My Top 50 Favourite Playstation 1 Games: #1 + more!

If you missed #2 click here.

We're finally here. What is my favourite PS1 game? Before I reveal that, let's have a recap from #50 to #2...

• #50 Spiderman ***1/2
• #49 Sled Storm ***1/2
• #48 Brunswick Circuit Pro Bowling 2 ***1/2
• #47 Kula World ***1/2
• #46 Destruction Derby ***3/4
• #45 Hogs of War ***3/4
• #44 Tekken ***3/4
• #43 Team Buddies ***3/4
• #42 Psychic Force 2 ***3/4
• #41 Crash Bash ***3/4
• #40 Lego Racers ***3/4
• #39 Bust a Move 2 ***3/4
• #38 MediEvil ***3/4
• #37 Tekken 2 ***3/4
• #36 Tombi! ****
• #35 Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver ****
• #34 WWF War Zone ****
• #33 Wu-Tang: Taste the Pain ****
• #32 Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee ****
• #31 Driver ****
• #30 Soul Blade ****
• #29 Parasite Eve II ****
• #28 Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring ****
• #27 Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko ****
• #26 Rage Racer ****
• #25 Street Fighter EX2 Plus ****1/4
• #24 Crash Bandicoot ****1/4
• #23 FIFA: Road to World Cup 98 ****1/4
• #22 Spyro 2: Gateway to Glimmer ****1/4
• #21 WWF Smackdown! ****1/4
• #20 Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories ****1/4
• #19 Jade Cocoon ****1/4
• #18 FIFA 2000 ****1/4
• #17 Spyro the Dragon ****1/4
• #16 Resident Evil 3: Nemesis ****1/4
• #15 Gran Turismo ****1/4
• #14 The Legend of Dragoon ****1/2
• #13 Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back ****1/2
• #12 Silent Hill ****1/2
• #11 Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon ****1/2
• #10 Final Fantasy VIII ****1/2
• #9 Resident Evil ****1/2
• #8 Worms Armageddon ****1/2
• #7 WWF Smackdown! 2: Know Your Role ****1/2
• #6 Crash Team Racing ****1/2
• #5 Tekken 3 ****3/4
• #4 Crash Bandicoot 3 Warped! ****3/4
• #3 Final Fantasy VII ****3/4
• #2 Resident Evil 2 ****3/4

So my favourite Playstation 1 game is...

#1 - Final Fantasy IX

Released: 2000
Genre: RPG
Rating: ****3/4 stars

Best Moment: The ending. For me, this is possibly my favourite ending in video game history. It gets reduces me to tears. Every. Damn. Time.

Well, if you know me personally, you probably knew more than 50 days ago that my #1 game was going to be Final Fantasy IX. It would possibly top my favourite games of all time list, if I were to ever make one, which I may well do one day.

FF9 to me is everything. Sure, I didn't give it a perfect score of 5 stars, but I don't think a game has been released that I'd rate a perfect score. FF9 has some flaws, some frustrating moments even, but it has HEART. It has more heart than any game I've ever played, period. This game makes me emotional in so many different ways. The story is perfect, the characters are just a great bunch, the music is timeless, the graphics are beautiful in their flawed way. I just have so much love for this game it's unreal. I even named my daughter, Vivi, after the black mage in this game. That black mage is, one of the best characters in video game history by the way.

FF9 is not the first Final Fantasy game I played. It's not even the first Final Fantasy I'd suggest people play. It's for a very particular audience. It has an old school, nostalgic, poetic feel to it. It does play like the classic Final Fantasy games but it's also harder than other games, probably intentionally as a nod to the very classic FF games on the NES. But the way the story is told, the twists and turns, the excellent cast of varied characters, and, for me, the most perfect ending, is what makes this game truly special. I do struggle to put into words why I love this game so much, but this has been my best effort. I just love this game with all my heart, and for me, undisputedly, is my Favourite Playstation 1 Game.

So Final Fantasy IX, congratulations, you've earned this prestigious trophy!

Here's some nerdy stats if you're into that thing!

