What it is, friends? Spiderfan05 here. Growing up, I'll admit I was a bit spoiled. I got a lot of action figures and toys and like most kids, crying and acting like a brat actually gets you something (for the most part. It doesn't always work). Looking back on it, I kinda feel ashamed about it now and I feel sorry for my parents. Anyway, when I was a kid, my mom mostly handled the stuff I wanted. I never asked too much from my dad but when he DID give you something, it was something to behold. A perfect example of this is what I'm going to talk about today. The PSONE.



My dad had given me and my older brother the Playstation as a gift. Now, I can't remember what it is we did that made us deserve the game console but it must've been pretty good for him to give it to us. That, or my dad was just plain generous at the time (he's sort of a cheapskate nowadays). Now, I've read a lot of video game and console based articles here on retrojunk. Most of them are either about the Nintendo consoles (NES, SNES, N64) or the Sega consoles (Genesis, Dreamcast) but I've never seen one about the Playstation. At least, not one that's worth keeping on the front page. I don't know if the PSone is retro enough but I hope to break that tradition of poorly written playstation articles.

While your reading this, I want you to keep in mind that this ain't a top whatever list of my favorite games as those have already been done to death. No, I'm just going to talk about the games that I remember fondly and you're welcome to agree or disagree with my opinion. So, without any further intrusions, let's begin this re-count of my fondest memories with some of my favorite PSone games:

Spider-Man



I'm going to begin with one of my favorite games of all time. The very first Spider-man game for the Playstation. Developed by Neversoft and published by Activision, this is one of the things that helped me get into the Spider-craze. The graphics were okay for the time (I think it was released in 2000). The in-game models looked pretty good albeit a little blocky and for some reason, every character's hands (except for maybe Venom and Carnage) were always clenched into a fist.



Graphics aside, I LOVED this game. Unlike most of the Spider-man games out right now, this one was level based. Don't get me wrong, I like free roam but it's just getting a little old for spidey. The combat was simple but effective, you could punch, kick use your web attacks or string punches and kicks together to form some pretty sweet combos.



Also, this is one of those spidey games that makes use of having to refill your web shooters every now and again (Organic Webbing FTW!) which I usually don't mind but it does get annoying when you're about to run out. Another thing I should note is that you also get a web cartridge power up later in the game that allows you to shoot flaming web shots. It comes in pretty handy when fighting symbiotes. The storyline is okay. Spider-man gets framed for stealing some scientific equipment from Dr. Otto Octavious by an impostor and now he has to get to the bottom of it. Along the way, you get to fight some iconic spidey villains like Scorpion, Rhino, Mysterio, Venom, Carnage and of course, the master planner himself, Doc Ock.

This is one of the very first games I ever played and it's very enjoyable. Game developers of the spidey games of today should take note of this gem and try to make another game like this. If they try hard enough, they could make a Spider-man game that matches or even surpasses Batman: Arkham Asylum.


Jackie Chan Stuntmaster



Okay, I'm going to start this next one by saying I friggin' love Jackie Chan! For some reason, I've never seen an article on this site about him and his incredible movies and stuntwork. I'm gonna have to fix that sometime. Anyway,this game was clearly based on Jackie Chan and let's face it, how many celebrities can you name that have a game based on them? Basically, this game was a platform beat 'em up and for the most part, it was pretty linear. You go from point A to point B beating up some bad guys and collecting dragon heads. The combat is pure awesome in fact, that Jackie himself did the motion capture for this game. Uh huh! You can do combinations of punches, kicks, flips and like Jackie himself, you could make use of props like tables, chairs, umbrellas, sticks, brooms, a fish(?!) and pretty much everything else that you can pick up within the game's limitations.



They really went all out to make you feel like you were playing a Jackie Chan movie. Jackie did the voice acting for his character and he actually has some pretty funny quips and banter with the bad guys in the game. There are even subtle homages to scenes from his movies. I always thought the part where he slides down some electric wires in Level 1 was an homage to a similar scene in Police Story although, the one in the movie was more intense.



And there are more homages to look out for other than that. The end credits even has a blooper reel! No joke! Me and my brother would take turns with the game. I remember he got to the Factory level but he never beat it.


Crash Team Racing



Now, I didn't own any of the regular Crash Bandicoot titles for the PSone (shame on me!) but I still enjoyed this one and the craziness that came along with it. There's really not much to say about this game. It's basically your standard racing game with outrageous tracks and power ups. Actually, I think this one was trying to cash in on the trend of putting your game company's mascot and related characters in a racing game. Look how well Mario Kart turned out. Seriously, even Sonic the friggin' Hedgehog has a racing game! Somebody should really address that, preferably in article form (wink,wink).

