PS Plus Premium Revived the PlayStation Legacy

That's right. The PlayStation Legacy is back thanks to PS Plus Premium, and I'm dead serious. I am going to start from square one and talk about my perks of being a PlayStation fan because I been hastily getting into that point. Let's talk about it.

When the PS1 first came out, I have became a PlayStation fan. There was a point in time when I was playing Crash Bandicoot on the PS1. I played it back at my old stomping grounds. I also played it at my cousin's house. He had a PS1 and I was going to town playing Crash Bandicoot there. I liked the sound effects of breaking crates, collecting and hitting Wumpa Fruit. It's the fact that it made me think of the old Nick Jr. logo. Then boom, Eldritch Hounds come in on that point in time when the SPL starts.

Crash Bandicoot wasn't the only game I played because Spyro the Dragon is also one of the games I played, as well as others. The good ol' PS1 days. I've been reminiscing on those days. Especially the time when my friends and I were playing the PS1 in the kitchen back at my old stomping grounds I hope to visit once I conquer this fear of flying.

I remained a PlayStation fan on the PS2 era of gaming. I played the PS2 version Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex. It is a better version. I was also going to town to that game. Especially the charming music in levels like Coral Canyon. That is the most charming level of them all. No, the best music in the game is Gold Rush's. It has that fast part of the music. I also played the original Xbox version, which had a long loading screen. That's why the PS2 version is better. The GameCube version was developed by Eurocom.

When the PS2 first came out, PlayStation backwards compatibility became an outright process as it can be able to play any PS1 game. The PS2 has became a great starting point for the Sly Cooper and Jak and Daxter franchises. I remember playing those games from back in the day. I was reminiscing on that time too.

I suspended myself from being a PlayStation player and played the GameCube versions of third-party games. I was also going to town on them, until the time when I was given a PS2 version of Crash Tag Team Racing. It is a great game. I was 15 years old on that time. It has the option to enter our 6-letter names. I was using it like crazy. I do miss playing that game. Crash Twinsanity is too, but it became a fail because of Universal's crappy way of publishing their games. It is an open world game like Jak and Daxter.

On the PS3 side of things, it is Sony's first console to mark the use of PSN, wireless controllers and updates on games. The only problem with the PS3 is that some of them can play PS1 games while some of them can play PS2 games. None of them can play both PS1 and PS2 games. It also has PS1 and PS2 games available to buy at the PlayStation Store, so I bought some of them, the ones I played before. I was playing them for years, until the PS4 was released.

Since the PS4 was released, it is the start of the modern era. The PS4 lacks backwards compatibility to past systems. Not even the PS4 Pro. Then years later, the PS5 was announced to be real. There was a livestream about a black man who monologued full PlayStation backwards compatibility. Watching it made me so hyped that I can revisit the old titles from back in the day.

But here's the kicker. Jim Ryan confirmed that the PS5 is actually backwards compatible to only PS4 games to mean that we won't be revisiting classics anytime soon. The kicker to this is that the PS3 bears a unique structure that became a hurdle, which is why the PS4 lacked backwards compatibility. That one article stated that we don't expect the PS5 to play PS3 games anytime soon. I guess it's for the better since I heard having full PlayStation backwards compatibility could take up a lot of space and I was inclined to agree with that statement.

A price was paid that the PlayStation Legacy was dead because of the PS3's unique structure that kept the modern consoles from ever achieving full backwards compatibility. That's why playing remasters of games originally released on the past PlayStation consoles is the best bet. I originally said that remasters killed the old school charm with modern visuals since they work on modern consoles, but after learning that remasters are faithful to the original games' gameplay and story, they are also faithful to the original games' charming environment.

Here, take Ty the Tasmanian Tiger for example. This is a platformer game originally released on 6th generation consoles remastered to be played in HD and work on modern consoles, but still has that old school charm despite being remastered. It's a partial remaster to retain that charm. I was livestreaming it too, so I will livestream the rest of the game and beat it so that I can play Bush Rescue. But fully remastered ones like Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane and Spyro: Reignited Trilogies have improved graphics and updated models that games in the modern era have, but killed that old school charm, though they are faithful to the original releases' story and gameplay, so they are considered remakes because remakes use modern visuals to match the capabilities of modern consoles while developing them from the ground up.

