Square's first PlayStation game.

Square's first game for the PlayStation was neither an RPG nor a fighting game, but a combination of both. With characters designed by Akira Torayama (Dragon Ball Z, Chrono Trigger), Tobal No. 1 features a straightforward fighting mode similar to that of Virtua Fighter, but what sets the game apart is its quest mode. Set in a variety of dungeons, it takes place from a behind-the-back view of your character. The battles that occur are one-on-one fights like those in the standard mode, but strength, stamina, and hit points are increased as your character gathers items and wins battles. The visuals are unusually smooth for a PlayStation game, due to the fact that they use untextured polygons. What the graphics lack in detail, they make up for in speed and frame rate. Tobal No. 1 is also notable because it contained a demo for Final Fantasy VII.

	A Chocobo!

One of the first games to take full advantage of the increased processing power and storage capacity afforded by the PlayStation, Final Fantasy VII is one of gaming's landmark titles, both historically and aesthetically. The choice to bring the American series up to speed with the Japanese titles (by jumping from Final Fantasy III to Final Fantasy VII) was just one example of how Sony was committed to maintaining the integrity of the franchise. Whereas Nintendo had often demanded that Square's games be toned down or changed for an American audience, Sony was willing to leave in bad language and market the game to an older audience. The leap from the Super NES to the PlayStation was made overwhelmingly apparent. As Greg Kasavin said in his original GameSpot review, "Never before have technology, playability, and narrative combined as well as in Final Fantasy VII." Filled with spectacular visuals, high-quality music, and an absorbing story, FFVII brought console role-playing to the mainstream. RPGs were popular before, but never this popular. Chalk it up to Sony's massive marketing campaign or the game itself, but FFVII's success not only cemented Square's reputation as a force to be reckoned with, but also aided in establishing the PlayStation as the must-have console of the latter half of the '90s.

	Watch the sparks fly.

Has it ever bothered you that the characters in Street Fighter could withstand multiple rounds of fireballs, hurricane kicks, and repeated punches to the face, all without, well, dying? Then this is the game for you. A decidedly more realistic take on the genre, Bushido Blade takes place in the world of samurai, a world where one clean hit means death. Besides one-hit kills, you can injure your opponent's fighting ability by going after his arms or legs. In addition to this striking aspect, the game's environments are startlingly vast, so a single battle can take place over a large distance of varied terrain. Six detailed characters are selectable, and each is skilled at one of eight available weapons. Leave it to Square, a relative newcomer to fighting games, to reinvent the genre.