Tekken 3

This is one I remember that both me and my brother loved playing. We would always try to beat each other's butts in Tekken. If you're anything like the common fighting game junkie, you had a favorite character or characters. Mine were Hwoarang, Law (Bruce Lee homage! woot!) and Eddy. My brother's favorite characters were Jin, Eddy and Heihachi.



This game delivered fast-paced martial arts fighting game action and the simple combos and attacks made it easy for someone to pick up and play and quite frankly, that's what I feel most fighting games should be. Simple and easy to get. The graphics were okay for the time. Everyone had a unique look and fighting style to them. I can remember that my brother and I never played arcade mode that much but he did beat it once or twice. One time with Eddy and the other I think with Heihachi.

Bust A Groove 1 and 2






All right, this may be a rather obscure game to y'all. For the benefit of those who have not heard of this game, let me break it down for 'ya. Bust a Groove 1 and 2 is like a Dancing game and fighting game in one. Like any fighting game, you had a unique set of characters but instead of fighting styles, it's dance styles! Oh yeah! In gameplay, you had this hud or whatever in front of your character where you would have to press a specific combination of d-pad buttons and then press X or Circle in time with the rhythm of the music. Your character of choice also has a special attack that can knock out your opponent temporarily so you could get an advantage.



Also like in fighting games, each character had a specific stage and song to go with them. My favorite character was always Heat. The breakdancing, bad-ass B-boy. Bust a Groove 2 was basically the same game but with slightly improved graphics, new characters and returning characters from the first game got new looks and new dance moves. Believe it or not, it was because of this game that I learned how to dance and why I got into dancing. When I was a kid, I would try to mimic the characters' moves, nowadays, I try to incorporate what I learned from this game as well as doing some of my own original moves.


Marvel vs. Capcom



Okay, now here's something I feel I shouldn't have to explain much. Admit it, you've been able to play MvC at one point in your life at least. This is another fighting game me and my brother enjoyed. When we would play against each other, he would always choose Ryu and I would always choose Spider-man. How appropriate. The two companies' flagship characters squaring off against one another.



The fighting action, like in most Capcom fighting games was fast, fun and filled with special attacks and hyper combos. I recall that you could also have a hyper combo with your partner. When I played arcade mode, for some reason, I would always team up Spider-man and Venom. Don't know why. Maybe I just did it because I could. Also, this game introduced me to two of my current video game crushes: Chun li and Morrigan. Don't you dare judge me.




mmm mm, I'd hit that. Oh yeah!

Anyway, this game also helped in introducing me to the world of Street fighter (among other Capcom titles) and it also acquainted me with other Marvel heroes. To this day, Marvel vs. Capcom remains as one of my favorite fighting games of all time.

Street Fighter Alpha 3



Another game I feel I don't need to overly explain. If you've ever played any Street Fighter game at all (and I'll assume you have) you know what this game feels like. I don't know if it's true or not but I heard that the Alpha series is a prequel to the original Street Fighter games. Like usual, you got your special combo attacks, your standard attacks, your huge roster of characters to choose from and the usual Street Fighter gameplay. Me and my brother loved it. Also, like usual, he would be Ryu but this time, I would be Ken.



I don't really know why but I always preferred Ken over Ryu. Me and my bro would spend hours beating each other on this game. The bragging rights of course would always go to whoever wins the final round (it usually went to my brother. Cut me a break! I was a litte kid!).

In conclusion, The Playstation has definitely cemented itself in my childhood. It is the first and possibly the last game console I will ever have as growing up here in the Philippines really presents some trouble for obtaining the latest video game consoles and gadgets (except for maybe, you know, the rich folk) but I'm happy with what I had and I cherish my experiences with it. It really helped bonding me and my brother closer. I recall we never fought over who's turn it was to play as the instant solution would just be to pop in Street fighter or Tekken and join in. I love the Playstation and it is because of this that I've become rather loyal to Sony. Now, I apologize if the games I featured aren't really your thing but these are my personal favorites and my re-count of my experiences with the games and the console itself. You'll notice that there's sort of an abundance of fighting games here. Well, because me and my brother loved duking it out in those types of games. I'm just really thankful that I got to experience and own the Playstation and for the great memories I had with it's games.

'Till next time, friends.