PS1:PAL Optimized Titles
Considering the PAL and NTSC region differences, many PS1 titles released in the PAL region had gameplay speed that ran 17% slower than NTSC counterparts in the US and Japan. The PAL standard allowed for a higher vertical resolution of 576 lines compared to NTSC's 480, which meant PAL players saw big black borders in many games, due to a lack optimisation. Some titles may also have issues with sound and music being slower or clocks and timers being inaccurate. This is partially because of timing differences in the PS1's internal frequency oscillator and developers not compensating for these differences.
If you have not modified your PS1 by installing a Dual Frequency Oscillator (DFO) to address these problems, even MM3 modchipped consoles can experience minor issues while running out of region games on original hardware. If you do not plan to install a DFO, there are some PAL optimised titles available within the PS1 library. This means the speed of gameplay has been corrected while still running at 50hz / 50 fps, the music and sound effects being identical in tempo to NTSC. Clocks, timers and save game data are accurate to the second.
Due to technical limitations, PAL games cannot take full advantage of the PAL resolution (the image is effectively squeezed down). However, if you look at games like the Crash Bandicoot series, they do not have big black borders (because of quality optimsation) and run at a perfect speed. Forcing these games to 60Hz would break them, speed up the gameplay or cause UI elements to draw out of the viewable area. With a CRT that has overscan, you will not see the small borders, hence why they might be called 'fullscreen'. In terms of forcing these games to 60Hz on original hardware, some tests have been carried out with the FreePSXBoot softmod for the PlayStation and GSM tool for the PlayStation 2. Below is a table with some information of games that have undergone testing.
This is by no means a definitive list, as one does not exist. Titles tagged with Fully or Part Optimised might run too fast at 60Hz. Fully Optimised means no big borders or games that are bordered, running in native aspect ratio.
 | If the game you're looking for is not listed here, generally it is safe to assume that European developers optimised their games for the PAL region. Codemasters, Psygnosis and Rockstar North / Rockstar Lincoln have done so for many of their releases. Prominent offenders include developers such as Square, Konami and Namco, as they are based in NTSC territories. |
| Fully Optimised | Part Optimised | Unoptimised | 60Hz with FreePSXBoot | 60Hz with GSM | Modchip Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 007 The World Is Not Enough | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| 007 Tomorrow Never Dies | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| Alone in the Dark - Jack Is Back | No | No | Yes | Untested | Untested | No |
| Alundra | No | Yes, correct game speed, wrong aspect ratio (letterboxed) | No | Untested | Untested | No |
| Army Men: Lock 'N' Load | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| Beatmania | Yes, has localised music and is optimsed due to it being a rhythm based game | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| C-12 - Final Resistance | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| Castlevania: Symphony of the Night | No | No | Yes | Untested | Untested | No |
| Colin McRae Rally | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| Colin McRae Rally 2.0 | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| Cool Boarders 2 | No | No | Yes | Untested | Untested | No |
| Cool Boarders 4 | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| Crash Bandicoot | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| Crash Bash | No | No | Yes | Untested | Untested | Yes |
| Crash Team Racing | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | Yes |
| Croc: Legend of the Gobbos | No | No | Yes | Yes | Untested | No |
| Destruction Derby | No | No | Yes | Untested | Untested | No |
| Destruction Derby 2 | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| Destruction Derby Raw | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| Die Hard Trilogy | No | Yes, small borders but slower gameplay | No | Untested | Untested | No |
| Dino Crisis | No | No | No | Untested | Untested | Yes |
| Dino Crisis 2 | No | No | No | Untested | Untested | Not Known |
| Driver | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| Driver 2 | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| Exhumed | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| Fear Effect | No | No | Yes | Untested | Untested | No |
| Final Fantasy Anthology | No | Yes, correct game speed, wrong aspect ratio (letterboxed) | No | Music runs too fast, graphical corruption | Music and game run too fast | No |
| Final Fantasy VI | No | Yes, correct game speed, wrong aspect ratio (letterboxed) | No | Music and game run too fast | Music and game run too fast | No |
| Final Fantasy VII | No | No | Yes | Yes, image slightly shifted up and right | Untested | No |
