Colony Wars Trilogy Review: The PS1's Forgotten Franchise

[@GamingTheSystems1]

How I keep sunlight out of the game room kzbin.info/www/bejne/n6ndhqd9rbmsa9U

[@Alternatedimension2]

Gosh man, I have been looking forward to Everspace 2 so much, I didn’t even realize Colony Wars was this style of game. Thanks for the video as always and your transitions looked great. Your videos are getting better and better.

[@dav786]

Thats what shutters are for

[@jessicasretrolunacy]

I really appreciate you showing love to this largely forgotten series. Colony Wars blew me away when I saw and played it at a Circuit City demo station. It was one of the earliest examples that ingrained in me how much of a leap the next generation of gaming was. I played Vengeance most extensively of all, and, not having gotten into RPGs like Chrono Trigger until later, it was my first taste of a game narrative with branching paths and multiple endings. You should also check out Star Trek: Invasion, which runs on the Colony Wars engine! 🙂

[@arrionemiller5571]

Im 54 i remember playing the hell outta these games now I'm blown away from playing no man's sky on series x trust me space games are truly entertaining just get lost in any games you like and enjoy

[@villageflippinidiot]

I'm 30 and it's been incredible to watch it evolve in my time, must have been crazy with over 20 more years!

[@Rob.N771]

Also 54, what a game!!!!

[@clappagemcphee]

Thanks for the comment! I'm 34 and only played Red Sun, never forget it though!

[@Phoenix3568]

For the challenging mission: You can launch the heated asteroids at the mining ship. By holding the grappeling release down you can 'shoot' whatever's grappled.

[@clawofthefallen]

It's worth mentioning that the team that created Colony Wars also did Star Trek Invasion for PS1.

[@endoflevelboss7806]

That makes sense why Star Trek Invasion was so good 👍🏼. I remember playing Colony Wars on a demo disc, there were just so many good games to buy back then and they were expensive, sadly had to choose very wisely but now I'm experiencing them over 20 years later in full.

[@sixhundredandfive7123]

Colony Wars did world building in a way that hasn't been done since. (There was text explaining how cows got into space.)

[@sixhundredandfive7123]

And can we just respect the fact you need a Death Star size installation to create a DS9 size wormhole?!?

[@The-Man-On-The-Mountain]

Intros were a genre in itself in those days. Everybody was always hyped for every game intro. A game without an intro was like a garden without flowers. I remember these intros, along with the Wipeout, G-Police, and Soul Calibur ones. They blew me away. I remember one friend saying, "one day, the gameplay graphics will be like this, or even better", and I was like "naaaah, that's impossible" 😂. By the way: 29:08 At last, someone like me who knows how to play games properly, instead of those BS gaming chairs that destroy your back.

[@bongodoug]

Great job! 42 plus minutes about games I am completely unfamiliar with, count me in!

[@darcycrews]

I remember playing the demo as a kid and intentionally destroying the huge friendly ship in the first mission to see if I could. The way the ships break apart slowly and then make a huge explosion is so epic. Then the cold voice of the missions briefing AI talking about how deserters and traitors are killed or imprisoned forever

[@mandarinamala6513]

Amazing review!!! I really loved this games back in those days and is true that no one speak of them (now or then). I hope they come back someday, or at least I could play them again. Great job man!

[@tonycoffee7335]

Great video. I have never played that game but it makes me want to add it to the collection . Keep up the good work!

[@pandipandi1484]

Youngster have to understand the shock CW1 was back then. 3D game with a depth feeling in space never seen before. The first time you blow up a large ship with that crazy loud explosion sound... We were barely at the begining of home 3D gaming, most of us were playing 2D midi sounding Megadrive/genesis or SNES a few months before. And all of a sudden came PlayStation with hifi sound you could link to the home stereo, 3D and games like WipeOut or ColonyWars. We were lucky to witness that.

[@RippahRooJizah]

Honestly 2D/3D never really mattered to me. Games were games. That said, the concept of a demo disc was far, far more interesting to me than the fact that the PSX had 3D games. And my first Demo Disc had Colony Wars.

[@matthewheupel8960]

I remember playing this game in 98 or 99. I was completely blown away by it. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and it was the 1st game I played on Playstation that really looked and felt next gen. I've only played the 1st, but I may need to hunt down the others. Thanks for releasing this video. Hopefully more people will find out about this gem and give it a chance. Such an under rated game.