While we had to stick with playing remasters, the only thing they hadn't done was giving PS Now an overhaul. It was a crappy streaming service and Sony didn't bother adding more classics to it and there wasn't a PS1 catalog. That's why PS Now needed an upgrade to have a vast selection of classics. It was the only way to revive the PlayStation Legacy.

But two years later, Sony has planned a new three-tiered subscription service codenamed Spartacus to compete with Xbox Game Pass. The first tier is the same benefits PS Plus offers while the second tier benefits access to a catalog of PS4 and PS5 games while the third tier offers access to trials, streaming and playing classics released on PS1, PS2, PSP and PS3. This caught my eye and hearing that made me hyped. But turns out that PS Plus actually got an upgrade to have three tiers, Essential, Extra and Premium.

PS Now was retired in favor of the PS Plus Premium tier, which offers streaming, game trials and a library of classic games. The PS3 has a fantastic library, but they are only available for streaming because it is a hard to emulate system unlike the PS1, PS2 and PSP. The games of these systems are available to both download and stream and select games have trophies, which is a first and each PS1 and PSP game come with a rewind feature. It comes in handy when it comes to making mistakes. And we can even play PSP games on the big screen for the first time. That makes it even better. At launch, the catalog started out small, but monthly, it grows.

The process of adding more classics is coming along nicely. Even the original MediEvil on the PS1 was added to the catalog while the remake is present this month. This is the starting point for Sony to start adding classics that got fully remastered or remade to the catalog. This means that the Crash and Spyro games that got fully remastered for modern consoles can have a chance to be added to the catalog, as well as Crash Bash and the ones released on PS2, the Wrath of Cortex and Enter the Dragonfly. The reason why I want them is because the catalog hadn't got a single Crash or Spyro game yet since launch. They deserved to be on there. I'll tell you more about on why I want them to be in the PS Plus Premium catalog in a future post.

But hold on, the info says hits from past PlayStation consoles. A hit means a success. This could indicate that I won't be expecting Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex to be added to the catalog anytime soon since I heard it became a fail because of how crappy Universal was to Crash and Spyro that Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time became a hit to save the franchise. But we shall see. I want it added on there despite it being a fail. I just miss hearing the music in Gold Rush and experiencing the charm in levels like Coral Canyon. That explains why Sonic 06 isn't on there. That game became a fail because of glitches, awful camera handling and unbearable load times. But the music is excellent though. If SEGA hadn't rushed through that game, it would've been a hit.

The PlayStation Legacy is revived, thanks to PS Plus Premium. We will no longer have to stick with only playing remasters. We don't need full PlayStation backwards compatibility to revisit classics. We got PS Plus Premium with the option to use the rewind feature on PS1 and PSP games. And we can also purchase them to play them 24/7. If Sony decided to make a PS6, PS Plus Premium will carry over.

The things that made PS Plus Premium so important is that we can revisit our favorite classics from back in the day and every PS1 and PSP game use a rewind feature. PS3 games are a part of the tier, but they are only available for streaming.

Now, in honor of PS Plus Premium reviving the PlayStation Legacy, I will be doing a live streaming series called PlayStation Rewind, formerly Days of PlayStation Past. How this works is that I'll be live streaming old games from back in the day. Remasters will not be a part of it despite them being faithful to the original games' story, gameplay and charming environment. They work on modern consoles and are played in HD. Same with remakes.

Since this is called PlayStation Rewind, I will be live streaming games originally released on past PlayStation consoles. PS3 games aren't a part of it due to them being available only to stream, so it will be games originally released on the PS1, PS2 and PSP. These systems are easy to emulate, which is why they are downloadable and also available to stream. I also took the liberty of creating a list that contains classics I played called PlayStation Oldies, refers to games released on past PlayStation consoles.

