Everyone will laugh, but my favorite PS1 game was WWF Warzone. Here is a funny story I wrote on my blog about it:
On A Scale of One to Ten, Urinate
This is the story about how I once peed in a Wesson Oil bottle over a video game.
A long time ago, when I first started contracting out to the apartment complex, all of the maintenance guys used to play video games at lunch. We were particularly taken with WWF Warzone on Playstation. In WWF Warzone, you could create custom characters and play with up to three of your friends or enemies. For a Playstation game, the creation portion was fairly deep. You could pick your body type and adjust the size/shape, both male or female; you could pick a hairstyle; you could customize your outfit with various accessories; you could pick your own ring entrance and move set; and you could adjust the color or pattern on every single part - with almost endless variations.
Everyone else created reasonably realistic depictions of "normal" wrestlers. I made Lex Luthor and The Incredible Hulk. I also made a female wrestler called Crack Ho, who was skeletal thin with grey ashy skin, wearing a bra and panties with dollar signs all over them. I used to like watching wrestling when it was big stupid dudes wearing outlandish outfits and the whole thing was like a live-action comic book. I haven't watched in years, because now the characters are too "realistic," and it's just no fun. Too much thug life leather, not enough feather boas.
Every day at lunch, for months, we would have tournaments in our friend Chuck's apartment. Tag Team, Singles Matches, etc. We even wrote down the match lists, and bet sodas on the outcome. The object of the game, as in life, was to talk as much sh!t as possible while simultaneously destroying your opponent. I'm kidding, of course. It did really get heated from time to time, with screaming and cursing and threats of violence.
"Dude, I swear to GOD if you don't tag in I'm gonna beat your ass for real."
"If you stop what you're doing and help me cheat, right now, I will buy your lunch tomorrow, anywhere you want to eat. Even the steakhouse. I mean it."
When Chuck "betrayed" our old boss Jack by turning his back on him during a tag team match, Jack looked over at Chuck and said, with all sincerity, "I hope you die."
Me, I once swung a controller around and into the floor like William Wallace swung the mace around in Braveheart. I also once jumped up from the couch and kicked a whole game system into the air (that'll teach it), but that was over another game we'd played. I was on a RAW losing streak for nearly two months when, out of frustration, I created a character I named "F*ckin Loser," who was pretty much just a depiction of me in a T-shirt and jeans. Ironically, "F*ckin Loser" was unstoppable for weeks afterward.
Anyway, this stuff just became an obsession with all of us (this is back when my work was fun). We talked about it during the day, needling each other, lying about secret plans, plotting shocking backstabbing heel turns during Tag Team matches. We ended up staying after work to play, sometimes for a couple of hours.
I had recently lost a "Bra and Panties" match. What this meant is that the loser of the match had to go to the creation part and change the outfit of his MALE character to just a bra and panties, and he had to play with that character EXCLUSIVELY until he won another match.
So I was playing with the Incredible Hulk wearing a pink bra and panties.
After work one day, I could stand it no longer, and challenged someone to a match. I had to get the Hulk out of those pink panties, man. HAD TO. It was of the utmost importance that my imaginary superhero wrestler maintain his quiet dignity.
We were right in the middle of the match when Chuck's friend knocked on the door. I forget his name, so we'll call him Rob.
Rob burst through the door wearing a fast food uniform. Game was paused. I was winning when it was paused.
"I got to have some pee, Charles," he said, a frantic look on his face. We all started laughing.
Rob explained further. "They about to test me, and I been smokin up. I need that pee."
Chuck laughed and said no. We laughed because none of us had ever seen anyone beg for urine before.
"PLEASE CHARLES," Rob wailed, and produced a small balloon from his pocket. "All you got to do is p!ss in this balloon, and I can sneak it up in there some way, but I got to have it. I can't lose this job, man."
Chuck again laughed and said no. We laughed again because, well, pee in a balloon.
"Now Charles," Rob said, leaning forward and getting serious. "You know you can fit your little d!ck in this balloon hole and get a brother out of a tight. I got bills to pay, Charles. You'd put that jimmy in there if some chickenhead rolled through the door."
We were on the floor. Well, some of us were. I was beginning to get irritated. I was WINNING a few minutes ago. I needed to get back to WINNING, so I could strip the bra and panties off the Hulk. IT WAS VERY VERY IMPORTANT THAT I GET THE BRA AND PANTIES OFF THE HULK.
