It was 30 years ago this month that Sony’s PlayStation launched in North America and Europe, instantly changing the video game industry forever. And in the last three decades we’ve spent countless hours playing some of the greatest games of all time on PlayStation consoles.
Given the impact of the PS1, it’s no surprise that some of its most iconic games have been either remastered or remade in various forms, but not all of them have been so lucky.
To mark this landmark occasion, here are three of the best original PlayStation games that deserve another chance.
Tenchu: Stealth Assassins
The stealth genre was basically invented in 1998, and while Metal Gear Solid has lasted the longest in the collective memory of PlayStation fans, it’s a game that slightly preceded Kojima’s timeless masterpiece that deserves some modern love.
Every contemporary stealth game owes something to Aquire’s Tenchu: Stealth Assassins, the PS1 ninja game that was way ahead of its time.
Playing as either Rikimaru or Ayame in feudal Japan, you snuck around a selection of sandbox levels, hiding in the shadows and violently taking out patrolling guards using your various ninja tools.
The grappling hook you used to traverse levels and escape confrontation very likely inspired a similar mechanic in 2018’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, the beloved FromSoftware game that was originally intended to be a new entry in the Tenchu series.
Tenchu: Stealth Assassins is unsurprisingly a bit ropey to both play and look at in 2025, but I’d love to see it make a comeback.
Vagrant Story
The PS1 was not lacking in RPGs, but while Final Fantasy VII is undergoing a full modern revival as we speak, other classics of the era have been somewhat lost to time. And there isn’t a better example than Vagrant Story.
Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, Vagrant Story remains a singular RPG experience, with its hybrid of turn-based and action, stunningly cinematic visuals and deep weapon creation and combat system that let you freeze time and target individual enemy body parts, Fallout-style.
The game is set in the world of Invalice from Final Fantasy Tactics, and focuses on protagonist Ashley Riot’s pursuit of a cult leader. It’s a sophisticated tale with plenty of complex religious and political themes, and there remains nothing else quite like it.
However, for some reason, it’s never been remastered. It’s time that changed.
Dino Crisis
How a franchise called “Dino Crisis” didn’t become a bigger deal than Call of Duty is something I’ll never truly understand, but that is the world we live in.
Essentially Resident Evil with dinosaurs – having been developed by the same team at Capcom – Dino Crisis is a survival horror game in which you’re hunted not by moronic zombies, but much scarier (not to mention faster) prehistoric reptiles.
It swapped the pre-rendered backgrounds of the early Resi games for proper 3D environments, and while it lacked the visual variety of Resident Evil, an abandoned island research facility swarming with dinosaurs is one hell of a setting for a game.
With Capcom seemingly set on remaking every single Resident Evil entry, I’m hoping the original Dino Crisis eventually catches its eye, too.
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