Top 10 Most Overrated PS1 Games of All Time

Today we’re talking about overrated PS1 games. Any console with a library as big as the original PlayStation is bound to have some titles that the critics, and fans alike, got wrong. Okay I’ll be the first to admit that statement came off a bit strong. I’m far from the be all end all, or final word when it comes to video games. I would never try and tell people they shouldn’t enjoy something. Rather, these are the ones that I was excited for, but ultimately found disappointing. While drafting this list I decided I wouldn’t include only bad games. Instead I’m focusing on just those that I disagree with the general consensus on. Sometimes strongly. Whittling it down to ten was difficult but I gave it my best shot. Let’s jump right into the list. These are the top 10 most overrated PS1 games in my opinion.

#10. – Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Right off the bat I probably lost a few readers. Symphony of the Night is rarely absent from any top PS1 games list. So why didn’t I like it? I’ve long been told that this was the best of the best. Upon playing it I just couldn’t make myself get that interested in it. Something about Symphony of the Night never really clicked with me. Perhaps it’s that I’m just not a fan of backtracking, or shoehorned RPG elements. It could also be because I absolutely love the traditional Castlevania games and this was a departure from them. Instead of linear stages you now have a castle to explore freely. You must return to areas after you’ve gained abilities to progress. The concept isn’t very well realized here, and I found Symphony of the Night to be ultimately not that much fun compared to previous iterations.

#9. – Final Fantasy Tactics

After Final Fantasy VII the world went absolutely nuts for the franchise. To keep fans interested Squaresoft released an original strategy RPG with the FF name. I actually like this one a fair bit, but the amount of praise it gets is far from warranted in my opinion. Even at the time of release I found the perspective to be strange and unwieldly. A skewed isometric view rarely works well in this genre, and Final Fantasy Tactics did little to alleviate the problems. Furthermore I found the soundtrack, story, and graphics really underwhelming. The gameplay was also pretty standard. Maybe I wasn’t smitten with this one because I had already played the far superior Tactics Ogre before it, but FF Tactics just lacked that oomph for me. Nothing against those that absolutely love it though.

#8. – Metal Gear Solid

If I didn’t already lose you with the first game on this list then I’m sure this will do it. Metal Gear Solid is universally loved. Almost everyone who played it absolutely loves it. I really wanted to. Around the time it launched I gave the game a rental, and I was bored within minutes. Because renting games was a rarity and I had to spend my own money as a teenager I forced myself through the adventure. I barely remember my first play through. I’ve just never found stealth elements in video games to be all that interesting. I also could not for the life of me get interested in the story. It’s like Quentin Tarantino films; it’s too self aware and tryhard. I didn’t hate it, but I have almost no love for Metal Gear Solid. The same goes for all of the sequels.

#7. – Oddworld: Abe’s Odyssey

The original Oddworld belongs to a genre I like to call the ‘cinematic platformer.’ It joins the ranks of the likes of Prince of Persia in this regard where most of the computing power of the platform went into animations. With that said the game is very good looking, technically. The characters and environmental hazards feature a ton of animations. The backgrounds are lush with a ton of detail and look great even today. The problem? Oddworld: Abe’s Odyssey just isn’t much fun to play. It’s clear the developers were more focused on making a game with a lot of late 90s attitude than making an enjoyable video game. The level designs are super weak, and the hazards themselves are not interesting in the least. I’m of the opinion that Oddworld only had hype because of it’s advertising campaign.

#6. – Crash Team Racing

Crash Bandicoot was the PS1’s mascot for better or worse. With the popularity of Mario Kart Sony needed an answer, and developer Naughty Dog took the call. Crash Team Racing is often cited as one of the best kart racers of all time. I tried to love it. I really did. In the end I only mildly enjoyed it, and found the entire experience kind of frustrating to be honest. The course design is very sub-par. It feels like they used rejected ideas from Mario Kart 64. The power-ups are also very uninspired. The graphics look really good, but in motion the texture warping causes some pretty big problems. I do really like the Crash Bandicoot style, and I feel like it would have been great for this genre. Unfortunately I just don’t think they understood what makes a kart racer special.

#5. – Chrono Cross

This one was one of the biggest video game heartbreaks I’ve experienced. It’s predecessor, Chrono Trigger, is downright legendary. A sequel even half as good would be considered a win. Unfortunately Squaresoft chose to experiment with gameplay elements here. The battle system uses a weird combo system based on percentages. It’s just not compelling in the least. Additionally the storyline is so far removed that this can barely be considered a sequel. Squaresoft could have played it safe but instead they screwed up big time. Chrono Cross is a decent game, but as a follow up to Trigger it just doesn’t hold a candle. It’s almost insulting that some of the soundtrack is recycled because frankly this release doesn’t deserve association with it’s predecessor.

#4. – Crash Bandicoot

Sony positioned Crash Bandicoot as their answer to Mario. Many fans consider this one superior to Nintendo’s franchise. Honestly I never saw it, and I still don’t. Crash Bandicoot hyper focuses on platforming. It makes sense for the genre, but in the clunky 32-bit days it just didn’t age particularly well. The game is artificially difficult with cheap placement of enemies and obstacles. It’s not particularly good design either. Naughty Dog just threw small platforms with random obstacles thrown in with little thought. The level designs are very poor and difficult just for the sake of it. There’s very little rhyme or reason when it comes to the original Crash Bandicoot. Naughty Dog did eventually learn how to make a decent game, but this one certainly can’t be called one.

#3. – Vagrant Story

Vagrant Story was released to rave reviews and critics heralding it as one of the best RPGs of all time. With that in mind I had high hopes for this one. Unfortunately Vagrant Story didn’t live up to the hype. Most Squaresoft titles have some redeemable qualities. I had to dig deep to find any with Vagrant Story. The graphics are nice. Vagrant Story has some of the most complicated character models of any RPG of this era. Unfortunately that’s where the positives end. The battle system is incredibly clunky. Squaresoft was a mastermind of the RPG genre and to see them fail in this regard to make compelling combat mechanics is crazy. Next up is the story. It isn’t interesting in the least. Honestly this is one of the few RPGs where I couldn’t find any aspects of the plot to draw me in. It’s just bad.

#2. – Tomb Raider

Honestly I had to limit myself to just one Tomb Raider title, because otherwise all three would have dominated this list. I thought so back at the time of release when I played the original for the first time all the way up until I gave the third game a chance at launch. The original Tomb Raider titles have not been good to any degree. Gameplay is painfully clunky. Few other 32-bit titles make traversing a 3D world so awkward. The first title was released after Super Mario 64 showed how a title in the third dimension should play. The terrible controls and physics were bad then, and they’re still bad. The appeal was always in the main character’s design but even as a teenager that just wasn’t enough. Tomb Raider is awful and never should have become a franchise.

#1. – Final Fantasy VIII

Okay so I don’t hate Final Fantasy VIII like I do Tomb Raider. It’s not the worst game I’ve ever played, nor is it all that bad to be honest. The thing is Final Fantasy VIII had the unfortunate baggage of belonging to the the franchise, and being the follow up to part seven. Never have I ever been so disappointed with a video game. Battle experience scales with the enemies. This means FF8 actively punishes you for actually playing it. Worse yet are the junction and draw systems. I was able to absolutely break the game my first time through, and within just a few hours with only a vague understanding of the mechanics. That’s not even mentioning the absolute trainwreck of a story. I’ve heard apologists explain that you have to understand ‘school days’ anime, but I do, and no this one just isn’t good.