A reader lists six classic PlayStation exclusives that they think should be revived for the next gen, including WipEout and G-Police.
The news that Sony has a secret development studio working on revamping mothballed old classics was catnip to my ears. It seems very likely that the first game they bring back will be Uncharted, which I don’t care too much about one way or the other, but I’ve allowed myself to start fantasising about what they might tackle after that.
It’ll probably be something boring like Syphon Filter, but these are the games I most hope will be next and which I believe do have real potential. I would also add Ridge Racer to this list, but it’s not really anything to do with Sony even though I closely associate it with them. There were some rumours a few years ago about a Switch revival but that never happened either, which is a great shame.
1. Lemmings
Playing the original on the Amiga is one of my earliest childhood gaming memories and I’d love for Sony to bring it back. They’ve tried many times before but never really hit the mark. The problem is that the game was originally designed entirely around using a mouse and that’s been hard to translate to any format bar the PC. I feel sure there’s someway you could make it work today though, with higher resolutions and touchpads, or try and revamp 3D Lemmings to be a bit more user-friendly.
2. WipEout
Probably the most well-known game on my list, at least as far as most Europeans are concerned. The problem is it was never that popular in America and Japan and so thanks to a lot of so-so sequels it’s fallen by the wayside. For me the PlayStation 4 games, especially the VR update, were amazing but they were very low profile and I don’t think many people even knew they had come out. I feel certain that a similar approach but with more of a marketing push on PlayStation 5 could still make it a big franchise.
3. The Adventures Of Alundra
This one was mentioned recently in conjunction with the new studio but I don’t honestly know whether Sony own the franchise or not. They published both games in Japan but left it up to Activision for the sequel everywhere else. Either way, I still consider the first game one of the best Zelda clones ever, especially since it did something that Nintendo would never do, with its surprisingly serious story and characters. The sequel was trash, and nothing to do with the first, but I really feel that Sony need their Zelda equivalent and there’s one here that dates back all the way to the PlayStation 1.
4. Colony Wars
I really miss Psygnosis and feel it’s a real shame they’ve gone now as it means Sony has lost one of its biggest British studios. They had a lot of great games in the PlayStation 1 era and probably my favourite was Colony Wars, which was easily the best space combat simulator I’ve played on a console. Or at least until Star Wars: Squadrons. Now that that game is out I’d hope that maybe they would see a future for their own alternative, one that doesn’t need a licence and so is a lot more flexible as a result.
5. G-Police
Another Psygnosis great and kind of a sister series to Colony Wars, in that it was also a combat flight simulator, just on a smaller scale and set in a Blade Runner style future city. It seemed great at the time but the graphics are super limited now and I’d love to see a modern update with PlayStation 5 style graphics. I love flight simulators and that type of thing and there’s a lot you could do with G-Police in terms of looking for criminals and maybe getting out and exploring the world on foot or in other vehicles.
6. Ape Escape
This one always seems like it’s being teased but nothing ever happen. It’d have to be done by Japan Studio, I feel, but they seem to be having trouble at the moment so I don’t know if they’d ever be given the go ahead. For me though it’s one of the most iconic PlayStation games of the early era and a much better game than any of the other family friendly games they have, like MediEvil. A full sequel could be great as we haven’t had a proper entry since the PlayStation 2 and I’d love to see how it would look with modern graphics and level design.
By reader Smoky
The reader’s feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
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