continue reading Ganbare Goemon 3: Shishijyūrokubei no Karakuri Manji Katame, Super Nintendo
Mega Bomberman, Megadrive/Genesis
I have said previously on this blog that no system is complete without a version of Hudson Soft‘s Bomberman, and the Megadrive has one in the form of Mega Bomberman.
Urban Strike, Megadrive/Genesis
Urban Strike is the second sequel to Desert Strike, and the follow-up to Jungle Strike, and it improves on both those games in a number of different ways.
For starters: there are now indoor shooting sections, where you have to search for MIAs and POWs and free them. Secondly: this time you get to fly different helicopters, and thirdly: you also get to drive ground assault vehicles! Yippee! 🙂
Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy, Neo Geo
Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy was first released on the Neo Geo by SNK in 1994. It is a side-scrolling arcade platform game, sometimes referred to as a “predecessor to Metal Slug“, and featuring two playable characters… Yes, you guessed it: Roddy and Cathy.
Aero Fighters 2, Neo Geo
Aero Fighters 2 (also known as Sonic Wings 2) is a superb vertically-scrolling bullet hell shooter from 1994, developed by Video System and published by SNK on the Neo Geo.
It can be played single, or simultaneous two-player, and you can choose between eight different aircraft to fly. Well, not really ‘fly’, but you know what I mean…
