PS1 The Best PS1 demos you played

[DarcyT]

We all knew this was going to be part of the conversation eventually, you sort of don't talk about the PlayStation without mentioning the demos. Whether included as a compo-disc with PlayStation Magazine, or included with a full game from the same publisher (or some other third way that I didn't mention), there were PS1 demos everywhere, ya couldn't stop them.

So, I'm curious as to what memories people have of any particular game demos, what were your favourites, what made you buy the full game etc.

 

[DarcyT]

For me, as unfortunate as the outcome was, as a kid, I was completely enraptured by the demo for Gex 3. Now, because I don't live in the US, the jokes were different and didn't mention phased-out celebrities. But I absolutely loved crawling along the walls in such an organic way that I didn't noticed the clunky platforming until I bought it and, you know, actually sat down to play it...

 

[VampireLord1024]

The X-Men fighting game that was on a PS1 demo disc my cousin had years ago.

 

[DarcyT]

The X-Men fighting game that was on a PS1 demo disc my cousin had years ago.

For real?! Wait...the 2D one, or the 3D one?

 

[VampireLord1024]

For real?! Wait...the 2D one, or the 3D one?

The 3D one was the one I played. I didn't play many fighting games and it was the first X-Men game I played even though I wasn't really into the X-Men franchise. Then again I don't know if my cousin had other PS1 demo discs or if it was just that one.

 

[DarcyT]

The 3D one was the one I played. I didn't play many fighting games and it was the first X-Men game I played even though I wasn't really into the X-Men franchise. Then again I don't know if my cousin had other PS1 demo discs or if it was just that one.

Aww...well, that game is still cool, in its own way. I mean, it was the 90s, you were going to get exposed to X-Men one way or another. Ehh, doesn't really matter, you still technically demoed it. Now that you mention it, there weren't a lot of demos for license based games...I guess they just assumed the games would sell on name alone.

 

[VampireLord1024]

Aww...well, that game is still cool, in its own way. I mean, it was the 90s, you were going to get exposed to X-Men one way or another. Ehh, doesn't really matter, you still technically demoed it. Now that you mention it, there weren't a lot of demos for license based games...I guess they just assumed the games would sell on name alone.

I think the Atlantis game was also on his demo disc as well as the Monsters, Inc. Scream Team.

 

[DarcyT]

I think the Atlantis game was also on his demo disc as well as the Monsters, Inc. Scream Team.

It probably does check out, both Atlantis and Monsters Inc came out in 2001, and X-Men in 2000. That's about the only link I could guess at as X-Men were under the Fox Corporation umbrella then, I think, so probably wouldn't play nice with Disney.

 

[Xeno]

Tomba 2 always stuck with me. I need to play those games some day.

 

[Sayo]

Tomba, I absolutely adored it and eventually played the full game.

 

[Qeltas]

There was a Demo Disc with Fighting Force on it...
and oh boy my cousins and me played the hell out of that demo disc lmao!
Good times!

 

[Ravenspeaker]

The PSX Demo Discs were some of the highlights of my life. I grew up relatively poor middle class, yet my parents pulled through to buy me PSX a year after release. That said, I didn't own many games growing up but I did play the Demo Discs a whole lot. Anyways, some of my fondest favorites were: Dino Crisis, Resident Evil 2, Vib Ribbon, Silent Bomber, Future Cop L.A.P.D., Armored Core, Kula World, Kurushi, Soul Reaver: Legacy of Kain, Syphon Filter, Tomba!, and Unholy War.

 

[NakaGX]

I didn't have a PSX as a kid, but I had a neighbor who did. He had several of those demo discs that came with magazines and one that piqued my interest was a ninja game. At one point it would get dark and start raining, with enemy ninjas emerging from the darkness and the threat of getting struck by lightning keeping me on my toes. It had atmosphere unlike anything I'd ever seen up until that point and blew me away.
A couple years ago I found out the demo was for a game called Ninja: Shadow of Darkness. I have yet to actually play the game and it prolly sucks, but I'll never forget how I felt playing that demo over 20 years ago.

 

[It's Thinking 2]

only demos i played as a kid came from MacPlay and MacAddict CDs for Macintosh.

 

[Boo Man]

Demo 01
Kula world, Medieval, Grand Turismo, Tekken 3 and something else i think it was Spice world?
i use that demo's nostalgic bgm on my arcade setup

 

[It's Thinking 2]

It probably does check out, both Atlantis and Monsters Inc came out in 2001, and X-Men in 2000. That's about the only link I could guess at as X-Men were under the Fox Corporation umbrella then, I think, so probably wouldn't play nice with Disney.

I think my little cousin had Aladdin and Emperor's New Groove demos.

 

[syntheticErik]

Team Buddies, hands down. It was on an OPM demo disc. Spent a huge portion of a summer playing just the demo with two friends as a kid. The game is super underrated.

I've tried playing the full game as an adult but the magic just isn't there as far as a single player experience goes in my opinion, it really kind of relies on local multiplayer to be fun.

 

[tselinoyarsk]

What immediately comes to mind is the demo disc that had Orient Express from Crash 3. Had a bunch of demo discs from playstation magazine, but they're long gone now.

 

[Solvalou]

I'd have to go with the first one "Playstation Picks" because playing it at Toys R Us and Blockbusters sold me on the console.

 

[Waffles]

Oddword: Abe's Odyssey, which I also got on PC.

It was beyond cool.

 

[Boo Man]

I'd have to go with the first one "Playstation Picks" because playing it at Toys R Us and Blockbusters sold me on the console.

was that the demo that had a 3D T-Rex in a running animation?
i vaguely remember my friend showing me the first demo
back then we called it the "Sony" not the "Playstation"
lets go play the Sony!

 

[Sayo]

was that the demo that had a 3D T-Rex in a running animation?
i vaguely remember my friend showing me the first demo
back then we called it the "Sony" not the "Playstation"
lets go play the Sony!

That T-Rex demo you mention was actually a tech demo for the Playstation itself from 1994, there was another one featuring a manta ray which was considerably less impressive.

 

[Boo Man]

That T-Rex demo you mention was actually a tech demo for the Playstation itself from 1994, there was another one featuring a manta ray which was considerably less impressive.

ah i see. haha well it would have been alot more impressive back in 1994!

 

[Sayo]

ah i see. haha well it would have been alot more impressive back in 1994!

Certainly, but looking back at it these things were quite misleading because there was no way that the PS1 could handle models like that if there was ANYTHING else on screen other than the creature itself

 

[Boo Man]

Certainly, but looking back at it these things were quite misleading because there was no way that the PS1 could handle models like that if there was ANYTHING else on screen other than the creature itself

yeah i kinda wondered why we never saw dinosaur models like that in actual games