Continuing with the theme of the ending of a generation of home consoles and arrival of a new batch, I will talk about the second console I owned. Having bought and absolutely loved my N64 I was given a Playstation for Christmas 1998, allowing me to experience an entire new and fresh set of games. In thinking about the impact that the Playstation had on my gaming tastes and the kind of games I like to play to this day, it was not easy narrowing down a list to 10, especially considering I played dozens of games on the system. The Playstation was a very different beast to the Nintendo 64, with a very different set of games, but these are the 10 games that have the strongest standing in my memories of my second home console, and that I think of most fondly all this time later, as well as play from time to time:

10: Silent Hill

Resident Evil was my first foray into the horror genre when I got my Playstation, but it was Konami's Silent Hill that really got to me in ways that Capcom's series never managed to match. Silent Hill was a game that knew exactly how to differentiate itself from its rivals and stand out as a phenomenal experience.

Silent Hill was subtle, psychological and had an intense sense of pacing with an intriguing story for the time. I felt like running from most encounters in the game, as Harry was flimsy enough to make every fight a struggle. The melee mechanics were better than the first 3 Resident Evil games for my money, and the music and sound design were exceptional.

Silent Hill was a hell of a creepy experience for the 9 year old me, and while it has not aged well, in particular the pretty horrific graphics, it still stands out in my mind as one of the exceptional experiences I had with the Playstation, and as the game that engendered a healthy fear of horror games in me, but one that I still love to tap into to this day.

9: The Unholy War

The Unholy War was an arena fighter that provided a fantastic concept and pretty unique game experience. Two races, the Teknos and the Arcanes, are battling it out for control of the resources of a mysterious planet, but what really mattered here was the selection of fantastically imaginative characters to slaughter each other.

The Unholy War was dark and violent, but with a great sense of identity that still gets to jump on and play my copy from time to time. A giant Rhinoceros who farts, a kamikaze bomber pilot, a cyborg with rotating blades for hands, a sorcerous comet-inducing lizardman and a tank with arms and rockets are just some of the great characters you can play as.

The Unholy War was a great multiplayer game to sit down and enjoy with friends or relatives. It had a resource based strategy map elements, rock-paper-scissors style match-ups with plenty of tactical elements and a great setting and backdrop. Nothing more ever came of this series, but for me personally The Unholy War stands as one of the Playstation era greats and deserves a lot more recognition than it gets.

8: Crash Bandicoot Warped

Nintendo had Mario, but Sony had Crash Bandicoot, and while I loved all three of the Playstation entries in this phenomenal set of games it was Warped that had the greatest impact on me.

Crash was a master class in 3D platformers, but it was Warped that had the finest level design and charm. I still remember riding a tiger across the great wall of China, flying a Spitfire to take on blimps and enemy planes and getting chased by a Triceratops through a bone graveyard. Crash Bandicoot 3 had it all, not to mention an apple bazooka, which went down very well with me in my childhood.

Warped also had some fantastic boss encounters, and the increased variety in gameplay elements over its predecessors and replay value make it stand out as one of the best games on the platform. Its visuals are also still pretty nice even now, especially considering how badly many games of this era have aged.

7: Spyro 2 Gateway to Glimmer

Crash wasn't the only 3D platformer I loved on Playstation, there was also the purple dragon, Spyro. While Crash Bandicoot was amazing for charm and level design, Spyro had an equal amount of charm, even more game variety and freedom of exploration and roaming across considerably sized worlds and levels.

From a gorgeous art style to endearing music, great bosses to delicious gem collecting, Spyro was addictive, and it was Spyro 2 Gateway to Glimmer, or Ripto's Rage in the U.S. that had the largest impact on me. Taking everything the original game did right and improving on it, Spyro 2 was the perfect sequel. It had a more fleshed out story, more characters, better scenarios and bigger production values.

Spyro 2 stands in my mind as one of the greats in the genre, and there have been few points in my gaming as satisfying as learning to swim and see Moneybags get what he richly deserved in Spyro 2.

6: Final Fantasy VII

Playstation did what Nintendo 64 never managed to do for me; it introduced me to the genre that would become my favourite type of game, the RPG. Final Fantasy VII was one of my first experiences with this type of game, and it really helped to broaden my view on what games could be. The combat system was truly great thanks to the materia mechanics.

A phenomenal soundtrack, what I thought was a great story at the time, and the whole sense of style and energy in Final Fantasy VII really made me fall in love with this gem. Having said that, I do not love it unconditionally as some people do, I think mainly because by the time I got around to it its visuals had already been outclassed by newer Playstation titles.

