In a time before online gaming or digital purchases, a single new game needed to last you a good, long while to help you feel like you got your money’s worth. Luckily for those of us who got on board the PlayStation bandwagon when it set off back in the 90s, Sony’s first shot at the gaming market was positively swimming in quality titles, both from Sony’s own studios and a large swath of third parties.
Even if you only had a couple of discs sitting under the TV with your PlayStation, odds were good you still had plenty of reason to boot the thing up on any given day, whether you were by yourself or hanging around with friends. With games like these, you could easily meet either scenario, playing them over and over and relishing the experience every time. Maybe you could call it a necessity of the times, but it also helped us appreciate the games we could afford.
10 Bust-A-Move 4
Puzzles, Bobbles, And Puzzle Bobbles
Arcade-style puzzle games are great home console investments for the same reason they drain endless quarters out of your pocket: because they’re always good for a quick pick-up game. There were a lot of great puzzle games released around the PS1’s term, though one of my favorites is still Bust-A-Move 4, also known as Puzzle Bobble 4. Why did they call that series “Bust-A-Move” in the west, anyway…?
Like its predecessors, Bust-A-Move 4 is a vertical puzzle game starring the characters of the Bubble-Bobble series. Like most tile-matching games, your goal is to launch colored bubbles up into the field, clearing them away by matching them in combos. Bust-A-Move 4 adds some new mechanics to the mix, like pulley bubbles and chain reactions in multiplayer modes.
Speaking of, there are lots of modes available, from straight player-on-player battles to two kinds of story modes with both standalone and head-to-head formats. There’s also a level editor you can use to make your own puzzles from scratch, which is always amusing to inflict upon your friends and family.
9 Hot Shots Golf
A Standard In Golf Games
When you think of colorful console golf games, what immediately springs to mind? Probably Mario Golf, right? But did you know that two years before Mario Golf released on Nintendo 64, its developer, Camelot Software Planning, was already perfecting its golfing science on the PlayStation? The game it did that with was Hot Shots Golf, though you may know it by its original name it goes by these days, Everybody’s Golf.
Hot Shots Golf pioneered a lot of the mechanics that Camelot would put to work later in Mario Golf, from various playable characters to a combination of short and long game golfing gameplay, backed by real-time terrain effects and wind. It’s got nice, tight controls, and the way the ball moves feels appropriately responsive and realistic, so it’s a very learnable game compared to more realistic sports games.
In addition to regular golf, there’s also mini-golf courses included if you want to practice your putting or just want something a little more straightforward. No windmills or horrid blue water fountains, unfortunately, but even just a few banks and hills are enough to throw a wrench into your perfect shot while you’re playing with friends. Isn’t that what mini-golf is all about, truly?
8 Intelligent Qube
Are You Smarter Than A Polygon?
Puzzle games obviously aren’t a full reflection of one’s mental acuity, but they are a fun way to test things like mental reflexes and problem-solving. If you ever want to prove a point to a friend about who among you has a sharper wit, that’s as good an excuse as any to boot up Intelligent Qube on the PS1. Get it? “Intelligent Qube?” Like “I.Q.?” It’s funny, laugh.
Intelligent Qube is a cerebral puzzle game with a seemingly simple hook. You’re a little dude on a long length of 3D cubes, with groups of cubes gradually rolling toward you. You need to tag a spot on the ground, wait for a cube to roll over it, then deactivate the tag to clear the cube away. Careful timing and foresight is critical, as just clearing cubes at random will eventually leave you stranded and pushed to your doom.
Besides proving how smart you are, clearing the game multiple times unlocks new features like other playable characters with unique abilities and a mode for creating your own cube puzzles. There’s no multiplayer, unfortunately, but if you want, you can just shout in your friend’s ear while they try to concentrate.
7 Time Crisis
Worth Buying A Light Gun For
Light gun rail-shooter games were a rare treat for home consoles back in the day. It was the kind of thing you could only really play in an arcade, both with the appropriate peripheral and the best graphics. Even so, the PS1 had its share of light gun classics, from Area 51 to Point Blank, and that all-time favorite, the original Time Crisis. You needed to buy a light gun for it, but it was totally worth it.
The original Time Crisis pioneered the series’ signature duck-and-cover mechanic, where you need to pop out of cover to take aim at enemies and duck back to avoid incoming fire. The arcade version had a foot pedal for this, though you could replicate that on the PS1 version if you had pedals from a racing wheel peripheral. The whole reason it’s called “Time Crisis” is because you’re on the clock, so you can’t just stay in cover forever. It’s fun and hectic, and a great swap-on-death game to play with friends.
The PS1 port also added a bunch of extra stages that weren’t present in the arcade version, as well as a Special mode that changes your route through the game depending on how you perform in a given stage. One player’s run through Time Crisis may not be the same as another’s.
6 R4: Ridge Racer Type 4
High-Speed Real Racing
I admit, I typically prefer wackier, more colorful racing games compared to more realistic racers on traditional tracks. Even so, I can appreciate the raw thrill of driving at unsafe speeds along residential roads and highways. That’s what always made the Ridge Racer series fun, and out of all the entries on the PS1, a standout remains R4: Ridge Racer Type 4.
As usual, R4 has you cruising highways in decked-out cars, with a big emphasis on drifting through tight corners, Initial D-style. There aren’t any items or boosters or anything wacky, just good old speed and skill, and there’s plenty of both to appreciate solo or against friends in splitscreen.
Not only are there multiple grands prix for you to conquer, but R4 also introduces four different racing teams you can join. Each team has a unique story mode for you to experience, and by racing in the circuits with every possible combination of team and car manufacturer, you can unlock a grand total of 320 customizable vehicles to try out.
