Sanyo Pachinko Paradise 3
Sanyo Pachinko Paradise 4
Velldeselba Senki: Tsubasa no Kunshou
Arcade Hits: Moon Cresta
Blue Breaker Burst
Arc the Lad II
Why can't other territories have regularly updated releases?
Posts with tag ps1
Japan gets more PS1 games (again)
Sanyo Pachinko Paradise 3
Sanyo Pachinko Paradise 4
Velldeselba Senki: Tsubasa no Kunshou
Arcade Hits: Moon Cresta
Blue Breaker Burst
Arc the Lad II
Why can't other territories have regularly updated releases?
Retro Review: Twisted Metal 2
Price: $5.99
Original Release Date: October 31, 1996
Recommended.
Once again, another stellar retro classic hits the PS Store, for play on both PSP and PS3. Twisted Metal 2 is an improved sequel of the most definitive car combat game of all time. There's a reason why Twisted Metal was so beloved: it had a lot of personality, with its apocalyptic levels and crazed vehicle designs. The relentless difficulty of the game and simplistic presentation take a lot away from this re-release, but at $6, it's still a fairly solid retread to invest in, especially for portable gamers.
Once again, the simple controls work well on the PSP (using control type 2). The cars are incredibly responsive, and can make unrealistically sharp turns at a moment's notice. It felt weird using Square to accelerate (instead of X), but there are very few surprises in the controls. Weapons are easy to switch between, and they're easy to use as well. It can become problematic to find enemies in the game's relatively large levels, but when competition is near, it's fast and furious.
Overall, what hurts this retro game is how difficult it is. There's multiple choices, but it's not easy to take down a racer, and health upgrades are few and far apart. It'll take a lot of luck and skill to survive the game's championship mode. Thankfully, the ability to play individual tracks will help you discover the locations of secrets, giving you a much-needed edge in a rather unfair fight.
Retro Review: 6.0
Retro Review: Wipeout
Price: $5.99
Original Release Date: November 21, 1995
Recommended.
There's very little reason to pick up Wipeout from the PS Store, especially with Wipeout Pure already available on the console (at a budget price as well!). Regardless, the original PlayStation Wipeout still manages to entertain, withstanding the test of time. The presentation is certainly not as sleek as that found in Pure, but the easy-to-navigate menus and brisk load times (when disc acceleration is used) are quite appreciated. The game has aged well visually: the framerate is smooth and the art style does a lot to compensate for the lack of polygons. The draw distance might not be what players expect from a modern game, and in a game that moves this quickly, that can be a problem. On both the PSP and PS3, the game still looks quite nice, with the PS3's upscaling doing a miraculous job.
The controls are a bit too loose in this first iteration of the franchise, and hitting walls is unforgiving. However, with a pretty undemanding AI to compete against, the only racer you should really consider is yourself. That's a shame, considering it makes the plethora of weapons rather useless.
Ultimately, the game's true shortcoming is well ... how short it is. With so few tracks and ships to choose from, one can't help but think that $6 is the absolute most you should pay for this trip down memory lane. A solid game -- but there's far better options (at least for PSP owners).
Retro Review: 6.5
Wild Arms joins new 14 new downloadable PS1 titles
Boxer's Road
Chippoke Ralph no Daibouken: The Adventure of Little Ralph
SuperLite 1500 Series Chiki Chiki Rakin
Memorial * Series: Sunsoft Vol.1
Tiny Bullets
Twisted Metal EX
Destruction Derby
Bealphareth
Robbit Mon Dieu
Wild ARMs
AI Shogi Selection
Famires The: Shijou Saikyou no Menu
Armored Core
King's Field
Vampir: Kyuuketsuki Densetsu
The American store, unfortunately, did not update. As usual, you'll need a PS3 to download these archived games.
[Via Siliconera]
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night now downloadable
See also:
Our most wanted PS1 games
Nineteen more PS1 titles hit Japan
Okay, we understand Sony. You love Japan more than the rest of us. American gamers haven't had their hands on any new (or shall we say old?) PS1 releases for PSP play for months. Europe has a paltry five releases available. Japan, on the other hand, gets frequent, massive updates. Today's update is no different, as nineteen PS1 games were added to the archives:- AI Mah Jong Selection (hamster)
- DEPTH (Sony computer Entertainment)
- Gussun Paradise (IREM software)
- Jet Moto (Sony computer Entertainment)
- Jumping Flash! 2 (Sony computer Entertainment)
- Major Wave Series: Puzzle Mania 2 (hamsters)
- Major Wave Series: Zipangu Jima: Unmei wa Saikoro ga Kimeru!? (Hamsters)
- Metal Slug (SNK Playmore)
- Oasis Road (Idea Factory)
- Panekit (Sony computer Entertainment)
- Samurai Spirits III: Zankuro Musouken (SNK Playmore)
- Samurai Spirits IV: Amakusa Kourin Special (SNK Playmore)
- Spectral Tower 2 (Idea Factory)
- SuperLite 1500 Series Cotton original (Success)
- SuperLite 1500 Series Sanvein (Success)
- The King OF Fighters '98 (SNK Playmore)
- The King OF Fighters '99 (SNK Playmore)
- The King OF Fighters Kyo (SNK Playmore)
- XI [sai] (Sony computer Entertainment)
[Thanks, Joe! Via Gamers-Creed]
Europe finally gets PS1 downloads
- Crash Bandicoot
- Wipeout
- Medievil
- Jumping Flash
- Syphon Filter
SNK dominates latest PS1 update in Japan
The Japanese PS Store has updated far more frequently than America's. Their selection of downloadable PS1 titles (which still requires a PS3 system) has expanded yet again, with a strong emphasis on SNK's classic fighters:Guilty Gear
King of Fighters '95
King of Fighters '96
King of Fighters '97
Little Princess: Maru Oukoku no Ningyou Hime 2
Real Bout Garou Densetsu Special: Dominated Mind
Samurai Spirits: Kenkaku Yubinan Pack
Septentrion
Spectral Force 2
Spectral Tower
Suna no Embrace
There's also a free offering on the Store, a demo of XI, also known as Devil Dice. While Japanese gamers are enjoying frequent updates to the retro catalog, American gamers haven't had anything new since the release of Wipeout in March. Of course, that's far better than the sparse availability of titles for Europeans: zero. Hopefully, with the new PSP store arriving this Fall, we'll have better access to these PlayStation classics.
