The Sony Playstation !

My PS-X System

I have been having a lot of fun in the last year playing with my Sony Playstation. I spent about $400 getting started, and now I am down to a (support) expenditure of $30-$40 a week. Total Cost: Less than $4,300.00us

System Hardware Accessories

 I actually like the (first) NUBY card much better than the other cards. It is made of very heavy plastic and feels much more durable to me (you could probably break a window or two with it)... The lack of an end-cart label space is a minor design mishap, but its heft more than makes up the deficit.

The new version of the NUBY card is, alas, just like all of the other cheap non-standard card clones that I have seen ..

My Game-Library

 Unsorted The games marked with an asterisk are no longer in my possesion due to unfortunate circumstances involving people who know that I am talking about them now !!!
If you have any questions about the games that I have listed here, feel free to drop me an email at valeron@pocketmail.com... Please be aware, though, that I am very busy at school :( and may not be able to reply for a week or so

Bugriders: The Race of Kings

This game is a racing game. It is essentially a three-dimensional version of Ridge-Racer (or games of that Ilk). The course is a long tube that floats down through three-space. This is the only game that I own that is two-player, but the one-player mode is the best. The game is not very hard (if you choose a fast character), and it became very fun after playing through the first set of courses. I haven't figured out how to save the game yet, although any information would be appreciated. "Crop" means to accelerate, but you must keep "Crop"ping, other-wise you slow down again. I considered it a fun buy for $10, but don't pay more that $15 unless you are an addict of racing games.

Tecmo's Deception

This would be my favorite Playstation Game, except for the 5 minute boot loading time, 9 block Per One (!!) save game Memory Requirement, and the difficulty of triggering traps to 'hit' fast adventurers. HINT: wait until the trap-arrow is spinning BEFORE hitting the trigger button.

Vandal-Hearts

This is my favorite Roleplaying/Wargame ever - It is very slow going, and has no user-interactivity in the RPG segments is nonexistant, and the numerous battle segments are very fun and difficult. It only loads once every few minutes, so you can use the fun Disc-Switching Mode to play with two or three friends at once. It is one player, and two blocks of memory allow you to save three games (in town) AND one Mid-Battle game.

Ogre Battle Limited Edition

I do not know of a game that is stranger than this. It looks as if it is something from the Super-Nintendo, the Fighting segments are totally noninteractive, but the music and character generation process is incredible !!! Each save file is two blocks long.

Final Fantasy VII

I am not worthy to review this game.

Final Fantasy VIII

This game is not as exciting as the first three hours of FFVII, but it is still fun after 10 hrs.. I am now on the second CD.. The characters are very tall in this game.

MDK

60 frames per second with a glass floor, ceiling, and mirrored platforms ?!?!! Some would call it impossible, but this happens all the time in MDK. I love this game, although I am very bad at it. My friend finished all six worlds on Easy mode in just under eight hours. One memory block allows you to save eight files. Wonderful Sniper-cannon mode. My favorite weapon is the "Tracking Rocket Sniper Grenade". Whee-Kaboom !!!

One

One memory block, One save file. HINT: Use the password continue feature instead-It doesn't keep track of how many continues you have left.

An incredible blastathon, but nicely low on strategy. After killing ten or twenty units, you become practically invincible and can only die due to the many, many, testy jumps in this game.

Shadow Master

A very difficult Doom-like game. With a heads-up display, magic. I never finished the first level, so I do not know anything about the save features. There are many evil suprises, so be on guard. switch all panels to matching symbols to unlock the doors.

Watch out for sea serpents.

PS-X Sampler CD 3.5

This CD is really dull, but it comes free with a new playstation. It has one song on it that works really well with N2O... see below.

I could not find any instances where this program used the memory card. There are a few secrets for those who have perserverence-I won't tell you where they are.

Assault Rigs

This game was good for the first ten levels or so, but then I stopped playing it for a while and now, whenever I load my save file, I totally die. It becomes a little tricky after the first few simple levels. The only way to finish a couple of the later levels (i.e. Level 13, 14) involves going through walls which are not really solid. Devious.

Saves once per block. Has a high score list that lets you start at any level that has a score next to it, making it easier to show your friends how cool you actually are by virtue of comparison.

Ian Livingstone's Deathtrap Dungeon

This game, published by EIDOS, the same people who brought you Tomb Raider, is rated Mature, and for good reason. If you thought Laura Craft was scantily clad, wait until you see the female lead character in this game. I guess that the programmers thought that "armor" and "underwear" were synonyms, but these people should be arrested for indecent exposure. The game has a few serious problems, but also a few advantages over other games in the slash and bash tradition.

The controller, although configurable, is not analog compatible. Walking the character around is like trying to steer a boat, especially when running. Expect to die several times on each of the jumping sequences. The camera tries to be innovative, but it is obvious that the code wasn't quite finished. This is the only game that I have seen where they preferred having the walls tear to having the camera get stuck in corners.

Advantages include:

The memory behaviour is very poor. Each card may only store one save file, which makes it a real pain to have more than one person playing on a low budget. Grumble...

Resident Evil: Director's Cut

This game made me sick, so I returned it to the store. Don't buy if you have a weak stomach, and don't mind having your head ripped from your feeble body with no warning. Has a good rumble feature.

Gran Turismo

If you buy a good car (around 8000Cr), then you can learn how to play easily. Expect to spend a few hours trying to get the B.License. I haven't figured this game out too well, but my younger brother is a real whiz, so you should talk to him if you have questions. This game is really nice, and is almost worth $20. I have a copy of the original edition that I picked up in CompUSA at the lower price, and the reference manuals are really nice. Saves cost five blocks for a campaign game, two blocks if you change the controller buttons, and about 1/2 block per instant replay, if you are running with an analogue controller. You have to choose how many blocks you want to save for instant replays before you record any. It is better to err on the side of too much, if you have a compressing card, since extra blocks that are still empty don't cost you anything.

Cybersled

If you find a copy of this game, burn it. It must be the worst game ever to be released for PS-X, with the possible exception of Viewpoint. Does not support memory cards, or even saving at all. The frame rate during the game is about 10/sec. Do NOT, under any circumstances, buy. This is the first game that the Ridge Racer guy who says "R4" in R4 did voice acting for.

The Raiden Project

This game supports saving highscore and configuration data, and does so on one block. It only allows one save per card, but that doesn't really matter because it is an arcade game clone. Inside the CD you will find both Raiden, and Raiden II. The Atari Jaguar version is better, because you can see the top and bottom of the screen. The optional "horizontal" mode has some of the best legal disclaimer text that I have ever seen on the Playstation. If you want it to be just like the arcade machine, you have to modify your controller's circuit board or build a custom one yourself--you can't turn the TV on its side to play because they change the alignment of the controller.

Viewpoint

Thank your lucky stars that this game is rare, because it must be the third worst game ever for any platform. While the Sega Genesis version was actually fun, this game succeeds only in being painful, as the controls are sluggish and the enemies are all 90% invincible. If you like fly-through-space games, go somewhere else. This game has three letter continue codes for each level, and does not know about memory cards at all.
This is all for today--I have to go back to school tomorrow morning at 6:05 and am getting tired.. Have a good weekend.
index.html