Vintage gaming community.
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I feel like the major one for me (that hasn't been listed) is Ape Escape. Growing up i played the (arguably worse) remaster of it for the PSP. Genuinely interesting to play a platformer so different yet so clearly reactionary to Mario 64. And it's also just interesting how they handle the analog sticks in terms of controls
Like many games of the era the controls are frankly janky, but they are just so much fun
Oddly enough I've never played ape escape but ape quest on the PSP was one of my favorite "forgotten" games. Dunno if you're referring to that one or a different one lol.
Original Spyro trilogy (Gateway to Glimmer first, Year of the Dragon second, Spyro the Dragon third. Although they are all so good it's hard to choose an order.) The first two games were a part of my childhood, I think they both came with the console when my sister and I bought it. £20 second hand from Game with three games I think, we each saved up to pay half. Very cool worlds to run around and explore, especially Treetop Village I think it's called (the supercharge level from Spyro the Dragon). I love these collect-them-all games where you know where everything is - it's very comforting to me. And skateboarding and playing as Sparx in Year of the Dragon still feels special, because it's the one game I didn't own as a kid.
Crash Team Racing is the ultimate carting game IMO. "Start your engines for a Sony Computer Entertainment Europe production! Fasten your seatbelts for another Naughty Dog creation! Bwam bah bah bamp, bah da dam da da da dum". Absolutely iconic loading screens and music. I don't think I've ever beat the campaign mode completely, but it's a lot of fun. Several years since I've played now, which is a bit of a shame. My PlayStation needs to be repaired but no-one near me has the expertise and I didn't want to go inside and make things worse..
Hogs of War was on a demo disc I had and it seemed quite fun, but I never got to experience the full version.
I seem to remember Driver 2 being challenging but cool, but not much else other than those two emotions.
Final shout-out to Worms Armageddon.
Edit: actually, final final shout-out to that boat racing game. Hydro Thunder maybe? I played it at a friend's house then spent years searching for it again in a cool games shop that another friend now owns (never would have guessed that when I was a kid!). I don't think I ever found it though..
I'm curious, why that specific order for Spyro? I'd personally just go in release order, same with the Crash games.
I was ordering based on my favourite, rather than what order to play them. I phrased it ambiguously.
But why that order? Gateway to Glimmer is my favourite because the world feels so much more open with being able to swim, and then (spoilers) especially when you can swim underwater.
I'm actually going to change my ranking and put Spyro to Dragon as second best, because it has some really cool level designs like Treetop Village and the Magic Crafter's homeworld. Also the neh-neh-neh-neh-nehs (blue thieves).
Spyro 3 is also very good too
I've got Hydro Thunder still. I literally played it like a couple weeks ago. When I was a kid I would use the GameShark to unlock all of the boats and tracks.
I don't know that I ever made it past the first mission of the second city in Driver 2. I remember getting into that baseball field in free-roam though. Cops and Robbers was a hell of a multiplayer game too.
Worms Armageddon was way more difficult than it had any right being. I remember their challenges being nearly impossible. Like shoot a rocket through a pinhole using the wind.
I'm slightly ashamed to admit that I went back to Worms Armageddon as an adult and found it too difficult to be enjoyable. I know I'm out of practice now but I have to assume I just didn't mind constantly losing to the AI when I was younger..
Such a shame that the crash team racing remaster suffered such brutal load times and had such poor networking online play. They put so much time and effort to keep it faithful to the original, but minute long load screens so frequently really sapped the fun.
WipEout XL, Spyro 1-3, Crash 1-3, Monster's Inc Scream Team, Crash Team Racing, Frogger 2, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's stone, JetMoto, Herc's Adventures, Rugrats Search For Reptar, Parappa The Rapper, Ridge Racer, Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, The Tomb Raider games, Twisted Metal, Toy Story Racer. There's a lot more but those are some of my favorites.
I've seen no love for Chrono Cross yet? Shame.
Final Fantasy Tactics and Front Mission 3
Klonoa: Door to Phantomile is a fantastic 2.5D platformer with a great story.
An important thing to know beforehand is that there is a limited number of lives in the game and no way to replay levels until completing the game. This can be a big deal because you may find yourself unable to complete later levels on only a single life. This isn't an issue with the later Wii (not recommended) and Phantasy Reverie (recommended) versions since they allow replaying levels.
Fuckin Parappa the Rapper, baby
Grandia.
And Ridge Racer has been mentioned, but I would go with Ridge Racer 4 which is arguably the pinnacle of the series.
I want to recommend a game that I know wasn't that great, but is lots of fun: Pitball. It's like alien space basketball with gambling. If you like old school sports games with janky controls, give it a shot.
Not seeing much love for Wipeout 3: Special Edition (it has double the number of tracks as the standard edition)
I wasn’t a PlayStation guy. I quit consoles when the Mega Drive went end of life and I didn’t like what Sony or Nintendo were bringing to the party. But I have played some PS1 and there are a few I always like to put into my retro systems.