| Final Fantasy VIII | No | No | Yes | Reverts to 50Hz | Works in NTSC mode | Yes |
| Final Fantasy IX | No | No | Yes | Reverts to 50Hz | Works in NTSC mode | Yes |
| Firestorm - Thunderhawk 2 | No | No | Yes | Yes | Untested | No |
| Formula One | No | Yes, correct game speed, wrong aspect ratio (letterboxed) | No | Hangs at loading screen | Runs too fast | No |
| Grandia | No | Yes, big borders but only cutscenes optimised | No | Untested | Untested | No |
| Gran Turismo | No | Yes, correct game speed, wrong aspect ratio (letterboxed) | No | Runs too fast | Untested | No |
| Gran Turismo 2 | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| Grand Theft Auto | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone | No | Yes, small borders but slower gameplay | No | Yes, image is slightly shifted to the side, but working | Squashed image | No |
| Heart of Darkness | No | No | Yes | Untested | Yes | No |
| Jackie Chan Stuntmaster | No | No | Yes | Untested | Untested | Yes |
| Jumping Flash | No | No | Yes | Untested | Untested | No |
| Klonoa | No | No | Yes | Untested | Untested | No |
| Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver | No | Yes, wrong speed, however small borders at 50Hz | No | No, causes bouncing image | Squashed image | Yes |
| Medal of Honor | No | Yes, small borders but slower gameplay | No | Untested | Untested | No |
| MediEvil | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | Yes |
| Mega Man X4 | No | No | Yes | Untested | Untested | No |
| Mega Man X5 | No | No | Yes | Untested | Untested | No |
| Mega Man X6 | No | No | Yes | Untested | Untested | No |
| Metal Gear Solid | No | Yes, small borders but only cutscenes optimised | No | Untested | Untested | No |
| Mickey's Wild Adventure | No | No | Yes | Untested | Untested | No |
| Music | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee | No | No | Yes | Untested | Untested | No |
| Oddworld: Abe's Exodus | No | No | Yes | Untested | Untested | No |
| Pandemonium | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| PaRappa the Rapper | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| Parasite Eve 2 | No | No | Yes | Untested | Untested | Yes |
| Rayman | No | No | Yes | Untested | Untested | No |
| Resident Evil | No | No | Yes | Untested | Untested | No |
| Resident Evil 2 | No | No | Yes | Untested | Untested | Yes |
| Ridge Racer | No | No | Yes | Untested | Untested | No |
| Rage Racer | No | Yes, correct game speed, wrong aspect ratio (letterboxed) | No | Untested | Untested | No |
| Ridge Racer Type 4 | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| Silent Hill | No | Yes, small borders but slower gameplay (PAL version has minor censorship) | No | Correct speed, but causes overscan (picture draws out on viewable area) | Untested | No |
| Sled Storm | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| Sports Car GT | No | No | Yes | Untested | Squashed image | No |
| Spyro the Dragon | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | Yes |
| Spyro: Year of the Dragon | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | Yes |
| Suikoden | No | No | Yes | Untested | Untested | No |
| Suikoden II | No | No | Yes | Untested | Untested | No |
| Syphon Filter | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| Tenchu: Stealth Assassins | No | Yes, small borders but slower gameplay (PAL version has minor censorship) | No | Untested | Untested | No |
| Tiny Toon Adventures - Buster and the Beanstalk | No | No | Yes | Untested | Untested | No |
| Tekken | No | No | Yes | Untested | Untested | No |
| Tekken 2 | No | No | Yes | Untested | Untested | No |
| Tekken 3 (Western releases have minor censorship in one cutscene) | No | No | Yes | Untested | Untested | No |
| TOCA World Touring Cars | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | Yes |
| Tony Hawk's Skateboarding | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| Tomb Raider | No | Yes, aspect ratio correct at 50Hz, intended to run in 60Hz speed (PC version is definitive) | No | Untested | Untested | No |
| Tomb Raider II Starring Lara Croft | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| Tomb Raider III: Adventures of Lara Croft | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| Tomb Raider: Chronicles | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six | No | No | Yes | Untested | Untested | No |
| Urban Chaos | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | Yes |
| Vagrant Story | No | No | Yes | Untested | Untested | No |
| Vib-Ribbon | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | Yes |
| Wipeout | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| Wipeout 2097 | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | No |
| Wipeout 3 | Yes | No | No | N/A | N/A | Yes |
| More data from personal testing is welcome, with an emphasis on the use of original hardware (PS1, PS2). Side to side runs from Duckstation emulator can also provide results on resolution differences, as the emulator does not remove the PAL picture squeeze you would get on original hardware. |