Another light gun shooter? Oh, go on then. It was a
far cry from the grittier likes of Time Crisis, colourful
2D sprites whizzing about to task you with taking
out ninjas, flying targets, meteorites and even apples
from heads, William Tell-style. Delightfully old-
school, frenzied fun.POINT BLANK 1997
The first console instalment in the Ace Combat
series brought the intense arcade flight-sim
experience to television sets everywhere. Swooping
down upon oil refineries, dodging air attacks from
vicious CPU, preventing whole cities from going up in
flames – suddenly, it was all possible from your sofa.AIR COMBAT 1995
Set in the mysterious Phantomile, a land powered by
dreams, this inventive 2.5D side-scrolling platformer
was an adorable masterclass in picking up your foes
and throwing them at other foes – or chucking them
on the ground to propel yourself further into the air.
Short, but sweet, and perfectly formed to boot.
KLONOA 1997
01 Time Crisis 1997
The arcade shooter’s “duck” pedal became a button
on PS1, gleefully hammered when taking fire to blow
raspberries at enemies from behind cover. Did we
mention that button was on the side of a bundled GunCon
light gun controller? Because it was – and it made
blasting through that time limit that much sweeter.02 Soul Blade 1996
Curious devs at Namco asked themselves the question,
“What if we put honking great weapons in a fighting
game?” The answer was Soul Blade (the series’ name
eventually changed to Soulcaliber). An accessible combo
system ensured it became a PlayStation classic.03 Tekken 1994
Letting you control all four of your fighter’s limbs
independently, Tekken’s innovative four-button system
remains the series’ defining feature. Thanks to excellent
collision detection, blows felt meaty.