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PS1 Games Transformed by Upscaling (And Why Half Your Library Should Stay Native)

2026-08-31 · Game list · Updated 2026-08-31

The PS1 is the one system where the standard advice is wrong.

On the GameCube, the Dreamcast and the PSP, you raise internal resolution and everything gets better. On the PS1, raising internal resolution on its own frequently makes games look worse, and a large share of the library gains nothing at all no matter what you do.

There is a genuine transformation available here. It just comes from a different setting than people expect, and it applies to maybe half the library. This guide is the honest map.

This is not a list of the best PS1 games, which we cover separately. This is which ones to upscale, which to leave alone, and what to actually change.

The Setting That Matters More Than Resolution

Before any game list: the PS1's real problem is not resolution. It is precision.

The console had no sub-pixel precision in its rasteriser and no perspective correction on textures. Two consequences defined how PS1 games look:

Vertex wobble. Polygon corners snap to whole pixel positions, so geometry visibly jitters and shimmers as the camera or objects move. This is the characteristic PS1 shakiness.

Affine texture warping. Textures were mapped without perspective correction, so surfaces appear to swim and bend, most obviously on large flat planes like floors and walls.

Raising internal resolution does not fix either. It makes both more visible, because you are rendering the same errors with more pixels.

The fix is PGXP, a feature in DuckStation and some other emulators that reconstructs the missing precision. It gives geometry proper sub-pixel positioning and applies perspective correct texturing. Turning it on is a bigger visual change than any resolution setting, and turning it on before raising resolution is the correct order.

With PGXP enabled and resolution raised, PS1 3D games look genuinely transformed. Without it, they look like sharper versions of the same wobbling mess.

The Ones Worth Upscaling

These are 3D games with real geometry, no pre-rendered backgrounds, and art that benefits from clarity. Enable PGXP, then push resolution.

Gran Turismo and Gran Turismo 2. The showcase pair. Car models carried far more detail than the display resolved, tracks are clean geometry, and PGXP eliminates the texture swim on road surfaces that was the format's most obvious flaw. GT2 at high resolution with PGXP is startling.

Ridge Racer Type 4. Beautiful art direction, clean geometry and one of the best looking games on the system. Transforms completely.

Tekken 3. Character models were detailed for their moment and the fighting stage geometry is simple and clean. Sharp and stable at high resolution.

Wipeout 3 and Wipeout XL. Graphic design led art with strong flat colour, plus clean track geometry. Excellent upscaling profile.

Crash Bandicoot series. Bright, saturated, geometrically clean platforming with no pre-rendered elements. Gains a lot.

Spyro the Dragon series. Same reasoning. Clean, colourful and readable.

Colin McRae Rally and the racing library generally. Racing games benefit most on this system, because the affine warping was most visible on road surfaces and PGXP addresses exactly that.

Ape Escape and Tomb Raider entries. Solid 3D geometry that cleans up well.

The Ones That Gain Nothing

This is the important half and most upscaling guides skip it.

A large portion of the PS1's most beloved library uses pre-rendered 2D backgrounds with 3D characters composited on top. Internal resolution only affects the 3D layer. The backgrounds are fixed images and stay exactly as they were.

The result is that your characters get sharp while the world stays soft, and the mismatch is considerably more distracting than uniform softness. These games look better at native resolution where everything is consistent.

That covers:

Final Fantasy VII, VIII and IX. All three. This is the single most common upscaling disappointment on the system.

Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3. Same structure, same outcome.

Chrono Cross, Parasite Eve, Legend of Dragoon and much of the RPG library.

Metal Gear Solid, partially. It is mostly real geometry, but it leans on low resolution deliberately in places and the results are mixed.

For these games, run at native or 2x with a good shader. Some community background upscale projects exist for the bigger titles, which is a different and more promising route than emulator settings.

2D games gain nothing either. Sprite based titles like Symphony of the Night have no geometry to re render. Those want integer scaling and a CRT shader, covered in our RetroArch shaders guide.

The Dithering Problem

One more PS1 specific issue worth knowing.

