The original PlayStation is like the ocean. Absolutely full of water. Wait, no. I mean the deeper into it you go, the more you’ll discover things that no human eyes were ever meant to see. But the PS1 does have an absolute cavalcade of hidden gems that we’re probably never going to stop putting into your skull. You’ll have to kill us!
Skullmonkeys
Skullmonkeys might be one of the most forgotten PS1 games of all time, and that’s a mighty shame. One of the project leads of Skullmonkeys was Doug TenNapel, the guy responsible for creating Earthworm Jim, while the game itself is a sequel to The Neverhood, a PC point and click adventure game that was published by Dreamworks. From those two facts alone, you should have some idea of how impressive the animation for a game like Skullmonkeys is. Granted, Skullmonkeys moves away from the first game’s point and click adventure game roots, but it does retain the animation style that The Neverhood patented, making it one of the most gorgeous games on the PS1.
Instead of using polygons or sprites, all the characters in Skullmonkeys are actually created from clay, giving the game an aesthetic all of its own compared to other games in the console. Following on from the events of The Neverhood, players control Klaymen as they have to fight against a horde of Skullmonkeys controlled by their old big bad Klogg. Instead of picking up items and clicking on everything in the room in the hopes that you might find a solution, Skullmonkeys is a 2D platformer. Jumping on an enemy’s head to beat them is still the aim of the game, but you’re also picking up projectile weapons and trying to find secret levels. It’s not an innovative game and it will absolutely spank your bottom in terms of difficulty, but those graphics are worth a thousand words.
Roll Away/Kula Quest/Kula World
Super Monkey Ball might have become the byword on games about navigating balls through tight platforming levels, but it’s certainly not the first. Roll Away/Kula Quest/Kula World (depending on the region you live in), isn’t the first either, given that we had games like Marble Madness years earlier, but Roll Away definitely is the best version of it for the PS1.
It’s developed by Game Design Sweden AB, whose only other notable contribution to the world is the creation of the website Netbabyworld, which isn’t as bad as it sounds. Roll Away is a remarkably easy to understand and incredibly fun game to play.
A puzzle platformer where you control a beach ball, you need to collect items and dodge obstacles across a series of levels. Each level is block based, and the ball moves block by block so you don’t need to line up distance on jumps too much, but the gimmick is how the game treats gravity. Essentially, the ball is able to wrap around the block, with gravity tied to the angle of the wall you’re currently on. Using that, levels quickly become intense platforming puzzles that force you to use different in-game tools to succeed. It’s a simple premise, but Roll Away does a lot with it, making it a worthwhile PS1 hidden gem that’s surprisingly very expensive? It’s quite the blast.
Blasto
We don’t know if there’s enough examples of this for it to be called a common character archetype, but we love the idea of “intergalactic hero who’s actually the dumbest himbo ever to grace the final frontier”. We’ve got Futurama’s Zapp Branigan and Captain Quark from the Ratchet & Clank series, but Captain Blasto from the eponymous Blasto for the PS1 has them both beat. You want big muscle bound, alien fighting doofuses with brain cells in the single digits, Blasto is for you. If that’s not enough for you, Blasto is voiced by the late great Phil Hartman, who you might remember from such roles as Troy McLure.
Fun or not so fun fact, we learned he was actually meant to voice Zapp Branigan before his untimely murder. If you want to hear what that could’ve sounded like, play Blasto.
As for the game itself, Blasto is a mix of third person shooting and platforming developed and published by Sony, which sees Blasto fighting an alien overlord called Bosc. The big bad alien has “conquered Uranus” and kidnapped a bunch of “Space Babes”, so suffer no illusions of this game being anything other than Duke Nukem in space spandex. Still, for a few immature laughs, you can have a lot of fun with Blasto, and it’s noteworthy alone for being one of the few PS1 games to make use of the dual stick controllers. Just be careful when navigating space, because you might get a bit turned about.
