Konami used to be the king of the jungle in the early years of video games. They ruled the arcades, NES, and SNES. Their output on the PS1 was still good as well with them starting some classic series that are still beloved today.
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Konami also put out some sequels that elevated not only the series they were based on but video games as a whole. To properly highlight the magic that Konami made during the PS1 era, only one game per series will be selected. It’s a shame that some of their classic series, like Contra, will not make the list because the two games that were released on PS1 were not well received. There is still plenty left to highlight though.
8 Soul Of The Samurai
Soul of the Samurai is an action-adventure game. It plays a lot like the Resident Evil games in terms of controls, but it’s not a zombie game by any stretch. Players get to play as a samurai and a ninja who are fighting for their lives in an oppressed kingdom.
Capcom may have received inspiration from Soul of the Samurai because their PS2 game, Onimusha: Warlords, is like a more refined experience of this. No matter if that is true or not, this obscure Konami title on PS1 deserves more love than it got initially.
7 Sexy Parodius
Sexy Parodius hit the Japanese arcades first in 1996, but it also came to the PS1 and Sega Saturn that same year. It is one of many titles in this space shooter franchise that began in the 80s. It is one of Konami’s best shmups because of how goofy it is.
The shmup mechanics are solid, but its playable cast, enemies, power-ups, and bosses make this one memorable. It’s a short ride, but there are few shooters that are as unique as Sexy Parodius on PS1.
6 Vandal Hearts
When most players think about a tactical RPG on PS1, they probably remember Final Fantasy Tactics. It is, without a doubt, the best tactical RPG on the system, but it is not the only one that is worthwhile. It's not even the only one from Square Enix that is good.
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Square Enix games aside, Vandal Hearts was Konami’s attempt at starting its own tactical RPG series on PS1. There are two games on PS1 and they are both worthy of any tactical RPG fan’s time. Starting with the first seems the most logical though.
5 Policenauts
Policenauts was never released outside of Japan despite its large number of ports. It is a classic adventure game that Hideo Kojima worked on. It stars an LAPD officer, Jonathan Ingram, who is on a case involving some mysterious murders in the future. He has a partner too, Ed Brown, and their designs look a lot like other characters.
Jonathan looks like Mel Gibson while Ed looks like Danny Glover, both from the classic 80s action movie, Lethal Weapon. Kojima is not shy about his love of movies, so this is probably not a coincidence. For those interested, there is an English fan patch for the PS1 version.
4 Silent Hill
The PS1 is home to two of the biggest horror game franchises ever made. Resident Evil began on PS1 along with Silent Hill. While Silent Hill does borrow many elements from Resident Evil, it’s also quite different.
Players got to explore a large town shrouded in mist, giving the game a more open feel to it. There were guns, but melee weapons were more prominent in the game. Overall, the Silent Hill series is more of a psychological horror than one based on grotesque zombies.
3 Suikoden 2
Final Fantasy 7 pushed RPGs forward on the platform with its polygonal graphics and groundbreaking CG cutscenes. Suikoden 2 and its predecessor did not do that nor did they seemingly try to. They stuck with sprites, making it look like a more polished SNES title than anything else. This may be why the two games got overlooked on PS1.
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Graphics aside, they are both some of the finest RPGs to ever grace the system let alone the genre. This game sticks out especially as it refined what the original started with its gimmick based on a large party. It is the one game in the Suikoden series that every RPG fan needs to play at least once.
2 Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night helped create one of the biggest indie genres around via Metroidvanias. Super Metroid refined what it began on the NES and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night took that concept and added RPG elements to the formula. It is one of the most influential games of all time and falls into the same camp as Suikoden 2.
It’s not an impressive game to look at graphically although that doesn’t mean it looks bad. It’s in 2D whereas every other big franchise was getting into 3D on PS1. That may have been a problem for some, but Castlevania: Symphony of the Night proved that 2D games were still wanted in 1997 and they are still wanted decades later.
This list would not be complete without Hideo Kojima’s crowning achievement on PS1 via Metal Gear Solid. It was a surprise to get a sequel to a franchise that Westerners thought began on the NES years later. For context, Metal Gear originally hit Japanese computers in 1987. It even got a sequel, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, that fans wouldn’t see officially translated and released until 2006.
So, getting a new game with all of that background was huge. Metal Gear Solid created a dynamic gameplay scenario with tons of opportunities for players to make their own paths. The story is also well-remembered thanks to the voice acting and wild characters.
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