411 Games Top 5 10.15.09: Week 33 - Top Playstation Games *Updated*

Posted by Todd Vote on 10.15.2009

Playstation games are up this week. The staff breaks down our favorites from the original Sony monster. Everything from Metal Gear Solid to Resident Evil 2. Come in to see if your favorites made our lists. Now with more list!

Welcome back to another week of the Top 5. Let's not waste any time this week and jump right into some feedback, but before we do, I have something that I think needs to be said again.

We are now 33 weeks into the Top 5 as ran by Toddo. For some reason there are a few people who still do not get that we are not after a definitive top 5 for any subject we cover. We are simply listing our favorites. What this means for you the reader is that some of your favorites, believe it or not, may not make our lists. Further more, there is no reason for any one of you to think for any reason that you know what our favorite games are better than we do. Talking down at one of us for a game we have on our list, or for the lack of certain games, just proves that you are not paying attention to the premise. Trying to create a definitive list is boring. It's much more fun to just have the writers list their favorites, it leaves room for debate, and the chance to cover more great games. They don't have to be your favorites, nor do your favorites have to make our lists. As you can probably deduce, this little rant here is stemming from some comments made last week. So this is a blanket statement for any of you that thought our lists failed, or that we are once again idiots because our favorites didn't suit how your top 5 would play out. Now let's get to some feedback from the people who get it.


Comment Time with Toddo!

The SNES was the best console ever, and this just proves that as it's damn near impossible to have a top 5 without leaving out some classic games. No-one mentioned it, but Lost Vikings was brilliant, as was Syndicate, Chaos Engine, and countless others.
Posted By: Paul Schofield (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 12:29 PM

This man speaks the truth. There was so much greatness about the SNES, I would not have been surprised to see no repeat games on the lists. Of course that wasn't the case, but it wouldn't have shocked me.

I'm jealous that Jeff managed to somehow jury-rig the Multi-Tap for Super Mario Kart, considering it was a two-player game.
I always wanted to get four folks playing that fucker at once. :/
Posted By: Meirsch (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 12:41 AM

Jeff is a ninja of the multi-tap... What's the secret Jeffrey?

Long live SUPER METROID!!! I'm also glad to see Tetris Attack get a mention.
Posted By: The Great Capt. Smooth (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 05:27 AM

Mystical Ninja!!!!!
Posted By: Neilx (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 02:54 AM

"4. That Star Wars game where the second level was spent driving through a damn desert of some kind and took 12 fucking minutes."

HA! I'm 90% positive that's the first one, Super Star Wars, where you're on Tatooine in Luke's speeder. One of those Mode 7 levels that got out there before they were really sure what they were doing with it, so you can't avoid anything until the last second. Hilarious!
Posted By: HH (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 07:22 AM


Glad to see Killer Instinct get a vote... also, I know it's cool to hate RPGs these days but FF2 & 3 (IV & VI) were awesome on SNES.
Posted By: Guest#4592 (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 08:25 AM

Love the DK country and Super Mario World and Kart love. I only have two real issues with these lists 1) No love for Super Punch Out?? and more importantly 2) Only one guy mentioned Mega Man X?? Are you kidding me? Yes, I understand that over the years, Mega Man games have become watered down, but they were still awesome back in the day.
Posted By: JWestmoreland (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 09:36 AM

You make a good point J. In my defense, Super Punchout!! never really held my attention like the original did.

"Yeah, I know another list that is almost impossible to narrow down to 5, but the things we do so you guys have some shit to read while at work... you're welcome."

Just wanted to take the opportunity to say THANK YOU. It would be a much longer day without you guys.
Posted By: The REAL MP (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 12:15 PM

Hey, thank you. You keep reading, and we'll keep pumping them out.
Lists!!

