PlayStation Classic Review

PlayStation Classic Review

PlayStation Classic: Console Review

Released by Sony
Platform: PlayStation One

It's nigh on twenty years that PlayStation's been a part of our gaming lives.

So it is that as the talk of the PlayStation 5 grows ever louder, Sony have decided to unleash a small console rather than going big (for now).

The first thing you notice about The PlayStation Classic is how light the actual console is. At just 170g (with a controller weighing 140g), the thing feels lighter and more portable than a phone, and perhaps, were it not for the fact you'd need the bulkier controller and the HDMI cable, you could cart it around to your mates for some fun and games.

Well, I say fun, but the reality of the PlayStation Classic is no matter which way you cut it, the game choices are puzzling at best, disappointing in some ways at worst. Rights issues or licences, whatever it is, gamers won't care too much about that - they'll simply want the genre-defining nostalgia fix they got when they were young and more easily pleased with the likes of pixel heavy Tomb Raider, speedy WipeOut and the harshness of Crash Bandicoot.

Connecting up the handsize console is easy as; its primary puzzle is why it doesn't come with a plug though, with the console needing you to use a phone charger to power it up via a USB. HDMI goes into the back of your viewing port, and the old school controller connects in the usual manner at the front. So far, so satisfactory.

Firing up the console, it's easy to get a goosebumps moment as you remember the simplicity of the execution and the sounds. And from there, it's into a carousel of the 20 titles for the 20 years PlayStation has been going.

It's fair to say they are a mixed bag - and will be a disappointment, as mentioned, to those who'd be looking at the system to provide the likes of Crash, Spyro and even WipeOut - all of these titles have recently had remasters, but if you're releasing a retro system aimed at provoking nostalgia, you can't really overlook the titles which defined a console.

Some of it makes up for the loss - there's the original Grand Theft Auto, with its pixelated violence still in tact,  there's Final Fantasy VII, Ridge Racer Type 4, Resident Evil and the ever-wonderful Abe's Oddyssee.

Like any decent emulator, the PlayStation Classic makes some of them look good, and some of them look bad - playing Cool Boarders 2, the game still goes blocky and suffers from bad controls as it did on release; and frankly, it's not the case that it would be wanted any other way.

Navigation is simple enough, but you need to press the reset button every time you want to go back to the menu - not exactly a massive burden, but really a sign that Sony was so headstrong in keeping this console as it was that it's almost stubborn in its execution of it. But it's such a little thing of beauty in terms of its physical representation, that it's almost hard to stay mad at the choices the designers have made for it - and one suspects, licences would have been the biggest hurdle to getting some of the games you'd want for it.

All in all, as a blast of nostalgia, the PlayStation Classic does what it says on the box, but ever so slightly fumbles the Classic part when it comes to the games.

It's a beautifully executed piece of design that's hand-sized and has as much heart as the brand does.

And while the lack of a plug is puzzling, the fact there are two controllers means it's immediately set up for play and go is great for socialising with some mates.

There's just an irony that for a games console,  some of the game choices that shaped a generation aren't present in the PlayStation's wonderfully detailed mini nostalgia burst.