The revamped PlayStation Plus has now launched in Europe, and a number of classic PlayStation games are the 50Hz PAL versions, but Sony claims the option to switch to 60Hz is on the way.
VGC has tested all 13 PS1 games currently available on the service, and at least seven of them appear to be based on the PAL version.
PAL versions of games generally run at a lower speed than their NTSC counterparts, because of the different refresh rates of each frequency.
Generally speaking, PAL games tend to run 20% slower than NTSC games, and can only reach maximum frame rates of 50 frames per second.
VGC can confirm that Ape Escape, Everybody’s Golf, Jumping Flash, Kurushi, Syphon Filter, Wild Arms and Worms World Party all appear to be based on their PAL versions, with all either booting with a Sony Computer Entertainment Europe messages or offering multi-language support (neither of which appear in their NTSC counterparts).
Some games like Jumping Flash also include the patch Sony introduced for “improved PAL output”, which seemingly attempts to increase the 50Hz output to 60Hz to match the NTSC versions’ speed but creates a noticeable ghosting effect as the screen scrolls.
However, third-party games such as Tekken 2, Mr Driller and Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee appear to be the NTSC 60Hz versions, even though there were PAL versions available.
Some PS1 games like Jumping Flash are the PAL versions but Sony has attampted to patch them to run at 60Hz, creating a ghosting effect when turning
Sony has just posted a tweet via its PlayStation Europe account claiming that it’s working on the ability to switch to the NTSC versions of each game, but no date for this has been given.
“We’re planning to roll out NTSC options for a majority of classic games offered on the PlayStation Plus Premium and Deluxe plan in Asia, Europe, Middle East, India, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand regions,” it said.
Last month when Sony’s revamped PlayStation Plus service launched in some Asian territories, it revealed that first-party PlayStation games being added to PS4 and PS5’s revamped PS Plus catalogue were the slower PAL 50hz versions, even in NTSC regions.
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The North American version of went live earlier this month, and replaced the PAL versions with NTSC versions, giving hope that there would be the option to play the NTSC games when it rolled out to Europe.
This hasn’t been the case at launch, but Sony appears to be working to remedy the situation.
