Thirty years ago this September, the Sony PlayStation (PS1) landed on North American shores, permanently upending the gaming industry and ushering in a bold new era of 3D gaming.
Rather infamously, the PlayStation started life as a Nintendo console, in what was supposed to be a collaboration between the two Japanese home entertainment giants. But when Nintendo balked, choosing the day after Sony’s announcement to declare, nope, Nintendo was teaming up with rival Philips instead, Sony turned insult into opportunity. If Nintendo wasn’t going to release the Nintendo PlayStation, damned if Sony wasn’t going to do it themselves – and beat Nintendo in the process.
History tells us who won. The PlayStation (later rebranded the PS1) handily outsold the Nintendo 64, 102.49 million units to the N64’s paltry 32.93 million. The subsequent PS2 would go on to become the best-selling console of all time, selling 160 million units against Nintendo’s 21.74 million GameCubes.
Since then, Sony and Nintendo have gone back and forth each successive console generation, the Nintendo Wii outpacing the PS3, the PS4 dramatically outselling the little-loved Wii U (which probably saw less sales than a graphing calculator), before Nintendo rebounded with the Switch, which outsold all competition and now ranks a comfortable second to the PS2 in all-time hardware sales.
Still, it’s interesting to observe how, all these decades later, it’s Nintendo which continues to dominate pop culture – my mom still calls any video game a “Nintendo” – despite Sony’s best efforts, and those of so many others – Atari, Sega, even Microsoft – who have come and gone. But if Crash Bandicoot never became a household name like Mario or Donkey Kong, that’s no knock against a long, proud Sony console tradition which started on September 9, 1995.
Here, then, are our Thirty for Thirty: the top PlayStation games of all time. As always, this list is only as good as its author: if I haven’t played it (sorry, Suikoden, Final Fantasy Tactics) it didn’t make the cut. Shout at me in the comments.
1. Metal Gear Solid (1998, HD remaster available on PS4/5 in the MGS Master Collection Vol. 1)
There had been two Metal Gears before this, but nobody was prepared for the sheer audacity of Metal Gear Solid, Hideo Kojima’s monumental, wildly idiosyncratic ode to spy fiction. Starring the ridiculously named super-spy Solid Snake (voiced by Toronto’s own David Hayter), MGS is a Bond film on steroids: there are clones, shapeshifters, an alphabet’s soup of all-caps nomenclature (FOXHOUND, DARPA, FOXDIE, etc.), and supremely convoluted government conspiracies, which would grow even more convoluted and conspiratorial as the series wore on. Possessed of a wonderful, fourth-wall-breaking sense of humour, MGS gets just as much mileage out of its action-movie thrills (check out that Cyborg Ninja fight) as it does from the quieter, sillier moments, like hiding in plain sight under a cardboard box, or any time it pokes fun at you, the player, right through the screen.
2. Final Fantasy VII (1997, available on PS4/5; avoid the weird reboot misleadingly known as FFVII: Remake )
Still the best JRPG ever made, this extraordinary fantasy epic plays like a distant cousin of both Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, its memorable band of heroes – Cloud, Aerith, Tifa, and so on – still spoken of in awed tones all these years later. With its well-realized quasi-open world (your airship can take you pretty well anywhere across the planet of Gaia), FFVII’s best feature isn’t the brilliant gameplay or the then-leading edge graphics, but its sophisticated approach to storytelling, which habitually subverts player expectations, daring us to question whether what we’re seeing is really the whole truth of the story.
3. Parasite Eve (1998, unavailable on modern systems)
Purists will scoff, but for my money Square’s first – and to date, only – attempt at survival horror is one of the capital-G Great entries in the PlayStation library, narrowly surpassing even the Silent Hills and Resident Evils of the world. Cinematic in a way only Square could pull off, what makes PE such a singular experience is its incredible setting, a snowy Christmas-week New York overrun with horrifically mutated animal life, ranging from giant rats to grotesque centipedes and worse. Its innovative menu-based real-time combat system has never really been replicated, outside Vagrant Story, also published by Square (and appearing lower on this lsit).
4. Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night (1997, available on PS4/5 in the Castlevania Requiem: Symphony of the Night collection)
The release that helped define the Metroidvania genre, it remains a perennial favourite for fans of any game which rewards exploration for exploration’s sake. One of the few of the genre in which backtracking does not grow frustrating after a certain amount of time, SotN has a bestiary to rival Ghosts ‘n Goblins, and the boss battles (and game-upending postscript) to show for it.
5. Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (1997, HD remaster available on PS4/PS5, Switch, Windows, and Xbox One as part of the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy)
While Sony never did quite get its own Mario, Crash Bandicoot sure tried his best, across a console-defining trilogy from Santa Monica-based developers Naughty Dog, future creators of Uncharted and The Last of Us. You could honestly pick any of the Crash games for this spot, but Crash 2 just barely edges out its counterparts by virtue of introducing Crash’s baby polar bear pal – and the incredible chase sequences it stars in.
6. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 (2000, remake available on PS4/5, Xbox One, Xbox X/S, Switch, and Windows)
I will never be nimble or balanced enough to pull off even skateboarding’s most basic tricks, but damned if the Tony Hawk series didn’t make me feel cool, if only in a virtual sense. All (well, almost all) the THPS games are great, but it’s the second entry which has maintained a consistently stellar reputation among PS1 stalwarts, with its flawless gameplay, incredible selection of levels, and bevy of unlockable secrets.
7. Silent Hill (1999, unavailable on modern consoles)
Popular consensus suggests its PS2-era sequel is better, but Silent Hill is no mere test run: eerie and unsettling, its eschewal of typical video game tropes – your weapons are weak and ineffectual; you can barely see what’s going on thanks to omnipresent fog – is what elevates it over its more action-oriented counterparts (see next entry). In Silent Hill, running in helpless terror is the point.
8. Resident Evil 2 (1998, remake available on PS4/5, Xbox One, Xbox X/S, Switch, and Windows)
I should clarify I’m a huge fan of the Resident Evil series, and consider one of its later entries (not the one you’re thinking of) one of the scariest games of all time. While the first entry is excellent in its own right – giant spiders! mutant sharks! – it’s hard to deny RE2’s increased scare factor, improved combat, and better storytelling. The addition of the terrifying monstrosity that is Mr. X, a giant zombie with a nasty habit of bursting through walls just when you’re trying to relax, elevates it beyond the other PS1-era RE games.
9. PaRappa The Rapper (1997, HD remaster available on PS4/5)
There’s a plethora of great music games on PS1, but PaRappa is likely top of many players’ lists, if only because of the PlayStation Underground demo disc everyone seems to have possessed at at least some point. While the whole game can be beaten in less than twenty minutes (once you get good enough), that’s no knock against its absurdly entertaining rhythm-based gameplay and dangerously memorable soundtrack. Kick, punch, it’s all in the mind.
10. Jet Moto 2 (1997, available on PS4/5)
If these rankings were based purely on total hours I personally devoted to each game, Jet Moto 2 would win in a landslide. Sci-fi racing fans will try to tell you that F-Zero or WipeOut are better, but for my money it’s hard to top Jet Moto 2’s incredible track design, innovative control scheme – your jet-bike boasts a magnetic grapple hook to swing around death-defying corners – and highly addictive gameplay loop. Conquering JM2’s heaven-and-hell stage is one of my all-time gaming accomplishments.
11. Bushido Blade (1997, unavailable on modern consoles)
So far ahead of its time the rest of gaming is still trying to catch up, Bushido Blade is a multiplayer duelling game in which the precision sword fighting feels real – as in, nick your opponent’s hand, they drop their weapon; land a blow to the neck, it’s instant game over. With no health bars, grindable “experience points”, or other gamification to speak of, it’s a pure test of skill like no other.
12. Gran Turismo (1997, unavailable on modern consoles)
Hugely influential, the original GT isn’t much to look at today, but at release its leading-edge graphics and obsessively accurate real-world car physics were a gift to gearheads everywhere. Deep Forest Raceway is, to this day, one of the greatest race tracks ever rendered in a digital space.
13. Spider-Man (2000, unavailable on modern consoles)
Before the MCU forced everything Marvel to fit in a nice shiny corporate-approved box, we were blessed with awesome, slightly gonzo comic book games like this one, which combines an Extremely 90s™ clone/symbiote storyline with a bevy of cameos and references to the broader Marvel universe. That includes, of course, a pitch-perfect “what if” mode narrated by Stan the Man Lee himself.
14. CTR: Crash Team Racing (1999, HD remaster available on PS4/5, Switch, and Windows as Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled)
It’s a rip-off, but a damn fine one, doing for PlayStation racing games what a certain mustachioed plumber did for Nintendo. (Crash Bash sucked though.)
15. Rival Schools: United By Fate (1997, unavailable on modern consoles)
Despite all three of us Rival Schools fans losing our minds when Akira Kazama showed up in Street Fighter V, there’s been nary a peep from Capcom about returning to this – perfectly designed, incredibly stylish – 2.5D fighting game which was a mainstay of my childhood multiplayer tournaments. The recent Capcom Fighting Collection Vol. 2 bizarrely included only its sequel, omitting the superior first entry.
16. I.Q. Intelligent Qube (1997, available on PS4/5)
Loosely resembling a 3D Tetris or maybe Bomberman, the brilliantly addictive I.Q. is hard to explain – there are rolling blocks, you’re a little dude trying to blow them up without getting smushed – but oh-so-satisfying once you “get it”.
17. Grand Theft Auto (1997, unavailable on modern consoles)
While its PS2 sequel would set the cinematic template we know today, the original GTA remains a surprisingly fun top-down crime simulator, the goal simply being to cause as much mayhem as possible, in as many stolen vehicles as possible, before getting caught by the cops. Fun fact: the game’s six levels are spread out across three familiar-sounding locations: Vice City, Liberty City, and San Andreas.