That doesn't stop this journey against the evil Shinra Corporation and Spehiroth from sticking out in my memories as a giant of gaming. Looking back on it, I don't see how the cross dressing scene and infiltrating and destroying a power generator killing scores of innocents in the process would make it so explicitly into a modern game, and for that alone FF VII should be held in regard.

5: Tekken 3

I loved fighting games after my experience on the Nintendo 64 with Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct and Mace, but Tekken 3 took things to a whole new level. For a few months, Tekken 3 took over my life. It was the first game I had on Playstation, coming with the console, and it fucking floored me with its intense level of finesse and refinement.

A stunning selection of characters with greatly different styles and tactics, a huge amount of things to learn, wonderful ending movies for the arcade mode, unlockable characters, Tekken Force, Tekken 3 outstripped all of its contemporary rivals and easily stands as one of my favourite Playstation games of all time.

No other game eve had me and my friends talking about learning martial arts of some sort for real, and though we never actually bothered to go through with anything of the sort, I think that exemplifies how much of an effect Tekken 3 had on me at the time. Too bad my copy was stolen, it still pains me.

4: Metal Gear Solid

Playstation introduced me to the notion that games can have significant and interesting stories, but nothing brought this home to me in quite the gripping way that Metal Gear Solid did when I first played it and journeyed through the Alaskan wastes of Shadow Moses.

This intense and damn gripping experience brought out the completionist in me, driving me to find everything, play on the highest difficulties and unravel all of this games amazing secrets.

Great level design, boss fights like nothing else at the time and a magical soundtrack combined with strong voice acting were enough to wow me and begin a love for this series that remains with me to the present day. Metal Gear Solid has some of the most memorable moments for me with my time on the Playstation platform. How could I ever forget frantically figuring out how to overcome Psycho Mantis or being tortured by Ocelot. Damn, what a great game, and my first stealth game as well.

3: Final Fantasy VIII

Speaking of stories that I loved, Final Fantasy VIII really got to me. I know that it is not commonly held as highly as VII, and some people even hate it for its controversial combat system and plot holes, but I just loved this game.

It had a cast of characters that I found much more relateable and interesting than the echo terrorists of VII, a wonderful setting and style that really set it apart, and one of my favourite soundtracks in any game. The graphics were also jaw-dropping for me at the time, and I still think they are the probably the best on the Playstation.

I liked the combat, junctioning abilities and spells for different effects, and the story was completely charming and interesting with some strong character development. I didn't really notice the plotholes as a kid, and while they are gaping, they are not nearly enough to ruin this school fantasy for me. Also, an 18 year old teacher with a whip... this game may have contributed to the onset of puberty for me...

2: Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver

I already talked about Ocarina of Time being my favourite N64 game, and for my monies worth Soul Reaver is the Ocarina of Time of the Playstation. Set in its own sprawling and mythical landscape, but with a much darker and grim tone than Ocarina, Soul Reaver was a seminal experience for me.

Lavish level design, with wonderful use of puzzles and game mechanics which fed directly into improving the puzzles were fantastic, but a rich variety of opponents was also nice. However, the true strength of Soul Reaver was the story and narrative elements, along with the absolutely stellAr voice acting and script. The struggle between Raziel and Kain was so improved by the brilliance of there respective voice actors, and a shoutout to the late Tony Jay as the Squid-like Elder God is needed as this juncture.

Soul Reaver was a game of vast ambition and big ideas, and its clear that a lot was cut out of the game by remnants of those elements, but what is left is still a greater amount of content than the vast majority of its peers at the time. Twilight may have killed the coolness of Vampires for a generation, but Soul Reaver is all I need to think of to make them interesting again for myself.

1: Final Fantasy IX

As you already know from this list, I love the three Playstation 1 FF games, but Final Fantasy IX is my favourite of the three, and my favourite game on the system. It is a colossal RPG experience, with the strongest sense of cohesion in the series, an irresistible charm, powerful narrative focus on its characters and their development through this story.

It has the most simplistic combat system of the series from 7 onwards, but I believe that this only added to its strengths. The soundtrack is Uematsu's best work in my view, and the entire pacing of the game is just pretty much perfect.

I will never forget the Tantalus Play "I Want to be your Canary", the revelations about Vivi, the Burmecia scene, the battle in the Iila Tree against the monster that I assumed fire would be effective against, the moment when Branhe unleashes Bahamut on Kuja, the list goes on. Final Fantasy is an incredible game, one of the most powerful experiences I have had while enjoying this pass time and my favourite title in this once great series.

So these are my favourite games from the Playstation, which seems appropriate in the days after Sony destroyed the anti-consumer policies of Microsoft at E3 2013. I will talk about my third home console in my next update, and the one that I spent the most time with: The Playstation 2. I hope this was an enjoyable read for anyone who looks at it.