Turnabout
The PS1 had quite a few puzzle games within its impressive library, with Mr. Driller, I.Q. and No One Can Stop Mr. Domino being some of the most famous. With banger hits like those, it’s no surprise that a game like Turnabout was forgotten about, and that’s without talking about how long it took for this game to come to the West.
Despite launching in Japan in April of 2000, North America had to wait until March of 2003 for an official release of Turnabout. Europe then had to wait another eight months for a November 2003 release. Bear in mind that the PS2 had been out for three years at this point. Zone of the Enders 2 launched in that same March, for reference. No wonder Turnabout faded into obscurity.
As the name would imply, Turnabout’s main puzzle mechanic is about turning. Each level is a block-based maze filled with objects, some of which are affected by gravity. Players are able to turn the maze 90 degrees each time, thereby influencing the direction of all objects. Each maze has objects of certain colours, and it’s the player’s job to find a way to match colours together to clear them off the board. Naturally, the more you play, the trickier the levels become, and with 100 pre-made levels, you’ve got plenty to stick your teeth into. What makes Turnabout just that little bit more ambitious than other games though is the Edit Mode, giving players the potential for infinite levels. That’s inzan for the time.
Zanac X Zanac
On the surface, Zanac X Zanac sounds like some kind of fight between two mood stabilisers. Instead, Zanac is actually a vertically scrolling shoot ‘em up series developed by Compile, with a history dating back to the series’ first release on MSX home computers in 1986. While not a series in its own right, Zanac is seen as somewhat of a predecessor to another Compile shoot ‘em up series in Aleste, which dominated the late 80s and early 90s before disappearing until 2020 under the care of M2. Even the original Zanac saw a Switch re-release, but Zanac X Zanac has been lost to time.
Probably one of the first examples of a re-release that also includes a new experience, kind of like how the new version of Sonic Generations came with a brand new Shadow game, Zanac X Zanac contains three updated versions based on the NES port of the original game. There’s plenty of options and settings to tinker with, along with a special remixed version that feels like a new game entirely, but the headline act here is Zanac Neo.
A brand new game with a new story along with three selectable ships, Zanac Neo retains the same killer gameplay while offering devoting shoot ‘em ups fans something a bit new. Considering the gameplay is from 1986, some found it to be dated, but shoot ‘em ups are always fun, so Zanac X Zanac is worth checking out.
In Cold Blood
Revolution Software might have a fair few games in their back catalogue, but we reckon it’s fair to say that most know them for their work on the Broken Sword series, one of the most iconic point and click adventure games of all time. Whether you like point and click adventure games or not, people tend to have some memory or knowledge of the Broken Sword series. Clearly, they were also successful enough for Sony to take some notice, as they approached Revolution Software directly in order to commission a game for the PS1. After two Broken Sword games on the bounce, Revolution felt a change was in order, creating the spy thriller In Cold Blood as a result.
The point and click adventure influences are still on show, as you’re hunting down items, solving puzzles and talking to NPCs with conversation trees and dialogue options. Still, Revolution were clearly influenced by other games that were released around the mid to late 90s. You see, In Cold Blood also featured combat with limited ammo supplies in a similar way to the survival horror games of the time. We’ll admit that this tale of an MI6 operative sent to investigate a former USSR state does have some flaws, but if you want a unique spy thriller that wears its influences proudly, In Cold Blood deserves to be remembered more than it is.
Remaster or port in between the next Broken Sword games, aye?
The Granstream Saga
Quintet were one of the most celebrated SNES developers going, with games like Actraiser, Terranigma and Illusion of Gaia appearing in plenty of our SNES videos. After the SNES though, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Quintet kind of just disappeared off the face of the Earth, but they were still around developing games like fellow PS1 hidden gem Planet Laika, along with work on some SEGA Saturn and Dreamcast titles. If you’re a huge fan of Illusion of Gaia and Terranigma, The Granstream Saga is worth checking out. You see, it was developed to be a spiritual successor to those games. Shame those reviews didn’t match the SNES games, but this is the definition of a hidden gem.
