25 Best PS1 Games You Can Play Right Now (2026 Guide)
The PlayStation 1 gave us some of the most iconic games ever made. Nearly three decades later, these titles are still worth booting up — especially now that emulation makes it easier than ever.
Here are 25 PS1 classics you can play today, sorted by genre.
RPGs — The golden age
Final Fantasy VII — The game that made JRPGs mainstream in the West. Cloud, Aerith, Sephiroth — a story that still resonates. Run it on the Mednafen or Beetle PSX core at 2x resolution for a sharp, clean experience.
Chrono Cross — Yasunori Mitsuda's soundtrack alone justifies playing this. Over 40 playable characters and one of the most ambitious sequel concepts ever.
Suikoden II — Often called the greatest JRPG ever made. Tight storytelling, 108 recruitable characters, and a headquarters that grows as you play.
Vagrant Story — An action-RPG with dungeon crawling, weapon crafting, and a plot that feels more like a political thriller than a videogame.
Xenogears — Giant mechs, philosophy, and a 60-hour story that some consider the greatest ever told in a videogame. The second disc is famously rushed, but the journey is still remarkable.
Action & Platformers
Crash Bandicoot: Warped — The best of the original trilogy. Tight controls, inventive levels, and a handful of vehicle stages that still hold up.
Spyro: Year of the Dragon — Colorful worlds, satisfying glide mechanics, and a collect-a-thon structure that never overstays its welcome.
Metal Gear Solid — The game that defined stealth action. Psycho Mantis reading your memory card is still one of gaming's most iconic moments.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night — The game that coined "Metroidvania." Explore Dracula's castle, level up Alucard, and discover the inverted castle for a second round.
Mega Man Legends — An underrated 3D adventure that mixed platforming with exploration. Quirky, charming, and unlike anything else on the PS1.
Racing & Sports
Gran Turismo 2 — Over 600 cars and 27 tracks. The PS1's most ambitious racing sim and a perfect candidate for higher resolution emulation.
Crash Team Racing — Many argue it's better than Mario Kart. Tight drift mechanics, memorable tracks, and a surprisingly deep adventure mode.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 — A flawless arcade skating game. The combo system still feels incredible, and the soundtrack is permanently burned into a generation's memory.
Horror & Survival
Resident Evil 2 — The game that perfected survival horror. Leon and Claire's parallel campaigns through Raccoon City are as tense as ever.
Silent Hill — Where Resident Evil does action-horror, Silent Hill does psychological dread. The fog was originally a hardware limitation — it became a design masterpiece.
Parasite Eve — Part RPG, part survival horror, set in a New York where mitochondria are rebelling against their hosts. Absolutely wild premise, excellent execution.
Dino Crisis — Resident Evil with dinosaurs. That's the pitch. It works.
Strategy & Tactics
Final Fantasy Tactics — The deepest tactical RPG on the PS1. A story of betrayal, war, and class conflict wrapped in a grid-based battle system that influenced an entire genre.
Front Mission 3 — Giant mechs, turn-based tactics, and a global conspiracy. Two completely different story paths give it excellent replay value.
Fighting
Tekken 3 — The pinnacle of PS1 fighting games. Fast, responsive, with a roster that's still beloved today.
Street Fighter Alpha 3 — One of the most content-rich fighters on any platform. Multiple ISMs, a world tour mode, and pixel-perfect 2D animation.
Hidden gems
Tomba! — A side-scrolling platformer with RPG elements and quest tracking. Criminally overlooked, absurdly fun.
Legend of Mana — Gorgeous hand-drawn art and a nonlinear world you actually place on the map yourself. A unique experience that no other game has replicated.
Threads of Fate — Two playable characters, action-RPG combat, and the charm of a Saturday morning anime.
Klonoa: Door to Phantomile — A 2.5D platformer with more emotional depth than games ten times its length. Short but unforgettable.
How to play them today
All 25 of these games run perfectly on modern emulators. RetroApp supports PS1 out of the box with the Mednafen PSX core. Just drop your ROMs in a folder, and RetroApp handles the rest — artwork, metadata, and save management included.
For the best experience, enable 2x internal resolution in the core settings. It makes these 3D games look significantly sharper without breaking compatibility.