Squaresoft was hitting on all cylinders on the PS1. They just left a good relationship with Nintendo to forge a new one with Sony for their first system and things paid off. They made a lot of great one-off games includingParasite EveandXenogearsbut their most significant contribution has to beFinal Fantasy 7.
As for Enix, their output in the West was a bit more sparse as many of their titles have yet to leave for Japan. There are some Squaresoft ones lost to time as well. So, let’s dive in and take a look at both of these juggernauts’ PS1 catalogs before they join forces.
8Blade Arts: Tasogare no Miyako R’lyeh
Tomb Raiding With Daggers
Blade Arts: Tasogare no Miyako R’lyehwas an Enix game that was not released outside of Japan. It was a moreaction-oriented version ofTomb Raiderstarring the game’s protagonist, Rei. As Rei, players could descend into tombs, fight enemies, solve puzzles, and avoid traps.
Despite it looking like a tank control game akin toResident Evil, the controls were quite fluid for a PS1 title. While not as mind-blowing as any of theTomb Raiderentries,Blade Arts: Tasogare no Miyako R’lyehwas a decent late-system action game and it would be great to see it finally get released outside of Japan.
Cyber Orgwas a Squaresoft game that was also not released outside of Japan which is confusing. That’s because the spoken dialogue in cutscenes is in English and there are English text prompts as well alongside Japanese kanji. So even without a proper English translation,Cyber Orgis an accessible import game.
The game itself isa dungeon crawlerwherein players, as the hero TJ, will make their way across a countless body of spaceships. TJ can eventually mutate into other creatures, giving players a wide range of abilities throughout this action RPG.
Einhanderis a Squaresoft game that did indeed release in the West although it rarely gets the love it deserves among other PS1 Squaresoft games.It’s a Shmupand a challenging one at that with gameplay coming before any sort of story.
Players begin at a city level, fighting other ships and robots as they glide along. Weapon drops from enemies can be added to the player’s ship temporarily from rocket launchers to mini-guns. It’s relatively short but the challenge level and repeat process will have players thinking it’s a lot longer.
5Front Mission Alternative
Going From Tactics To RTS
Front Missionisa long-running mech-based tactical RPG series from Squaresoft. In most games, players move around battlefields in their customized units like inFinal Fantasy Tactics.Front Mission Alternativeis an RTS spinoff wherein mech units move in real time.
There’s not much in the way of resource gathering or construction, but it’s still within the RTS genre. It, like many other titles on here, has not yet left Japan but there is always hope that one day it will get an official translation.
4Pop’n Tanks!
A Cuter Twisted Metal
Pop’n Tanks!is another game from the Enix side of things that hasn’t crossed overseas yet. It’s not too hard to navigate through the menus though and the gameplay mechanics are easy enough to pick up. It’s a car combat game likeTwisted Metalexcept in a more one-on-one scenario.
Also, everything is a lot more colorful thanks to the early use of the cel-shading style on PS1. Fans of theSgt. Frogmanga and animemight enjoy the game as the creator of that series, Mine Yoshizaki, did the art forPop’n Tanks!
3Rakugaki Showtime
A Dodgeball Fighting Mix
Rakugaki Showtimeis another artistic game from Enix and it has a fighting game vibe mixed witha sports game. This one never left Japan but it’s very easy to understand control-wise as are the menus. Players will gain control of a ball and must execute enemy combatants on the field with the ball or they can punch with it too.
The game is fun alone or with friends but perhaps the best thing aboutRakugaki Showtimewas the aforementioned art style which looked like a children’s drawing come to life. Around the 90s, crayon-like aesthetics were becoming a thing in games like this along withSuper Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island.
2Tobal No. 1
Fighting Plus Dungeons
Tobal No. 1was an early fighting game for the PS1, from Squaresoft which was released in the West, and it became popular for one major reason. It included a demo forFinal Fantasy 7which had a huge amount of hype in the 90s. Two other significant things helped it gain notoriety past the demo.
One, the character models were drawn by Akira Toriyama who is best known for creatingDragon Ball Zand for doing art on games likeDragon Quest. The other interesting thing was the RPG mode which allowed players to dive into dungeons with fighters. It wasn’t the deepest dungeon crawler mechanically, but it did add to the overall package.
1Torneko: The Last Hope
A Dragon Quest Spinoff No One Remembers
Speaking of Akira Toriyama andDragon Quest,Torneko: The Last Hopeis a spinoff from that series. It’s a dungeon crawler roguelike and part of the largerMystery Dungeonfranchise. Torneko is one of the party members fromDragon Quest 4who got to star in his own mini-series of games.
Torneko: The Last Hope, from Enix, did get released in the West but the first game,Torneko’s Great Adventureon SNES, did not leave Japan. However, there is a finished fan patch in English for those who enjoyTorneko: The Last Hopeand want to see where things all began.
