8 Great PS1 and PS2 Era Games That Need a Comeback

I don’t think I’m alone as a gamer who spends most of their playtime revisiting titles from two decades ago. The first PlayStation came out right when I was developing a deep love for gaming. The PS1/PS2 era was there to influence my childhood years. Making it so no game from later consoles would ever hit me as hard. I feel like I grew up in the goldilocks zone of gaming. It was right when they were experimenting with 3D and before the industry became so large that every game wasn’t being shoved into whatever category was trending. The diversity of game mechanics seen in the early PlayStation era wouldn’t be seen again until indie games started to get big. With all that being said, what PS1 and PS2 era games would I love to see make a comeback?

Despite the title of this article, I will say that every game in this list doesn’t actually need to come back. They already exist in their perfect forms. Any attempt to actually revisit them will more than likely cheapen the franchises. It is fun to daydream about what satisfying revisits of these would actually look like though. Almost every game on this list is one that I feel an annual urge to replay. Some of these games are hard to get a hold of but thankfully, emulation exists.

Two of the best consoles in existence

Tenchu

Gotta start off with one of my favorites. Tenchu was a third-person stealth franchise with excellent story, characters, gameplay, and level design. It was Tenchu and Metal Gear that would forever solidify stealth as one of my favorite genres. There were two games on PS1 and two more on PS2, all of which are amazing. Then Tenchu Z came out on Xbox 360 and it was plain terrible. There was also a Wii game, but the franchise was pretty dead by then.

Comeback as More Games

I see a new title keeping all the stealth goodness of the old games with more Souls-like combat and perhaps some new mechanic to make it stick out. And I just realized that I’ve described Sekiro … no wonder that’s one of my favorite games. I’m keeping it on the list because I wanna see Ayame and Rikimaru again.

Ayame is my favorite

Legacy of Kain

I recently did a playthrough of all the Legacy of Kain games and man were they fun. Writers of today can take lessons on how to make fascinating protagonists from the characters Kain and Raziel. The dialogue, voice acting, character arcs, and overall writing of the Legacy of Kain games are phenomenal. I found myself almost trying to speedrun through the gaming sections to get to the cutscenes. The level and puzzle designs in Soul Reaver were strangely refreshing for a game that’s twenty-three years old. It kind of speaks to how brain-dead puzzles in games have become over the years.

Comeback as Kain Animated Series

In terms of a comeback, I see less of a game and more of an animated series. Though the games are fun, the biggest appeal is by far the story. If they applied their level of writing to a show with pacing that isn’t broken up by long stretches of gameplay, it would so good. If Castlevania can get a sweet Netflix show, so can Legacy of Kain.

Jak and Daxter

I’m quite surprised this one hasn’t been remade or something by now. Sure, they’ve all been ported to new systems but given the success that Crash Bandicoot has seen lately, you would think Jak wouldn’t be far behind. All three Jak games are some of the best the PS2 has to offer. I often make the argument that Jak and Daxter is the best 3D platformer to date. The sequels took GTA’s sandbox model and made it leagues more fun. The gameplay and world are so addictive that the mere mention of Jak fosters in me a need to play through the series again.

Comeback as a Whole New Adventure

I want to see a whole sequel series. New levels, new vehicles, new characters, new challenges. The original titles are so good that I just want more. No massive changes. Just a refreshing series of solid 3D platformers. Bring them back, it’s been long enough.

Tomba!

Or ‘Tombi’ if you grew up where I did. This is a weird addition, and probably just me showing my personal interests. Tomba! was a short-lived series, with only two titles on the PS1. They were both whimsical 2.5D platformers with unique mechanics and memorable level designs. The way it blended RPG mechanics into its core gameplay made it so satisfying to explore. There’s a plethora of sidequests to discover, and they take some solid thinking to get through them. Because Tomba! is a puzzle platformer at heart, none of the quests are simple instructions. It’s about exploration, observation, and item collection. There definitely seems to be a point-and-click adventure kind of influence. From start to finish, both Tomba! games are a pleasure to play through.

Comeback as Flying Tomba

For a comeback, I would want them to stay 2D. There seems to be an urge to turn 2D platformers into 3D platformers and that doesn’t seem right for Tomba! Tomba! was able to achieve the open feel of a 3D platformer in a completely 2D environment and it should lean into that. But there needs to be something that sets a new apart and I think it could be something as simple as giving Tomba the ability to fly. The thought of having a fun Tomba world built fundamentally with the idea of a flying protagonist excites me to no end.

Time Crisis/Point Blank

I wanted to put Time Crisis in here but the series actually continued on arcades after the PS2 era, so I’ve paired it with another Guncon series to make the broader argument: we need new light gun arcade shooters. Point Blank and Time Crisis were pinnacles of fun in the 90s. To be able to shoot at stuff without having to go out and spend all your money on arcades was heaven. I find it strange that the light gun shooter ended up dying out so much. With the coming of VR, I’ve rejoiced to find a resurgence of arcade-type shooters. But every VR shooter I’ve played pales in comparison to Point Blank and Time Crisis. There’s some kind of catharsis missing. Something about the simplicity of light gun shooters gives them more room to be challenging, making them so satisfying.

