It’s been a long road, but PlayStation is finally resurrecting PlayStation classics via backward compatibility. A recent official reveal confirmed certain classic games will introduce Trophy support. However, a leak from the PlayStation Network in Malaysia has given us our best glimpse yet at the service.
As discovered on gaming forum Resetera, a handful of classics are now listed, some even purchasable and playable for southeast Asian PlayStation fans.
Playstation Classics Reborn
The four games discovered so far are Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee, Worms Armageddon, Worms World Party, and Ridge Racer 2 for PSP. Ridge Racer 2 is not currently not for sale; the others are if you have a Malaysian PSN account. Yet it’s not even the games themselves that are the most exciting part.
The ability to rewind and harness save states like in fan emulators will be a core feature. Rewind in particular is an impressive feature as it’s a very resource-intensive bonus that not even certain non-commercial emulators can offer. Multiple rendering modes and resolutions are available as well, including a CRT mode.
The pricing translates to around $4-8 for each classic game currently available. This also seems to confirm that classics won’t be exclusive to PS Plus’ highest tier. This would be a relief to those not wanting to pay top dollar just to access their old favorites on the latest hardware, something Xbox has been allowing for years now alongside their Game Pass service.
Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee has also been reported by fans as appearing on the Hong Kong PSN storefront. Captured below by a fan:
Gaming’s Greatest Back From the Dead… Sort Of
Most notable with Ridge Racer 2 is the ambiguity regarding some features. It sounds like Sony either hasn’t decided or isn’t all that interested in reviving the multiplayer and other online aspects of PSP titles. While this is more than understandable for most games, it is troubling for those online multiplayer gems like Resistance: Retribution and Battlefront: Renegade Squadron.
This stands out given PlayStation fan emulators are adding network functionality back into not only PS2 and PSP games, but even key PS3 titles like MotorStorm and Killzone 2.
If they wanted to one-up Microsoft’s own backwards compatibility, restoring online for memorable classic games would be a helluva way to do it. Time will tell if Sony is willing to support certain classics just as diligently as their fans. On the upside, upscaled rendering is already promised.
All told, it’s a very exciting day for fans of classic PlayStation gaming. Though the insistence on purely streaming PS3 games grows more absurd with every step made by fans, having natively playable PS1, PSP, and PS2 games will be a blast.
Now we just need the PS Vita and we’ll have the whole family of PlayStation gems on a single system. Hint hint, nudge nudge, Sony.
