One for the Playstation

One was a game I lusted after. The marketing on this game sold it to me. I knew I had to buy it before I ever tried a demo of it. I saved my money up for weeks. I scoured the Toys R Us video game hallway looking for the piece of paper I had to bring to the customer service counter. I had to pass by more deserving games like Metal Gear Solid to find One. But I found it.

This was one of the rare times where my mom talked me out of buying a game. I don't really know why she chose this one specifically, but she said, "Why don't we go rent this one? I'll pay for that. If you still like it, you can buy it."

I'm glad she did.

One is a fun game. It sort of plays like Contra but in a 3d space. It's fast paced, machine gunning hundreds of enemies, ridiculously high jumping platforming goodness.

The first thing I noticed was the difficulty level was way higher than I was used to. I think that was a purposeful design choice. The old arcade philosophy of "make it brutal, the game is only 15 minutes long, and we need quarters."

So after about 20 or so tries, I went to the ole' trusty Cheat Code Central website and found some codes to help me through the game.

I was able to enter the code for all weapons. That was really all I needed. I started flying through the levels.

Turns out the game is only about 30 minutes long. After 6 stages I was seeing end credits with my mouth agape. I took the game back to Blockbuster and spent my money on other things.

Recently I was at a retro video game store and found some other PS1 games I had been hunting for. They had a buy 2 get 1 free deal, so I decided to pick up One again and see if my impression changed.

It's still hard as can be, but I was able to beat the first two levels without cheats this time.

There are a couple of things I noticed that I don't remember from my childhood.

1. This game is buggy as hell. I was falling through maps, clipping on invisible walls, and unable to make jumps that I very obviously should be able to.
2. The auto-lock-on rarely targets the guy you're pointing at. It usually finds a guy in the background. So melee is king.
3. And the game is "EXTREME." After I beat the first mission, I was given a ranking of "Pissed." That sounds about right.

If I had paid for this game, it would've been $2.99. Which is about the right price for it. It's an interesting piece of history and can be a fun game. If you find it for $2.99, grab it.