[@risk8827]

As for the asteroid mission in Vengeance, if you hold down the grapple release instead of tapping it, the momentum from your ship will carry onto the asteroid. This works for any object in the game, so you can have some funny interactions with it

[@DrTim-cu2zy]

Colony Wars Vengeance is still one of my favorite space games of all time and for me was a top 10 PS1 game. It's actually not that hard and that asteroid mission was so fun to figure out back in the day; just heat them up, grapple them, boost to max speed and fling them at the ship. I played this so much I scratched the disc and haven't seen the game in 25 years.

[@Hyper_Drud]

I could never remember the full name of these two games my dad had on Playstation, only that one of them had “Red Sun” as the subtitle and it was the third one in a series. There was no mistaking the case art of the third game when I saw it on the thumbnail. I finally figured out the name of those games.

[@TheMultiGunMan]

Thank you for this in-depth review of this trilogy. You've peaked my interest in it. I will most likely order the trilogy on eBay and give it a try.

[@helcome2well507]

Thanks a bunch. I have not thought about these games in many years. Awesome vid!

[@liminal-waves]

I've never heard of Colony Wars, but they look super cool. I'm always inclined towards games that take place in our actual solar system, and other real nearby solar systems like Proxima Centauri. Most space games like these usually take place in some fictional galaxy or star system, so that was cool to see. I also think the menu system in those games where you can read about different stuff like solar systems and planets looked super cool, especially with the voice overs. Also I laughed out loud at the guy screaming when you shoot him down haha.

[@OnigoroshiZero]

Man, I've had memories of a space game I played in my PS1 (the small white one) back in 2000 when I was 10 years old, and I had a blast with it. The memory card I had didn't work, so I had to play through the entire game every time which was stupidly hard (and I barely understood a few English words back then, and I didn't even knew what the internet was back then). I was searching for the name of that game for years, and know I learned that it was the Colony Wars: Vengeance. I remembered a ton of the missions from watching this, like the one with the grappling hook and the asteroids, or the one with the giant snake-like monster. The final mission was insane with the cheat enemy ship you had to fight. If I remember correctly, it was an upgraded version of a ship you stole earlier, and it had invisibility most of the time. Don't even ask me how I beat the game back then with barely understanding the menus and the objectives, I am not sure...

[@MoviesNGames007uk]

Fear Effect also another good ps1 franchise forgotten

[@adampindell]

That game beat my ass, too😅 And when you start jumping randomly between discs, I didn't know what to think.

[@rimjobledouche5201]

Colony Wars Vengeance's visual blew me away. Even now I still think it is an unsung graphical powerhouse.

[@sbeaber]

The ship ai was so smooth sounding

[@XadePsyconic]

I'm a simple man. I see a new GTS video, I click.

[@adamdam]

I have all three games and they are very solid fun games.

[@MrNihilist74]

I remember buying, playing all the way through Colony Wars 1 on the ps1. I thought it was great! Love the graphics, sound and control for it. I never played the sequels but they look great! I think I built my first computer not too long after the first colony wars came out. Thats why I never played the sequels. Colony Wars was the next best thing to Freespace 2 on the pc.

[@gishathosaurus6828]

Damn, man... I can't believe my brain still retains memory of this game. Never played it, but I knew it existed back then. Was more of a G-Police fan myself though

[@gregorys9629]

Had to laugh when I heard what happened after you completed all the paths in the first game! Alas. Great video btw, never heard of this series but it sounds like a great one.

[@yuripetrovic7606]

"...she divorced me" *LOL*

[@pharotman2311]

Hey you forgot to say “hi everybody”, I love that. GREAT channel!

[@atarileaf]

I really enjoyed that first game

[@Ragnorok64]

I never got too far into the series but I enjoyed why I played and made sure to grab all three eventually. I didn't even realize there was a 3rd one until way way later.

[@roguerifter9724]

I have never understood why they haven't continued the series or at least remastered the trilogy. I jumped straight from the SNES to the PS2 but gabbed the first game soon after getting my PS2, grabbed the third game a few months later and grabbed the second game a year or so after that. My personal preferred ending for the first game is losing some early on but still winning the war rather then winning all the way through. I think the first game is my favorite because like the tone more then Vengeance and IMO it has by far the best set of starfighters for both allies and the antagonists. Second would be Red Sun because I really didn't like the dark tone of Vengeance, and liked being able to customize my fighter.

[@GR3ND4L]

Great review, loved these games growing up, any plans to review the G-Police series?

[@GuardianOwl]

G-police was recently re-released on ps4/ps5 if you want to give it a try. I’m 12 missions in and the helicopter-like craft is kinda badly missing a strafe button.

