The 10 best-selling PS1 games: What made them so successful?

After the breakup of Sony and Nintendo in 1991, the Japanese company began working alone to create a new device that would change the world of video games .

Thus, on December 3, 1994, Sony introduced the first PlayStation. which used CD-ROMs instead of cartridges and would reach the rest of the world a year later.

The following models, PS2, PS3, PS4 and the current PS5, incorporated improvements such as high-definition graphics, Blu-ray and an online experience.

Thirty years after the launch of the PS1 , some games created for that device have sold millions of dollars . There are several reasons for its success.

Here are the 10 best-selling games (from lowest to highest) analyzed by Areajugones specialists.

1) Metal Gear Solid (6,000,000 units). Released in 1998 for PlayStation 1, it was a huge success, but for Areajugones , it deserved more, although they acknowledge that it was a game ahead of its time. When everyone was looking at car, fighting and platform games, Hideo Kojima pulled out a title with an incredible story and narrative, exceptional dubbing and moments that will go down in the history of video games.

2) Tomb Raider II (6,800,000 units). Since its launch in 1997, it has been a key piece of the brand. “All its installments were good and all sold at a very high rate, but the second one drew directly from the success of the previous one because it was a very high-quality title,” the site says.

3) Crash Bandicoot (6,820,000). Released in 1996, it was a must-have for any PS1 owner, even though it wasn't included with the game. Plus, this title appeared in most of the demos the brand released, putting Crash on everyone's radar. The first game, as you can see, is the best-selling, but since it's a series, anyone who got into video games ended up buying it.

4) Final Fantasy VIII (7,000,000). Considered inferior to its predecessor, Final Fantasy VII, and its successor, Final Fantasy IX, it directly benefited from the enormous success achieved by the former, since 1999. Although it did not obtain the same level of excellence in the reviews, it is a very good title.

5) Tomb Raider (7,100,000). From 1996, this is one of the games best associated with PlayStation, because Lara Croft was the face of Tomb Raider and the visible face of adventure games. He was the father of the adventure video games we know today.

6) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (8,000,000). The theatrical release of the film of the same name sparked a sales explosion for this 2001 title. Along with others like GTA V, it became one of the most widely-platformed games, launching on virtually every platform available.

7) Tekken 3 (8,300,000). A massive hit in the 1990s, when fighting games were much more popular than they are today. The genre dominated arcades, and video games were also much more social back then.

8) Gran Turismo 2 (9,370,000). Its success was so great that the news of a sequel sparked euphoria among fans. It's a curious case, since, despite being a game released at the end of the PS1's life cycle, it sold well. The game was so good that many people continued to enjoy it on the PS1.

9) Final Fantasy VII (9,800,000). A game that both PlayStation and Squaresoft put all their efforts into promoting, especially in Europe, where it was no longer possible to enjoy many role-playing games. The result: Final Fantasy VII was a true mass phenomenon.

10) Gran Turismo (10,850,000). Until its release in 1997, car video games hadn't come close to offering an experience beyond the arcade, even struggling to present good 3D models. Everything changed with Gran Turismo, which launched with the promise of being a driving simulator.