There’s Always Time For Vehicular Mayhem
If you ever took a saunter through the PS1 section at your local Blockbuster circa 1996, you would almost certainly see a few copies of Twisted Metal and Twisted Metal 2 tempting you on the shelves. There’s a reason for this: if you were in dire need of a way to spend the weekend, Twisted Metal was always ready to provide. Both games are good, though Twisted Metal 2 has aged a little bit better.
Twisted Metal 2 is the quintessential destruction derby game; no racing, no circuits, just big arenas, jagged-metal cars, and all the traps and heavy ordinance you can carry. It’s not unlike playing an arena shooter, but the addition of car-specific controls adds an entirely new dimension to the gameplay that requires tricky steering and swift acceleration and reversing to stay out of the line of fire.
You can queue up a solo or multiplayer battle in any arena, or you can play single or co-op through the game’s story mode, facing off against waves of foes in multiple arenas back-to-back. It’s the kind of game you and a friend would brawl your way through on a late Saturday night, then sleep in the following Sunday.
4 Soul Blade
The Start Of The Legend
While maybe not to the extent I would personally prefer, the SoulCalibur series of fighting games has amassed some well-deserved prestige over the years for its 3D weapon-based combat. The game that properly kicked off this legendary series, Soul Edge, originally launched in arcades in 1996, making its way to homes via the PlayStation the following year, adopting the name Soul Blade for the western release.
Soul Blade can be best described as “Tekken with swords.” You’ve got full 3D arenas to run around in, lots of different characters to play as, each with their own unique weapons and fighting styles, and just a generally fun and responsive fighting system. This game served as the first appearance for many series mainstays, too. Like Voldo! Good ol’ nightmare-inducing Voldo.
The PlayStation port is based off Ver. II of the arcade game, so it has a few extra unlockable characters, new costumes, new weapons to unlock, and an entire single-player RPG-like adventure mode. Whether you’re doing that, playing the arcade ladders, or pummeling your friends, there’s always something to do.
3 Crash Team Racing
Sony’s Swing At Nintendo
By the mid-90s, if you wanted quality kart racing, you went to the Nintendo 64 for games like Mario Kart 64 or Diddy Kong Racing. Plenty of other franchises took a swing at the concept, but most fell short. One kart racer that managed to hold its ground against the plumber, however, was Crash Team Racing, a must-have for any PS1 owner.
Crash Team Racing is aesthetically similar to Mario Kart; you have a bunch of good guys and bad guys from the Crash series racing along wacky tracks, pelting each other with randomized items. The devil was in the details, with small, yet notable changes to the framework, like the micromanaged turbo boost system and collecting Wumpa fruit to upgrade your items.
Additionally, while the game is great fun for pick-up play with the friends, it also has a substantial single-player campaign, which includes boss races, time trial Relic Races, and special challenges for tokens. It was quite a time sink, requiring full completion before you could participate in the true final race against the game’s antagonist, Nitros Oxide. You could also just race on individual tracks if you’re just looking for a way to pass the time. It’s a very accommodating game.
2 Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night
There’s Always More To Uncover
You’d think a game of substantial size like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night wouldn’t actually be that replayable, just given the sheer breadth of content and time that goes into a single run of it, but you’d be wrong. Symphony of the Night is one of those truly classic games that just never really gets old, no matter how many times you play through it. It certainly helps that you’ll probably never find everything it has to offer on your first run anyway.
Symphony of the Night was and remains one of the tastemakers of the entire Metroidvania genre, the whole reason that “-vania” is even in there. It’s got a gigantic map full of nooks and crannies to explore, all kinds of obtainable and unlockable weapons and abilities, some classic boss fights. Just exploring the map will lead you to a galaxy of content, and that’s before you get to the back half of the game and the inverted castle.
Playing the game again is honestly enough of a justification for it to be on this list, but if you need an excuse, Symphony of the Night is great fodder for speedrunning. The map may be gigantic, but everything has a precise place on it, and I’ve seen some wonderfully mad individuals map it out to the most miniscule pixel for speedrunning purposes.
1 Resident Evil 2
You Can Do It Faster
Speaking of speedrunning, Resident Evil 2 is one of those games that feels reasonably long the first time you play it, but when you get to the end, you realize it’s only been about 6–9 hours. That realization is, frequently, followed by a second realization: “I want to do that again!”
The first time you play Resident Evil 2 is a very memorable experience because you’re wandering around in the proverbial dark with absolutely no idea what you’re doing. You don’t know where the items you need are, you don’t know when Mr. X is going to show up, you’re just flying by the seat of your pants. On subsequent playthroughs, though, things are different. You have an inkling of what needs to happen and when, you know all the best ways to defend yourself. And so, you try to do it all as quickly and precisely as you possibly can.
Even if you’re not going for a speedrunning record, Resident Evil 2 just feels satisfying to play again. It’s an expertly-assembled game full of memorable story and gameplay setpieces, and most anyone who plays it once is down to do it all over again at least once a year.
- Security Camera Installation – indoor/outdoor IP CCTV systems & video analytics
- Access Control Installation – key card, fob, biometric & cloud‑based door entry
- Business Security Systems – integrated alarms, surveillance & access control
- Structured Cabling Services – voice, data & fiber infrastructure for new or existing builds
- Video Monitoring Services – 24/7 remote surveillance and analytics monitoring
Author: 360 Technology Group
.png?format=1500w&ssl=1 "Shudder To Think announce 2026 tour dates")
