Best PS1 Platformers

PS1 Platformers: The Birth of 3D Platform Gaming

The PlayStation’s platformer library defined the transition from 2D to 3D platform game design. Crash Bandicoot solved 3D platforming’s camera problem by running the player away from the camera on a fixed corridor — avoiding the free-camera challenge that haunted early N64 platformers. Spyro the Dragon solved it with open worlds where the camera was always behind the character and enemies were never hazardous. Jumping Flash solved it by going vertical. Each solution was distinct, genre-founding, and imitated.

The PS1 platformer is in some ways a more coherent genre than the N64 platformer: where the N64 had one definitive platformer (Super Mario 64) and several followers, the PS1 had two major mascots (Crash, Spyro), each with three games, plus a distinct second tier of creative experiments that the N64’s third-party library didn’t match.

Crash Bandicoot — Naughty Dog’s Linear Solution

Crash Bandicoot (1996) was designed specifically to be Sony’s answer to Super Mario 64 and Sonic the Hedgehog: a mascot platformer with visual quality that would function as a hardware showcase. Naughty Dog’s solution to the camera problem — run toward or away from the camera on semi-linear corridors rather than exploring open spaces — allowed higher polygon counts and detail than the N64 could render in its open-world platformers.

The first game’s difficulty — lives-based progression with long stages between checkpoints — was refined in sequels. Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back added gems for collecting all crates and warp room navigation between worlds. Crash Bandicoot: Warped added time trials and vehicle sections. The trilogy’s progressive refinement represented Naughty Dog learning platform game design in real time.

Spyro the Dragon — Open World Done Right

Spyro the Dragon (1998) took the opposite approach from Crash: large, open worlds that could be explored freely, enemies who couldn’t damage Spyro directly (only knock him backward), and a gem collection goal that rewarded thorough exploration rather than linear completion. The PS1’s draw distance limitations actually suited Spyro’s design — the foggy sky and distant mountains created a visual aesthetic rather than a technical compromise.

Insomniac’s three Spyro games developed the formula with increasing ambition: Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage added non-player characters with voice acting and skill-point challenges. Spyro: Year of the Dragon added playable side characters (Sheila the kangaroo, Sgt. Byrd the penguin) with different abilities. The trilogy’s emotional warmth — Stewart Copeland’s music, the world designs — gave it a character that distinguished it from concurrent platform games.

Klonoa: Door to Phantomile — The Emotional Platform Adventure

Klonoa: Door to Phantomile (1997) combined fixed-path 2.5D platforming with a puzzle mechanic: inflating enemies with a wind bullet, using them as double-jump platforms, throwing them to activate switches or damage distant enemies. The mechanic’s depth came from specific enemy types and interactions — some enemies exploded when thrown, some created wind currents, some could be stacked.

The game’s ending became word-of-mouth famous: unexpected, emotionally resonant, and entirely unforewarned by the game’s cheerful aesthetic. Players who completed it consistently reported it as one of the PS1’s most memorable experiences. Klonoa’s modest commercial performance (it was marked down quickly) made original cartridges increasingly collectable. A 2022 remake (Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series) brought the game to modern platforms.

Ape Escape — The Dual Analog Showcase

Ape Escape (1999) was the first PlayStation game to require the DualShock controller with both analog sticks — the left stick controlled movement, the right stick controlled the gadgets used to capture escaped apes. The game’s design was built entirely around this dual-stick control scheme, and it made the DualShock’s dual-stick design feel necessary rather than optional for the first time.

The ape characters — each with distinct AI personalities that affected how they evaded capture — and the time-travel stage variety (prehistoric, medieval, future) gave Ape Escape scope beyond typical PS1 platformers. The camera system, handled automatically based on the player’s direction of movement, avoided the camera problems that plagued other early 3D platformers.