The 10 BEST Video Game Demos Ever
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VOICE OVER: Aaron Kline
WRITTEN BY: Aaron Kline
These awesome demos made us that more excited for their video games! For this list, we'll be looking at demos that really demonstrated what makes these games special. Our list includes “The Stanley Parable Demonstration” (2013), “Dead Rising: Case Zero” (2010), “Resident Evil 7: Beginning Hour” (2016), and more!
Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we’re counting down our picks for the 10 best video game demos ever. For this list, we’ll be looking at demos that really demonstrated what makes these games special. Some of these demos set the bar for what players were expecting to see in the full game, while others were just about games on their own. Which demo sold you on a game? One that didn’t make the list was “Metal Gear Solid V: Grounds Zeroes” which showed off how the MGS series would change in an open world, despite Ground Zeroes’ open world being small, it even came with a platinum!
For this entry, we’re going to have a few demos in one. PlayStation Underground was a digital PlayStation magazine that was more than just a demo disc. Each disc came with exclusive cheat codes, interviews, and previews… You know, that stuff that came in a traditional magazine, but we didn’t have to read it. Let's be honest though, we didn't care about that stuff back then, we just wanted the demos! Imagine getting a disc full of demos like “NFL Blitz”, “A Bug’s Life”, “Crash Bandicoot: Warped”, and “Brave Fencer Musashi”. These demos would hold you over until your next birthday and would get you more hyped to finally get your hands on whichever game you’d been playing one single level of for months.
With “Dead Rising 2” a lot changed in terms of game mechanics, and what better way to show off the changes than with a demo. “Dead Rising: Case Zero” is a prequel to “Dead Rising 2”, allowing players to explore a small city full of zombies. Case Zero showed off the new combo mechanics, taking two weapons to create a bigger and badder one. You could also level up Chuck to level 5 and your progress would transfer over to the main “Dead Rising 2” game. Case Zero did exactly what a demo should do, demonstrate new features. Oh, and it has 1000 Gamerscore, so that's a plus!
“Shenmue” was a hard game to pitch to players back in 1999. So what better way to show off this bizarre yet ambitious game than with a demo? “What’s Shenmue?” was only released in Japan for players that pre-ordered the game. “What’s Shenmue?” let us explore parts of Dobuita. You could interact with the townspeople and get a sense of what a chase would feel like in the main game. To accompany the demo, we also got 4 of the clips included on disc 4 of “Shenmue”. “What’s Shenmue?” really showed off how the town would feel alive in the full game, something we may take for granted now, but back in the ‘90s it was pretty revolutionary.
VR is hard to show off and can really only be demonstrated by simply allowing people to play it. PlayStation VR had a handful of VR demo discs with select titles to really show off everything VR can do. Each disc had a nice mix of games that are a little easier to handle if it’s your first time in VR, like “Moss” or “Job Simulator”, all the way to more intense games like “Rigs Mechanized Combat League” or “Until Dawn: Rush of Blood”. These demos were a great way to find out if VR is for you and to hopefully find your next VR experience.
Hype around “Final Fantasy XV” was at an all time high, being the first single player “Final Fantasy” since FF13. The Platinum Demo was going to show off all the new features along with its beautiful visuals. The demo is basically a collectathon allowing us to get a great look at the world and the more action focused combat. The demo ends with an epic boss fight that surely got players hyped for the game. Sadly, this demo can no longer be downloaded as it has been delisted since 2017.
A demo about making a demo while playing the demo… man, “The Stanley Parable” is bonkers. “The Stanley Parable Demonstration” somehow shows off the gameplay and humor of the actual “Stanley Parable” without really showing us anything at all, breaking the fourth wall over and over again, all while explaining how choice is made and showering us with hollow compliments. Each room in the demo is a silly little joke about game development, and more specifically how and why demos are created, to show players why they should spend their hard earned money on the full game.
With a new perspective and atmosphere, “Resident Evil 7: Beginning Hour” really had to sell players on the game, switching from a more action-focused third person shooter to a more horror-focused first person game. Beginning Hour really set the tone for what players could expect from RE7, a creepy haunted house full of secrets. To accompany Beginning Hour, we were also treated to the Kitchen demo, a tech demo for the PlayStation VR, and just like Beginning Hour, Kitchen filled us with terror as we were tied to a chair, only able to watch as horrific events unfold before us.
Nothing says fun like getting stuffed crust pepperoni pizza and some games. This demo disc is how I fell in love with “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater”, playing the warehouse level over and over again, even when my hands were covered in pizza grease. The Pizza Hut demo disc also came with “Ape Escape”, "Final Fantasy VIII”, Cool Boarders 4, and “Crash Team Racing” . These demos really showed off what made the PS1 amazing - a great variety of games! It also helped us master drifting in CTR, and discover sweet gaps in THPS.
Ah, the classic trick of “pre-order this game and get a demo”. This boosted pre-orders for “Zone of the Enders”, as when you pre-ordered the game you got a free demo for “Metal Gear Solid 2”. This demo gave us some backstory from the previous game, a tutorial, and of course the game itself… Well, the tanker portion. Seeing this epic intro had to get you hyped for MGS 2. With rain falling as we see what we could only assume to be Snake walking over a bridge just to jump onto the tanker alone, it was enough to get me excited. Sneaking around the tanker was a ton of stealthy fun, and the best part of the demo was that it made us think we were going to be playing as Snake the whole game! Little did we know he wouldn’t be our main protagonist
.
“P.T.” was a demo or “playable teaser” for a game fans have been longing for, and yet when we played it we had no clue what it really was until the end. “P.T.” was the teaser for “Silent Hills”, and if we had to go off the teaser, “Silent Hills” was going to take the series and crank up the horror factor to 10. The demo had us walk through an eerie hallway over and over again, with each pass through getting creepier and creepier. “P.T.” was a demo for a game that we sadly never got to see, but this demo showed us why we need more “Silent Hill”, and great horror games in general.