PS Plus Premium is the only thing we need so we can revisit old games from back in the day. Here's to May's additions.

Joe's Monologues - 4/9/24

Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of Joe's Monologues. This one is gonna be emotional and interesting as it gonna have interesting topics. I know you're disappointed that you'll have to wait another 20 years for the next total solar eclipse here, but don't be as I go over the topics today, savvy?

Skullgirls:

I have no words to say this. I am so dang speechless as to how astonished I am in this point of time. Between you and me, I am astonished on how everything turned out well. This shows how everything went smoothly. Especially that part when the Nintendo Switch update and the Xbox port entered active development so that players of these systems can join the launch party.

It has been one heck of a long road. I am so sad... well not sad, but glad... that the Skullgirls 2nd Encore Season 1 Pass is officially complete. The Season 1 Pass is done and dusted. I am very astonished at how far Skullgirls has gone. Especially that part when back in Summer 2020, the former Lab Zero Games employees have left because of Mike Z's actions that created a unsafe environment. I really thought that we won't get to try Annie out, but thankfully, she became so inevitable.

The reason why I am so relieved of that bullcrap I experienced is because Autumn Games owns all of Skullgirls' IP so that we can get Annie and future content regardless of that fiasco. I am so dang proud that my baby girl didn't suffer from all of the heck we encountered a while back. As a treat, I made her a new palette that you'll find out later on.

Now, if I keep track of the history during the Season 1 Pass era, it unfolded like this.

2021:

February 23, 2021 - Annie was announced along with the first Season Pass to have Annie and the three DLC characters.

March 4th, 2021 - The Season 1 Pass arrived on Steam in light of Annie's Beta.

July 8, 2021 -  Annie and the Season 1 Pass have been released on PlayStation and on the retail version on Steam. 

August 31, 2021 - Umbrella entered Alpha on Steam literally in the last second.

December 16, 2021 - Umbrella entered Early Access on Steam.

2022:

April 14, 2022 - Umbrella is officially released on Steam and PlayStation along with Annie.

June 16, 2022 - Black Dahlia entered Alpha on Steam. Skullgirls 2nd Encore and the Season 1 Pass entered active development as an update for the Nintendo Switch and a new release for the Xbox.

2023:

January 6, 2023 - The update that matches with other platforms and the Season 1 Pass are released on the Nintendo Switch.

March 29, 2023 - Black Dahlia is officially released on Steam, PlayStation and Switch. 

July 2023 - The Xbox port and the Season 1 Pass are released to match with other platforms.

October 18, 2023 - Marie entered Alpha on Steam.

December 12, 2023 - Marie entered Early Access on Steam.

2024:

March 26, 2024 - Marie is officially released on all platforms to round out the Season 1 Pass.

It took four years, but the Season 1 Pass is finally rounded out and 2nd Encore is available on all platforms. It has been a long road, man. I shifted to BBTAG music as a cherry on top and making BBTAG palettes out of characters who are assigned to themes that fit well with their personality. Annie got released, no Izayoi palette. Umbrella got released, no Platinum the Trinity palette. Black Dahlia got released, no Nine the Phantom palette. Marie got released, no Orie palette after looking through all of her palettes. That's four out of four.

The only thing about this is that when Marie hits Alpha on Steam, her boss version is renamed to Bloody Marie in game to distinguish things and all platforms now have it in light of her official release and it will stay that way forever. So I did one of the challenges with Marie to see how it goes. Turns out that Marie can fight her Bloody self in a challenge and on Arcade Mode.

I can play some Skullgirls now that Marie is fully released and I can record my online matches and edit them to play BBTAG music using. But my PS Plus has expired sadly and I wish they can offer free online multiplayer every weekend at least. I wish I can play it on Steam, but I need to buy a gaming laptop for this. I postponed my special online casual for the same reason.

In the meantime, I'll record the character tutorials and edit them to play BBTAG music as a warm up and publish them to YouTube on my gaming channel. Preferrably the ones that are eligible for my currently postponed special online casual.

