They spent the entire budget on intro for Evil Zone. The animation for Gits was amazing, I've never been more mesmerizing watching a pudgy spider-bot jumping over and causing mayhem!
Also the GitS soundtrack was sick. So many classic DJs bring their sound style to deliver a unique game. Ahead of its time. I honestly wish there was a newer game that utilized a similar idea. But sigh, the current GitS series, misses that magic
Not gonna lie, teared up a little when that Chrono Trigger intro started up. You just don't see love on that level put into animation anymore. Losing Toriyama-Sama was a great blow... R.I.P. GITS PSX is the GOAT! Great vid!
Even right now, I still get goose bumps when re-watching Xenogears opening movie. It's a masterpiece of intro and music. And it should have been into this top 10 list, period.
Back in those days they were so many awesome PS1 anime intros back in the past here! My favorite anime intros were DBZ, Bleach, Cowboy Bebop, Rival Schools, Dragon Quest, Ghost in the Shell, & Rockman 8.
Y'know, this is the first time I've seen a lot of these in their entirety. I've caught some of them in the backgrounds of various RUclips vids over the years, but never complete and with the full audio. Which is weird given my age, but I do have an excuse. The mid-late 90s were my first big PC gaming period. As a result, I completely missed the 5th generation of consoles, PS1 included. It wasn't until the Dreamcast finally washed up on Australian shores in 2000 that I returned to consoles.
Man, I was about to post and the first one you showed was the evil zone, haha, seriously, the game is not really good but it parodies most of the anime of the era and I think that's very special.
Great list Jim. Mine will always be Alundra, as it was the first time I think I saw anime in a game, and I loved that it gives hints how to defeat some of the bosses, though it may have given away too many plot twists. If you left the game on standby then it showed gameplay giving away how to defeat them. That didn't matter too much as the puzzles in the game sometimes wanted to make me bash my head against a wall. Not because they were difficult, but a lot of them were timed. Never completed it, and occasionally go back to it & play on PS3.
yeah go ahead and give my vote to the one for chrono trigger! yeah admittedly not a great port of the legendary SNES RPG, but I do think the anime cutscenes make up for it a little bit. also might have to get around to finding some of these! I hope you can do a similar list for Saturn, I think you're legally obligated to include the Guardian Heroes intro. :P a lot of good stuff here!
I felt like I got in on the Anime Craze early. I'm almost 48 now, and I had to have been... 14 or 15 years old when I discovered the "Animated" section my local Blockbuster video. Now... I had seen things considered "Anime" prior to this, but I had no idea that I was watching Japanese cartoons... Earliest would be StarBlazers and Battle of the Planets... Voltron/TranzorZ... Naussica Valley of the Winds (On late night Cinemax). The earliest Anime I watched and loved when I started renting videos were: Akira, Dominion Tank Police, Ranma 1/2, Wicked City, Demon City Shinjuku, Dirty Pair, The Professional, Fists of the North Star, Bubblegum Crisis, Battle Angel (this is the movie that got me into collecting Anime Comics, and I still have the first series), Crying Freeman, Heroic Legend of Arislan, Record of Lodoss War (my personal GoaT), Grave of the Fireflies, Vampire Princess Miyu, Ninja Scroll and Vampire Hunter D. I felt like an Anime evangelist... trying to get everyone to give it a try... my pitch was "Its Cartoons with blood and boobs!". Eventually I got a job at Blockbuster Video and then Suncoast Video where I would order Anime out of a catalogue to see stuff they would never have on the shelves to rent. Good times!
The Ghost in the Shell into of the PS1 game is hands-down still my favourite game intro ever, and I play modern games as well. Number two would be the Streets of Rage intro / theme track from Yuzo Koshiro
Of these 10 games, the following games had characters that appeared in Namco X Capcom or Project X Zone game. 9. Rival Schools (2 of the teachers/professors appear in NxC ) 8. Mega Man X4 (in PxZ 1 & 2, since NxC had Megaman Legends characters instead) 7. Tales of Destiny (NxC only) This is a nice list.