Symphony of the Night
Tony Hawk 2
Disney’s Hercules
Blood Omen
Hot Pursuit
Wipeout 2097
Siphon Filter
Parappa the Rapper
Gex
But have you considered FFVIII, the best of the PS1 RPGs?
IX over VIII, my brother/sister
I'm currently replaying all of them via emulator the last few weeks, and I have to say I respectfully disagree.
IX's combat system just feels simplified compared to the depth that VIII had.
Could you absolutely cheese the draw system...of course. But if you avoided the temptation, the almost limitless mechanics of stat pairing was fun to play around with when taking on different enemies.
Dance Dance Revolution. It was unique, healthy, a lot of fun, and popularized a new genre: rhythm games.
Not sure if I would recommend the PS1 versions specifically, especially with the cheap foam pads they came with.
Nobody said GTA 2 yet. Lost so many hours to that one. The last top down GTA I think.
Also of course MGS, FFVII, FF Tactics, FFIX, THPS2. DDR konamix was decent. Oh and tekken. I had tekken 2 but I think 3 might've been on PS1 as well. Yoshimitsu was always my favorite and I was stoked when he was put into soul calibur with his moveset intact.
Legend of Legia is my goat PS1 game that rarely gets the love it deserves. I loved the combat/combo system that allowed you to use the end part of one art into the beginning of another art was so awesome. The story was great and the characters were wonderful. It was such a fun unique take on jrpgs of the day
I came here to post this. I played the first few hours of it 30x+ because I didn’t have a memory card at the time but made it further each time.
Time for bed = pop the lid on the console so the disc would stop spinning then resume in the morning.
Silent Hill
Some pretty good stuff already but no one has mentioned Xenogears.
Definitely one of my essentials. I think the gameplay is bit meh, but it's still the best story in the genre.
Aside from the more well-known greats people have already mentioned, I have to nominate Herc's Adventures and MediEvil 1 and 2.
How we haven't seen a new MediEvil game in the age of souls likes baffles me. Souls combat with Dan's goofy comedy in an open, interconnected Gallowmere? Please take my money.
I also wouldn't mind seeing a new game in that style LucasArts used for Herc, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, and Ghoul patrol. But with them under the mouse, it's probably as likely as another Monkey Island.
Couple I haven't seen yet:
My personal top pick (due to lack of playing psx in a long time) is Devil Dice (also known as XI in Japan if I remember correctly). I personally just play the arcade mode, though, since the other modes aren't as fun in my opinion.
It's nice to see some recognition for Devil Dice :)
The only one I have that hasn't been mentioned yet is Suikoden II. Gorgeous sprite art, and it's also just a solid game. Ironically, it's getting a remaster very soon which is sure to clean up its biggest weakness (the English localization), though we don't know how the rest of it will shake out.
I consider the fifth gen to be a lost generation for sprite-based games, this is one of those on the console that make the case for an interesting "what could have been" scenario (Symphony of the Night, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Valkyrie Profile also being sprite-based standouts).
Gex
Hear me out:
Monsters, Inc. Scream Team.
For a PS1 game it was ahead of its time. Fleshed out 3D levels that are actually navigable, decent camera angles, solid platforming + puzzles, and level revisiting that does not feel excessively repetitive. The difficulty is also not a god-awful sudden cliff like some PS1/2 games of the era. It’s one of the few, maybe the only PS1 game I’ve played multiple times through.
As a plus the soundtrack is banger.
There are so many! I haven't seen these mentioned yet.
Future Cop LAPD Jackie Chan Stuntmaster Colin McRae 2.0 Abes Oddysee/Exodus
Not a common suggestion, but the Scrabble PS1 port holds up surprisingly well, all the more so for how few Scrabble video games there are.
Threadz of Fate. There’s something so charming and comfy about this game with the intertwined dual storyline, the fun combat system, and the great music.
Breath of Fire 3
A classical JRPG. I still like it quite a lot.
Final Fantasy IX, one of the last classical FF experiences. Quite hard though.
Final Fantasy Tactics, a very enjoyable strategy game.
Mega Man Legends, this was one of my favorites but the CD was damaged so I couldn't finish the game.
Besides Metal Gear Solid?
Dino Crisis.
Both Brightis and Love & Destroy are good if you can read Japanese.
No one mentioned it yet, so:
Die Hard Trilogy
Toy Story 2
Final Fantasy VII
Kingsley's Adventure
Gran Turismo 2
Jackie Chan Stuntmaster
Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone
Rugrats: Search For Reptar
Tomba
Tekken 3
Rayman 2
R4 Ridge Racer
Soul Blade
Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped
Final Fantasy Tactics
Spyro The Dragon
Digimon World 2003
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
Tomb Raider 3
Guardians Crusade
Metal Gear Solid
Crash Team Racing
Spider-Man
Dead Or Alive
Ape Escape
Mega Man Legends
I know you said you didn't want a full list but thought it'd be an interesting exercise for me to do one anyway. If these were the only PS1 games I could play, I'd still be very happy with few that I'd truly miss that's not on here (which would mostly be games from series that I put here, spyro etc.)
Hugo