Set in a world that was the victim of a massive flood, ancients managed to find a way to raise continents above the water. Such knowledge has been lost though, and with the threat of a sinking world, protagonist Eon steps up to the plate to find someone who can help out. Considered one of the first fully 3D RPGs on the PS1, The Granstream Saga even features anime style cutscenes and voiceovers, but it’s the combat that feels more unique here. Instead of turn-based combat, this RPG features 1v1 real-time battles. It’s not quite a fighting game, but Eon has a range of abilities at their disposal, making The Granstream Saga feel deep and engaging.
It might have been overshadowed by other PS1 RPGs, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t a diamond in the rough. Right let’s speed things along.
Speed Freaks
Sony were desperate to try and find a way to compete with Nintendo’s runaway success regarding the Mario Kart series. It felt like Crash Bandicoot had barely jumped on his first woodland animal before Sony stuck the marsupial in a motor and had him throwing nitro crates across the track. It’s no wonder then that Sony Computer Entertainment were quick to enter into a publishing deal with Funcom for their new kart racing game, Speed Freaks, or Speed Punks in North America. If the name Funcom sounds familiar to you, they’re the people who’ve made the more recent Conan and Dune games, and also Metal Hellsinger. An absolute whipper, that one.
Developed by Funcom’s Irish studio, Speed Freaks isn’t really breaking new ground when it comes to the kart-racing formula. You’re driving around bizarre tracks with vibrant characters and brightly coloured graphics, and there are random weapon pick-ups strewn across the track for players to use against your opponents. There’s a tournament mode where you compete to earn points over a set amount of races, along with unlockable characters to discover. It’s not the most original game we’ve ever covered, but it does the basics extremely well.
With multiplayer for up to four players, Speed Freaks is an underrated pick for anyone hoping to host some kind of retro multiplayer night in the future future.
Poy Poy
It wouldn’t be a hidden gem video of ours without a fighting game of some kind, though Poy Poy wasn’t actually going to be the fighting game to compete with the likes of Street Fighter Alpha 3 or Tekken 3. Instead of offering a technical fighting game experience with intricate combos and the like, Poy Poy is a party brawler more similar to the likes of Super Smash Bros. or Power Stone.
Four players are dropped into an arena filled with props, weapons and gloves, and each character has their own strengths and weaknesses regarding how quick they are to move and how easily they can lift heavier objects. Characters fight until one is left standing, and though the combat isn’t deep, the chaos on offer is endlessly enjoyable.
Those looking for a bit more depth will enjoy the game’s single player mode, the Poy Poy Cup, where players can earn prize money to purchase upgraded equipment. Still, the multiplayer is the big star of the show here, giving the PS1 a worthy Power Stone competitor. Special mention should also be made to the sequel, Poy Poy 2, which was released a year later on PS1. The gameplay is mostly the same, albeit with different characters and arenas, but the combat has been upgraded with new powers and moves, arguably making it the more definitive version.
Either way, both games are worth playing if you want some old school scrapping.
Speed Power Gunbike
Did you know that Sony Computer Entertainment are responsible for developing the PlayStation console and brand? You did? Wow. There’s more to you than meets the eye. But Sony is obviously more than just PlayStation. Within Sony, you’ve also got other electronics like TVs and music, but what’s most interesting is that Sony Music Entertainment Japan still got involved with video game publishing. Most of the games would be published in Japan alone, but the music department did help publish Tenchu: Stealth Assassins in the US, so clearly they knew ball. Looking at the library of PS1 games published by Sony Music Entertainment Japan though, one of the most interesting is Speed Power Gunbike. Name of my first child — sorted.
The first game developed by Inti Creates after they broke off from Capcom, Speed Power Gunbike is set in futuristic Japan and sees the last of humanity fighting a war against the technologically advanced Michi. You control one of three characters in their own personal Gunbikes, fighting your way through 3D levels using one of three modes: bike, robot and rally. Yeah, a bunch of ex-Capcom devs essentially made a Transformers game inspired by old school anime, and while the camera might be a bit of a pain when revisiting this one, there’s a style and aesthetic here that’s undeniable.
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