After several more minutes of PLEASE CHARLES I could take it no longer. I turned to Rob and said, "Hey man, if I pee for you, will you leave and let us finish this match?"
"Dog, I'm out the door soon as you finish." He looked so grateful.
"I'm not peeing in a balloon. I'll pee all over myself trying to get it in there. Find something else to put it in. You can put it in the balloon later."
Rob looked over at Chuck. "Let me get one of your cups, Charles."
"Hell no you can't have one of my cups! I got to drink out of those!"
Rob started looking around Chuck's kitchen area. "What else you got? You got a soda bottle?"
"No."
"What about this?" Rob had fished a Wesson Oil bottle out of a cabinet. It looked like it was empty.
"Fine."
Rob ran a little water in the bottle, sloshed it around, and poured it into the sink. He handed it over to me.
I took it into the bathroom and did the deed, trying not to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all because I didn't want to splash my leg with pee. When I finished, I held it up and looked at the results.
There, floating in my drug-free pee, were great globules of Wesson Oil.
I took it back into the living room. "When they test this," I said to Rob as I put the bottle in his hand, "they're gonna take you straight to the hospital."
Rob gave me a confused look and left, carrying a complete stranger's urine in a bottle of cooking oil. I lost the match. Another week passed before I was finally able to peel the bra and panties off The Incredible Hulk.
Oh man, so many good games. SO. MANY. I don't know where to start.
Metal Gear Solid Integral - The best version of an amazing game. This has the VR Missions disc and a first person viewpoint as its main additions.
Tenchu Shinobi Gaisen - The best version of the original Tenchu. It's the American version with Japanese dialogue, plus a LEVEL EDITOR for your own custom made stages. :bow It was limited compared to the sequel, but so awesome at the time.
Tenchu 2 - This game had some issues (mainly due to the graphics engine), but it offered three characters with some different paths for each, plus an insanely awesome level editor that was far better than the original's. I spent hours making custom levels and downloading others', playing them on VGS.
Bust A Move Dance And Rhthym Action - I still play this game even today. Such an awesome dancing game with fun characters and music.
Bust A Move 2 Dance Tengoku Mix - Love this one just as much as the original. I wanted to see a sequel so badly, and when it finally did happen as Dance Summit 2001, it was a pile of crap. This was then followed up by BRITNEY'S FUCKING DANCE BEAT. :yuck At least two amazing games came out of this series...
Street Fighter Alpha 3 - It's far from being the best version of this game, but in December 1998 when the Japanese version came out, this port was mind-blowing. Unlike previous Capcom PSX ports (except for the original Alpha), this game retained more of the animation, and Capcom just went NUTS adding in truckloads of additional content. There's the world tour mode, Pocketstation support, extra characters, stages, and more. In terms of extras, Alpha 3 (on any platform) is the best home version of an arcade game that Capcom has ever made.
Real Bout Special Dominated Mind - SNK never really did all that well on the PSX. Most of their ports were choppy, load time-filled messes, especially compared to the generally superior Saturn versions. But SNK did good with their Real Bout games. Even the original Real Bout was an excellent PSX port, cutting very little animation overall. But for RBS, SNK decided to change up the game, and what we got is basically an upgrade to RBS, and one that completely differs from Real Bout 2, which followed it. SNK removed the line-sway system, eliminating animation cutting issues, and then ADDED more background features and animation. Characters got new special moves, plus unlockable super moves. Super-cancelling was added. Alfred from RB2 was made into a fully playable character. A new end boss, White (who is clearly based on the main character from A Clockwork Orange) was added. Plus a new anime intro and anime cut scenes in single player were added. This port kicked ass.
Tobal 2 - This game still holds up today, thanks to its silky-smooth 60fps game play. Tobal 2 really improved on Tobal 1, and with the dungeon mode, tons of characters could be made playable. But it was the main game and character set that rocked, combined with the grappling system and the projectiles, that really made Tobal 2 shine. It is an absolute crime that this game never came out in English.
Castlevania Symphony Of The Night - The best Castlevania game ever made. That's all that needs to be said, really. spoiler (click to show/hide)
It's also the best Metroid game ever made. ;)
Parappa The Rapper - Fun rhythm game from Sony with some cute characters. Freestyling was fun too. I thought Parappa was going to blow up and be a major mascot for Playstation; at one point there was an anime series and even a restaurant in Tokyo (Cafe Rodney), but it just sort of faded away with the PS2. Parappa 2 was just a blip on the radar.
