Happy birthday PSOne: 21 amazing memories for its 21st anniversary

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Happy birthday PSOne: 21 amazing memories for its 21st anniversary

The original PlayStation launched in Europe 21 years ago this week. Here are just some of the best moments from that era - picked by you.

Happy birthday to PlayStation, and happy birthday to all of us in Europe! 21 years ago, on 29th September 1995, the PSOne arrived in Europe to reshape videogame landscape forever and give us a lifetime of happy memories.

We could rack up the stats of a console that broke the mould (do you know PSOne was the first console to sell more than 100k units?) and embellish on the facts that brought PlayStation into living rooms worldwide. But all have been retold many times over the last near-20 years.

Instead, we wanted to celebrate by remembering our own favourite moments from one of the best eras in video games. And as the best memories are those shared, we asked fans worldwide what their own fondest #PlayStationMemories are.

The response was overwhelming. Here are just 21 of them (with the PlayStation Blog team chipping in with their own best bits). Maybe your own favourite PSOne moment is highlighted below, but if not, let us know in the comments below!

“For me, the game that stands out most in my memory is Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. I’d never seen a game world so well-realized before or so steeped in lore. The environments, the characters, the gruesome boss fights… it all just felt so dark and visceral.” – Matthew Groizard

“It’s got to be hearing The Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy in a video game for the first time, via WipEout. Mindblowing stuff, and a massive departure from the standard audio and bit-tunes of the time. It was also the time when PlayStation introduced games consoles into nightclubs, which was bizarrely revolutionary. God help those first generation controllers.” – Corey Brotherson

“That ah-ha moment when I realised Colonel Campbell meant the actual physical game case was where I could find Meryl’s codec details in Metal Gear Solid. I’d spent far too long trying to work out how to check the back of the CD you picked up in-game. Sigh.” – Eric Whelan

“Without doubt the original Tony Hawk Pro Skater has occupied more of my time than any other game; my misspent youth involved countless games of Horse that lasted well into the early hours of the morning (I was always Andrew Reynolds, the grind master), and were the chosen method of settling arguments, distributing chores or simply winning bragging rights in my squalid student house. And I still know most of the words to that amazing soundtrack *starts whistling Goldfinger’s ‘Superman’*” – Rhys Sutheran

“Picking just one memory to define my time with my favourite console is criminal. Which one? Beating the Devil 13th Racing car (with no rear view mirror no less) in Ridge Racer? Pretending I was ill to skip school and continue playing Final Fantasy VII? Discovering the Reverse Castle in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night? The entirety of WipEout 2097? Or Resident Evil? Finally pulling off Akuma’s Raging Demon attack in Street Fighter Alpha 2? Too many. Too, too many. There’s one universal, a phrase I’ve never used more than during my PSOne era: “I’ve never seen anything like it.” So many unique experiences. The PSOne’s diversity was one of its biggest strengths.” – Gillen McAllister

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