With the recent surge of PSOne titles on PSN, I have taken the opportunity to time warp back to the mid 90's and re-live some of "best" gaming expereinces from back in the day. Here are my thoughts on whether the nostalgia is well founded or incredibly misplaced:

• Jumping Flash
  • What I recall: The little rabbit that could! This game was incredibly different at the time and had a unique charm to it. The sheer insanity of jumping higher (and higher) with each level created a sense of vertigo that made this game one of my favorite's back in the day.
   
  • How it held up: The little guy can still hop. I really enjoyed replaying this game, although the amaznig vertigo feeling just isn't there anymore now that so many other games do a great sense of scaling and verticality. The quirky story still holds up as do (most) of the levels.
   
• Final Fantasy 7
  • What I recall: FFVII was a day one purchase for me. I hadn't played any of the other FF's but the amount of hype surrounding this title made its allure undeniable. The game was difficult with plenty of grinding. The story was engaging and (perhaps more so) the characters brought the world to life. This game made me really feel like I had entered the next generation of gaming.
   
  • How it held up: Graphically FFVII looked great then, it looks pretty odd now, seeing all of those pre-rendered backgrounds next to thos terrible blocky characters. The story isn't nearly as fresh as back in the day and while the materia system still holds up, it doesn't feel as open ended or as exciting as it did then. The characters are still well done (albeit stereotypical at points) and are one of the big reasons why people still fondly recall FFVII so much.
   
• Street Fighter Alpha 2
  • What I recall: 3D fighting was huge at this point and playing Alpha 2 was kind of disapointing to me after playing hours of Toshiden, Tekken and Virtua Fighter. 
   
  • How it held up: Wow! I am really impressed with the depth and playability of the characters in Alpha 2. Capcom clearly knows how to build a fighting game with a list of fighters that balance each other. I am far more impressed with this game then I was back in the day. 
   
• Warhawk
  • What I recall: Fast and frentic Warhawk utilized the new abilities of the PSOne to render 3D worlds and provided a thrilling never before seen expereince. Huge buildings and canyons runs (ala Death Star runs) helped create an epic and cinematic feeling.
   
  • How it held up: Errr, I couldn't tell what was happening on screen half the time. The graphics are almost unbearable, the gameplay is generic and how did I not remember the terrible FMV that told an embarising story. Stay far, far away!
   
• Resident Evil
  • What I recall: Incredibly scary and atmospheric. This game for all intents and purposes created the surivival horror genre. I had to play this game with my friends, because it freaked me out. It was also incredibly hard.
   
  • How it held up: So I can see why I was so scared, the intro movie is terrifyingly bad and the voice acting and dialogue is laugh outloud funny. There are still moments of genuine scary horror, but the gameplay and puzzles seem a little contrived now. Not to mention that once again the pre-rendered background with poly characters seems freakishly awful.
   
• Metal Gear Solid
  • What I recall: Very cinematic and mature for its time. MGS helped push forward more mature story telling in videogames. Not to mention the more cinematic approach of gaming. This truly was like playing a thrilling summer blockbuster movie.
   
  • How it held up: Out of the games listed in this list, this game holds up the best. The amount of detail and the quality of the content and story in MGS are undeniable. MGS may be the greatest game of that generation and I am almost certain it will hold up even many more years after most of the other titles are forgotten.