Big agreement for your number one! I actually did not care for the Ghost in the Shell movie as it was such a departure from the original material. The Playstation game not only featured the crab tanks but also Masamune Shirow's character designs that were ditched in favor of a more boring art style. It's nice that the game featured the same voice acting as the movie. The soundtrack is fantastic. I was living in the Kansai area back in 2002 when I finally managed to track down the soundtrack in Kobe's Sannomiya shotengai. There was an underground level with Yellow Submarine, Gamers, and other nerd shops and I found it there. (It also took me a while before I realized that it's not technically called "Ghost in the Shell" in Japan.)
Ghost in the Shell is definitely tops in my book (love the game, adore the original film), and Lunar is right up there with it, imo. Wish this style of intro (and cinematics in general) would make a comeback. I'm burned out to hell and back with CG and realism in games.
Fantastic list. Lunar will always be my #1 since it was my first anime opening style game I played. Man we need a runners-up follow-up sometime 😂 I’d nominate Saiyuki Journey West. That op song is like a brain worm. Jade Cocoon was also very memorable.
Dragon Ball GT final bout is one of my favourite anime intros . Mega Man 8 and x4 too 😊 btw Jim have you played the new power rangers rita’s rewind game . It would be cool to see a review from you , since you like beat em ups games . Take care
final bout was nice but i always liked the intro of ultimate battle 22 a bit more. Theres also a second intro for the secret characters :) Ghost in the shell intro looks crazy for 1997
Hello, i know that Its not 100% pure anime (there is cgi mixed in ) but Xenogears intro remains to this day my favorite one. Loved Breath of fire 3 intro too. Rival schools and Psychic Force are also on my list. 😊
I played Lunar 2: Eternal Blue before I played the first one and was blown away by its intro. Even though I had been a fan of anime for years it was still taboo in the states. SNES games like Pocky and Rocky and Ranma 1/2 were toned down to look more American, but when I saw Lunar I was happy at the direction the games industry was headed. I didn't have many anime based games. but Xenogears had an epic intro.
Megaman X4..SIMPLY THE BEST anime intro! PERIOD! Makenai Ai Ga Kitto Aru. Also the fact that intro makes you think that the game all love and flowers..then cruel reality hits you 😢 Practically just like Evangelion anime intro :)
Aww man the Mega Man 8 Western music is better in my opinion. Has way more of an electronic style and feels like classic Mega Man. These are all great trailers though. I havent seen the Lunar one is so long, but once it started I remembered it.
What's your favorite anime intro on the PS1!?
They spent the entire budget on intro for Evil Zone. The animation for Gits was amazing, I've never been more mesmerizing watching a pudgy spider-bot jumping over and causing mayhem!
Man, the Major can tachi or fuchi my koma any day. These are all great, Jim. Thanks for the nostalgia trip!
Any time!
Also the GitS soundtrack was sick. So many classic DJs bring their sound style to deliver a unique game. Ahead of its time. I honestly wish there was a newer game that utilized a similar idea. But sigh, the current GitS series, misses that magic
I love how you gave Akira toriyama rip that was just heartwarming and just wonderful. Thank you, I appreciate that a lot
wild arms opening. Its just great
Ghost in the Shell definitely deserves the first place.
Just started watching and Wild Arms 1 is my favorite by far... *starts whistling*
Not gonna lie, teared up a little when that Chrono Trigger intro started up. You just don't see love on that level put into animation anymore. Losing Toriyama-Sama was a great blow... R.I.P. GITS PSX is the GOAT! Great vid!
Even right now, I still get goose bumps when re-watching Xenogears opening movie. It's a masterpiece of intro and music. And it should have been into this top 10 list, period.
It's a great cutscene, wasn't what I was looking for with this list
Back in those days they were so many awesome PS1 anime intros back in the past here! My favorite anime intros were DBZ, Bleach, Cowboy Bebop, Rival Schools, Dragon Quest, Ghost in the Shell, & Rockman 8.
