PS1

 whilst being the console of choice for PAL loving saps in the late nineties, this machine did have a fairly high number of quality shooters released in Japan (some of which even made it to the UK). generally speaking the ps1 hosted the same big name shooter conversions as the saturn although they were generally not as good (probably something to do with the fact that the saturn was built to be a bit of a 2D monster). therefore, if you want to get into ps1 shooting stick to the ps1 exclusives such as Gradius Gaiden, Einhander etc.

 

 

DONPACHI/. well this has already been covered in the SATURN section. virtually identical to the Saturn version but with fewer screen tweaking options. however if you Tate your tv this makes little difference.

 DODONPACHI/. again this has already been covered in the SATURN section. just know that this is the better conversion. the visuals are slightly crisper and the whole game just looks a little better. gameplay-wise, however, there is no difference. the only quirk with the PS1 version is that you have to choose your ship type (A, B or C) in the options menu. this version is also a lot rarer so expect to stump up some serious cash if you want to own it. EINHANDER/. dodgy euphamisms aside, this is a lovely little shooter from Squaresoft of all companies. rather than giving you power ups, killed enemies leave a variety of different types of weapon for you to collect and attach to your ship. you have a special 'Arm' (hence Einhander, one presumes) to which you can attach a second weapon giving many different combinations. it's all pulled off (pardon the pun) with the usual Squaresoft style. a lovely little package - recommended.

 
G-DARIUS/. never thought i'd see the day I enjoyed a Darius game (see Snes and PCE sections) but this irons out some of my biggest problems with earlier games in the series. biggest improvements are giving you a nice auto fire and allowing you to fire missiles with the normal fire button, rather than a seperate one. plus the graphics are simply stunning. very enjoyable. i'm even considering going back to the originals to see if I can glean any enjoyment from them now. GRADIUS GAIDEN/. many feel this is the definitive version of Gradius and it's not hard to see why. basically this is a montage of earlier Gradius games all in one lovely package. lots of options and nice and hard, plus re-worked versions of the original tunes. as for whether it's the definitive version or not, well it's a throw up between this and Gradius Advance on the GBA - not sure I could really choose between the two. just buy it.

 

METAL SLUG/. great conversion of the SNK arcade game. this really does look fantastic and plays brilliantly too. 2 drawbacks with the PS1 version are that the game freezes mid-level to load graphics, and the sound is of a very poor quality (sample-wise). both of these things are, i suspect, down to memory limitations of the system and are not apparent, i understand, in the SATURN version which benefits from the RAM cartridge.

METAL SLUG X/. i believe this is a direct port of the MVS version, which in turn is a re-mixed version of Metal Slug 2, with different themed and ordered levels and minus the slowdown. despite being chopped down to fit on the Playstation, the graphics are great, all the humour is intact and the music is brilliant. this is a fantastic game so bloody buy it.

 

 NIGHT RAID/. brought to us by the lovely people who gave us Mars Matrix this is a conversion of the Takumi arcade original. oddly, this was released in 2002, 2 years after Mars Matrix on the Dreamcast. anyways the graphics are pretty crappy but its not a bad game at all. suitably manic gameplay with ridiculous weapons, but not a patch on good old 'Matrix. RAIDEN DX/. this is a tweaked version of Raiden 2 (not entirely sure how it has been tweaked). stupendously difficult but enormous fun. this version benefits greatly from having an in-built autofire function as trying to hammer the fire button on a PS1 joypad to play this game is frustratingly difficult. don't confuse this with 'The Raiden Project' which also includes the original Raiden (see below) - this version is Raiden 2 only.

 
RAIDEN PROJECT/. basically, arcade perfect conversions of Raiden and Raiden 2, which can't be bad. stupidly hard but quite rewarding if you're prepared to persevere. also has a tate mode, which is nice.

RAYCRISIS/. 3rd(?) in the Layer Section series this strangely wasn't ported to the Saturn (presumably as it was dying out by this time *sniff*). like Layer Section 2 this 3D sequel doesn't even come close to the original but is a competent shooter nonetheless. visuals are nice and music is suitably Taito-ish. great fun for a quick blast, just a shame that the 3D can be a little constrictive and the ship a little slow.

 

 RAYSTORM/. 2nd in the Layer Section series. pretty much identical to the Saturn version. rather average. not awful but not great either. layer section just doesn't translate to 3D all that well.
R-TYPE DELTA/. the fourth console incarnation of R-Type and this time in 3D. doesn't quite have the original's greatness but very enjoyable nonetheless. this game is the basic blueprint for R-Type final. R-TYPES /. well, you can't argue with a game package that gives you arcade conversions of R-Type and R-Type II. absolutely mint. STARBLADE ALPHA/. a bit dated by today's standards and not the greatest game ever made. but it has a special place in my heart as i nearly wet my knickers every time i saw this in an arcade. nice 3D shooting in the same vein as Starfox.

 

STRIKERS 1945 2/. the PAL version artwork is, admittedly, shocking however the game is great. although not obvious from the game packaging this is actually a Psikyo game so you know you're in for a treat. basically like a modern version of the classic 1945 mixed with Gunbird. brilliant stuff, plus i got it for £2.98 :) VIEWPOINT/. if the difficulty level wasn't quite so insane this has the hallmarks of a very enjoyable game (the Sammy original certainly was). however, whilst the graphics have been updated, this has lost something in the conversion. big shame, go for the Neo Geo version instead.

 

 X2/. this is the sequel to the Amiga original and it looks very much like an Amiga, rather than a console game. it's not bad if you can pick it up cheap but don't bust a gut to get it. for play through videos go here.

 

XEVIOUS 3D/G+/. 4 versions of Xevious (Xevious, Super Xevious, Xevious Arrangement and Xevious 3D/G+). the best one is the 3D version (sorry retro fans) which looks pretty cool in a 'crappy-old-fashioned' way. good for a quick blast and especially good if you're a Xevious fan (i think even i'm a bit too young for that though). ZANAC X ZANAC/. brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. contains the orignal NES Zanac and a revamped version specially made for the PS1. can't say i'm a big fan of the original, but the revamped version is superb. great graphics, fantastic music, loads and loads of different weapons spread across three different ships. to me, the game plays like a cross between Super Aleste, Gunhed and Star Soldier and you can't really get much better a recommendation than that. buy this now and to hell with the ridiculous price, it's worth it.

 

 
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