[@FASAfan]

Love the video. Love the channel. The F bomb was a bit jarring, though.

[@chrisscott7990]

I'm a big fan of these games. The cutscenes pop into my head on a weekly basis. I emulate them on my PC now if I need a quick nostalgia fix.

[@roolaing]

Totally forgot about this game. It was great 👍

[@Phoenix3568]

The grappling hook can launch the asteroids

[@alexkanehbosm4082]

What made it such a great game was how epic things felt..

[@Estaran]

As far as I remember, at least the first two games are compatible with the PlayStation Analog Joystick, which was designed like a PC flight stick but with two sticks. This stick is PERFECT for these kind of games. I highly recommend giving those games another try with the PlayStation Analog Joystick, if you own one. 😊

[@Severius33]

I remember hearing about these games back in the day. They looked so cool, I really wanted to play them, but I didn't have a Playstation.

[@Ciryc_Kabur]

Just found my original PS1 and copy of red sun, fired up and had a great time all over again 😄 I would be so excited to play it with better draw distance

[@dannyd464]

Yeah I used to love colony Wars back in the day..... blast radius now that's a name I've not heard in a long long time..... I'm still waiting for G-police 3.......🤣

[@paddymalky1979]

Ok you have convinced me to go by red sun and play it again.

[@marianasempire486]

What a huge nostalgia trip... A buddy of mine got me into Elite: Dangerous a few years ago, and I had vague memories from childhood of this game. I never beat it lol. Also, space scares the crap out of me. I think that was part of the thrill.

[@DarthP00P00]

I just randomly picked up CW Vengeance from a retro game store the other week while on vacation. Can't wait to eventually play it, have to repair my controllers first though.

[@banonKING]

My favorite space combat simulator! I actually love the first two games for not having direct replay of mission. It's more engaging to know that even when you fail a mission, the war continues and it effects your progress. It's very similar to Starfox by providing hard and easy paths. With that said, Red Sun is a blast but dumbed down.

[@randomrickreviewsrrr4662]

This series had great feel of scale, but missions COULD BE A PAIN!

[@geoffpepper79]

By far my favorite PS1 trilogy... I still have them and in near mint condition, I was just recently getting my 23 year old son into this series

[@mortelpaolo]

Sony renewed the Psygnosis license a couple of years ago. Can they bring this game series back?

[@Great_Watt]

Colony Wars was a great series on the PS1. I'm slightly gutted that it didn't get a continuation or a reboot, any time I hear it mentioned. The reviews were very good, the player reaction was very good. I wonder if it just didn't sell as well as it could have? Maybe it was ahead of it's time? A reboot on today's Playstation hardware would be amazing. I imagine these original games are probably better enjoyed on the Duckstation emulator so you can tweak the frame rate and smooth out the graphics among a few other tweaks to improve the quality of play.

[@iami3rian394]

Colony wars is one of the best.

[@dustinnoneya3217]

This literally had me laughing out loud in the middle of the night when you said "she divorced me" omg not only do i own all three of these games for over 20 years but that line there makes this my all time favorite video and i cant wait to rewatch it with my girlfriend lol

[@ThorStoneGaming]

Apparently if you hold down the grapple release button, it flings the object you are holding, I recently replayed Vengeance on my channel but didn't get to that mission on the path I got.

[@TheAdam159]

Also liked Psygnosis sister game , GPolice , which came out around the same time. It's a shame they went under, they had some really good games in ps1 era

[@thewingedavenger1007]

They should re-release the trilogy on modern consoles, with quality-of-life improvements for the first two games. The graphics and gameplay have aged well, so I don't see any reason to remake the games.

[@kraftypk7283]

Oh how I loved Colony Wars and G police back then

[@freekw4]

Just a heads up if you hold the shoot button while something is grappled, it will launch the grappled item away from you

[@bigemugamer]

35:57 Are those space ships modelled after a Fokker Tri Plane?!

[@noemedmedia]

Highly engaging!

[@doomham7652]

I saw this game in Masahiro Sakurai's collection and got really interested into what it was like so here I am. 😅

[@TheAdam159]

I still have all three. It's a great series and there's nothing like it on current PlayStation hardware. It's crying for a remaster. Another classic from PS1 era which I thought forgotten (Medievil) got a remaster so I have some hope

[@numberyellow]

I'm a huge Colony Wars fan. 3 was my least favorite of the series....didn't even really feel like a Colony Wars game. What happened with Redux was depressing, but not surprising. Me, and a few friends of mine actually wrote an entire Colony Wars fanfic series, back in the day. We reached out to the devs....we had a whole list of questions, we told them about our stories, and how much we loved the games. They replied with answers to our questions, their sincere thanks, and they sent us a full set each of promotional Colony Wars cards. Apparently, they were a collectable, that wasn't ever made available to the public..so i guess they're super rare.