Y'know, this is the first time I've seen a lot of these in their entirety. I've caught some of them in the backgrounds of various RUclips vids over the years, but never complete and with the full audio.
Which is weird given my age, but I do have an excuse. The mid-late 90s were my first big PC gaming period. As a result, I completely missed the 5th generation of consoles, PS1 included. It wasn't until the Dreamcast finally washed up on Australian shores in 2000 that I returned to consoles.
Haha - Wild Arms 1 wasn't even on your list... but man there are a LOT of great intros from those days. nice list.
It just missed the list, but I opted for Evil Zone
Rivals had a great intro. I remember playing it after high school religiously.
Dragonball ultimate battle 22 was my first import game in 1999.
Thanks for fighting the good fight to bring this to us! I haven’t seen most of these so it was a real treat!
Man, I was about to post and the first one you showed was the evil zone, haha, seriously, the game is not really good but it parodies most of the anime of the era and I think that's very special.
Yeah, it's not a great fighter but it has other things going for it
Great list Jim. Mine will always be Alundra, as it was the first time I think I saw anime in a game, and I loved that it gives hints how to defeat some of the bosses, though it may have given away too many plot twists. If you left the game on standby then it showed gameplay giving away how to defeat them. That didn't matter too much as the puzzles in the game sometimes wanted to make me bash my head against a wall. Not because they were difficult, but a lot of them were timed. Never completed it, and occasionally go back to it & play on PS3.
yeah go ahead and give my vote to the one for chrono trigger! yeah admittedly not a great port of the legendary SNES RPG, but I do think the anime cutscenes make up for it a little bit. also might have to get around to finding some of these! I hope you can do a similar list for Saturn, I think you're legally obligated to include the Guardian Heroes intro. :P a lot of good stuff here!
I felt like I got in on the Anime Craze early. I'm almost 48 now, and I had to have been... 14 or 15 years old when I discovered the "Animated" section my local Blockbuster video.
Now... I had seen things considered "Anime" prior to this, but I had no idea that I was watching Japanese cartoons... Earliest would be StarBlazers and Battle of the Planets... Voltron/TranzorZ... Naussica Valley of the Winds (On late night Cinemax).
The earliest Anime I watched and loved when I started renting videos were: Akira, Dominion Tank Police, Ranma 1/2, Wicked City, Demon City Shinjuku, Dirty Pair, The Professional, Fists of the North Star, Bubblegum Crisis, Battle Angel (this is the movie that got me into collecting Anime Comics, and I still have the first series), Crying Freeman, Heroic Legend of Arislan, Record of Lodoss War (my personal GoaT), Grave of the Fireflies, Vampire Princess Miyu, Ninja Scroll and Vampire Hunter D.
I felt like an Anime evangelist... trying to get everyone to give it a try... my pitch was "Its Cartoons with blood and boobs!".
Eventually I got a job at Blockbuster Video and then Suncoast Video where I would order Anime out of a catalogue to see stuff they would never have on the shelves to rent.
Good times!
Thousands Arms (1998). It has J-pop musician Ayumi Hamasaki's fifth single "Depend on You" as its opening theme.
The Ghost in the Shell into of the PS1 game is hands-down still my favourite game intro ever, and I play modern games as well. Number two would be the Streets of Rage intro / theme track from Yuzo Koshiro
Of these 10 games, the following games had characters that appeared in Namco X Capcom or Project X Zone game.
9. Rival Schools (2 of the teachers/professors appear in NxC )
8. Mega Man X4 (in PxZ 1 & 2, since NxC had Megaman Legends characters instead)
7. Tales of Destiny (NxC only)
This is a nice list.
THANK YOU for the Psychic Force mention! Nobody ever brings it up.