No Final Fantasies on there at all. I thought 6 was one of the best games for the SNES thought it's not my fave. Someone recognized Saturday Night Slam Masters which was an awesome wrestling game. Our friends and my brother and I would play all the time using the multi tap. It used to be the older brothers v. the younger brothers.

my personal top 5
1. Final Fantasy IV
2. Legend of Zelda: A link to the Past
3. Super Metroid
4. Final Fantasy VI
5. Super Mario Kart

Honorable Mentions
Secret of Mana
Seiken Densetsu 3
Donkey Kong 3
Star Fox
Posted By: Kyle (Guest) on October 07, 2009 at 11:15 PM

5. Super Mario World
4. Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
3. Final Fantasy IV
2. Street Fighter II Turbo
1. Chrono Trigger
Posted By: Soy (Registered) on October 08, 2009 at 12:20 AM

God, the SNES was a great system. Here is my top five:
1. A link to the Past
2. Super Metroid
3. Donkey Kong Country
4. Zombies ate my Neighbors
5. Super Mario World
Posted By: Dave in Cali (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 02:38 AM

5. Mortal Kombat 3
4. Mario Paint
3. Final Fantasy II (or IV if you will)
2. Super Mario World
1. Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Posted By: Chris Scott (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 11:28 AM

There were so many great lists in the comments section. I wish I had room to reprint them all. Unfortunately, thats not possible. But you guys keep them coming.


This column is approved by Christina Hendricks


The nostalgia continues to run rampant in the Top 5 as this week we take a look at our Top 5 PS1 games. Is the PS1 remembered as fondly as their 16 bit counterparts? There is no doubt that the PS1 had plenty of innovative features, but that's not what we are here to talk about. Today is all about our favorite PS1 games. Did yours make our lists? If not feel free to leave your own lists in the comments section. Lets get right to it.

First up this week is Chris Lansdell. Chris most recently contributed a new If I Could Be Serious For a Moment over at the wrestling zone. Check it out when you get a chance.

Chris LansdellHONORABLE MENTIONS

Gran Turismo - I'm not exactly a fan of racing games, but this one just did it for me. Although it was chock-full of realism, it had a learning curve that made it fairly easy to get into, the graphics were amazing for its time and the soundtrack was tailor-made for a driving game. Nothing beats zipping around in a Nissan Skyline listening to Sweet 16. "Get away from here" is all she said, "you're like a social disease!" They should have called it "Ode to Salmela".

Actua Soccer 2 - Back in 1996/97, the football game landscape was very different. FIFA plain sucked, and PES was still the cartoony ISS. A tiny little company named Gremlin Interactive brought out the Actua series of games, with Tennis and Golf being fairly decent efforts. The standout, however, was the Soccer series. It pioneered things like a decent through-ball system and 2-man commentary, with the latter having the superior Barry Davies as opposed to FIFA's John Motson. Unforunately the series faded as FIFA improved.

Soul Blade - This low because I only wanted to put 1 fighting game in the top 5, and because it's mainly on the list because of the awesome, awesome intro:



I have searched high and low for an MP3 of that song and never found it. Oh yeah...the game was pretty kick-ass too, adding weapons to a modified Tekken engine.


5. Die Hard Trilogy: No game at the time this was released had done what DHT did: combined three different games from three different genres on one disc. Each movie got a different genre: Die Hard was a thrid-person action game, Die Harder was a rail shooter and Die Hard with a Vengeance was a GTA-precursor driving game which was probably the weakest of the three. Part 2 was light gun compatible, just for the extra kicks.

4. Final Fantasy VII: The Final Fantasy games always had a great reputation with the RPG crowd, but VII took that to a new level and made the genre mainstream. The world was huge, the spells were varied, the summons were awesome, and there were tons of hidden bonuses and tricks to go back and find. It was one of those games that everyone you knew had played, and it moved the series from cult favourite to best seller.

3. Bushido Blade: Quite simply the most unique fighting game ever conceived, and possibly the most unique game ever. I know plenty of people who hated it because you could easily die in 2 seconds, but they were missing the point of the game: strategy in a fighter. It was more about blocking and dodging than about mindlessly swinging for the fences, and that doesn't fit with most people's idea of a fighting game. Too bad, I loved it. The stages were gorgeous too.

2. Panzer General: Yeah, it's time for Lansdell's Crazy Pick of the Week. Panzer General is one of two games from the PS1/Genesis/N64 era that I still play (albeit via PC), despite being almost 15 years old AND despite being the second game I bought with my PS1. It's a turn-based hex strategy game set in the World War era, with historically accurate troop deployments and strengths. It also had a very camp German voice doing the stage intros. It was a bare-bones, graphically average effort that was far from impressive in any way except one: incredibly addictive and absorbing gameplay.