[@Djmatrix2310]

I played the first one but I was too young to understand how to play. Might go back and replay.

[@RippahRooJizah]

I never found the games to be particularly difficult, I admit. Even that asteroid mission (granted I didn't miss the "heating" prompt for 20 years, haha, and I figured out how to use the asteroids without much issue). The mission I had the most issue with was the one against the spider, but mainly because at the time my TV's screen was slightly burnt out and the game looked too dark. Honestly, though, I wouldn't count Red Sun as "the best". I'd say it would be Vengeance.

[@alarsonious2071]

When I was very young the earth empire ruled the skies.

[@Monacomaverick]

I remember renting Colony Wars and being utterly pissed off at the save system. I would stop playing after getting stuck only find out I had to play the previous levels all over again. I wanted to like it back then, but promptly moved on.

[@jhern083]

Really satisfying to watch you play well because this game was hard af and I watched the father getting tortured a lot and took that personally

[@jhern083]

I only played vengeance hard af

[@jhern083]

Thank you for alleviating my child hood frustration and trauma of sucking hard at this game

[@bobbinsthethird]

Classic. Wing Commander 3&4 are on the Playstation, any chance of covering those space jockey?

[@SeanUCF]

It's criminal that this series has been all but forgotten. The originals need to be remade/remastered or they need to make a new entry in the series.

[@velkonemriam1935]

Red Sun remains one of my favorite games

[@jasonscott1978]

I played this game on a demo disc when my brother got his PlayStation.

[@DecoorallDz19]

I play it when i was 10 now im 35 i still dreaming about playing it again 😢❤

[@gorkipork4112]

Loved this games. Nowadays since having kinda 2000 hours in KSP I always laugh when I see spaceflights like this, thinking about orbital mechanics

[@TrevorFosterTheFosterDojo]

NICEEEE. REMEMBER THEM just didnt play them

[@3dfxguy]

"..some cringe has been cut out.." NOOOOO!

[@Andrew-el8xi]

I love the first one ...so addictive

[@-whiskey-4134]

I still play these on an emulator. I love these these games. I actually modded No Man’s Sky to be as close to these as possible lol

[@maximumjesus]

I loved the first 2 games back in the day. I had a demo of Red Sun, but I was so disappointed with the super low frame rate, I refued to play it. The graphics looked better, but I would much rather have worse graphics and a smooth frame rate.

[@Kyle7565]

Isn’t Blast Radius a spin off for this series?

[@KyIeMcCIeIIan]

I play the first game more than any other PS1 game. Edit- don't feel bad about taking 20 years to complete a mission, lol video games can easily have progression checks that seemed obvious to the devs but leave a portion of the player base lost. Everyone is different and what is obvious to one can be subtle to another.

[@nogggamesetutoriais]

Eu amo essa série, adoro jogos espaciais

[@supersayianshrek5455]

Shocking what the PS1 was capable of. Kevin grow the ponytail out.

[@grumhelden]

When I was very young...

[@Rob.N771]

Ya know the weapons were labelled..... Anti shield lasers etc?

[@GamingTheSystems1]

Okay, but I'm not sure what you are reacting to in the video, and for which game,.

[@Rob.N771]

@@GamingTheSystems1 the confusion of what the various lasers etc do. Found the scattergun was the best general weapon in game Oh and for colony wars.

[@NickTaylor-Phantom-Works2]

I for one would love to see your 'revisionist' take on the war in Star Wars. I'd bet there'd be be a lot of interest in it. You should pitch it to lucasfilm - people are fed up with Disney butchering iconic IPs. A fresh take on things might not only save the franchise, but be lauded for its originality and daring, and light a spark in entertainment in general.

[@trichromatic5717]

This is the original starfield no doubt

[@Autotrope]

I was a Tie Fighter fan in my youth. This looks like it's scratching the same itch

[@Autotrope]

It almost looks like how they should have continued the series instead of X vs Tie and Alliance

[@Autotrope]

"What if they made a Star Wars movie where the Empire were the good guys" - that's what Tie Fighter was (the game, I mean)! What made it such an awesome game

[@impheris]

5:49 lmao

[@johnjmccarthy7165]

Now try Freelancer.