Which WELL KNOWN PS1 games are truly timeless?

WELL KNOWN = Games that would be on most people's top 10 list.

Truly timeless = There's little to no debate as to whether the game has held up today. Nostalgia isn't a factor.

Of all the well known PS1 games (Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil (and RE2), the Final Fantasy games, Castlevania Symphony of the Night...), I think Symphony of the Night is the only one that is truly timeless. It's pretty tough to argue that it isn't, and it's much easier to argue that other well known games like the ones I just listed aren't timeless, and haven't held up today.

I'd have to go with Symphony of the Night as well. I'd put Final Fantasy IX too. Not VII, that game has not aged well at all (still awesome).

Final Fantasy IX is a game that has been on my "games to play" list for a long time. I've played it once when it first came out, and don't remember much about it. However, I don't think it's a game that would be on most people's top 10 list as it would be overshadowed by Final Fantasy VII on such a list.

Topics like this probably belong on our new Retro Gaming board

@xantufrog: Oh, I thought that a board called "Playstation Nation" would be the most appropriate place to post this. It's here already. Could we just keep it here?

No worries. I'm fine leaving this thread here - but wanted to flag it so everyone is aware that we are considering PS2> as retro for the purpose of board discussions, so it would be good to take the "classics" stuff over there in the future

Twisted Metal 2

@Megavideogamer: Twisted Metal 2? Really. I've seen many arguments that it's pretty dated, and that it's been surpassed by Twisted Metal Black as the goto TM game. Are you sure you're not basing that on nostalgia?

I actually started playing Castlevania SOTN again, and I'm telling you that game is as timeless as you can get. Even if it was released today, people would think it's an awesome game.

This.

Also:

Also Persona 2. The sprites are pretty damn amazing and when I played it back in 2013 it still felt fresh, at least to my eyes. Having a great art style to back it up made it easier. (Might no be well known but ah well it should be, more people should experience it. Definitely in my top list.)

Also Silent Hill 1, team silent pretty OP with their art direction and everything they achieved with the hardware limitations they were presented with. Such an atmospheric and wonderfully crafted game.

Edit: I can't align the text normally. .__.

Castlevania Symphony of the Night

Chrono Cross

Metal Gear Solid

Vagrant Story

Tekken 3

Oddworld 1-2

Legend of Dragoon

Dino Crisis 1-2

Legacy of Kain 1-2

Xenogears

Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2

Megaman Legends 1-2

The Misadventures of Tron Bonne

Tenchu Stealth Assassins

Breath of Fire 3

Star Ocean 2nd Story

Valkyrie Profile

Final Fantasy 7 -8-9

Guilty Gear

Street Fighter Alpha 3

Resident Evil 1-2-3

Silent Hill

Twisted Metal 2

Persona 2

Crash Bandicoot 1-3

Gran Turismo 1-2

PaRappa the Rapper

Um Jammy Lammy

MediEvil 1-2

Suikoden 2

Tomba

Final Fantasy Tactics

Spyro 1-3

Crash Team Racing

A bunch of others I can't recall right now.

Come on. Really? You seriously think that all of those games would be on most people's top 10 AND there is little to no debate that the each of those games stood the test of time? Really?

I have three favourites-

• Final Fantasy IX
• Crash Team Racing
• Metal Gear Solid

this is all very subjective ... I still remember many games I played on that system like Resident Evil 1 and 2, Tekken 2, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy IX and Final Fantasy Tactics, Wild Arms, Soul Caliber, Destruction Derby 2 ( one of the few racing game with metal music ).

For some it is a gem and for other it will be abysmal

@SOedipus: if agree with final fantasy ix too, I prefer vii but admit ix has ages much better.

I agree with most of the posts that FFIX has held up very well as compared to say FFVII. A lot of RPGs still look and play great though, Xenogears came to my head right away when seeing the forum title. I still enjoy playing Legend of Legaia as well.

I think the biggest sleeper would be Medievil, man that game is still incredibly fun, and plays very well. Maybe the graphics haven't held up too well, but they are still serviceable. I don't know if that's a top 10 type game, but it would definitely be on my list!

You seriously think that people here will actually stick with your definition and opinion of the topic? This never happens but what you're asking is pretty subjective anyway. One man's top 10 and timeless classic is another one's last 10 and forgotten relic. "Standing the test of time" simply means to work well today without new or unproven methods and his list appears that most of those games would play just fine compared to modern equivalents in that they feature control layouts and methods that modern 3d games still often use today.

You're logic seems to be more towards popular 2D only games so perhaps you just mean games that aged well graphically but If SOTN fits the bill then there's plenty of 16 bit games that suit that as well since the graphics, control..etc are no better than many of those.

Symphony of the Night, MegaMan X4, and Crash Bandicoot Warped are the only PS1 games that still find enjoyable to play today.

^

@pimphand_gamer: I get what you're saying. However, I'm talking about how easy or difficult it is to argue whether a game has stood the test of time or not. For instance, it's much more difficult to argue that Castlevania: SOTN hasn't held up today than it would to argue the same thing for the original Resident Evil. Someone may have a subjective opinion that the original Resident Evil is truly timeless, but it would be pretty easy to make an argument against that. In contrast, it's much more difficult to make an argument against Castlevania: SOTN being timeless.

That is what I'm looking for. PS1 games in which it would be pretty difficult for someone to argue against them being timeless AND ones that would appear on 99 % of top 10 list.

^^^^

Final fantasy tactics hasn't aged a day

Best game of all time

Pa-rappa the Rapper? LOL you're killing.