21. Speed Freaks – Melty
Ner ner ner ner ner~ — The annoying, blonde child on the cover
Racing games of this era are some of my favourites. The designs in Speed Freaks, however, are, well… freaky. Especially in the opening sequence. The early 3D animation style really solidifies itself into my memories, and the cheeky demeanour of each character helps the game become a staple of the PS1.
This Mario Kart-esque game has you collecting power-ups and battling your way through the racetracks. By collecting power boosts, you can speed your way past your competitors, ensuring you reach first place in the race. The track designs give a vibe of the SEGA Dreamcast if I’m being honest, especially ‘Neon City’, which throws me back to Sonic Adventure. I’m not sure whether I genuinely enjoy this game, or if it’s a Stockholm syndrome situation, since it was the only game my grandparents had at their house.
One thing to note is that this game was renamed to Speed Punks in North America, which doesn’t sound as good, but we move.
22. A Bug’s Life – Kane
A Buggy Mess, but in a good way?
It’s a licensed title based on a beloved Pixar movie. You probably have an opinion based on that description, and to be honest, you’re probably not far from the truth. With quite possibly the slippiest feeling controls of any platformer I’ve ever played, it has to do a lot of work in the rest of the game to redeem itself.
In my opinion, it manages to pull itself out of that hole on its charm alone. The game is packed full of story beats from the movie; each stage being a recognisable location and scene from it. All the abilities feel justified, with more than a few of Flick’s gadgets being put to use, adding to the game’s charm.
Despite its slippery movement, this game manages to be the rare gem that is a decent movie tie-in game.
23. Klonoa: Door to Phantomile – Riley
“Don’t you think it’s kind of strange? How sometimes when you wake up, you know you had a dream, but can’t remember it. Where do you suppose those dreams go?“
Klonoa is a severely underrated game and franchise that can never quite get the sales it needs. The original title was a pioneer of early 2.5D platformers, combining 3D visuals with 2D platforming. Visually, the game holds up really well due to the fixed camera angle. The developers were able to show the best parts of their modelling and textures for a high-quality visual style. This, combined with whimsical fantasy music and some excellent character design, and you have a cult classic.
Gameplay-wise, it takes traditional 2D platforming elements such as swinging, shooting and traversing the environment. This culminates in extremely challenging levels at the end of the game, which really test your abilities. Taking place in a surreal dream world, Klonoa takes advantage of its premise to create imaginative worlds for you to explore. A physical copy is far, far too expensive, but you can pick up a digital copy on PS3 for £3.99, or find another means to play it. If you do enjoy it, though, please consider purchasing a copy of the remake on modern systems, as this series needs all the help it can get.
24. Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories – Kane
My grandfather’s deck has no pathetic cards, Heishin. But it does contain… Twin-Head Thunder Dragon!
Digital versions of trading card games usually take one of two forms. They’re either super faithful recreations of the tabletop game, concentrating on the deck-building aspect and playing rounds. Or they take a more narrative route, turning the game into an rpg or sorts with the card game being integrated as the battle system.
Forbidden Memories sits comfortably between the two and is improved for it. Concentrating on the story of Atem, the Pharoah who’s spirit would go on to inhabit the Millennium Puzzle. You build decks, take part in tournaments and collect the other Millennium Artefacts in your ongoing quest to thwart the plans of your High Priest.
One of the most appealing aspects of the game in the modern era is being able to see it as a time capsule of the trading card game as it was. Nowadays, there are a lot of new mechanics added to the game in Konami’s attempts to keep it fresh. In Forbidden Memories, you get to play a much stripped-down version that is much closer to the original.
25. Disney’s Tarzan – Dave
Grinding and an avant-garde soundtrack. If Tarzan moved faster, this would be considered the first great 3D Sonic game.
Tarzan is one of many licensed bangers from this gen. It’s a vibrant sidescrolling platformer that plays to the unique strengths of the property it’s based on. You’ll be navigating the jungle as Tarzan grows from boy to man to protector of the jungle. This translates to collecting items while controlling the local animal population with unimaginable violence.
