Best Demo?

[A Sprite]

Any console, any computer, what demos stood on their own as a gaming experience?

 

My top five -

 

1. Capcom vs SNK 2 (PS2 and XBox) - this is the entire Japanese game, missing only internet play.

 

2. Christmas Nights (Saturn) - What can make one stage worth replaying? Presents. More unlockables than many full games.

 

3. Tony Hawk 1&2 (PSX, DC, and Xbox) - How many demos can fuel a social gathering? Short runs and freeform play kept everyone happy.

 

4. Doom (PC) - what got us here.

 

5. Tomb Raider 2 & Gold (PC) - there are 4 levels out there, free for the taking. Sure, she's been overexposed, and the grid based play is love or hate it, but the level design is quietly classic, without being a steal of Miyamoto's design. Give it a chance, you may surprise yourself.

 

Honorable mentions - Metal Gear Solid 2 ( How many other demos sold for the price of a full game? ) and Dragon Quest VIII ( Not for JRPG haters, but if you were there through NES and SNES, this is all your memories, given life. Bonus for some: It ends after just a few hours, something the complete game can't hope to offer... )

[kevincal]

The very first Playstation demo comes to mind.... "Playstation Picks" it's called. I got it when I preordered my PS in Summer '95. It has a lot of the great original PS games on it. It probably single handedly helped spur sales of a lot of PS games and helped it become king of the mountain.

[+FujiSkunk]

I haven't played many demos, but I remember being impressed by the OutRun 2 demo for the XBox. Basically it was the original OutRun game but with actual 3D graphics (and not the slightly-updated 2.5D graphics of the Sega Classics Collection version). Sega definitely knows how to make eye candy.

[shadow460]

Intelligent Qube. It's got two playable levels, and they will take you a long while to beat.

Gran Turismo 1. Clubman Stage R5 was the perfect introduction for the racing giant.

Final Fantasy 7 for PC. With higher res graphics that the PS1 and Aeris able to cast Bahamut near North Corel, what's not to like?

Command and Conquer: Renegade (actually, this is a trailer). It opens with "for all the fans of Command and Conquer, we've got a present for ya!"

 

And you beat me to the absolute best one, Christmas NiGHTS. Awesome is the only word for that demo.

[Classic Pac]

The original Rayman demo CD for PS1 I was hooked right from the start

Tomba 1