1. Metal Gear Solid: Possibly the greatest game released on any 32-bit system. Metal Gear Solid was more than just a game, it was a movie too. I've told this story in numerous 411mania columns, but I was in university when this came out and by the time I got to the part where you steer a rocket into the control panel for the gas chamber I had everyone on my floor in my room watching the game. Not asking to try it, just watching the story unfold. MGS did things in a game that had never been done before, some of which haven't been done since. When you look at the origins of the series, and where it's gone since, this is definitely the pinnacle of it. Even the writing on this game is incredible.

Next is Lee Price. Lee is working on getting a new column going for the games section, see the end of the article for more info on that. But right here, I'm going to recommend the always fun Retronomicon. This week, Lee tackled one of the absolute most beloved titles of the last 20 years, in GoldenEye for the Nintendo 64.

Lee PriceHONORABLE MENTIONS

Alundra - And make sure its the first one, not the incredibly drab sequel. A Zelda clone, but that doesn't do it justice. Play this game.

Metal Gear Solid - I know most normal people would have this in their top 5 but I'm not normal. I still love the game, but there are other PS1 games that do it for me more than Snake does.

Vagrant Story - Readers of the Retronomicon will already know that I love this game. Another classic PS1 game from Square.

5.Final Fantasy IX - The first of two Final Fantasy games in my list, FFIX makes it based solely on a certain charm that it has that neither of the other two 32 Bit FF games has. I just adore everything about this game, from the semi-fantasy story right down to the cartoonishly proportioned characters, Final Fantasy IX just does it for me on every level. In fact it could probably be argued that it is superior as a game to Final Fantasy VII, however the less modern plot and the fact that FFVII took my RPG cherry means that FFIX falls a little lower on the list.



4.WWE Smackdown 2: Know Your Role! - There have been superior wrestling games both before and after this title but I just don't care. This was the game that hooked me during the wrestling buzz of the early 2000's over here in the UK and I have great memories of getting friends around and smashing each other in the face with tables, ladders and chairs. Graphically the game is top notch for the PS1 and the control system is simple and a hell of a lot of fun. It still also has one of the top career modes of any wrestling game going if you ask me too, though I'm probably in the minority here.

3.Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee - This pick was a real tough choice as Exodus was also top class too. Oddysee wins out though because this was the introduction to Abe and the Oddworld universe as well as being one of the most inventive and fun puzzle/platformers ever created. The sequel may have been a touch more advanced but I still love guiding my Mudokan brethren to safety (or a meat tenderizer if the mood takes me). Play both Oddworld games on the PS1. Now!

2.Resident Evil 2 - The first game had been revolutionary in popularizing the Survival Horror genre but for me its the sequel that really stands out when it comes to the three main PS1 Resident Evil games. Everything about this game was just bigger and better, graphics, story (although it was still cheesy B-Movie schlock), game length, just everything was a massive improvement. The second scenarios were also a hell of a lot of fun, as were playing as Hunk and Tofu but for me the enduring memory of the game is wishing that the cop who kind of looked like Will Smith near the start of the game would stand up and start singing "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It". Alas it never happened, he just became a zombie and attacked me instead. Bastard.

1.Final Fantasy VII - I know its a cliché choice and I know that many an RPG fan will decry me for it but Final Fantasy VII is my favorite RPG of all time, hell its in my rotating top 10 games of all time consistently. Everything about this game is designed to hook previously none-RPG playing gamers into the genre. The story is top notch and modernized so it loses the whole fantasy feel of many RPG's released beforehand. The graphics are decent, though dated, but the introduction of so much FMV made up for that. That battle system is pretty damned good too and the game has so much depth that it is easy to lose 100+ hours to it raising Gold Chocobos are hunting down the secret Weapon bosses. This is the game that really got Square noticed in the West and its popularity is still as high as ever what with the release of a couple of spin-off titles, a film and constant screaming for a re-make from fans.