An old favorite, I'd love to see it make a comeback
Big agreement for your number one! I actually did not care for the Ghost in the Shell movie as it was such a departure from the original material. The Playstation game not only featured the crab tanks but also Masamune Shirow's character designs that were ditched in favor of a more boring art style. It's nice that the game featured the same voice acting as the movie. The soundtrack is fantastic. I was living in the Kansai area back in 2002 when I finally managed to track down the soundtrack in Kobe's Sannomiya shotengai. There was an underground level with Yellow Submarine, Gamers, and other nerd shops and I found it there. (It also took me a while before I realized that it's not technically called "Ghost in the Shell" in Japan.)
Ghost in the Shell is definitely tops in my book (love the game, adore the original film), and Lunar is right up there with it, imo. Wish this style of intro (and cinematics in general) would make a comeback. I'm burned out to hell and back with CG and realism in games.
Rest in peace major..
Fantastic list. Lunar will always be my #1 since it was my first anime opening style game I played.
Man we need a runners-up follow-up sometime 😂 I’d nominate Saiyuki Journey West. That op song is like a brain worm. Jade Cocoon was also very memorable.
I liked Lunar 1 on the Sega CD opening better then the PS1 version
EHRGEIZ intro always blows me away.
Badass Animation
My favorite and the only one I still think about to this day is Wild ARMs.
Dragon Ball GT final bout is one of my favourite anime intros . Mega Man 8 and x4 too 😊 btw Jim have you played the new power rangers rita’s rewind game . It would be cool to see a review from you , since you like beat em ups games . Take care
Haven't played it yet, but it's on my radar
final bout was nice but i always liked the intro of ultimate battle 22 a bit more. Theres also a second intro for the secret characters :)
Ghost in the shell intro looks crazy for 1997
Best Retro RUclips Channel on the internet
Yup, nostalgia touched!, mine would be X4(but with the English music) an definitely Dragon Ball GT Final Bout,oh also GRANDIA's opening it's so epic
Hello, i know that Its not 100% pure anime (there is cgi mixed in ) but Xenogears intro remains to this day my favorite one. Loved Breath of fire 3 intro too. Rival schools and Psychic Force are also on my list. 😊
I played Lunar 2: Eternal Blue before I played the first one and was blown away by its intro. Even though I had been a fan of anime for years it was still taboo in the states. SNES games like Pocky and Rocky and Ranma 1/2 were toned down to look more American, but when I saw Lunar I was happy at the direction the games industry was headed. I didn't have many anime based games. but Xenogears had an epic intro.
Kiss in the Dark from Evil Zone also!! DANZAIVAR!
Anime time with Jim
I'm not into Gundam but I remember Battle Assult was fun. It'd be nice if both are on a collection for modern consoles😊😊😊
Megaman X4..SIMPLY THE BEST anime intro! PERIOD! Makenai Ai Ga Kitto Aru. Also the fact that intro makes you think that the game all love and flowers..then cruel reality hits you 😢 Practically just like Evangelion anime intro :)
You missed Wild Arms 2 second cd opening.
All the PS1 RPGs intros are good
Mine is Wild Arms
I guess you could say the PS1 was kinda a weeaboo’s paradise like with the Saturn given their excellent import libraries of JP-only games.
Real Bout Dominated Mind!
Love all of these intros but where the F is Wild Arms intro???
Aww man the Mega Man 8 Western music is better in my opinion. Has way more of an electronic style and feels like classic Mega Man. These are all great trailers though. I havent seen the Lunar one is so long, but once it started I remembered it.
Real bout Fatal Fury was fine too.
Rival schools
Thousand arms ???
Jim forgot wild arms but ok
I didn't forget, I considered it but opted for Evil Zone
@MadPanicGaming ok, banger also
Mega man 8
FINAL BOUT is the best! :) ATSUI BIGGEST FIGHT
What's going on with the weird filter on some of the videos?
Upscaling doesn't always work the way you think it will
A.I. upscaling looks like ass, don’t do that, otherwise good video 👍
Yeah it apparently doesn't work out well in all instances