PlayStation Classic review: A far-from-classic experience

The box certainly evokes the late-’90s experience.

The box certainly evokes the late-’90s experience.

Remember when demo discs were the hot new thing?

Remember when demo discs were the hot new thing?

It’s so tiny!

It’s so tiny!

Remember when demo discs were the hot new thing?

It’s so tiny!

The controllers practically dwarf the actual box itself.

Without a size reference, the only “tell” that this isn’t a real PlayStation is the USB controller ports. Fun fact: the eject button is used to change virtual “discs” in multi-CD games.

Compared to a modern console, the back looks remarkably devoid of ports.

The PlayStation Classic controller (top) is well-built and authentically sized, though missing those mid-generation analog sticks.

Close-up of the USB controller connection (left), compared to an original PSOne controller

Even the miniature PSOne re-release dwarfs the mini PlayStation Classic.

Remember memory cards?

Following the success of Nintendo’s hot-selling series of “Classic Edition” plug-and-play HDMI systems, Sony is jumping into the fray this week with the PlayStation Classic. Unfortunately, the $100 emulation box, collecting 20 early CD-ROM games, is a bare-bones experience that comes with a lot of compromises that get in the way of even nostalgic appreciation for the era.

It starts from the moment you turn the system on, with a pixellated, no-frills menu that doesn’t even offer placeholder background music while you navigate. Don’t go looking for on-screen game manuals or any sort of museum-style, behind-the-scenes features either—the best you’ll get is a QR code link to an online manual (which returns a 404 error as of this writing).

Despite running on a pretty robust open source emulator, the PlayStation Classic also doesn’t offer any of the improvements or tweaks you might be accustomed to from PC-based emulation. There’s no way to tune the default graphical or audio settings (such as adding filters to recreate CRT scanlines, for instance), and you can’t rewind and/or speed up the emulation itself, either.

Every title on the PlayStation Classic gets its own dedicated “virtual” memory card, meaning you don’t really have to worry about running out of space for “legit” saves made through the games’ original interfaces. Unlike Nintendo’s Classic Edition hardware, though, the PlayStation Classic only offers one automatic “suspend point” save state per game. When you hit the reset button on the box to stop a play session, you have to decide whether to overwrite that save state with new data. It’s a baffling decision considering how little it would cost to put the extra storage space in the box.

Speaking of the box, the hardware is housed in a lightweight and accurate miniature replica of the original PlayStation itself. The only apparent visual differences are the HDMI port and USB power on the back and the USB controller ports on the front. Be warned, though: the unit doesn’t come with a USB power converter for a standard wall outlet, and it doesn’t work with any USB controllers other than those that ship with the system itself.

Those included controllers also lack analog sticks, which didn’t become standard for the PlayStation line until midway through the original system’s lifespan. From a modern perspective, controlling 3D games with that distinctly ancient control scheme feels like a bit of an anachronism. It’s especially noticeable in driving games like Twisted Metal and R4: Ridge Racer Type 4, where constant tapping on the d-pad feels like a distinct step back from simply tilting an analog stick. Shooters like Syphon Filter and Rainbow Six also feel almost painful to control without the now standard dual-stick move-and-aim approach.

Uneven games, uneven graphics

That classic startup screen, slightly altered for the PS Classic.

That classic startup screen, slightly altered for the PS Classic.

*Chime sound*

*Chime sound*

The menu screen is about as basic as they come.

The menu screen is about as basic as they come.

*Chime sound*

The menu screen is about as basic as they come.

Each game has its own dedicated “virtual” memory card for tons of in-game save space.

When it comes to emulated save states, though, you can only store one per game.

In case you were wondering what those buttons do.

This is as close as you’ll come to on-screen instructions for any of these games (and the link is currently broken).

Jumping Flash is surprisingly good-looking and playable for an early 3D title.

Destruction Derby, on the other hand, shows how some early PlayStation developers still had a lot to learn about 3D graphics and gameplay.

Playing a shooter like Syphon Filter without dual analog sticks feels very odd…

Text like this ends up looking a bit of a muddy mess blown up to HDTV scale.

The aliasing and color gradients on a screen like this just do not work in HD.

Final Fantasy VII‘s pre-rendered backgrounds end up looking rather decent in HD upscaling.

Metal Gear Solid is still remarkably crisp and playable after all these years.

2D games like Super Puzzle Fighter II are some of the standouts of the collection.

Some may find the timing’s a little off with the 50Hz version of Tekken 3 played on a 60Hz display.

So much has already been written about the PlayStation Classic’s uneven selection of “classic” games. I won’t bother with detailed reviews of every title on offer; if you’re in the market for the system, it’s likely because you already have fond memories of some of the included titles, and finding contemporary reviews for the others is not difficult.

What I will say, generally, is that many of these games have probably aged worse than you would expect. This is especially true of the sizable chunk of the Classic lineup that comes from the earliest years of the PlayStation’s life cycle (1995-96). That’s the era when console developers were still getting a handle on the very basics of how to make 3D graphics and gameplay comprehensible with limited hardware power, and it shows.