Title - Sony Playstation
Alternative title(s) - N/A

If a person wanted to ask me "What comes to your mind when you think of Sony?" I'd tell the person that three cases come to my mind. I had a friend who moved away named Sony once, but he was Vietnamese, not Japanese. I lived my life with Sony electronics for the most part. Of course, the last case deals with the Playstation and its follow-ups.

The Playstation, which originally was going to be named the Gamestation, was first released in 1994. Originally, this was supposed to be the Super Famicom disc system, but at the last minute or around that time, Nintendo dropped the plans and Sony ended up working on its own system by itself. The Playstation would later be released outside of Japan a year later.

Of all of the system reviews I have typed up so far, this is the hardest one to type on. Why? Sure, so many people reviewed it already. The reason why this is the hardest one is because I wonder how should I view this system. To put it in better words, should I treat it as the Super Famicom disc system or not? After giving it some thought, I decided that I should because that's what it was supposed to be in the first place. Well, I'll only do it to a certain degree.

You have to remember that this system did first appear in the land of the rising sun in 1994. 1994 was just a decade ago as I am typing up this review. So, with that said, my only concern for the system at the time was if it would be as fun as the Super Famicom disc system. How Nintendo was able to make a disc system for the Famicom by itself, but not one for the Super Famicom is beyond me.

Fun - 10

I really had fun on this system. We have a diverse library with various games whether it would be in the role-playing, action, fighting, ren'ai or visual novels department. So, what's not to like about this system?

As the years went on, Sony gained more and more support. Capcom, SNK, Squaresoft, Konami, Leaf/Aqua Plus, Sony really did gain more support. That meant a bigger library and a library with wonderful games.

Where else are you going to find games like "Breath of Fire III", "IV", "Chrono Cross", "Street Fighter Zero I"-"III", "Final Fantasy VII"-"IX" as well as "V" in terms of it being released outside of Japan and "Tactics", "Seiken Densetsu: The Legend of Mana", "Rockman X IV"-"VI" and so forth? Will you find them in Nintendo's next system at the time, the N64 in this case? Nope! Here!

Want more titles that were never released on any past Nintendo system? Why not play games like "Xenogears", "Thousand Arms", and "Bio Hazard"? Those are fun as well.

As always, a lot of people forget about games that were never released outside of Japan. Well, there are games like "Tokimemo I" & "II" as well as the others, "Sentimental Graffiti" and its other games, "The King of Fighters Ky" and "To Heart" as well a whole lot more. That's what I call a list.

Whether a game left Japan or not, there is one point I can be certain about. That point is that the system really, really gave me a lot of fun and that fun does still carry on. There's no doubt about that.

Life - 10

Let's see. It has a diverse library. It's Sony. Can it get any better? Read the rest of the review yourself.

Equipment - 10

The system is pretty durable. I love the look of the system. It's simple and it works rather well.

The controller gained more points in one category and lost some points in another. We know that the controller has a layout like the Super Famicom's. Sony used that layout and added two more shoulder buttons, with one going on each side. This did result in a nice layout. The category did lose points in comfort however. While it may be as small as the Super Famicom's, the shape of it gives off a weird feel. Is it that bad? Not really.

The rest of the equipment is fine. The memory cards are a nice addition. You have the Game Shark. All is fine in here. Just be careful on how you take care of the system, okay?

Audio - 10

Sony was able to do a task that the Super Famicom was never able to do: perfect the audio system. True, audio doesn't play much of a role, but it still plays a role when you review game systems. So, what does this mean?

This means the voice acting is clear and not muffled out a bit like in "Rayearth". You can hear Batsu yell "Kiai Dan!" as he does his projectile in "Justice Gakuen" as well as "Evolution" and it sounds spectacular. Of course, there are some games with bad voice acting, but I won't get into that.

The music in the games sounds fine. The same goes for the sound effects. Another perfect score is in here.

Art - 10

Like I said, this is a 1994 system and I will grade it as a 1994 system. So, what can I say? Sony really did surprise me.

Okay, the art in the games early on were not that great and at other times, but what do you expect? Besides, sit down and think about it. The Super Famicom didn't have games that looked great in terms of art early on and look how it turned out to be. The same can be said for the Playstation.

There is not much else to say in this section. The games feel like polished up Super Famicom games. The games looked good, given their standard requirements. To conclude this section, the art gets a perfect score from me.

Overall - 10

Now, I bet you're wondering, "Why does the Playstation have a perfect score and the Saturn only has a 9?" Yes, I still can't decide which system gave me more fun. Yes, both systems had great games. The reason this is the case is that unlike the Playstation, the Saturn is powered by a lithium battery and you have replace it every year or so, which tends to be annoying.

This is what the next Nintendo system should have been at the time and now still. The Playstation is definitely a classic system. It was a classic to begin with. It still is a classic now. Arigat gozaimasu Sony! ^_^

+

The amount of fun, the art, the equipment, the Playstation is a classic.

-

A rough start early on, inconsistent art at times, there's not much to complain about here.

Date of creation - 3/26/04

Last update - 8/11

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