Do you have nostalgia tied to any PlayStation One games? Wish you could play them again without having to hire Samus Aran to hunt down the titles and a working system? If you have a PSP with a memory stick (or a PSP Go) and access to a wireless network, you’re in luck like Edgar Figaro making a coin toss.
Before delving into the details of acquiring these lost gems, what makes the PSP such an ideal system for PSOne games? Simply-put: sleep mode. It isn’t exactly breaking news that the PSP can be put in sleep mode by pressing up briefly on the power switch (beware, 3 seconds means power off completely), but if you haven’t yet played a PSOne game on your PSP, consider this: Wouldn’t it be sweeter than Big Gay Al if you could have saved your progress in a PSOne game at any time back in the day?
Well, the PSP can’t quite offer that, but sleep mode is almost as useful. How many times playing a PSOne game did you find yourself glancing at the clock every 2 minutes because you knew that you needed to get to a save point before departing for work or school? How many times did you just turn off the TV and leave your poor PlayStation’s disc drive spinning like a record, right round like a record, right round round round?
For $9.99 or less, you can download any of the available PSOne Classics. To do this, hook up your PSP to a wireless network and download the latest System Update. If you don’t know how to do this, check out Sony’s PSP documentation. Once the update is installed, select the PlayStation Store from your XrossMediaBar (the awkward-like-your-first-time name for the PSP’s menu system). Setup an account, browse for your favorite PSOne Classics, and download away.
Be warned, some games take up a lot of space. The recently-available Final Fantasy 9, for example, needs 1.5 GB for its 4 virtual discs. As such, I would recommend getting an 8 GB or larger memory stick.
Another downside is limited re-downloads. Sony screwed the pooch on this one: You can only download a game on 5 separate systems. This means that if you run into hardware problems and have to get a new system, that’s one of your 5 uses. Fortunately, you can re-download a game on the same system any number of times, which is useful if you’re running out of space.
A major plus is the controller customization for PSOne Classics. You can remap almost any button to any other, which is great for games that don’t have their own remapping. On the other hand, the PSP only has 2 shoulder buttons whereas the PSOne had 4, and the PSP also boasts only 1 analog instead of 2. Most PSOne games didn’t use the second analog, so that’s not a big deal, but the shoulder button issue requires some creative remapping, such as using the analog to emulate pressing L2 and/or R2.
For most games I’ve played this is fine, but for games like Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee, it can be tricky mapping out sneaking, running, and jumping in the same config such that you can easily press those buttons while moving at the same time. Although, it was kind of a fun little puzzle game figuring out what config worked best for me.
Bottom line, if you have a PSP and the storage space, can get on a wireless network (one you trust, as you’ll probably be buying these games with a credit card), and have the desire to revisit some original PlayStation games, this is an opportunity you should not pass up. The sleep mode alone made my revisit of Final Fantasy 7 more enjoyable than when I played it back in 1997, and I’d wager my last gil that you’ll have a similar experience with your PSOne Classic games of choice.
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| Markham Asylum is a founding member of Delta Attack. His tier-1 favorite genres are role-playing, puzzle, and strategy. His tier-2 are adventure, shooter, and platformer. He strives to provide spoiler-free postings whenever possible. Markham Asylum has written 399 posts on Delta Attack. |