[Via Siliconera]
Japan gets 25 new downloadable PS1 games
Japan is receiving a huge selection of PS1 games to download on the PLAYSTATION Store, starting 4/26. The following games will be playable both on PSP and PS3 systems equipped with firmware 1.7:- Spectral Force (Idea Factory)
- R-Types (Irem)
- A.IV. Evolution Global (Artdink)
- Resident Evil Directors Edition (Capcom)
- Bishibashi Special (Konami)
- Arc the Land (Sony)
- Ore no Shi wo Koete Yuke (Sony)
- Gunners Heaven (Sony)
- Ganbare Morikawa-kun Ni-go (Sony)
- Marl Oukoku no Ningyou Hime (Nippon Ichi)
- Tekken 2 (Bandai Namco)
Accelerated PS1 loading not unique to OE firmware
Some homebrew users are getting excited at the possibility of running accelerated PS1 games on the upcoming 3.30 OE firmware. The option allows users to decrease the load times of their favorite PS1 classics. However, this is not a feature unique to custom firmware: it's available to all users of 3.30, official and otherwise. To enable it, start a PS1 game. Then, hit Home. Go to Settings, and you'll see "Disc-Load Speed."The results will vary greatly, with some games not taking advantage of the feature at all. According to the PSP, "Depending on the software in use, the effect of this feature may not be noticeable or the software may not support fast disc-load speed." For example, we tested the feature using the PLAYSTATION Store's latest offering, Wipeout. In Normal mode, it took 10.3 seconds to load the menu and 18.5 seconds to load a track. However, in Fast mode, it took 9.9 seconds to load the menu and 18.4 seconds to load a track. Perennial favorite Destruction Derby took 14.2 seconds to load the game in Normal mode and 14.1 seconds in Fast mode. There are probably other games that will utilize the feature more efficiently, but the negligible differences we've seen so far have proven this is not cause for great celebration.
Japan gets five more PS1 games
American gamers haven't enjoyed an update since Wipeout, and European gamers don't have any PS1 games available on the PLAYSTATION Store yet. That hasn't stopped Sony from updating their archive of PS1 titles in Japan. The newest update brings 5 more games, bringing the total number of downloadable titles to 36:- Gunners Heaven (SCEJ)
- Galaxy Fight (Sun Denshi)
- Hard Edge (Sun Denshi)
- Arcade Hits Raiden (Hamster)
- Tall Unlimited (Hamster)
See also:
Retro Reviews
[Via IGN]
No PSP love on PLAYSTATION Store this week
Last week PSP owners had the option of downloading the first of a game series that has a newer version already on PSP. I complained about it. Well, I probably should have just been happy there was a new PS1 game to download, because this week there's no PSP content with the weekly PLAYSTATION Store update. When I think of all the possible amazing PS1 games I could have downloaded it makes me cry that I have nothing. I'm sorry I yelled at you Sony, please give me more games to download for my PSP. In the meantime I'm going to start e-mailing Sony non-stop until they release Rival Schools: United by Fate for download.
R-Type Delta adds to our Japanese PS1 envy
As if Sony were mocking Steve's latest blog entry, they've released seven - Shanghai Dynasty (Success)
- The Drugmania (Hamster)
- R-Type Delta (Irem)
- Ore no Shikabane o Koete Yuke (SCE)
- Puzzle Mania (Hamster)
- Pet in TV (SCE)
- Yaku: Yuujou Dangi (Idea Factory)
[Via Joystiq]
Japan PS1 download envy
I'm not sure what Sony has against those outside of Japan, but US PSP owners wanting to download PS1 games onto their PSP really haven't had much to get excited about. Nearly every game available for download on the US PLAYSTATION Store is either garbage or there is a better version in the series already on PSP. Tekken 2 or Wipeout aren't that appealing when we can already play more recent and better versions of each on the PSP. Meanwhile, Japan gets 21 PS1 game downloads to choose from and there are some heavy-hitters in the lot too, like Resident Evil, R-Types, Arc the Lad and Mr. Driller. I've only downloaded 1 of the 11 games available in the US and it isn't for a lack of desire. Stop teasing us Sony and give those outside of Japan some worthwhile downloads!
Retro Review: Destruction Derby
Price: $5.99
Developed By: Reflections Interactive
Published By: Psygnosis
Original Release Date: November 1, 1995
Short Review
Recommended. Destruction Derby is easily one of the finest PS1 games for play on the PSP. The graphics aren't too advanced, and the controls aren't very tight. And although there aren't too many tracks to race on, it's undeniable that the game is fun. The crash-heavy gameplay of Destruction Derby makes for an intense racing experience, and the ability to quickly jump into a single race and save at any time in a circuit makes Destruction Derby a truly ideal portable game. With such a small memory requirement, anyone that has the ability to play PS1 games on their PSP should make this a permanent part of their collection.
< Previous Page | Next Page >
