Yesterday Sony revealed the Playstation Classic’s 20-game lineup on the PlayStation Blog. The list drew some (inevitable) online criticism, some of which is justified. But I’m not here to complain (much). I’m going to tell you the good, bad, and just plain confusing choices Sony made in producing the Playstation Classic.

THE GOOD

• Puzzle games! Puzzle games have been criminally underrepresented in the tiny nostalgia box market. The NES Classic only had Mario and the SNES Classic didn’t have any at all! The PlayStation Classic has three puzzle games (four if you count Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysey). Intelligent Qube, Mr. Driller, and Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo should more than scratch any puzzle-solving itch you may have.
• JRPGs! While not underrepresented on competing nostalgia boxes, JRPGs were a huge part of the PlayStation’s appeal. Wild Arms is Sony’s first exclusive JRPG franchise, set in a wild-west themed world. Revelations: Persona will give fans of the increasingly popular Persona series a chance to play the first game in the series. And of course no list of classic PlayStation games would be complete without Final Fantasy VII.

THE BAD

• No analog sticks. I assume analog sticks were cut to save costs, but I just don’t think this is acceptable. Several of the games on the PlayStation Classic were compatible with analog control when they were released! I don’t want to play Metal Gear Solid or Tekken 3 with the d-pad, and I shouldn’t have to.
• No Ape Escape. I’ll admit that this ties into the above point, but I’m upset enough about it to give it a separate spot. Ape Escape is, in my opinion, one of the most important games in the PlayStation library. Ape Escape convinced me to get an analog controller and then taught me how to use it. Would I have learned how to use analog sticks without Ape Escape? Sure, but why would I not catch monkeys when given the opportunity?

THE CONFUSING

• The inclusion of a first-person shooter. There’s some historical value to remembering how first-person shooters controlled on consoles before dual sticks became the norm. I just don’t think anyone is going to find going back to Rainbow Six without analog control to be any fun at all.
• Twisted Metal instead of Twisted Metal 2. I don’t understand this one. Twisted Metal 2 is held in higher regard by players, so why not include it? The original Twisted Metal wasn’t a launch title, so I don’t think the historical importance outweighs putting the better title on the system.

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