(AfroGamers.com) In the first installment on the PS Classic, Sony’s upcoming mini-console with 20 games. I went through a list featuring some of my favorite O.G PlayStation titles making up the bottom half of that list. So get your Funyuns or your Bugles and Faygo of the Red Pop persuasion, it’s time for main event ten games I want on the PS Classic.
10. Bushido Blade
On one hand I could’ve went with Battle Arena Toshinden but this is Bushido Blade. This was a fighting game that didn’t mess around with using 3D for evasion and actually distancing yourself from opponents.
While other fighting games of the time had health bars meant for chopping away to victory, Bushido Blade’s fights could be ended in one sharp slash. Either you completely took out your opponent, 
made it so they couldn’t move at all, or they just bled out. Of all the fighting games not around today, Bushido Blade is the one I miss the most.
9. Need For Speed III: Hot Pursuit*
The third installment in the series on PSOne was a leap in the “fancy cars racing around” subgenre of racing games. The main event for me wasn’t the fancy cars or the new tracks, it was the police pursuits being better than in the first games. It added more danger to these races than not watching your speed when coming around a curb.
8. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six*
This was the original in the franchise! When I first tried it out I couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to be doing. There was a strategy aspect of getting your team’s gear and equipment ready before going on your mission. You also had the element of assigning team members where you need them at specific points. I had never seen that before in a game at the time. It was a breath of fresh air for a console game and delivered on the fun.
7. Soul Blade*
Yes, Tekken with Swords made the list. Bet you’re wondering where Tomb Raider and Syphon Filter are at this point. Anyway, Soul Blade was something I enjoyed more than the first Tekken. It gave me a “3D version of Samurai Showdown” or “A cleaner version of Bushido Blade” vibe. Of the two Namco fighting games, the Tekken series will always be my favorite over Soul but Tekken has no opening video that touches the energy of “Edge of Soul.”
6. Tenchu: Stealth Assassins*
Unlike racing and sports games, this one was actually hard to pick between the first and the sequel Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins. On one hand, the first should be on PS Classic for historical significance when it comes to stealth games. That said, it’s a mini-console and no one cares about historical significance when you’re getting a mini-console. Putting that aside, I actually enjoyed the first one more than the sequel while the sequel was a sharper game.
5. Suikoden*
This was an RPG that you would end up dropping hours and hours into because it was important to collect the 108 Stars of Destiny–the 108 main characters in the game. It offered a lot storyline-wise and battle-wise. I didn’t discover the series until Suikoden III on PlayStation 2 but I’m glad I went back and explored the original.
4. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night*
Another vampire-themed game?! Going back to my Jet Moto rule from part one, Castlevania: SOTN is on the list because Castlevania rocks. It’s this high up because it’s an incredible game with the art style, the difficulty, the gameplay that rewards puzzle solving and not quitting, a strong story, and exploration in 2D.
2. Tekken 3*
“Why the third game and not the first?” While Tekken is one of a few fighting games where I actually enjoy the storyline–it’s told from one end to the next in chronological order, it’s perfect in execution–the first one did nothing for me. Tekken 2 caught my attention. My favorites Paul Phoenix and Marshall Law were still there and the story advanced from the last one. Storyline-wise, that’s all I ask from a game, really. Continuity in the franchise.
Tekken 3 continued this, looked cleaner and introduced new looks for characters. While I’d played fighting games before Tekken even hit arcades, I came to appreciate the fighting game when Tekken 3 came out.
2. Final Fantasy VIII*
Let’s be honest: Final Fantasy VIII and IX are better than VII but definitely don’t have the relevance and memorable characters behind it. FFVIII has the better characters and more interesting team combinations. Eventually, you’ll get to where you’re committed to a particular team but unlike FFVII, you’ll want to experiment quite a bit before settling on your team.
Oh yeah, the story is more interesting, the gunblade is better than the buster sword, and S.E.E.D. is more effective of a group than S.O.L.D.I.E.R. These are facts.
1. Final Fantasy VII*
Yeah, I bad mouthed Final Fantasy VII just now but the influence of FFVII on RPGs and console games that came out afterward can’t be touched. At a micro level, the movie approach to storytelling in FFVII was like EA introducing the “Hit Stick” in Madden NFL 2005. On a larger scale in gaming it was like Nintendo introducing the placing of the face buttons and shoulder buttons with the SNES controller–basically anything Nintendo’s ever done with a controller–and every company using that layout until this day.
It was a big deal that changed console gaming. Now it was almost mandatory that if you had anything other than a sports game, you needed some cinematics to it. SquareSoft, now Square Enix, kept this up by making cinematics longer and longer, something that other developers would do as well.
Luckily, Square Enix would also introduce the “Skip Scene” button when Final Fantasy X-2 came out. It’s almost as if the company knew it had gone too far with cinematics. It’s the game that really allowed for Square to break into the North American market thanks to the 90s anime boom and Toonami.
Beyond its innovations in gaming, Final Fantasy VII delivered pretty straight-forward JRPG action. By today’s standards it would be “Turn-based RPGs Intermediate Class” but it definitely belongs on the PS Classic and is definitely a top 3 game.
Staff Writer; M. Swift
This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.