Thanks Lee. Next up is Adam Larck. Adam's most recent 10th Hour tackles the tough issues that have been plaguing mankind for years... just which open world game is the best?

Adam LarckHONORABLE MENTIONS

Crash Bandicoot - The first game I had for the PSX, I had a great time with the platforming from this game.

Resident Evil - One of the best survival-horror games out there had a great start on the PSX.

Tekken 3 - Tekken is a great fighter, but 3 was really the best one for me with the range of fighters and mini-games.

Legend of Dragoon - I loved this RPG and the ability to transform into a Dragoon in battle. This was a great game that never has been heard from again.

5.Spyro the Dragon - Back when Spryo was still good, he had a great run on the PSX. Running around as the little purple dragon freeing the other dragons in various worlds were interesting, and it was always fun toasting sheep for health. Plus, the other two games for the PSX were also just as fun as the original.



4.Twisted Metal 2 - TM 2 is still my top one in the series. The various cars each had their own strengths and weaknesses, and it was interesting to try and find secret areas on each of the levels. I always loved destroying the competition with Minion after unlocking him.

3. Metal Gear Solid - I'll admit, when MGS first came out, I looked past it as it just didn't catch my interest. However, after finally checking it out from a friend I found out what I missed. The stealth aspect of the game is great, and the storyline is interesting as the plot progresses. This was a good start to the Solid series that has developed.

2. Final Fantasy Series - I was going to try and choose one game from the series on the PSX, but thought it was just easier to choose the whole series. VII, VIII and IX each brought something new and innovative to the table and were all great. Not only that, but Tactics is still fun to play today, and the compilations put out of the various FF games were a great way to play through the series if you had missed a game at some point and time.

1.Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - This is the Castlevania that got me into the series. A huge map, tons of varying enemies and exploring for items really made this game great for me. Plus, the reverse castle lets you see everything in a whole new way. I still play this game on the 360 Arcade just to enjoy it.


Next we have a return visitor from the Movie Zone. Steve Gustafson. Steve managed to submit a list between hospital stays and bouts with the Swine flu.. Get better soon Steve! In the meantime, when you are done here, why not head over to the movie zone for the latest Big Screen Bulletin.

Steve GustafsonHONORABLE MENTIONS

WCW Nitro/WWF Smackdown - Sorry, I couldn't pick one over the other. Nitro was cool because they had the mini interviews with each of the wrestlers in while Smackdown had the better game play. Remember how if you let the title screen stay on it would play the theme song over and over again? I STILL have that go through my head.

Star Wars: Masters of Teras Kasi - Take my favorite sci-fi movie and mix it into VS fight style game and you have good times.

Bushido Blade - Man, looking back, this game was wild and bloody. Plus, half the time I didn't understand what the characters were saying.

5.Tony Hawk's Pro Skater - Ok, before I get into my lists let me make it clear that the topic is FAVORITE games not the BEST games. Yes, I could easily fill my list with Resident Evil, Tekken 3, Silent Hill, Gran Turismo, Tomb Raider, Syphon Filter, or PaRappa the Rapper. Those games are awesome! No doubt and I had to really hit my head to get this list down. But why not give a little shine to some other favorites in my list?
When I first picked up the Tony Hawk game I was skeptical. How cool could it be? After playing this for 5 minutes, all doubts were gone. The game was all about successfully performing tricks and combining aerials, flips, and grinds, with successful executions. Huge playability and replay value. It also opened the door to a decent wave of skate board games that we still enjoy today.



4.Cool Boarders 3 - Why 3 and not 1 or 2? I don't know. I picked this up on sale and became attached. I still love this game. I could come home and just put it on when I wanted to play something without having to get involved for a long adventure or clear my schedule so I could start a new game. I could play this while talking on the phone or just to waste 10 minutes. That's a good basis for a favorite game. Yes, it's a snowboarding game and you can draw a lot of parallels between this game and Tony Hawk but what can I say? When I first heard the call for this Top 5, these two games popped into my head.