PlayStation Underground (1997-01)
For this entry, we’re going to have a few demos in one. PlayStation Underground was a digital PlayStation magazine that was more than just a demo disc. Each disc came with exclusive cheat codes, interviews, and previews… You know, that stuff that came in a traditional magazine, but we didn’t have to read it. Let's be honest though, we didn't care about that stuff back then, we just wanted the demos! Imagine getting a disc full of demos like “NFL Blitz”, “A Bug’s Life”, “Crash Bandicoot: Warped”, and “Brave Fencer Musashi”. These demos would hold you over until your next birthday and would get you more hyped to finally get your hands on whichever game you’d been playing one single level of for months.
“Dead Rising: Case Zero” (2010)
With “Dead Rising 2” a lot changed in terms of game mechanics, and what better way to show off the changes than with a demo. “Dead Rising: Case Zero” is a prequel to “Dead Rising 2”, allowing players to explore a small city full of zombies. Case Zero showed off the new combo mechanics, taking two weapons to create a bigger and badder one. You could also level up Chuck to level 5 and your progress would transfer over to the main “Dead Rising 2” game. Case Zero did exactly what a demo should do, demonstrate new features. Oh, and it has 1000 Gamerscore, so that's a plus!
“What’s Shenmue?” (1999)
“Shenmue” was a hard game to pitch to players back in 1999. So what better way to show off this bizarre yet ambitious game than with a demo? “What’s Shenmue?” was only released in Japan for players that pre-ordered the game. “What’s Shenmue?” let us explore parts of Dobuita. You could interact with the townspeople and get a sense of what a chase would feel like in the main game. To accompany the demo, we also got 4 of the clips included on disc 4 of “Shenmue”. “What’s Shenmue?” really showed off how the town would feel alive in the full game, something we may take for granted now, but back in the ‘90s it was pretty revolutionary.
“PlayStation VR Demo Disc” (2016-19)
VR is hard to show off and can really only be demonstrated by simply allowing people to play it. PlayStation VR had a handful of VR demo discs with select titles to really show off everything VR can do. Each disc had a nice mix of games that are a little easier to handle if it’s your first time in VR, like “Moss” or “Job Simulator”, all the way to more intense games like “Rigs Mechanized Combat League” or “Until Dawn: Rush of Blood”. These demos were a great way to find out if VR is for you and to hopefully find your next VR experience.
“Final Fantasy XV Platinum Demo” (2016)
Hype around “Final Fantasy XV” was at an all time high, being the first single player “Final Fantasy” since FF13. The Platinum Demo was going to show off all the new features along with its beautiful visuals. The demo is basically a collectathon allowing us to get a great look at the world and the more action focused combat. The demo ends with an epic boss fight that surely got players hyped for the game. Sadly, this demo can no longer be downloaded as it has been delisted since 2017.
“The Stanley Parable Demonstration” (2013)
A demo about making a demo while playing the demo… man, “The Stanley Parable” is bonkers. “The Stanley Parable Demonstration” somehow shows off the gameplay and humor of the actual “Stanley Parable” without really showing us anything at all, breaking the fourth wall over and over again, all while explaining how choice is made and showering us with hollow compliments. Each room in the demo is a silly little joke about game development, and more specifically how and why demos are created, to show players why they should spend their hard earned money on the full game.
“Resident Evil 7: Beginning Hour” (2016)
With a new perspective and atmosphere, “Resident Evil 7: Beginning Hour” really had to sell players on the game, switching from a more action-focused third person shooter to a more horror-focused first person game. Beginning Hour really set the tone for what players could expect from RE7, a creepy haunted house full of secrets. To accompany Beginning Hour, we were also treated to the Kitchen demo, a tech demo for the PlayStation VR, and just like Beginning Hour, Kitchen filled us with terror as we were tied to a chair, only able to watch as horrific events unfold before us.
Pizza Hut Demo (1999)
Nothing says fun like getting stuffed crust pepperoni pizza and some games. This demo disc is how I fell in love with “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater”, playing the warehouse level over and over again, even when my hands were covered in pizza grease. The Pizza Hut demo disc also came with “Ape Escape”, "Final Fantasy VIII”, Cool Boarders 4, and “Crash Team Racing” . These demos really showed off what made the PS1 amazing - a great variety of games! It also helped us master drifting in CTR, and discover sweet gaps in THPS.
“Metal Gear Solid 2” (2001)
Ah, the classic trick of “pre-order this game and get a demo”. This boosted pre-orders for “Zone of the Enders”, as when you pre-ordered the game you got a free demo for “Metal Gear Solid 2”. This demo gave us some backstory from the previous game, a tutorial, and of course the game itself… Well, the tanker portion. Seeing this epic intro had to get you hyped for MGS 2. With rain falling as we see what we could only assume to be Snake walking over a bridge just to jump onto the tanker alone, it was enough to get me excited. Sneaking around the tanker was a ton of stealthy fun, and the best part of the demo was that it made us think we were going to be playing as Snake the whole game! Little did we know he wouldn’t be our main protagonist
.
“P.T.” (2014)
“P.T.” was a demo or “playable teaser” for a game fans have been longing for, and yet when we played it we had no clue what it really was until the end. “P.T.” was the teaser for “Silent Hills”, and if we had to go off the teaser, “Silent Hills” was going to take the series and crank up the horror factor to 10. The demo had us walk through an eerie hallway over and over again, with each pass through getting creepier and creepier. “P.T.” was a demo for a game that we sadly never got to see, but this demo showed us why we need more “Silent Hill”, and great horror games in general.