18. Vib-Ribbon (1999/2014, unavailable on modern consoles)
Delightfully simple but dangerously addictive, the best thing about this early entry in the rhythm game pantheon is that it relies on your own music, auto-generating levels based on whatever CD you insert in the console. Like the next entry, it finally came to North American shores a decade late via the PS3 Store, and those lucky enough to snag it can attest to its bizarre brilliance.
19. LSD: Dream Emulator (1998/2010, unavailable on modern consoles)
A Japan exclusive, this psychedelic, nearly incomprehensible experimental art game would eventually make its way to North American players through the PS3-era PlayStation Store, and for those of us who tried it, it remains an indelible, brain-breaking, experience.
20. Einhänder (1997, unavailable on modern consoles)
Shmups (“shoot-em-ups”) usually get short shrift on these lists, but it’s impossible to ignore the importance of Einhänder, widely considered one of the best of the genre thanks to its impeccable level design, brilliant arsenal of weaponry, and tough-but-fair challenge. Like Parasite Eve, it’s another genre one-off from fabled developers Square, and prove that they’re more than just the house of RPGs.
21. Tomba! (HD remaster available on PS4/5)
I will never not take advantage of a chance to shout out beloved oddball 2.5D platformer Tomba!, the anthropomorphic pig-chomping game from Tokuro Fujiwara, better known for Ghosts ‘n Goblins. Thank you GameFAQs.com for helping me navigate its secret-laden world.
22. Dino Crisis (1999, unavailable on modern consoles)
Putting together this list, it’s been interesting to see the extent to which survival horror dominated the PS1, this unabashed Resident Evil-but-dinosaurs knockoff (by RE publisher Capcom, no less) a prime example of how to iterate on the genre in interesting ways. More games need stealthy velociraptors which stalk your every move.
23. Medal of Honor: Underground (2000, unavailable on modern consoles)
Steven Spielberg’s first foray into game design was the Medal of Honor series, released in the wake of his Oscar-winning Saving Private Ryan, and which arguably peaked with this second entry, which took the then-unusual step of starring a female lead, French resistance fighter Manon Batiste (voice actor Elea Oberon).
24. MediEvil (1998, remake available on PS4/5)
One of the best things about the ill-fated PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (2012) was that it introduced a whole new generation of players to Sir Daniel Fortesque, the comically creepy walking skeleton who starred in a pair of half-forgotten adventure games that look like they came from the mind of Tim Burton. A 2019 remake brought Sir Dan back to life (see what I did there) and sparked fervent hope for a proper sequel. We’re still waiting, Sony…
25. Tekken 3 (1997, unavailable on modern consoles)
Like many gamers, I probably spent more time with the arcade cabinet than the home console port, but either way Tekken 3 is a landmark achievement in fighting game history, perfecting its 2.5D combat scheme in which side-stepping attacks is a perfectly viable – and infuriating – tactic.
26. Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes (1998, available on PS4/5, Xbox One, Switch, and Windows as part of the Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection)
Its sequel is the undisputed superior, but the first entry in this legendary series is excellent in its own right, with a 2-vs.-2 format that encourages – and rewards – exciting pop culture mashups like Gambit/Mega Man vs. Ryu/Wolverine.
27. Spyro the Dragon (1998, remake available on PS4/5, Xbox One, Switch, and Windows as part of the Spyro Reignited Trilogy)
The friendly rivalry between Naughty Dog’s Crash Bandicoot and Insomniac’s Spyro games was a highlight of the PS1, and it’s hard to deny the simple, freewheeling charm of this first Spyro game, with its big, beautiful, bright green fantasy worlds where exploration is its own reward.
28. Tomb Raider (1996, HD remaster available on PS4/5, Xbox X/S, Xbox One, Switch, and Windows as part of Tomb Raider I–III Remastered)
Only the second game on this list with a 32-bit T. rex, the original Tomb Raider may have aged inelegantly – the graphics are rough, especially when compared to something like Metal Gear Solid; the tank controls remain clunky (though still infinitely better than the “modern” controls in the recent remaster) – but it remains an incredible adventure, successfully translating Indiana Jones-style tomb raiding to an interactive medium.
29. Rayman (1995, unavailable on modern platforms)
The little dude with no limbs, Ubisoft’s plucky platforming hero offers a textbook study in optimized gameplay: everything about Rayman’s world, from the way he jumps, to the precise placement of platforms, to enemy movement patterns, has been honed to perfection. It was, perhaps, inevitable that this series, which began with the tense chase sequences seen here, would culminate in the delightful music stages of later entries.
30. Vagrant Story (2000, unavailable on modern platforms)
I may be a Vagrant Story skeptic, but there’s no denying the uniformity of vision – and flawless gameplay – of this forgotten medieval-themed JRPG by Squaresoft, a sort-of distant cousin to the similarly-structured Parasite Eve… but with way more swords.
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Looking for more classic gaming recommendations?
Check out our 25th anniversary roundup of the Greatest PS2 Games of All-Time, our picks for the Best Canadian Games of All Time, or any one of the entries in our ongoing “Late to the Game” series.
