Episode 166: The PlayStation Draft
Time for our first draft episode of 2024! It’s the turn of the PlayStation, one of the most important consoles in history. Listen to the episode, then vote on who picked the best 10 games in the pinned tweet @BackPagePod on Twitter.
This week’s music is from the R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 soundtrack by Kohta Takahashi, Hiroshi Okubo and Asuka Sakai, plus the Tekken 3 soundtrack by Nobuyoshi Sano and Keiichi Okabe.
Categories?
- Wrestling game where Stone Cold Steve Austin looks like a thumb
- War crime of a 3D platformer
- I played this once on a demo disc and remember it being good for 8 minutes
- James Bond game that wasn’t GoldenEye
- Game based on either KISS or the Wu-Tang Clan
- Features Chris Tarrant or Anne Robinson
- Extreme sports game that was clearly worse than Tony Hawk’s
- Cursed Squaresoft RPG that eight blokes on a forum say was good
- PC port that was essentially unplayable with a PSone controller
- I can’t believe this series made the leap from the 16-Bit era, holy fuck why
Categories
- Fighting game
- Shooter
- Survival horror
- Racing or sports
- Licensed game
- Platformer
- RPG
- 90+ on Metacritic
- Wild card
- Free pick
Draft Order
| Player | Category | Pick |
|---|---|---|
| Samuel | 90+ on Metacritic | Metal Gear Solid |
| Matthew | RPG | Final Fantasy VII |
| Matthew | Survival horror | Resident Evil 2 |
| Samuel | Free pick | Castlevania: Symphony of the Night |
| Matthew | Free pick | Xenogears |
| Samuel | Fighting game | Tekken 3 |
| Matthew | Racing or sports | R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 |
| Samuel | Licensed game | Die Hard Trilogy |
| Matthew | Shooter | Syphon Filter |
| Samuel | Racing or sports | Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 |
| Matthew | Wild card | Vagrant Story |
| Samuel | Platformer | Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back |
| Matthew | 90+ on Metacritic | Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver |
| Samuel | Wild card | |
| Matthew | Licensed game | Alien Trilogy |
| Samuel | Survival horror | Silent Hill |
| Matthew | Fighting game | Bushido Blade |
| Samuel | Shooter | Einhänder |
| Matthew | Platformer | Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped |
| Samuel | RPG | Final Fantasy VIII |
Honourable Mentions and Also-rans
- Spider-Man
- PaRappa the Rapper
- Rayman 2: The Great Escape
- Dino Crisis
- Fear Effect
- Wipeout
- Colony Wars
- G-Police
Picks
| Category | Samuel | Matthew |
|---|---|---|
| Fighting game | Tekken 3 | Bushido Blade |
| Shooter | Einhänder | Syphon Filter |
| Survival horror | Silent Hill | Resident Evil 2 |
| Racing or sports | Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 | R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 |
| Licensed game | Die Hard Trilogy | Alien Trilogy |
| Platformer | Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back | Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped |
| RPG | Final Fantasy VIII | Final Fantasy VII |
| 90+ on Metacritic | Metal Gear Solid | Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver |
| Wild card | Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo | Vagrant Story |
| Free pick | Castlevania: Symphony of the Night | Xenogears |
Results
Samuel 49%
Matthew 51%
(373 votes, with some talk of a broken poll)
References
- The Making of… PlayStation from Edge 200
- PlayStation - the First 25 Years from GameInformer
- Also worth a look is “PlayStation: the story behind the brand”, a 20 page feature by Simon Parkin and Edge staff in Edge 274 which can be purchased here. “That Parko feature is incredible, though, you’re right about that. So much access.” - Nathan Brown. Note it contains some quotes from the E200 issue available above.