3.Driver 2 - At this point on my list you probably think I'm nuts! But I first played this game by accident, ended up borrowing it from a friend, and never returning it. Yeah, I was THAT guy. Steal cars, avoid the cops, and make it to the destination. If I liked those things so much, why this and not Grand Theft Auto? Hey, I loved them both but for some reason Driver 2 sticks out. It's another one of those games you could play while cradling the phone between you ear and neck. It had the sweet feature of being able to get out of your car at any time and just steal another one. My favorite feature was the take a ride mode, which lets you cruise the scene with a gangster lean. I could put this game on right now and you wouldn't hear from me for a few days. In fact, in my condition, I just might do that.

2.Medal of Honor - You know how much I love this series? I even have it on the PSP for I can play it at work. Shh. Anyways, with a story was by director Steven Spielberg, you knew this was going to be something special. In this game I took the role of Lieutenant Jimmy Patterson, a OSS recruit. He may have been fictional...but it's still real to me, dammit! Oops. Wrong section. Ok, the game takes place near end of World War II and the objective was pretty straightforward: Destroy the enemy. Yes, you had other things to do, but that covers a lot. All I know is this game made feel like a patriot and brought me satisfaction of making the enemy humble by breaking their back! Sorry, wrong section again.

1.Metal Gear Solid - Somehow I got a demo of this. I can't remember why or where. It might have been out of a magazine or something. But I can't adequately describe my reaction when I played it. I was so sucked in, so taken by the demo that I knew that I had to have it. THAT'S what a demo is supposed to do. I bought it and played it and have never been disappointed. This was the start of a long love of the series and an introduction to the coolest dude, Solid Snake. And Snake WAS cool. Witness the exchange between him and Naomi. Naomi: "Well, if you come back in one piece, maybe I'll let you do a strip search on me." Solid Snake: "I'll hold you to that, doctor." Yeah boy! Everything about this game was dead on. From game play, plot, characters, music...To this day, I can't find fault with it and I had hours upon hours of enjoyment getting into it. While I could pop in my other picks for a quick diversion, this was my go-to game when I wanted to get serious. SNAAAAAAAAKE!

Are you ready? Returning to the Top 5 for this week, the former Super friends Mark and Shaq. I'm not sure whatever happened to Vince Offer, I just know when we ask Mark about it he keeps mumbling something about "The Greater Good".

Mark Salmela & Shaq


HONORABLE MENTIONS *Mark Salmela in black, Shaq in blue*:

Final Fantasy 7 - Bwuahaha yeah right. What's this I hear about you being Lady Gaga's new Dance Choreographer? That's Lead Dance Choreographer to you, Shaqy. Speaking of which, what's up with you just reappearing as my sidekick again? Continuity much? Screw continuity, I'm fucking Shaq! That's true, but last I remembered the NBA preseason has already started. You do realize who's on my team right? I'm just keeping myself warmed up until the playoffs. I have plenty of time to bug the new "lead dance choreographer of Lady Gaga".

5.) Silent Hill - Silent Hill scares the shit out of me. Lady Gaga scares the shit out of me. Don't talk about my client like that! What happened to you Salms? The Mark I knew would have been all over the Gaga jokes. You wanna know what happened to me? Money! Cold, dirty, filthy, cash! I'm fucking rich bitch. Corporate Salms eh? Corporate America for the win!



4.) Crash Team Racing - Ok let's get back on topic. While Mario Kart is awesome, I prefer Crash Team Racing for the PS1 over Mario Kart 64. The polar bear owns you. Are you serious? Crash Team Racing for the loss! Fuck you. Lady Gaga is a hermaphrodite Not this again… Trust me, I know firsthand that Lady Gaga is a woman. Oh? Something you want to share with the class? Look, it's strictly business. I never mix business with pleasure. That's not what she said. Well I'M NOT HER PUBLICIST!

3.) Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - Konami simply owns when it comes to 2D action-adventure games. I have to admit, I was scared shitless watching Lady Gaga at the MTV Video Music Awards this year. That's the whole point. Controversy creates cash. I was able to buy a refrigerator full of cash after that performance. You know, now that I think of it, those wardrobes are something that can only come from the mind of a raging lunatic such as yourself. I'm not her fashion designer. I don't dress Ms. Gaga. Now the blood and the whole hanging herself gig, that's all me baby.