Video Game Series With Multiple Entries

Crash Bandicoot - 5 (Crash Bandicoot #24, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back #13, Crash Bandicoot 3 Warped! # 4, Crash Team Racing #6, Crash Bash #41)

Final Fantasy - 3 (Final Fantasy VII #3, Final Fantasy VIII #10, Final Fantasy IX #1)

Resident Evil - 3 (Resident Evil #9, Resident Evil 2 #2, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis #16)

Tekken - 3 (Tekken #44, Tekken 2 #37, Tekken 3 #5)

Spyro the Dragon - 3 (Spyro the Dragon #17, Spyro 2: Gateaway to Glimmer #22. Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon #11)

WWF Smackdown! - 2 (WWF Smackdown! #21, WWF Smackdown 2: Know Your Role #7)

Best PS1 Game Per Year

1995 - Tekken - ***3/4 #44

1996 - Resident Evil - ****1/2 #9

1997 - Final Fantasy VII - ****3/4 #3

1998 - Resident Evil 2 - ****3/4 #2

1999 - Crash Team Racing - ****1/2 #6

2000 - Final Fantasy IX - ****3/4 #1

Total Games Per Year

As you can see, the year 1999 dominated my list. It's one of my all time favourite years in video game history. Crash Team Racing, Worms Armageddon, FF8, Silent Hill, Legend of Dragoon, Resi 3, FIFA 2000 all are in my Top 20!

Best PS1 Game By Genre

Party - Crash Bash - ***3/4 #41

Puzzle - Bust a Move 2 - ***3/4 #39

Action - Driver - **** #31

Strategy - Worms Armageddon - ****1/2 #8

Sports - WWF Smackdown! 2: Know Your Role - ****1/2 #7

Racing - Crash Team Racing - ****1/2 #6

Fighting - Tekken 3 - ****3/4 #5

Platformer - Crash Bandicoot 3 Warped! - ****3/4 #4

Horror - Resident Evil 2 - ****3/4 #2

RPG - Final Fantasy IX - ****3/4 #1

Total Games By Genre

So Platformers, Fighting games and Sports games dominate the list. Despite RPGs being my favourite genre, there were only 5 in the list, compared to the 9 Platformers in the list.

So... that's pretty much it from me! Thanks for reading my Top 50 Favourite Playstation 1 Games list. To go back all the way to #50 click here!

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My Top 50 Favourite Playstation 1 Games: #7

If you missed #8 click here.

#7 - WWF Smackdown! 2: Know Your Role

Released: 2000
Genre: Sports
Rating: ****1/2 stars

Best Moment: Customising your character to great detail and also giving them a fantastic moveset. I also love Season Mode too.

Everything that was great in WWF Smackdown 1 was vastly improved in Smackdown 2... apart from the graphics I'd say! The music was much better, the customisation was top notch, all the unlockables were good and very detailed. The Season mode was far more slick and in depth. Simply, everything was so much better in Smackdown 2 and I spent many many hours playing through this game, creating my characters, creating multiple characters and trying to also create newer wrestlers who came into the WWF/WWE too.

This game came out in the same year as WWF Smackdown 1. You could argue if the games were created this way today, in a modern day video game world that the second one would have been a upgrade patch from the first game, because really they didn't do a lot to the engine of the game, or the graphics. But everything they did was bigger and better. It reminds me a lot of what Valve did with Left 4 Dead 1 and 2, which were released a year after each other. The second games are just brilliant, not that the first games were bad, just that the second ones added more quality and depth. WWF Smackdown 2 was simply one of the best wrestling games ever made, if not THE best wrestling game ever made. I love it.

What game came in at #6? Click here to find out!

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My Top 50 Favourite Playstation 1 Games: #21

If you missed #22 click here.

#21 - WWF Smackdown!

Released: 2000
Genre: Sports
Rating: ****1/4 stars

Best Moment: Creating your own characters and finishers, and even giving your finisher it's own new name!

Wrestling games came and went in the nineties but it was a largely hit and miss genre of games. But then in 2000, the WWF Smackdown games changed everything. The first two WWF Smackdown games came out in the year 2000, and were very similar in many ways. The first one, was great but had some awkward flaws, particularly in the Season mode. But despite that, upon release it was just incredible. There was no commentary but you didn't need it, because it was just non-stop action and fun in the ring and heavy music to back it up. The original WWF Smackdown games were just carnage, but in a very good way. What I loved the most about the first Smackdown game was naming your finisher, something that's rarely, if ever, happened since in any of the Smackdown series. I've always wanted to name my finisher, being a huge wrestling fan, so the omittance in future games sucked! This first Smackdown game was great at the time, even if it does look very dated now.

What game kicks off my Top 20? Find out by clicking here!

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