If you look at the placement of the character select screen that will last during the post Season 1 Pass period on Skullgirls 2nd Encore, Annie, Umbrella and Black Dahlia are located at the bottom of the default selection while Marie is located at the top of the default selection. And for a better view, I selected the size to make the HUD appear on both sides. I am intrigued by this placement I've been looking. It happened first on Marie's Alpha on Steam. And now, it is happening on all platforms in light of her official release. The placement is so complete that Marie is literally the cherry on top since she is the current Skullgirl others have to battle and her Story Mode is a visual novel to entail how she gained control of the Skull Heart.

It is unclear that they are gonna put something on the empty slots Marie is between, but we do know one thing's for sure. Because this placement lasts during the course of the post Season 1 Pass period, the chraracter select screen will be updated to have a new grid with smaller squares to hold portraits of both current and future characters during the period of subsequent Season Passes to follow the footsteps of other fighting games that expanded theirs and that something we can look forward to.

Because Marie had to be on top, the timer that appears when you're selecting your characters online is now located at the bottom of the screen to prevent it from blocking her portrait and the text of it is now darkened so that it can be legible on the brightest part of the screen. This is virtually the same thing BlazBlue: Central Fiction has. This is gonna stay that way when the character select screen gets a new grid to hold current and future characters' portraits in eras of subsequent Season Passes.

Then there is something coming to Mobile called Guest Stars, which are assist characters that can perform an assist and they take way less development time than full fighters, so they are similar to Mortal Kombat 1's Kameo Fighters, Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax's Assist Fighters and so on. One of the Guest Stars is revealed to be Minette. She is being worked on and because Guest Stars take way less time, she will be finished in no time. The full roster for Guest Stars remains a mystery, so we don't know who are they, besides Minette. While they are Mobile exclusive, they'll always have a chance to be in 2nd Encore for subsequent Season Passes also.

And now, the general balance changes section has just started in the Beta version on Steam. They have the first set of balance changes released on Steam in the Beta version. One of the things that interested me is that Annie getting her upgrades to her Star Power. It's something I can agree with because Star Power upgrades offered her enhanced special moves, Distortion Skills and gives Star Cancel. That's why I wouldn't dare record her character tutorial and edit it to play Justice Sword until the balance patch drops.

That's the Overdrive system exclusive to Annie because you know that BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma introduced the Overdrive system? It's a system that enhances all of the characters' attacks. I am starting to feel like that with Star Power getting an upgrade, I am calling it Star Overdrive to reflect the changes to Star Power. It's hard to believe that I was playing BlazBlue, but with Annie, which is a fact that she is assigned to a BlazBlue theme and making an Izayoi palette would be the cherry on top.

I forgot to mention that the devs are still on the source of updating and replacing all of Valentine's fuschia crosses with pastel pink shurikens. That was supposed to come out in 2022, but it has been pushed back and we haven't gotten a single word about it because they had on multiple projects on their sleeve, like the update and the Season 1 Pass for the Switch, the Xbox port with the Season 1 Pass, Black Dahlia and Marie and the general balance patch. But now that the Season 1 Pass and the process of bringing Switch and Xbox players to the launch party is complete, the process of updating all of Valentine's crosses continues and it shouldn't be that long.

The Skullgirls Championship Series is going strong so far with online and offline events. Combo Breaker is almost upon us and that's where the Skullgirls World Championship will take place at. Now that the Season 1 Pass is completed, Marie will be legal for the remainder of the season and hopefully, the general balance changes should be finalized and released on all platforms before the Skullgirls World Championship at Combo Breaker. The devs will set up their booth there and they are gonna give us a special announcement. I have a feeling that we're gonna get some Minette news. Neglected to mention that if Minette makes her way to 2nd Encore, she will be eligible for my currently postponed online casual as Crystal Forest is perfect for her.

