Sony came out of the gate swinging into the console space with the original PlayStation. Released in 1994 in Japan and the following year in the states, it managed to beat out the competition with the CD format and massive support from third-party developers.
While Nintendo 64 had titans like Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the PlayStation had countless classic titles that entertained gamers to no end throughout the latter half of the '90s. While many of these classics have since found their way to modern consoles, a small handful of them are still stuck on Sony's first piece of gaming hardware.
10 Legend Of Legaia
The PlayStation had a plethora of classic RPGs, which explains why Legend of Legaia got lost in the shuffle. However, any fan of JRPGs needs to experience this underrated classic for both its unique battle system and compelling story. Vahn, Noa, and Gala venture through the world to destroy mist generators, which create the fog covering the wilds and making monsters too powerful for people to leave their homes, cutting off towns and kingdoms from each other.
9 Spider-Man
Long before Insomniac's modern classic, Neversoft brought the webslinger to the PlayStation in between making Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games.
Spider-Man is not an open-world game, but instead a linear brawler. A sequel came out the following year on the PlayStation, though afterwards future Spider-Man games were adaptations of the Sam Raimi films, the second of which brought the series into the the open-world space.
8 Apocalypse
Before making their mark on the medium with the legendary Tony Hawk's Pro Skater franchise, Neversoft crafted a third-person shooter starring Bruce Willis called Apocalypse. The action is hectic and the actor spouts out cheesy one-liners.
But despite these bits of dialogue growing tired and repetitive quickly, the game manages to entertain from start to finish with a steady difficulty curve and gritty science fiction world. Why it has not been re-released is a mystery, but perhaps it has to do with the star power featured in the title.
7 Blood Omen: Legacy Of Kain
While Legacy Of Kain: Soul Reaver is often seen as the classic of this franchise, Blood Omen came out several years earlier on the PlayStation. Instead of a 3D action-adventure game, Blood Omen is a 2D action game starring who would later become the antagonist of Soul Reaver. The isometric perspective makes the game age better than most other PlayStation games from 1996, since early 3D titles often do not play well today.
6 Mortal Kombat Trilogy
Mortal Kombat has been a mainstay in the gaming space since the first release in 1992. Mortal Kombat Trilogy is a version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 which includes every character, stage, fatality, and other bits of content from all the 2D titles in the fighting game franchise. The first three games in the franchise have made their way to new consoles separately, but Mortal Kombat Trilogy itself has never been updated.
5 Alien Trilogy
Alien Resurrection deserves recognition for introducing the dual analog movement in console first-person shooters long before it became the norm, but Alien Trilogy is a far better game.
Released in 1996, it is a loose retelling of Aliens, taking numerous liberties with the source material. FPS games were not so common on the PlayStation, so seeing one so early in the console's life get it right is particularly noteworthy.
4 Gran Turismo
Racing games come in all types, but Gran Turismo is for those who fancy simulators over arcade sensibilities. Microsoft's answer to this, Forza, came out in 2005, but the first Gran Turismo made its way to the original PlayStation all the way back in 1997. Right from the start the series established its ambitions of top of the line graphics and realistic driving. While the nature of the series makes the last titles obsolete, it would still be nice to easily access the game that started it all.
3 Ehrgeiz: God Bless The Ring
This fighter, developed by DreamFactory, can be seen as a predecessor to the cult-classic PlayStation 2 brawler The Bouncer. Among the roster are several characters from Final Fantasy VII, including Cloud, Vincent, Sephiroth, Tifa, and Zack.
In addition to the traditional arcade ladder is an action-RPG portion where players explore a giant randomly-generated dungeon.
2 Disruptor
Insomniac was only recently purchased by Sony, but they have been close partners since the beginning. This goes all the way back to the developer's first game, Disruptor, a science fiction first-person shooter. Development of the game started on the 3DO before Mark Cerny saw the prototype and got Universal Interactive Studios to fund the game for the PlayStation. In addition to the typical shooting one expects from the genre, players also gain access to several special powers like shooting lightning bolts and producing a shield.
1 Clock Tower
Adventure games can be stressful due to their obtuse puzzles. Now imagine trying to solve these puzzles while a mysterious killer with giant scissors is chasing you. This is the Clock Tower experience. The first game in the survival horror series never saw release outside Japan, so the sequel is simply known as Clock Tower in the states. The second entry saw a PlayStation Network release in Japan, while American fans have to resort to plugging in their PlayStation if they want to re-experience the scares.