Retro gaming has become a golden standard for gamers who were born in the 90s play these games as a child. As a child, I have been playing retro games in all my life. The thing is, they are more charming than the modern age. There was a point of time when I was playing the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation 1. Those are great systems. I played the SEGA Genesis and SEGA Saturn at my aunt's house. Those moments were cherishable. Especially when I played Crash Bandicoot at my cousin's house. I was thinking of the old Nick Jr. logo when hearing the sound of hitting Wumpa fruit. I was going to town on that game too, hitting or collecting Wumpa Fruit.
There was also a point of time when the PS2, GameCube and original Xbox generation came in. The games have a lot of charm in them and have charming copyright screens and logo flows. On the Xbox, I went to town on playing Whacked!. And you see, I mainly play both the GameCube and PS2 versions. I have reignited my love for them and going to town on the retro titles. Even retro RPGs like Wild Arms. I love the franchise so much and I've been wondering if we are gonna get a new Wild Arms or not. There has not been a new game in the works for so long.
I have been holding these games to my heart today that ever since the PS4 came out, I wanted to revisit them. But they have been fizzled out except the ones that are on PS Now, which had a limited selection of PS2 games and lacked a PS1 catalog. I expected full backwards compatibility to be on PS5, but Jim Ryan has confirmed that the PS5 can only play PS4 games and the reason being is that the PS3's architecture is hard unlike the Xbox 360's structure that is easy enough for full Xbox backwards compatibility to be established.
I was looking forward to revisit retro titles, like Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex. It was a great game that the levels' music and environment are so charming. Especially the trolley level inspired by Donkey Kong Country. It does make sense for Crash Bandicoot to be inspired by Donkey Kong in terms of levels that involve underwater and riding on trolleys and Mario in terms of boxes that come in different varieties. The game has more sales than the original trilogy that it received a Greatest Hits accolade. It represents that Wrath of Cortex is actually a success, not a flop. I hold the game dear in my heart today.
That was never the case except for using PS Now. After hearing the disappointing news, I just let it go and stick with playing remasters that kill the old school charm like Crash Bandicoot: N-Sane Trilogy and Spyro: Reignited Trilogy; two remastered trilogies that became a starting point, so to this day, I will never get my possibility to revisit that game. To not revisit Wrath of Cortex and other PS2 games I played as a child after hearing that the PS5 can only play PS4 games due to the PS3's unique structure made it sting. Yes, it really does sting in disappointment and I will miss listening to Gold Rush's theme, until back in 2022 when the new and revamped PS Plus launched. The only thing that caught my eye is that we can be able to revisit older titles released on the PS1, PS2, PSP and PS3 games on the Premium tier as it offers a vast selection of retro titles, including those I loved as a child and given us three retro titles every month, unlike PS Now.
After hearing that the Premium tier offers a vast selection of retro titles, I made an original wish list on Google Docs that has PS1, PS2, PSP and PS3 games and remove the ones that are being added. But it was scrapped, so I made separate wish lists. One for PS1 games and one for PS2 games. And put in an asterisk next to the title to represent that it includes sequels to a particular game. After PS2 emulation came to PS Plus Premium, the older PS2 games didn't get patched with emulation, so I added the older PS2 games to my wish list and added two asterisks to represent that the older PS2 game exist, but lacks emulation features. I didn't plan to make a wish list for PSP games, even though we can play them on the big screen. But if I do, it'll be the ones that are first party and PSP exclusive. And now, since Google Docs now has tabs, I unified my wish lists of PS1 and PS2 games into one document to have two separate tabs. Here is a link to my unified PS Plus Premium wish list.
I am not making a wish list of PS3 games because they hit a special rule to this. PS3 games are only available for cloud streaming. Which is why the PS3 is hard to emulate unlike the PS1, PS2 and PS3, the three systems that are easy to emulate that the games of these systems are available to both download and stream. If you really want to download PS3 games, you're better off getting a PS3. That and playing remasters of PS3 games. I know that they are not the same as the originals, but they tend to give them better visuals and they are faithful to the originals' gameplay and story.
Last month, they have released one of the fun retro games called Mister Mosquito. It is a game where you can control the mosquito to suck blood from people without being noticed because you are playing as an unwanted guest. I better pick this game up to see how it cranked up to be in the future. And maybe livestream it. Then there's Secret Agent Clank, a PSP spin-off of Ratchet and Clank where you play as Clank to uncover the mystery behind someone impersonating Ratchet. I'll give this a go in the future too.
I am intrigued at the way that new retro titles are being added month to month. And we got new PS2 games coming. As a result, I can finally be able to revisit Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, the Simpsons: Hit & Run and more PS2 games I loved as a child and been holding them dear to my heart if they ever released them. I miss hearing Gold Rush's theme, exploring the goodness of Springfield and switching fighting styles. Except that the games that I played as a child included the 3D era Mortal Kombat games that I wasn't supposed to play because they are rated M and the franchise is marketed towards those that are 17 and up.
Since PS2 emulation came, Sly Cooper and the Thievious Raccoonus became available and I was able to revisit that game. This is a throwback game I played back in the day and I didn't beat it on that time when I was a child because I rented it from a rental place called Hollywood Video, now defunct and was restructured into American Mattress when I came to my old stomping grounds to find out what has changed. But on the time when PS2 emulation came, I beaten it. I was going to town on that game like the previous time. Especially looking at the Dolby Surround Pro Logic II logo. It was worth it.