Umjammer Lammy - The follow-up to Parappa that contained multiplayer and an entire hidden Parappa mode, with all the rock songs done in hip-hop style. And THEN you could COMBINE the two together for Lammy and Parappa game play awesomeness. :bow
R4 Ridge Racer Type 4 - Namco's final PSX racer had some awesome cars, tracks, and tunes, and a nice large single player mode. I liked this game more than Ridge Racer V. Actually because of R4, I was pretty disappointed with RRV.
Jumping Flash! - Awesome first-person platformer/shooter. IMO it is still the best 3D platformer of its time...better than Mario 64.
Jumping Flash! 2 - More of the same, but that's a good thing.
Ghost In The Shell - This might as well be called "Jumping Flash 3." Developer Exact followed up JF!1 and 2 with an anime licensed game. And surprisingly, it didn't suck! It was great! You control the Tachikoma tank and can walk and climb up or over any surface, shooting bad guys as you move throughout the levels. The game also featured anime cut scenes that looked far more appealing than the original Ghost In The Shell movie; the art looked like Shirow's designs. They also kept the same voice actors. And the soundtrack FUCKING ROCKED. :bow
Street Fighter EX+Alpha - This game seems to get a lot of hate nowadays, but I don't remember that being the case back then. Anyway, SFEX was Capcom's forray into "3D" for Street Fighter. Only it wasn't. Arika took a cast of mostly original SF2 characters and put them into a game with a bunch of new, yet familar characters. The graphics may have been polygonal, but the game play was entirely 2D. A more old-school, Super Turbo-like play style was used, combined with super cancelling, allowing for multiple supers at once. For the home version, Arika added Sakura and Dhalsim (hence "Alpha" in the title), ending CG movies, and an awesome, awesome arranged soundtrack. EX2 rocked as well, but I have a preference for the character selection in the original. Arika would later go on to make Fighting Layer for Namco, a great follow-up to EX2 with better game play and an entirely original cast, but it never got a home port. And then they fucked it all up with the rushed EX3.
Viewpoint - Visually enhanced port of the Neo-Geo shooter from EA. Different soundtrack, but still good...despite some frame rate issues, I enjoyed this port.
Rival Schools United By Fate - Follows SFEX as being a more 2D like fighter with polygonal characters. This was easily Capcom's best new I.P. following Darkstalkers, with a quirky cast of high schoolers and their teachers, drawing from various school clubs and archetypes to make a fun versus-style fighter.
Resident Evil 2 - The follow-up to the original Alone In The Dark rip-off was a bigger, better game with four different scenarios to play through, and lots of violence, gore, n' puzzles to solve.
Resident Evil 3 - RE2 1.5 follows Jill in her escape from Racoon City. We also find that she moonlights as a hooker, since nothing else can explain her choice of attire.
Dino Crisis 2 - This is the best survival horror game on the PSX from Capcom, better than all the RE games, and far, far better than the boring original. The game is almost devoid of puzzles and instead focusing on tons of pulse-pounding dino-killing action. It's faster-paced and controls better than the typical "tank" RE-style controls as well. Still worth checking out today if you've never played it before.
Strider 2 - A bit on the easy side, but the follow-up to Strider kicked ass. The original was included as a bonus, too.
Einhander - The best game from Square not named "Tobal 2."
Slap Happy Rhythm Busters - This import-only cel-shaded 2D fighter had a very unique look and feel, and great game play. The developer's previous games were the incredibly shitty Vs. and Shaolin, but the third time was the charm for them. They scrapped their 3D crap and went 2D, adding a very stylish soundtrack and art style, plus rhythm game-like finishing moves. Another title that still holds up quite well even today.
MTV Music Generator - There's far better music creation programs out there, but at the time, this kicked so much ass as a console title. I loved making songs.
Raiden Project - When I was a kid, I loved Raiden in the arcade. LOVED IT. But then I moved and never saw the game in an arcade again. I forgot the name, but I remembed how awesome it was. Imagine my surprise when I first got my Playstation and found out that the original Raiden was that game...and it had a sequel! I never took well to Raiden III (BORING!), but I really enjoyed Raiden 1 and 2.
Motortoon Grand Prix 2 - This game came out back when Polyphony knew how to make FUN games, not boring sim garbage. A really great mix of racing and Mario Kart-style game play, and some nice bonus features. I enjoyed this game more than any other "kart" title that followed it.