BlueKunai
Crash 3 with none of the soul. A perfectly passable platformer with a pretty good OST, but it lacks any real ideas of its own, has none of the polish and visual fidelity Naughty Dog were capable of and doubles down with even more vehicles that control worse than the ones in Warped three years prior on inferior hardware.
Rented it once as a kid and picked it up again to actually finish it. Not great, sadly. Visually it was pretty nice and some of the environments were neat, but it's very much a one and done.
More like "Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon: Forbidden Memories"
A bit different from the standard YGO gameplay and the OST is fantastic, but this game is stupidly unbalanced to the point that actually finishing it is nigh impossible without exploits or sheer luck. The cards you earn absolutely cannot compete with the rate of the difficulty curve even when relying entirely on fusions, late-game fights are riddled with OP traps and turn one 3000+ monsters and the store is straight up unfinished with even a lot of mid cards being priced at max star chips. Definitely feels like a rushed job, even kid me could see that.
A bit different from the standard YGO gameplay and the OST is fantastic, but this game is stupidly unbalanced to the point that actually finishing it is nigh impossible without exploits or sheer luck. The cards you earn absolutely cannot compete with the rate of the difficulty curve even when relying entirely on fusions, late-game fights are riddled with OP traps and turn one 3000+ monsters and the store is straight up unfinished with even a lot of mid cards being priced at max star chips. Definitely feels like a rushed job, even kid me could see that.
The second of the WhoopieCamp's PS1 hidden gems. Built from the ground up in full 3D and streamlined in a lot of ways that improve upon the original, but sadly let down by its linearity and a pretty slow start.
1997
A fast paced and satisfying blend of platforming and RPG mechanics set in a gorgeously colourful world. A real hidden gem for the PS1. Just a shame how much of it was cut compared to the original vision.
An expansion of Spyro 2s gameplay but with the side activities dialled up to 11. The core gameplay is as great as ever and it features some of the funniest writing in the series, but the side content is such a mixed bag that it kinda drags it down. For every fun gameplay style like the skateboard and Sgt Byrd, there's the asinine like Bentley and Hunter's speedway challenges and the downright annoying like Agent 9 and the catacomb tanks.
Spyro 1s gameplay refined with new moves and powerups and new mission based activities to diversify the side content. Backtracking for activities and collectables gated behind power-ups can be a bit of a hassle if you're going for 100%, especially the tiered ones that you need to replay upon return.
1998
While by no means the most mechanically polished or developed of the series, the more simple collectathon approach with no backtracking, minimalist story and more prog-rock leaning soundtrack make it one of my goto comfort games I replay almost every year.
Satisfyingly weighty controls and challenging gameplay, beautiful visual design with peerless FMVs for the era, and some of the best audio design on the PS1. Biggest drawback is the frustrating checkpoint save system that was thankfully rectified in the sequel.
1998
Stealth games really aren't my specialty, but MGS1 nonetheless was incredibly enjoyable and really impressed me playing it for the first time in 2015. Presentation manages to be very cinematic considering the limitations of the PS1 and the boss encounters were a lot of fun.
2000
The first MediEvil was enjoyable enough, but good lord I did not like this one at all. The core gameplay is mostly retained, but the new Victorian London setting is drab and a massive step back, the nerfing of health fountains makes the game unnessicarily punishing, the story and characters are complete nonsense and the voice acting is painful to listen to. Dan was a lot more likeable when he could only mumble.
1998
Very clunky and pretty dated but nonetheless enjoyable considering I didn't grow up playing with it. Dark and gritty gothic levels and enjoyably British dialogue.
1998
Know as Kula World in PAL regions. One of my favourite puzzle platformers with a simple but satisfying presentation and a well-paced difficulty curve.
Simple but satisfying gameplay enhanced by constantly evolving levels and enemies, a charming and adorable exterior that belies a surprisingly heavy story and a great OST from start to finish.
2001
A very stock-standard boiler plate kart racer. There's an okay amount of challenge variety and content to actually complete, but the core gameplay is a little too simple for its own good. There's a pretty decent roster of characters, but the difference between each of them being entirely cosmetic feels like a massive missed opportunity.