For the PS1 side of things, we get to revisit them as unlike PS Now, PS Plus Premium offers PS1 games and we haven't seen a new PS1 game since we saw new PS2 games for three months, until we heard that we got two new PS1 games coming out this year in honor of the PS1's 30th Anniversary, Dino Crisis and Blood Omen. That is great, but what would me more ecstatic is that if they released the Crash and Spyro games, as well as the ones published by Universal Interactive; they have a lot of charm. I was in those streets embracing polygon models. And now, I get to embrace them again.
In fact, in the PS1 era, Universal Interactive has games that have a lot of charm that they were the publishers of the Crash and Spyro franchises. The best games they ever published are the original trilogies. They have a good average score and a good average number of sales and they should be released on the catalog anytime soon. On to the PS2 era, Universal gave passing them along to a different studio to continue their franchises a go. The only thing about this is that their games are still having a lot of charm despite them being released on different platforms on the 6th generation era. Turns out that after Naughty Dog and Insomniac parted ways, Universal was awful to Crash and Spyro. I am aware they they were a terrible company that none of their games after the original trilogies couldn't come close and fell short, but I'm willing to revisit them if they released at least one on the back catalog.
The PS1 and PS2 eras are the best eras in all of PlayStation because of opening the disc reader, the NTSC and PAL labels, memory cards, wired controllers and Multitap accessories. With PS Plus Premium, I can finally be able to revisit PS1 and PS2 games that I have been playing as a child and holding them in my heart. And PSP games are also in the back catalog and we get to play them on the big screen. In fact, I have found a decent PSP game to livestream soon.
If I keep track of the pieces of the PS Plus Premium era so far, PS Plus Premium offers a vast selection PS1, PS2 and PSP games with up-rendering, rewinds, quick saves and video filters, including the original releases that got remade or remastered like MediEvil, new retro titles get added every month and we're seeing new PS2 games get released. But there is one piece of the PS Plus Premium era that has not yet been put in. It is shifting the PS2 games from the PS Now line into the PS Plus Premium line.
Just now, Sony has revealed the lineup for October. This month's additions in the classics department came with an interesting development. And it's not the fact that Dino Crisis is one of the announced PS1 games coming this month. But better yet, it's one of the PS2 games on track to undergo a shift from the PS Now line of PS2 games to the PS Plus Premium line of PS1, PS2 and PSP games after wondering if it's possible to do that now that PS2 emulation is here to complete the PS Plus Premium era. That is Siren. But why is it exciting? How is that important?
Well, there has been some arguments that Siren is already on the catalog per se. But to clarify, despite the fact that you need a PS Plus Premium membership to play this game, Siren is currently on the PS Now line of PS2 games with others, which accompanies only up-rendering for PS2 games on PS4. What makes it so exciting is that Siren will be the first PS2 game to undergo a shift to the PS Plus Premium line of PS1, PS2 and PSP games to have not just up-rendering, but also emulation features such as rewinds, quick saves and video filters on both PS4 and PS5, as well as the option to switch between NTSC and PAL versions. Sony is doing this because they intend to work towards shifting their PS2 games to the PS Plus Premium line, starting with Siren as the first PS2 game to undergo a shift.
I have compared the descriptions of Siren weirdly enough. The current description reads "Experience Siren, originally released on PS2 with up-rendering and trophies." while the blog post reads "Experience Siren, originally released on PS2, now enhanced with up-rendering, rewinds, quick saves and custom video filters." The rest of the description in the blog remained the same as the current description. That's the only indication that Siren is on track to be the first outdated PS2 game to undergo a shift, so I purchased it a la carte to find out how will Siren shift to the PS Plus Premium line. It's either an update for the existing game or replacing the PS Now release with the PS Plus Premium release.
To shift outdated PS2 games from the PS Now line of PS2 games to the PS Plus Premium line of PS1, PS2 and PSP games is possible and a very smart choice because they need to have emulation features too. In the case of Ape Escape 2, its logo you're seeing now represents the European PAL version, which is why we can't purchase it a la carte and there are potential issues on it due to it still having the PS Now algorithm. That's why Ape Escape 2 definetely needs to undergo a shift to the PS Plus Premium line. And so do the Jak and Daxter trilogy and its racing game, though their hub has the logos, Fantavision and others that are in my library so that they can also have rewinds, quick saves, video filters and the option to switch between NTSC and PAL versions.
Sure, I know that you would jump up and say what about Max Payne. And yes, it is available on the store, but in this case, it, along with Bully, currently has the PS Now algorithm. Since Siren is launching into PS Plus Premium to have emulation features, it is possible that both Max Payne and Bully will shift to the PS Plus Premium line to have emulation features at some point since we're seeing more PS2 games getting released and the ones like Siren shifting to the PS Plus Premium line. Especially the Rockstar line of older games that were delisted from the store.
Regardless of the fact that the PS3 games are only available to stream, because we're revisiting PS1, PS2 and PSP games and they have up-rendering, rewinds, quick saves and video filters, new retro titles get added monthly, including the original releases that got remade and remastered and it's possible for PS2 games in the PS Now line like Siren to be shifted to the PS Plus Premium line of PS1, PS2 and PSP games, the only thing that will reign supreme over PS Now is PS Plus Premium. We, the gamers who were born at the 90s, can finally be able to revisit games we loved as a child and held dear to our hearts today. Here's to the later months' additions in the classics department, besides Blood Omen, which we know that it will be added later this year.
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