What if Sony made a PlayStation ‘Replay’?

What if Sony made a version of the Xbox One’s Rare Replay? This is our list of 10 games we would like to see included in a PlayStation ‘Replay’ Bundle.

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Back in August, Xbox One owners were treated with the Rare Replay Bundle, a collection games published by Rare over the last 30 years complied onto a single disk with the sole purpose of delivering that sense of nostalgia and allowing us to play games that have become near impossible to find in stores or simply those designed for older consoles we may not have any more.

So that got us thinking….what if Sony made their own version of the ‘Replay’ with PS1 Games to coincide with 20 years of Playstation? And more importantly, which games would we want to see?

Discounting any games remade in HD or ported to IOS/Android, here is our list of 10 games we would like to see included in a PlayStation ‘Replay’ Bundle;

1 – Crash Bandicoot

Near everyone has heard of Crash Bandicoot, the antics of Sony’s fuzzy Orange mascot range from platforming, to racing, to party games. So which Crash game you ask….why not all of them!?

Eagle eyed Playstation 3 or Vita owners may have spotted the first Three Crash Bandicoot games on the PSN Store along with Crash Team Racing (CTR), but having these along Crash Bash on a single disk and playable on the next gen consoles, well who wouldn’t want that?

Fig1: Crash Bandicoot and his polar bear pal!

2- Spyro the Dragon

This tiny purple dragon was almost as popular as Crash but has avoided the purge of 90’s gaming mascots, received a makeover and now is loved by children through Skylanders. Each to their own I suppose, but the kids of today will not know the anger of having to pay Moneybags all your hard earned gems, chasing the taunting egg thief round and round the levels and of course feeding Sparx the dragon fly delicious butterflies.

Again the Spyro Trilogy is available through the Playstation store for those with a Vita or a Playstation 3, but it’d be nice to see him on the next gen systems (Maybe with a bit of a HD polish!

Fig2: Spyro the Dragon, setting fire to an unsuspecting enemy.

3 – PaRappa the Rapper

Kick! Punch! Chop! This game follows PaRappa (a beanie wearing dog) as he attempts to win the heart of Sunny Funny by learning Karate, getting his drivers license among other tasks. The game is remembered for its catchy rap soundtrack, unusual 2D graphics and bizarre storyline. Gameplay consists of matching the buttons at the top of the screen to the beat of the music, while the meter on screen shows your current rating. Too many incorrect presses and the level restarts. I remember the later levels of this game being ridiculously difficult as a child and would love the chance to play it again! (if anything to master the ‘Freestyle mode!)

Fig3: PaRappa The Rapper, many gamer's first step into the rhythm game genre

4 – Grand Theft Auto 1

Top down view and a point system. The first Grand Theft Auto game involved performing tasks for each City’s local crime syndicate or earning money by free roaming. How you ask – Causing death and destruction or stealing and selling cars of course. Multipliers are halved if you are arrested during your spree and the loss of all your allocated lives resets the level. Which when one hit kills are a thing could be a real challenge!

Fig4: GTA 1 sparked all manner of debates for it's questionable content but to this day remains one of the most popular franchises.

5 – Jersey Devil

A Jersey devil that looks more like purple batman, this unusual game required players to defeat mutated vegetables and prehistoric monsters, collecting 5 letters of the villains name (Knarf) in order proceed throughout a number of Puzzle driven platform levels. Not a very well known game, but an enjoyable one all the same, I mean who doesn’t enjoy beating up mutant vegetables as a purple bat?

Fig5: A small purple devil in a spooky but quirky platforming world. Unique and timeless.

6 – Space Invaders

Activision’s attempt at re-creating this classic arcade game introduced large bosses, 13 deadly alien types with different boosts and of course a rather cheesy opening title. I remember spending many hours on this game and actually still have a physical copy. Sporting a co-op mode and competitive two player mode, this game may not have stood the test of time graphics wise but still provides the entertainment now as it did back in the 90’s.

Fig6: Not many people know Activision made a Space Invaders game. Sporting couch coop and intimidating bosses, this is one game that should be brough back.

7 – Gex Trilogy

This platformer series centers on a wisecracking Gecko with a television addiction named Gex as he dives into the Media Dimension time and time again to defeat the evil Rez. The series proved popular for all parties, with the third installment of the series becoming the best selling Playstation Adventure game of 1999 selling 3 million copies in that year alone. So why not bring it back, let the kids of today try some old school platforming?

Fig7: Who doesn't love Gex, the sunglasses wearing Gecko?

8 – Croc

This game featured on a number of Playstation Demo disks and was one of the main reasons I played it at first. Croc, the green crocodile, is protagonist tasked with freeing creatures known as Gobbos from Baron Dante. This free-roaming title used a Sonic the Hedgehog style hit system, with gems replacing Gold Rings. Sporting a number of boss stages, secret stages and even an entire Secret island with 5 secret levels and a boss battle, this snappy game was a best seller in the UK for 2 whole months thanks to its graphics and unique gameplay.

Fig8: Croc and Gobbos were up alongside Spyro for a while and even now is still a timeless classic.

9 – Bust-A-Move 4

Who could ever forget these lovable dinosaurs. This popular puzzle game required players to fire bubbles at the board with the aim linking 3 or more of the same colour at a time in order to clear the board and score the most points. Sporting an intense multiplayer mode and a create-a-level mode, I remember renting this little gem from the local video store on a weekly basis just to unlock those extra characters!

Fig9: Who knew matching colours could be so much fun, Bust-a-Move also known as Bubble Bobble perfected a simple mechanic and opened it to multiplayer gameplay.

10 – Rayman

Rayman is one of the few Playstation Icons that is still going strong to this day. Sure he’s had some work done over the years, little less rounded, smaller eyes and a longer nose but gameplay is still similar. It may not sport all the fancy wall jumping mechanics and numerous character changes but they do say the old ones are the best and this game with its light-hearted soundtrack and slightly cheesy (almost scary) end stage chant just brings back a lot of memories.

Fig10: It's Rayman, what else can you say? This armless protagonist was well known and still is to this day with his quirky games.

Honorable Mentions;

• Tomb Raider Series – Excluded as these are now available on IOS/Android

• Rugrats: Search for Reptar – Denture wearing geese, a level with spike and hide and Seek? What’s not to love!

• Wacky Races – Yes, this TV show had it’s own racing game and it was awesome!

• Wipeout – Futuristic space races? Count us in!

• The Lost World: Jurassic Park – Levels where you play as dinosaurs, what’s not to love?