A PS1 game that was exclusive to the platform upon its release in 1997 has now surprisingly re-released for a new console. 1997 was a truly special year for the PS1 and was arguably the best that the platform ever saw. In this window alone, games that include Final Fantasy VII, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Tekken 3, Gran Turismo, and Grand Theft Auto were released on the original PlayStation in various regions around the globe. Now, one popular game on the PS1 that also launched in this year and went on to spawn its own franchise has surprisingly released elsewhere, despite being owned by PlayStation itself.
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As of today, the hit snowboarding game Cool Boarders has arrived on Nintendo Switch 2. While the franchise has been on ice for over 20 years, Cool Boarders was a staple of the PS1. Following the release of the first entry in the United States 1997, a new installment in the series would roll out almost annually, culminating in Cool Boarders 4 in 1999. For the first time, the first Cool Boarders has now come to Nintendo hardware by way of publisher Hamster in its newly announced “Console Archives” series.
While those on Switch 2 will be able to play Console Archives: Cool Boarders starting today, it will also be coming to PS5 later this month on February 14th. This will actually become the second version of Cool Boarders that is currently available on PS5 and PS4 as the game was also ported to these platforms back in 2024. It’s currently not known what all the differences between these two editions will be, but those who are subbed to PS Plus Premium can access the current version on PS Store as part of their subscription now.
All in all, it’s really cool to see Cool Boarders getting some love from PlayStation, especially since it hasn’t done anything with the IP since the turn of the century. This sets the precedent that PlayStation could look to revive some of its other dormant PS1 games that it owns and bring them to modern platforms in the months or years ahead. It also suggests that something entirely new could be happening with the Cool Boarders series as well. Whether or not either of these situations plays out remains to be seen, but if nothing else, it’s nice to have Cool Boarders getting a wider release than ever before.
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images courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