2.) Resident Evil: Director's Cut - Speaking of blood, how's Jill doing?



Pfft she's still fine as hell. Damn right Jill Valentine is a fine woman. I've never seen a woman hold a shotgun with such grace. And check out that ass! Shaqy! I was trying to keep it subtle. We are a family show after all.

1.) Metal Gear Solid - Finally we come to Metal Gear Solid, quite possibly the best PS1 game ever. You did just vote it number 1, dumbass. Well I don't want to lock myself into anything. You've sure locked yourself into the thought that Lady Gaga is the next Mother Teresa. Gotta protect that moneymaker Shaq. And what the hell made you so qualified to be her Dance Choreographer? The Spice Girls. So that's why they're trying to get back together? Yeah, key word, trying. They can't match the amount of money Ms. Gaga is paying me. And trust me, I'm the glue that holds the 5 spices together. Without me, shit like Scary Spice getting pregnant with Eddie Murphy's child happens. Well played Mark, well played.

Finally, our last list this week comes from Jeffrey Harris. Jeffrey posts things in damn near every zone we have here at the site.

Jeffrey HarrisHONORABLE MENTIONS

Twisted Metal - Twisted Metal rocked. Great racing action stuff.

Skeleton Warriors - Man I loved this show and I loved the hell out of this game. A basic hack n slash side scroller at a time when they were dying out. Dug the hell out of this game.

5.Crash Bandicoot 2 - I loved the Crash Bandicoot series back on PSX, but my favorite of the series was the second game. There was like virtually no load time, there were some cool game extras and replay value in collecting the crystals and diamonds. Not to mention, Clancy Brown as Doctor Neo Cortex rocked it hard.



4.MDK - Where's the love for freaking MDK?! A great little 3D action adventure series. Highly underrated. The sky dive level was sick.

3.Final Fantasy VII - FFVII set new standards for RPG gaming and storytelling and revolutionized the gaming industry as a whole. It introduced Vincent Valentine and emo-nihlist warrior Sephiroth as well. A great score and a great storyline as well.


2.Resident Evil 2 - Considerably more enjoyable than Resident Evil IMHO. The game was two discs, but what added considerably great replay value to the game was the Zap system. This basically meant you could play four different games all in one! So you got Leon's path on the Leon disc, and then you could see what happened with Claire on her path during Leon's game. And then its switched around for the Claire disc. However, you needed the Zap system and play through again to get the actual ending. I also loved the weapons upgrades you could do. This game was truly revolutionary for survival horror.

1.Metal Gear Solid - One of the best games of all time and probably my favorite PSX game period. I was still playing this on PS2 once that system came out. To me this is the pinnacle of gaming and the MGS series. The MGS series simply went to crap after this and really did all sorts of inane and stupid garbage and stupid moronic plot twists. Nothing beats the cast and voice acting for this game. Vulcan Raven's boss battle is awesome. This game had it all.



Bonus Video:

In Memory of Capt. Lou Albano, everyone do the Mario!



Ask 411 Games Is Coming Soon...:
Remember above when talking about Lee Price's list, I said he was getting ready to start a new column for the Games Zone... Well that column is Ask 411 Games. To help Lee kickstart his new column, there is only one thing missing. Questions from you guys, the readers. Want to know what happened to John Romero and his game that was supposedly going to own your soul? Ask Lee. Send your gaming questions here! to Lee's email: [e-mail], and help him get things started right. See if you can stump him in his first week.

Well that closes another week of the Top 5. If you are wondering why I don't have a list of my own this week, the answer is simple. "The Greater Good". Nah, I foolishly thought that the Nintendo 64 would trounce this new machine from Sony. Yeah, go ahead and laugh... I deserve it. Needless to say, due to that fact, my PS1 experience was severely limited. I played a few games on the system. Resident Evil was given ample chance to scare the crap out of me.. I played Nitro, and a few others, but nowhere near enough to feel comfortable making a top 5, as it would have probably been simply the five games I remember playing. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed a look back at the PS1. We'll see you back here in seven days or so. Be sure to list your faves in the comments section.