The best PlayStation 1 party games of all time?

I am looking to pick up a few quick pick up and play games (they can be single or multiplayer) for the first PlayStation as a gift.

I want something that can be played with in short bursts and passed around so it's fun for all the family kind of thing.

So far my shopping list looks something like...

Speed Freaks
Crash Team Racing
South Park Luv Shack
Worms
Parappa the Rapper (never actually played this one, does this need extra hardware?)
Crash Bash
Micro Machines

Any others or deep cuts you can recommend?

Can't go wrong with Street Fighter. Alpha 3 is probably the best one on the PS1.
Original Marvel Vs Capcom is good fun as well. Especially in short bursts.

My multitap got a lot of use back in the day.

Parappa is entirely single player and not fun to watch other people play. Imagine watching someone play Guitar Hero. I would pick up 2-player dance of title Bust-a-groove instead. Um Jammer Lammy has a better 2 player mode.

Micro Machines V3 isn’t a great game due to the camera angle. Circuit Breakers is the way to go.

Bomberman is essential.

Hogs of War is a good shout. Kinda like Worms in 3D with WW2 ‘Allo ‘Allo style accents all voiced by Rik Mayall.

By far the best multiplayer title on the PS1 is Konami’s International Track and Field. It’s a ‘bash the buttons’ game and a lot of fun with big groups.

If fighting titles are in then Soul Blade and Tekken 3 are a good shout. A friend and I used to have a lot of fun with Bushido Blade but your mileage may vary. Rival Schools is a good laugh.

Bishi Bashi Special is like Warioware for the PS1

It goes without saying that ISS Pro Evolution is the 2nd greatest football game of all time and worth inclusion if football is an interest. If not it will bore them to tears.

Tony Hawk 2 has some top multiplayer modes.

Depending on your views on such things

If you’re not against the idea of such things it might be a lot cheaper to hack a PS1 mini to play many of these games as some can be quite expensive 2nd hand.

Thanks for the tips! Some good choices there especially Marvel Capcom and Hogs of War which I used to have and forgot about.

As for hacking, I thought about it but it's someone I always struggle to buy for so if the bill runs up to be too expensive I can drag this out over a few years so I don't need gift ideas again :datass:

I should also check if they have a multitap :fp:

if I recall correctly, many of the questions on South Park Chef's Luv Shack were so obscure and American-centric they weren't suitable for families, which was one of the main reasons (along with the very long loading times, unless you're playing on N64) that it reviewed so badly at the time.

Some of the mini-games weren't bad, such as riffs on Space Invaders, Track and Field, and Asteroids (Arses in Space, I think it was...literally floating arses. In space.)

If you want a multiplayer South Park game, the rally/karting one was better.

The one I always recommend is Blast Chamber, if you can get it. It’s the most ridiculously fun local multiplayer game I’ve ever played. Up to four players, though I only ever tried it with two. Each player has a bomb strapped to them, and the bomb timers tick down unless you’re the one holding the crystal. The entire chamber can be rotated to destabilise your opponents. Absolutely insane and hectic fun.

Micro Maniacs; basically like Micro Machines but with small humans and better graphics.

KK wrote:Micro Maniacs; basically like Micro Machines but with small humans and better graphics.

YES. Some incredibly satisfying footstep sounds and all.

I’d also say Point Blank but nobody had more than one gun, really.

Can't agree with micro machines V3 being one to avoid, it's great fun in multiplayer.

Victor Mildew wrote:Can't agree with micro machines V3 being one to avoid, it's great fun in multiplayer.

100% this, it's fantastic

Jenuall wrote:
Victor Mildew wrote:Can't agree with micro machines V3 being one to avoid, it's great fun in multiplayer.

100% this, it's fantastic

I tried it with my mates and we weren’t too enthusiastic.

Then again I don’t really rate racing titles for local multiplayer. I’m probably the only person on the planet who thinks local multiplayer Mario Kart* is rubbish :shifty:

*The exception is battle mode on the SNES. 2-player perfection.

Destruction Derby? Can't remember if it actually had PVP but I remember having fun with it as a hot seat game round a friend's house.

Destruction Derby was one of the few PlayStation games that supported link-up with 2 consoles. There are a few exclusive game modes. Duel, where you face off against a mate on an empty track; Team Pairs, where up to 40 players can enter in teams of two; Tag - all cars will initially chase you or your opponent car. Tag each other and watch as the tagged player is targeted by 18 others; Seek and Destroy, which is tag with a twist. Bump as many cars as possible and the other cars will start to target that other vehicle.

There was also once rumoured to be a mode where two cars are chained together, but it’s not something I’ve ever seen or played, so Im guessing it never made the final game.

Dance Dance Revolution.

Don't forget the dance mats.

Poy Poy. Me and a few mates picked up a copy of this in 1998 just after renting a house. Absolutely hilarious fun.

Destruction Derby was always fun back in the day.

YouTube

Whatcha gonna do
when they come?

jiggles wrote:
KK wrote:Micro Maniacs; basically like Micro Machines but with small humans and better graphics.

YES. Some incredibly satisfying footstep sounds and all.

I’d also say Point Blank but nobody had more than one gun, really.

I remember randomly seeing both Micro Maniacs and Wip3out for a fiver each in Lidl (around 2003 ish), obviously I bought both of them.

Point Blank :wub:

I had a G-con and a Scorpion lightgun (which looked cool af but functioned abysmally).

Ironhide wrote:I remember randomly seeing both Micro Maniacs and Wip3out for a fiver each in Lidl (around 2003 ish), obviously I bought both of them.

Point Blank I had a G-con and a Scorpion lightgun (which looked cool af but functioned abysmally).

I used to get a load of cheap PS1 games in the 2001-2003 period in a DIY shop called FADS. They were on a carousel near the checkout. Some of the places PS1 titles were popping up were bizarre, but I guess they’d become as ubiquitous as music CDs by that point. According to OPM, Sony weren’t exactly happy about these lines either (such as White Label).

The best PlayStation 1 party games of all time?

Who is online

Affiliates