The PlayStation that Europe built

I think it's an aspect that often gets overlooked in the perception of the PlayStation brand now, but the early years of the PlayStation were heavily dependent on European developers, fashion and knowledge. Sony even reached out to Psygnosis and demoscene guys to determine how they should engineer the PS1 to present polygonal 3D models and Gouraud shading. As the PlayStation served as a natural successor to the Super Famicom for many Japanese players, and the Sega Genesis in America, a lot of the early adopters in Europe came in from the Commodore Amiga. Here are some of the games that became most significant in helping the console find its audience.

(Note: I must be convinced that the game inspired somebody to buy the console. I'm not listing Time Commando or Supersonic Racers.)

Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider
Wipeout
Wipeout
Loaded
Loaded
Grand Theft Auto
Grand Theft Auto
Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror
Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror
Destruction Derby
Destruction Derby
Driver
Driver
Worms
Worms
Rayman
Rayman
G-Police
G-Police
Colin McRae Rally
Colin McRae Rally
MediEvil
MediEvil
Thunderhawk 2: Firestorm
Thunderhawk 2: Firestorm
KulaQuest
KulaQuest
Colony Wars
Colony Wars
3D Lemmings
3D Lemmings
Rollcage
Rollcage
Jonah Lomu Rugby
Jonah Lomu Rugby
Fade to Black
Fade to Black
I hate it, but it's ultimately why I came around on the idea of getting one instead of a Saturn
Discworld
Discworld
Formula 1
Formula 1
Hogs of War
Hogs of War
Twinsen's Little Big Adventure Classic
Twinsen's Little Big Adventure Classic
Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels
Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels
TOCA Championship Racing
TOCA Championship Racing
Micro Machines V3
Micro Machines V3
Theme Park
Theme Park
Brian Lara Cricket
Brian Lara Cricket
Circuit Breakers
Circuit Breakers
Spice World
Spice World
Actua Soccer
Actua Soccer
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Music: Music Creation for the PlayStation
Music: Music Creation for the PlayStation
Croc: Legend of the Gobbos
Croc: Legend of the Gobbos
Nightmare Creatures
Nightmare Creatures

13 Comments


1 year ago

MediEvil!

1 year ago

Good call
Gonna nom Micro Machines V3 (Codemasters, iconic casual racer), Croc: Legend of the Gobbos + Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Argonauts, very successful if flawed platformer adventures), Test Drive 4 + Demolition Racer (Pitbull Syndicate, generally well-received and bolstered the racer lineup), Creatures (1996, IGDB doesn't list its PS1 port but it's a relevant prestige title for the system), Krazy Ivan (Psygnosis, debatable quality but a commercial success and EU equivalent to the likes of Warhawk), Shellshock (Core/U.S. Gold, much like the previous game but for vehicular combat), Gekido: Urban Fighters (Napa/Gremlin, maybe borderline though it got a lot of press coverage and stood out among the later releases), Nightmare Creatures (Kalisto, notable alternative to Resident Evil), Hogs of War (Gremlin/Infogrames, the former's last hurrah and pretty beloved), Z (Bitmap Brothers, mild seller but a very recognizable early RTS and one of the most Amiga-like standouts), NGEN Racing (Curly Monsters, bit late but a notable sci-fi racer to complement the later Wipeout wave), Circuit Breakers (Supersonic, definitely way better remembered than their earlier game you mentioned), Brian Lara Cricket + Jonah Lomu Rugby (Codemasters, probably the most notable PS1 game for these Commonwealth-centric sports), and maybe V2000 (Frontier, niche remake of Virus).

Hugo '98 is absolutely not a good game, but it definitely sold the PlayStation to European parents whose kids wanted to play what they already saw on the syndicated show. I'd also include one of Codemasters' music creation releases since they promoted the system as a multimedia device, not just for games.

1 year ago

@PasokonDeacon A well considered list with a lot of good suggestions, though there's a few there that I doubt sold a lot of PS1s. I'm on my break right now, but you can look forward to list alterations when I'm home.

1 year ago

Oddworld.

1 year ago

Also, Harry Potter absolutely sold a lot of PS1s. Mine included (although THPS2 helped as I didn't realise I could get it on my underloved N64)

1 year ago

Oddworld Inhabitants are Californian

1 year ago

@87th ah, dang. Sorry. Always thought Oddworld was a British thing.

1 year ago

Lol it certainly SEEMS extremely British
This comment was deleted
Who wants to be a millionaire

1 year ago

The 2000 Hothouse Productions Chris Tarrant WWTBAM PS1 game was adapted from the 1999 Jellyvision Regis Philbin game. Its origins as a US title muddy the waters a little too much for me to feel comfortable including it on this list, despite how wildly, ludicrously successful the UK adaptation was.

1 year ago

for whatever reason I thought Fade to Black came out on the saturn too...


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