It looks incredible and features music that makes the most of the movie’s Phil Collins soundtrack. The sidescrolling is broken up with swimming and grinding sections, as well as some scenes straight from the movie. It’s an uncomplicated game, but it’s got heart. Two hearts. One family~
26. Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee – Melty
Fuck the establishment, hell yeah
Ahh, Abe. A true icon of the late 90s. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who didn’t play this game if they were conscious at the time of its release. It’s a gritty atmosphere in this world; Abe’s species has been captured and is now being used as slaves and, soon, as meat for the “New’n’Tasty” product at RuptureFarms. Who else but the employee of the month, Abe, discovers the new ingredient for this product?
Playing as the titular character, you traverse the factories of RuptureFarms, guiding your fellow Mudokans to freedom and safety. There are two endings to this game, so if you fail to rescue at least 50 Mudokans, it’s worth replaying the game to get the canon, good ending.
27. Crash Team Racing – Riley
“Tiny squash puny cars!”
The king of the kart racer, Crash Team Racing, was unbeatable during its heyday. Taking a lot of inspiration from Diddy Kong Racing, it features a full story mode, challenges and varied gameplay to keep a single player interested. The game is also visually a treat, especially for the PS1, boasting some of the system’s best visual design. All the characters are full 3D models too, unlike a certain moustachioed fella’s kart racer of the time. Having super creative courses, tonnes of single player content, a well-balanced weapon selection and fleshed out roster and great visual design may seem like a great sell, but CTR has a secret weapon.
IF you want to master CTR, then you need to learn to exploit and manipulate the mini turbos. Fans have dubbed it “Sacred Fire”, which is attained by chaining drift, mini turbo boosts, boost pads and jumps to maintain and store boosts. This allows the player to theoretically boost forever and attain significant speeds. Mastering this and beating all the time trial scores is the name of the game, and has so much mechanical depth it’s enough to keep any kart racer enjoyer busy for hours.
28. Bob the Builder: Can We Fix It? – Melty
Can we fix it? “No, we can’t!” — Every ‘Badass’ kid in primary school.
I know what you’re thinking. “Why the hell is there a Bob the Builder game on a list of greats?” Well, let me counter your questioning with my own question. Are children not allowed to enjoy gaming?
Yes, this game is a bit of a curveball; however, Bob the Builder: Can We Fix It? is perfect to introduce little ones to the world of video games. The game isn’t very long, and it comes with multiple mini-games, including one where you create a hedgehog crossing to help the little pricklies keep safe when crossing roads.
These games are great for developing little ones’ skills. With colour-matching, shape-matching, and even bursts of creativity throughout the game, your little one will have a whale of a time playing this game. I sure did… until I was about 10 years old. (This game was released when I was six.)
29. Jackie Chan Stuntmaster – James
One moooore thing…
Ever watched Police Story and thought… I want to do that! Well, now you can if you don’t mind a bit of PS1 clunk. You play as Jackie himself, fist-fighting through Chinatown to retrieve a package he stupidly allowed to be stolen by being sidetracked by stuffing his face with ramen. The story isn’t especially important, though; what’s important is how the game feels.
As for combat, all of the moves you’d expect are here. Punch, kick, pick up items to use, all that good stuff. Jackie is quite agile, though, and it shows. You can do backflip kicks off of walls, slide tackles and all manner of other moves you’d expect from him. Jackie Chan Stuntmaster is short, but I’d say that’s a good thing. The difficulty begins to ramp up in later stages. Platforming sections become more difficult, and without save states some of the sections can be very difficult to get through. You can get through the entire thing in one evening if you’re good enough. Are you?
30. Muppet RaceMania – James
Is Kermit the new Mario?
Did you ever wonder what would happen if you made a game with tank controls which was also a kart racer? This is your answer. Muppets Race Mania is a tour de force that celebrates all of the Muppets movies released up until the mid 90s. Sporting an impressive cast, original voices and tracks based on each movie, there’s a surprising amount of content.
Pressing left or right will have your kart turn its horizontal axis, with its pivot point being the middle of the car. While not moving it looks odd, but while moving, it feels odd. Add in a really bouncy physics system that sends players crashing into one another, and you’ve got a recipe for fun. It borrows Mario Kart’s item system; however, your place in the race does not affect the item you get. There are fruits strewn across the course that you can either expend as a boost, or build up to maximum and get a kind of “bullet bill” boost or a special attack that unlocks your competitor’s karts for your chosen character.
There are races, backwards races, battle modes, boss battles, rooftop runs, GPs and even an adventure mode to keep you busy. For fans of The Muppets who love to point out who each Muppet is in the movies, this is perfect.
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