At some point during the development of the originalPlayStation, Sony made the decision to switch from cartridges to optical discs. Not only did this make the cost of producing games significantly cheaper, but it also drastically increased the amount of storage space available to developers, with each disc capable of holding 700MB of data, which was more than ten times the storage on a standard N64 cart.
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Despite the huge increase in storage though, some developers still needed more, which led to numerousPS1games being released on multiple discs. In North America alone, there were more than 50 such titles, with each one coming in a special multi-disc jewel case. For collectors looking to make sure they’re not being duped or those who are curious about the console’s history, these are all of the North American PlayStation 1 games that came on more than one disc.
Updated June 24, 2025, by Tom Bowen:Long before video games were downloaded onto hard drives or burned onto discs with Gigabytes of capacity, it wasn’t at all uncommon for games to come on more than one disc. This trend first began back in the eighties and nineties with many PC games needing to be installed using stacks of floppy discs, though it eventually petered out in the early two-thousands with the release of high-capacity DVDs. Before it did though, it enjoyed one final hurrah, with more than fifty multi-disc games being released on the PlayStation 1. It’s worth noting that multi-disc games do still pop up from time to time even to this day, but no home console had more of these things than Sony’s very first little gray box.
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BrainDead 13
Chronicles of the Sword
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Every PS1 Survival Horror Game with More than One Disc
Horror fans really were spoiled for choice back in the nineties, with plenty offantastic survival horror franchisesbesides justResident Evil. Of course,Resident Evil 2is one of the many PS1 survival horror games with multiple discs, though it’s far from the only one.Parasite EveandParasite Eve 2each has four discs, whileFear EffectandFear Effect 2: Retro Helixboast eight between them.Koudelkais another PS1 game with four discs, though it could perhaps be argued that it’s more RPG than survival horror.
Every PS1 RPG with More than One Disc
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When people think of PS1 games with multiple discs, the system’s threemainlineFinal Fantasytitlesare usually the first to spring to mind.Final Fantasy VIIIandFinal Fantasy IXeach boasts four discs, which is the same number as Sony’s much-loved JRPG title,The Legend of Dragoon. Other notable examples of PS1 RPGs with more than one disc includeChrono Cross,Xenogears, and the twoLunargames,Lunar: Silver Star StoryandLunar 2: Eternal Blue.
Every PS1 Third-Person Action Game with More than One Disc
With 3D technology still very much in its infancy, most action games from the nineties tended to use a third-person perspective rather than first. Due to the games' linear nature, most were able to fit onto a single disc, though there were still a handful that needed more than one. The most notable of these is definitelyMetal Gear Solid, with disc 2 beginning shortly after the player’s second encounter with Sniper Wolf. Another multi-disc PS1 game that emphasized stealth wasSyphon Filter 2, although neither the game nor the series it belongs to had quite as big an impact asHideo Kojima’s masterpiece.
Every PS1 Adventure Game with More than One Disc
Prior to the release of the original PlayStation,the adventure game genre had reigned supreme. Due to some of the difficulties that arose when trying to translate the genre’s point-and-click control scheme over to a mouseless system, however, it slowly began to fade away, with fewer and fewer releases as the nineties came to a close. Even so, that didn’t stopRiven: The Sequel to Mystfrom becoming the PS1 game with the most discs (five), withJuggernaut(three),Chronicles of the Sword(two), andIn Cold Blood(two) also requiring more than one 700MB disc.
Every PS1 Interactive Movie with More than One Disc
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One of the biggest advantages of the switch from cartridges to discs was the huge increase in storage. It may not seem like much by today’s standards, but 700MB was a lot of space back in the day and developers soon realized that they could use this increased storage to include full-motion videos in their games. Not only did this lead to the popularization of FMV cutscenes and, with it,narrative-driven video games, but it also caused a huge increase in the number of interactive movie games. These includedFox HuntandPsychic Detective, both of which required three discs in total.
Every PS1 Sci-Fi Shooter Game with More than One Disc
While SNES and N64 owners were enjoyingNintendo’s fantasticStar Foxgames, PS1 owners had to make do with the likes ofColony WarsandG-Police. Neither was terrible, though when compared toStar FoxandStar Fox 64, they weren’t exactly great either. Thankfully, towards the end of the console’s lifecycle, players did get a few more options, the picks of the bunch beingStar Wars: Rebel Assault II - The Hidden EmpireandWing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom, which, like its predecessor, came on four game discs.
Every Other PS1 Game with More than One Disc
Given the breadth of content that each one has to offer, it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to learn that the PS1’s threeCommand & Conquergames each require two discs. ThatDriver 2andGran Turismo 2also come on more than one disc is a lot less predictable, however, as too is the multi-disc nature ofRival Schools: United by Fate. Like the aforementionedCommand & Conquergames, it comes on two discs, making it the onlyPS1 fighting gameto need more than one disc.
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