Comeback as Light Gun Inspired VR Arcade Shooters

I really just want to see VR versions of Time Crisis and Point Blank. VR shooters tend to put more emphasis on the fact that they’re VR games instead of the fun factor. If someone made some simple, snappy VR shooters that tried to capture the feel of mid-90s arcade shooters, I think they would be amazing.

Parasite Eve

I won’t blame you if you’ve never heard of Parasite Eve. It was a short-lived horror franchise by Squaresoft before they sold out. Both titles were on the PS1 and were quite different from one another. There was apparently a spin-off title on the PSP but I’m only just learning about it now while researching this article, so I can assume it wasn’t very big.

The first Parasite Eve was a turn-based JRPG set in New York during the uprising of an entity with the power to manipulate the mitochondrial DNA of living organisms and turn them into massive grotesque beasts. There’s a lot of emphasis on biology with a complete disregard for the conservation of mass, so it has mad Resident Evil vibes. It must have been by some astronomical coincidence then that the sequel would ditch the turn-based combat for tank controls and survival horror shooty action. The charm of Parasite Eve rests in the nuts story, near-incomprehensible enemy designs, and solid gameplay.

Comeback as Resident Eve

For a new addition to the franchise, I really wouldn’t mind if they just went and copied Resident Evil again. I would be happy enough with a remake of both games but with the control scheme of the RE2 and RE3 remakes. They would retain some of their RPG elements, like gaining EXP and leveling up. Ultimately, I want more people to experience these games because they’re so fun.

Heart of Darkness

Heart of Darkness is the last 2D puzzle game made by the great Éric Chahi. It follows a kid named Andy, who suffers from a crippling fear of darkness, through a simple plot to rescue his dog. While the tone is seemingly light, it’s not afraid to get dark. This game is a piece of art. Every screen has a beautiful pre-rendered background. The puzzles respect your intellect, providing a challenge that 90% of games are too scared to approach. Though it can get frustrating, something about the feel of the game makes it so worth it. I find it so hard to rage quit this game. Though I’ll still die over and over, even having played the game a thousand times, it’s so addictive that I cannot put it down once I’ve started a playthrough.

Comeback as New Chahi 2D Puzzle Games

This is the only entry on this list where I actually don’t want a sequel or remake or anything. A port to modern consoles would be nice though. Heart of Darkness is perfect the way it is; what I want is more Éric Chahi 2D puzzle games. He made Another World, one of the finest 2D games of all time, by himself. Both Another World and Heart of Darkness were revolutionary in terms of atmosphere. Since then, though, Chahi hasn’t revisited 2D at all. He made a god-sim in 2011 called From Dust, then a VR game called Paper Beast a couple of years ago. I tried Paper Beast but ended up getting bored from the lack of challenge. This may just be my personal wishlist, but I cannot express how much I would love a new solid Chahi 2D puzzle game.

Final Fantasy

This one is really only an opportunity to poke fun and spark controversy. In my head, Final Fantasy started with VII and died after X. I know how naive that comes across. Many will say that the earlier NES and SNES titles are the pinnacle of FF but I’ve tried playing all of those games many times and I really don’t see it. Sure VI is great, I won’t deny that, but I struggle to play through an hour of I – V without falling asleep. I find the writing, plots, and mechanics are all repetitive and boring. While the 2D environments are charming, they pale in comparison to the gorgeous pre-rendered backgrounds of VII – IX and the world of Spira from X. The progressions are more interesting, with more stuff to level up.

Everything just feels more satisfying in VII – X. And I feel like I barely even have to make an argument for everything after X. X-2 was offensive. FFXII had some fun environments but it pretty much played itself through an unmemorable story. XIII … Ever since Kingdom Hearts came out, Square Enix decided they wanted to make action games instead of JRPGs, and, honestly, they suck at it. The combat mechanics in XV and VII Remake are a mess. They look flashy but are inherently flawed to the point of frustration. Play any other action game and it becomes grotesquely apparent.

Comeback as PSX-Inspired Indie JRPGs

What changes do I want to see to the franchise? It’s more what I don’t want to see. I kind of just want them to leave Final Fantasy alone at this point. XVI looks like another step in the wrong direction. What I’m really waiting for is for the indie scene to evolve past the 16bit era and into the 32bit. I want to see new developers commissioning artists to paint pre-rendered backgrounds. I want to see more emphasis on character interactions and growth in the writing, rather than plot and exposition. Considering how things have been progressing, I feel like it’s not that far away. I’m happy to wait.

So that’s my list of PS1 and PS2 era games that I think deserve to make a comeback. It wasn’t hard to find a bunch of great games in a bunch of different genres, but I’ve almost definitely missed some good ones so I encourage anyone to leave a comment about what PS1 and PS2 games they want to see resurrected.

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