Spyro 4 in Development:

It's official. Spyro 4 is now officially in development. If any of you haven't played Spyro: Reignited Trilogy, be sure to play it as we are getting a new Spyro getting in development. This comes after Crash Team Rumble ceased active development after three Seasons following the part when Toys For Bob spun off to become an indie studio from Activision. This means Spyro 4, Crash Bandicoot 5 and future projects will not be published under the Activision umbrella moving forward.

Since the beginning of the Crash and Spyro games owned by Activision, Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy was developed by Vicarious Visions on the PS4 and Xbox One, now renamed to Blizzard Albany since they moved to Blizzard while Spyro: Reignited Trilogy was developed by Toys for Bob, which also developed the Nintendo Switch version of Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy in a process to develop a direct sequel to the original trilogy. I can see how Universal became awful to them.

Now, we don't know what Spyro 4 will offer. It is early in development, so we don't know if it's gonna be a direct sequel to the original Spyro trilogy by Insomniac Games like Crash Bandicoot 4 is or a reboot. We know one thing for sure. Since I heard Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time became on par with Naughty Dog's original trilogy and fixed plot holes created by previous games, Spyro 4 could also fix plot holes created by previous Spyro games, like Elora not being in Enter the Dragonfly or any other games and so on. The studio has forged a partnership with Microsoft to publish their first independent game. But that doesn't mean their future games will be Xbox exclusives and Spyro 4 could be the first independent game. We don't know for sure. Know the message that says "keep your horns on" on the indie announcement? This term shows that Spyro 4 is officially in development.

What I like to see in Spyro 4 is some canon undertones we experienced in Sonic the Hedgehog SatAM, different breaths from Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly, different playable characters, a fresh cast of characters from subsequent games in the original Spyro trilogy, an open world perspective from Sonic Frontiers and Jak and Daxter with portals leading to Speedway levels and Orbs from Spyro 2 to progress through the story, but with different colors varying by element and the fact that the goddesses in subsequent games in the original Spyro trilogy are iconic like Sally and Bunnie from Sonic SatAM.

I want it to be a reboot rather than a direct sequel to the original Spyro trilogy. It's because unlike the original Crash Bandicoot trilogy the original Spyro trilogy has multiple antagonists. Gnasty Gnorc is the main antagonist from Spyro the Dragon and is also featured in Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled. Ripto is the main antagonist from Spyro 2 and is also featured in Crash Team Rumble. And the Sorceress is the main antagonist in Year of the Dragon. I prefer Ripto to be the main antagonist in Spyro 4.

In response to Spyro 4 getting in development, I made Annie a Bianca palette as a cherry on top. Shared this at the Skullheart forums weirdly enough. I am intrigued by it that Sagan is in his Spyro palette. And since Skullgirls Mobile is getting new palettes every month, including the ones that are never before seen, I can see a chance that this palette could make it on both 2nd Encore and Mobile. This is something I will support in parallel with supporting Bianca to be on Crash Team Rumble as the 4th Spyro character.

An Update on My Career:

The progress on my Wrapper: Offline career is coming along nicely so far. I am working on a special video that celebrates my channel reaching 100 subscribers. I got to make sure that everything goes smoothly first before publishing it on YouTube. There has also been some interesting development so far. I have been coming up with a ton of video ideas inspired by someone over on YouTube. Stay tuned for them.

Dream Logo Combos:

Since my inception to my career on YouTube on separate channels, I wanted to do something creative, like this. I am working on some dream logo combos. That will include the logos of defunct video game companies that I miss experiencing. The first one I am working on is a combo of EA Games, Sierra and Krome Studios (2002). I am using Wondershare Filmora to make them. But I am using the free version that limits to one minute and has a noticeble watermark. I plan to purchase it to break the one minute limit and remove that watermark. Now, when I make dream logo combos, I put the logos of my choice and it is for creative purposes, not to infringe on their copyright. That being said, I will upload them on my main channel on YouTube.

Conclusion:

This has been the first Joe's Monologues of April. Stay hyped for Spyro 4, folks. And also, play some Skullgirls now that Marie is officially released on all platforms to round out the Season 1 Pass.