PS1 The Best PS1 demos you played

[Don Patch]

So, where did y'all end up getting the demo discs from?
I'm assuming mostly magazines.
I recall that Pizza Hut, back when, had a promotion(s) that had three different discs. They would come with (taped to the pizza box, lol) a large pizza. Really, the only reason to eat there, IMO

Had the one with the Crash Warped demo. Good times

 

[stealthRUSH]

Gangway Monsters that was in the import section of PS Underground demo disc, anybody else played this one? I remember coming back to it often despite having to restart my system to play again.

 

[Adrastia]

Toys R Us had a promotion where you put in your name and address and they'd send you demo discs. You could also get demos sometimes if you sent in the registration cards inside of game manuals. Some people didn't know about that. I saw it in a magazine and started sending out every card I had and I ended up with a lot of demos.

I had a ton of demos. I remember playing the Dark Cloud 2, Spyro and Final Fantasy 7 demos a lot. I had the first three Playstation Underground issues. I think I still have the first one. I know I have the second. Sadly the third was stolen with a bunch of other stuff.

Underground had a lot of great demos. I played the Super Puzzle Fighter II demo all the time. It also featured a trailer for the original version of Resident Evil 2.

I moved. A lot. And a lot of stuff was stolen. So I think the only demo discs I still have are the Underground ones. Underground 2 has the Final Fantasy 7 demo on a special disc along with the Saga Frontier trailer and some other goodies.

 

[Smiley Cat]

There was a Wipeout 2097( aka XL) demo, which let you play 1 track (Gare d'Europa), and I'm pretty sure that is what got me hooked on the Wipeout games and made me a lifelong fan.

 

[VampireLord1024]

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.

That does make sense.

 

[Adrastia]

I just remembered, long ago my brother had that spring device for PS1 that you used to play burned discs and cheat and stuff. I used it with the FF7 demo and was able to view a few cutscenes that aren't on the demo. I remember one of thee of them being your arrival at the Gold Saucer.

Did anyone play the Wind Waker demo? I hated how it had a measly 20 minute timer instead of just cutting you off at a certain point. You couldn't mess around. From what I read the demo actually contains the entire game. I did read that Tower Of The Gods is missing files and will crash the game though.

 

[RageBurner]

I remember having a lot of fun with the Wild 9 demo. I don't remember now if it came with the system or what, but it was cool. Oddly I haven't tried the full game yet.

 

[RetroLaw]

The first Spider-man demo.

 

[bloodywing]

The GTA 2 demo, which had a time limit, but hear me out!

You could open the cd tray mid-game and the demo wouldn't end when the time was over. So you had the whole first town to mess with.

 

[Ian Naxieas]

Gangway Monsters that was in the import section of PS Underground demo disc, anybody else played this one? I remember coming back to it often despite having to restart my system to play again.

Holy actual fuck. No joke, this topic made me think of the demo for that game but I couldn't remember the name of it for the life of me. I've looked in the past and haven't been able to find it either. I was actually going to make a post about it on the "Can't remember the name of that game from your past?" thread after this, BUT THERE IT IS. Thank you for that, you're my hero.

Ahem, anyway, one of my favorite demos was the original Armored Core. There were only a couple levels to play, but the real meat of the demo was the multiplayer mode. It only had one stage, but all the parts in the game were unlocked for you to build your own custom mech. Many hours were spent with my friends and I experimenting and having a blast with different builds. Didn't even need to buy the game. x)

Off the same demo disc was Intelligent Qube! I've never been a fan of puzzle games, but that one got it's hooks in me. I remember feeling creeped out by it at first. No music, just surrounded by a black void with the sounds of your footsteps, the cubes slamming down and your character yelling when you were pushed off the stage and into the darkness. Good stuff.

There was the Metal Gear Solid demo too. It was a nice chunk of the game, from the very beginning up to the end of the cutscene with the DARPA Chief. There were neat things you could find if you explored, like getting the Nikita launcher from a floor vent near the end of the demo. There is an item there in the full game, but it's not the Nikita. Laaaame. There were tons of Codec conversations and I even remember Colonel Campbell telling you to take a rest because "You never know when a long demo is about to begin(or end, can't remember)". It's super interesting that there's a spoken line in the demo acknowledging that it's a demo. Leave it to Kojima I guess.

Finally, it wasn't a playable demo, but I watched the trailer for Parasite Eve over and over again. It's very similar to the opening movie that plays Primal Eyes, but it uses the songs Kyrie and Influence of the Deep instead. Primal Eyes is great, but I prefer the two hit combo instead. Have a looksie for yourself!

We weren't the best off, so I played more demo discs than actual games for the longest time. x) At least it helped me make good purchasing decisions when I had income of my own.