The PS1 was always going to be a weird console to look back on. It was one of the first to introduce 3D to the world, and no matter who you were or what technology you had, it was going to be a rocky first step. Even with the superior CD technology compared to Nintendo’s cartridge system, most games on the PS1, while fun, are strange and primitive.
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But another aspect of the PS1’s legacy is that some of those games have always been strange. The PS1 was a console that everyone wanted to develop for, and it saw so many titles come to it that would have no hope of releasing widely. These weird games are one of a kind, so let’s give a bit of spotlight to the most niche of the niche.
10Mort the Chicken
The PS1 was the era of the 3D platformer, everyone trying to follow in the footsteps ofMario 64andCrash Bandicootto get their golden goose. Mort the Chicken is one of the… stranger attempts at this. In Mort, the world is one of chickens, living peacefully in their own society, but strange cube aliens (they’re literally just blocks) come to their world and think eggs are their own kind, so they begin stealing them all and taking them to the cube universe.
While the story is strange, the gameplay is unimpressive with clunky platforming, unneeded collectibles, and some unfair difficulty and level design. But, the premise itself earns its place on this list.
9Rising Zan: The Samurai Gunman
From the title alone, you already know what kind of experience you’re about to get from this game: absolutely chaotic action and campiness. Samurai Gunman follows the titular Zan, a gun-slinging cowboy who goes to Japan to learn the way of the katana. But when he returns, he finds the town taken over by ninjas and strange wooden beings. Zan must bring peace back to his home.
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Perhaps the most notable aspect of the game isn’t the insane level design, bonkers story, or even how over the top Zan himself is, but rather the gameplay. This game laid down a framework many hack and slash games would work with: a focus on big flashy combos, rewarding play with even more of these special moves, and a ranking at the end of the level for how well you performed. While Devil May Cry popularized all of this, let it be known that Zan did it first.
8Skullmonkeys
Somewhat of an underground cult classic, Skullmonkeys immediately catches the eye with its unique visual style. In an era where graphics were less than stellar, Skullmonkeys still stands up with a unique claymation style that’s hard not to love.
The game’s plot is very strange as it follows up on the weird abstract world of the point and click game that came before it, with the characters now having to take on new strange creatures called Skullmonkeys and stop construction of “Evil Engine 9.” The game has the same witty writing as the previous game, so anyone who enjoyed that will feel right at home with this sequel.
7Hogs of War
Hogs of War is both exactly what you expect but also nothing you expect. The game is a pig-themed, 3D turn based artillery war game like theWormsseries. The game sees you in a world of pigs, taking control of one nation in the South Pigcific as a world war breaks out for control of oil. Yes, this is the actual plot.
The actual game plays very similarly to Worms but with a few tweaks that are a lot deeper mechanically than you’d expect, featuring a class system, bonus objectives, and even a permadeath system for your pigs! It’s a game worth checking out for both the silliness and game design.
6No One Can Stop Mr. Domino
The overly long title already gives quite the idea of how weird this one will get, and the rest of the game certainly isn’t lacking in weirdness. In No One Can Stop Mr. Domino, you play as the titular Mr. Domino and… well, there really isn’t any story. It’s an old puzzle game, and these mostly just existed for the gameplay.
The gameplay is actually not what most would expect and is pretty creative. The game is a runner game where you go through the same track on loop, and the way to beat the game is to complete tricks by placing dominos as you run and setting them off as you go back. The game asks for careful planning as well as the reflexes to avoid all the instant death traps. It’s certainly an interesting puzzle action experience.
One of the strangest bits of marketing in history, Pepsiman is a game made by Pepsi based on a series of Japanese commercials. In this game, you play as Pepsiman running through various locations at full speed, avoiding obstacles in order to deliver refreshing Pepsi to thirsty people– all to the tune of the Pepsiman theme song.
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As if the sheer existence of this wasn’t strange enough, the weirdest part is that the game is actually good past the product placement. It’s a basic runner game, but it does a fine job for the era, and it’s certainly memorable.
The PS1 had more strategy games than most people would expect from a home console like this, but Baldies has to be the strangest of the bunch. In Baldies, you have to to build up a civilization of only bald people to thrive and eventually wipe out hostile people with hair.
Despite this bizarre premise, the game is actually really good and was a major step forward for the RTS genre. The game follows in the footsteps of Warcraft with being able to both build and control units, but unlike that game, you don’t have complete control – the baldies will do their own thing until picked up and placed somewhere, allowing players to micromanage as much or as little as they wish.
3Vib Ribbon
Probably the most stylized game on this list,Vib Ribbonis strange yet so charming.Coming from the minds behindParappa the Rapper, Vib Ribbon is another take on a rhythm game, this time seeing the player control Vibri, a strange rabbit, through levels where they have to dodge obstacles to the beat.
The gameplay of Vib Ribbon is rather simple, but everything else is quite interesting. The visual style certainly catches the eye with a unique wire style. But, the most famous aspect of the game is that it technically has infinite songs. The game uses special technology that allows the player to put in their own CDs and play a generated level for any song. This alone gives the game a lot of replay value and reason to be remembered for such innovation.
2Incredible Crisis
Incredible Crisis is a game that’s hard to even describe, being less of a coherent game and more a fever dream you sometimes get to play. In actuality, this game is a mini-game collection! As you follow along with the strange story, you’ll be prompted with mini-games of all kinds from rhythm games, puzzles, to anything really.
But the gameplay isn’t the main focus – that instead is the bizarre story at play. The premise is that a family needs to get home early for their grandmother’s birthday, but everything quickly goes off the rails as they find themselves shrunk down, part of a bank robbery, shot at by aliens, snowboarding, and so much else. This game is the definition of a crazy ride barely holding itself together, and it is a riot for it.
1LSD Dream Emulator
LSD Dream Emulator can be argued as not only the strangest game of the PS1 but perhaps the strangest game ever made. LSD Dream Emulator is what it says on the tin – an exploration game based around a dream journal of an employee of the studio and made less to be a game and more so an art piece.
The game sees you wandering around in your dreams, a mix of just off-putting environments and full-on abstract spaces. The goal of the game is simply to explore, touching items or going through doors to find newer spaces as the dreams go on. Sometimes, the game can get more disturbing, especially with the presence of the Gray Man. But overall, the game is just a fascinating surreal experience that is one of a kind.