The PS1 output 15 bit colour and used heavy dithering patterns to fake smoother gradients. On a CRT those patterns blended invisibly into the colours they were simulating. On a sharp modern panel at high internal resolution, they become visible crosshatching across skies, walls and lighting.

DuckStation lets you disable dithering or scale it with resolution. Which you prefer is genuinely a matter of taste. Disabling it gives cleaner gradients that the artists never actually saw. Keeping it preserves the intended look but shows you the mechanism.

If you have ever upscaled a PS1 game and thought something looked subtly wrong without being able to name it, this is usually what you were seeing.

The Settings That Actually Matter

In order of importance, which is not the order people usually try.

1. Enable PGXP first. Geometry correction and perspective correct texturing. This is the actual transformation.

2. Then raise internal resolution, to 4x or so. Without PGXP this step is counterproductive.

3. Decide on dithering. Disable it if crosshatching bothers you, keep it for authenticity.

4. Leave pre-rendered background games at native. No setting fixes the mismatch.

5. Texture filtering: leave it off or light. Heavy filtering on PS1's tiny textures produces smearing.

Our DuckStation setup guide covers the configuration in full.

What This Does Not Do

Raising internal resolution and enabling PGXP invents nothing. PGXP in particular is restoration in the truest sense on this list: it reconstructs precision the game's own data always implied and the hardware discarded. The geometry was mathematically correct. The PS1 rounded it off.

That is categorically different from AI upscaling or neural rendering, which generates detail that exists nowhere in the source. We cover the options that work in emulators and the fuller argument in AI upscaling vs preservation.

The Hardware You Need

PS1 emulation is extremely light, so this is achievable almost everywhere.

On a desktop or PC handheld, anything works at any setting.

On Android and stronger Linux handhelds, 4x with PGXP is realistic on most devices.

On budget Linux handhelds, PGXP costs more than plain resolution scaling, so you may need to choose. Prioritise PGXP over resolution if forced. An

Anbernic RG35XX Plus

class device runs the library well at modest settings.

Our best handhelds for PS1 emulation guide ranks the options.

A Note On Playing Your Games

Everything here assumes games you own, dumped from your own discs, with your own BIOS. We only cover playing your own library and supporting game preservation, and we do not link to or discuss ROM download sites.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is PGXP and should I use it?

PGXP reconstructs precision the PS1 hardware discarded, fixing the characteristic vertex wobble and the texture warping on flat surfaces. Yes, use it. It is a bigger visual improvement than raising resolution, and raising resolution without it makes the original flaws more visible rather than less.

Why do Final Fantasy VII and Resident Evil look bad upscaled?

Because they use pre-rendered 2D backgrounds with 3D characters on top. Internal resolution only affects the 3D layer, so characters get sharp while backgrounds stay soft, and that mismatch is more distracting than uniform softness. Run these at native or 2x.

What internal resolution should I use for PS1 games?

Around 4x, but only after enabling PGXP. The PS1 is very light to emulate so the resolution itself costs little. For pre-rendered background games, stay at native regardless.

Why do PS1 games look crosshatched when upscaled?

That is the PS1's dithering becoming visible. The console used dithering patterns to fake smoother colour gradients, and on a CRT they blended invisibly. On a sharp panel at high resolution they show as crosshatching. DuckStation can disable dithering if it bothers you.

Which PS1 game looks best upscaled?

Gran Turismo 2 with PGXP enabled is the standard showcase, because racing games suffered most from texture warping on road surfaces and PGXP fixes exactly that. Ridge Racer Type 4 and the Wipeout games are close behind.

Do 2D PS1 games benefit from upscaling?

No. Sprite based games like Symphony of the Night have no geometry to re render at higher precision. Those want integer scaling with a good CRT shader instead, which is an entirely different approach.

Is upscaling PS1 games worth it at all?

For 3D titles with real geometry and no pre-rendered backgrounds, absolutely, especially with PGXP. For the pre-rendered background half of the library, genuinely not. The PS1 is the one system where the answer depends heavily on the specific game.