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Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee and the sequel Abe's Exoddus. Easily one/two of the best games I've ever played. They're available on PC and other systems these days, but they're still the definitive Playstation game for me. Unique and one of a kind and even today, absolutely great to play.
I also give a vote to Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver and Medievil. Surprised no-one's mentioned Oddworld though.
Edit: Ooh I have to add, Rayman! And if you have a friend to play with - Team Buddies.
I think that game was probably my first real critique of capitalism. I played it at a young age and just fell in love with the anti-consumerist and liberation philosophy, though I didn’t have those words to describe it into much later in life. I really recommend the original Oddyssey and Exoddus over New m Tasty and Soulstorm. New n Tasty covers the same story points, but loses a lot of the environmental storytelling in the process, and Soulstorm is just a completely different game to Exoddus entirely.
Fuck yeah Oddworld!!!
Tons of non Japan created PS1 games.
Crash Bandicoot was made by Naughty Dog software, a US based company.
Legacy of Kain and Soul Reaver were Canadian games.
Spyro the Dragon was from Insomniac games in California. Also Spiderman.
Tony Hawk Pro Skater was by Neversoft, again California.
Wipeout 2097 (Wipeout 1 had broken collision detection, no wall grinds. Avoid.)
Driver or Driver 2
Micro Machines (multiplayer best)
Twisted Metal 2 World Tour (multiplayer)
Destruction Derby
G-Police was not bad too.
Japanese recommendations : PaRappa or Tekken 3.
Avoid any FPS or FIFA, all laced with frustration.
The Syphon Filter series
man I loved Syphon Filter!
so many cool gadgets
I kinda want to go play it again but I'm wondering if the gameplay/controls hold up after all these years?
It's still fun. Some parts are really difficult and feel somewhat unfair, but there's always a way to progress, so you shouldn't be discouraged when you encounter these points in the game.
Spyro, crash bandicoot and CTR, tomb raider.
Come to think of it, most of my played PS1 games come from Squaresoft somehow
Have you played the MediEvil games?
Those are on my playlist queue. :)
Soul Reaver. The Colony Wars trilogy.
Most of the things Psygnosis did; the Wipeout series, G-Police and Colony Wars being the most obvious choices. Tomb Raider is another good one, as are the Tony Hawk games. X-COM: Enemy Unknown is meant to be a solid port of the classic turn-based tactics game. I've heard praise for the Twisted Metal games and Syphon Filter, but haven't played them myself. While I know that old sports games are often considered anathema in the retrogaming sphere, Jonah Lomu Rugby is often considered one of the best games depicting rugby union ever made.
Diablo
That's the only western game in my PS1 library.
Diablo on PS1 though suffers from cut content and extra lengthy load times IMO
Twisted Metal 2 is my personal favorite
I had to think for a minute, I didn't realise how many of the console's stand-out titles are Japanese. Crash Bandicoot: Warped, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, and Driver are my picks.
ODDWORLD! ODDWORLD!
I've heard the PS1 port of Doom is good/interesting. If you haven't played it before (or even if you have) it might be worth checking out. It has different lighting and textures, from my understanding.
Eidos may want a word, I've heard an IP of theirs got a bit of success around that time. Sure it was not a PS exclusive, but still.
Also Crystal dynamics with Soul Reaver (and I like Pandemonium games too).
Panzer Front. Tank game set during WWII that also had strategy elements, such as setting routes for the AI tanks and updating new ones. Pretty hard, but a really great, tense atmosphere.
The PS1 had a good Quake II port, which is even better with the flexibility of customizing the controls through emulators.
"Tunnel B1' , created in Germany. A very good game that many slept on...the difficulty in the later stages is ruthless though!
Wipeout series and Fighting Force (the first one).
Team buddies