I've taken a hiatus from doing these lists for a bit, and now its time to do another one.
You have until October 30th to make a list of your top 15 Playstation 2 games. Please submit your list to me via Private Message(it helps me with organization). Feel free to use this thread to discuss games, and if you feel the need to post your list please use SPOILER TAGS.
Have fun.
as per the usual here are some places to help jog your memories
ign's top 100 games
complex gaming's top 50
racketboy's best undiscovered PS2 games
I'm going to mentally prepare myself for the Final Fantasy win first and then I'll come up with a list.
I thought the PS2 Final Fantasy games weren't that well regarded generally? (I loved XII, but few others seemed to)
Will be one of GTA: SA or MGS 3.
If I'm being completely honest I'll have a really boring list. Something like:
1. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008
2. Pro Evolution Soccer 6
3. Pro Evolution Soccer 5
4. San Andreas
5. Vice City
6. GTA 3
etc
I would be shocked if a Final Fantasy game won this. Are you thinking of the PSOne, Bert? The only FF game that had any real popularity on PS2 was X, and even that is somewhat hampered in fandom by a terrible lead character and a few awful cutscenes. Like Stan Accy, I quite liked XII, but personally I did not feel at any point like it was a FF game. It was a decent RPG engine with a world and story clamped onto it that I couldn't bring myself to give a crap about. XI was just a crappy multiplayer game, so it won't even place.
If anything's inevitable here, it's a GTA game being at the top. But will it be SA, Vice City or 3? Will they manage to split the vote so much something else squeezes past?
I see San Andreas in the top 5, Vice City in the top 10, and GTA III in the top 15.
There are some great games on this system. God of War(1 & 2), Metal Gear(2 & 3), Kingdom Hearts, WWF SMACKDOWN: HERE COMES THE PAIN, and many many more. Hell from the Rockstar group they also have Bully, and that title probably won't get the love I think it deserves.
Also In my opinion, the pinicle of the Tony Hawk series happened on the PS2 with THPS 3
I almost feel bad that they can call it a "classic capture".
Shadow of the Colossus.
That is my top 15.
I suspect that you will find a few more titles to adorn your list. Maybe RE4? How about Jak 2? I'm pretty sure that Twisted Metal Black will be on mine. I'm still looking at 50 some titles though.Originally Posted by Vice
I was just going to say Shadow of the Colossus. Vice beat me to it.
MGS 2 and 3 will rank very highly. MGS 3 Subsistence could well top the list for me. Silent Hill 2 will be top three, easily. Sands of Time also needs to be up there somewhere, as will God of War even though Ninja Gaiden shat all over it on the X-Box.
YUS! The return of The Rick's lists. I've been waiting for this. Should be difficult filling out a list for this one.
I am so in for this
I will submit a list. Remind me if I forget
I wish I could find a spot for this guy on my list, but there are too many great games on PS2.
That will probably be on my list, but I an pretty particular about what I play. It'll be a bunch of wrestling games and RPGs, for the most part. Fantastic wrestling game, though, just so much freedom and variety in it. I loved that I could have a three minute squash or a fifty-minute epic and never feel like I had to fight against the game to get what I wanted out of it.
Final Fantasy 12 - Forget best PS2 game, still a contender for best game ever on any system for me
Shadow of the Colossus
MGS 2
KH
KH 2
Those just off the top of my head, gonna have to give this one a bit of thought.
This is going to be a hard one
I came up with a rough unordered list I'm going to narrow down and sort out. So, I'm just going to have to cut my list in half. Awesome.
1. Max Payne
2. SSX Tricky
3. Dead To Rights
4. Burnout 3: Takedown
5. X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse
6. Star Wars: Battlefront
7. WWE Smackdown: Here Comes The Pain
8. Mercenaries
9. Twisted Metal: Black
10. Bully
11. Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock
12. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
13. God of War
14. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
15. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
16. Grand Theft Auto: III
17. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
18. God of War II
19. Bloody Roar 3
20. Tekken Tag Tournament
21. MLB Slugfest 20-03
22. Hot Shots Golf 3
23. Ultimate Spiderman
24. Gauntlet Dark Legacy
25. The Simpsons: Road Rage
26. Dragonball Z: Budokai
27. Fire Pro Wrestling Returns
28. NFL Street 2
29. Destroy All Humans
30. Midway Arcade Treasures
I'm going with games I've played which is why Persona 4 (even though I beat Persona 4 Golden on Vita), Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 (which I have on Vita but everyone is telling me to play 1 first and I need a PS3 to transfer the game to my Vita to do that) and Shadow of the Colossus aren't included.
I sometimes forget how much I loved Max Payne because of how I haven't connected with either of the sequels.
Only got number 3 a couple of weeks ago (brand new for £5, mental) but got too repetitive very quickly and haven't picked it up again yet.
This isn't going to be at the top of my list but will appear somewhere:
Not the greatest game ever, but the style was fantastic and I had lots of fun playing it. Really want them to go back to this cell-shaded comic book style for another Spidey game. It also went all out with the Ultimate universe, which made it feel very fresh after having played other Spidey games.
All-Star Baseball will probably rank as well for me. Again, not the best game, but quite innovative. A feature I spent years playing was called "Expansion." In this mode, you'd select a city, mascot and stadium and start an entire new team/franchise in a city without a team. There would be a CPU team added to the other league to balance the numbers and you'd just be turned loose.
There would be an expansion draft where you could pick from players other teams left unprotected—some because they were old with giant contracts (Clemens), others because they were mid level and some flat shit. You could go out and add studs like Clemens and Alomar, but you'd crush your teams budget right off the bat. Really fun to build the team, draft new players and be rocking a totally new stadium and team.
Wish other games would add this feature. So much fun.
Yeah, it will be on mine also. I didn't see it on any of those top lists in The Rick's first post and instead they had Spiderman 2 but I think Ultimate Spiderman did the whole open world web swinging thing better. Also, it looked better.This isn't going to be at the top of my list but will appear somewhere:
Not the greatest game ever, but the style was fantastic and I had lots of fun playing it. Really want them to go back to this cell-shaded comic book style for another Spidey game. It also went all out with the Ultimate universe, which made it feel very fresh after having played other Spidey games.
The look was drastically better. It's like how Zelda games try for specific styles that don't focus on realism and hold up much better a decade later. Spiderman 2's entire draw was the web swinging and how it was done. People remember that and overrate it, forgetting that the rest of the game was almost non-existent.
Plus, Ultimate kept it very fresh by switching to Venom and having you smash apart tanks and such in between saving everyone as Spidey. Bringing in other Marvel characters only made it better and better.
Hey! Tidus was awesome
I agree with this list.
Oh Atty, why must you place yourself in with the philistines?
I already have a few lists in. You have all month to make one, so there is no rush.
I just cut this game from my list. Kinda hurt too. I got this on the cheap, but enjoyed the fuck out of it.
In keeping with this thread, I just got the Silent Hill HD collection this weekend. I'd recently played Resident Evil 1, 2 and a bit of 3, then started Silent Hill 1 and thought "Ooh, this hasn't aged well" I knew what the look and controls would be like, but the level design was worse than I thought too. So I've spent a few hours with Silent Hill 2 over the weekend, and that's sadly been a rude awakening as well. I got through the first two 'zones' - apartments and hospital, and the level design was dire for each. Resident Evil had a good way of layering each room, making the buildings flow, etc. Silent Hill just makes realistic style buildings, seals two thirds of all the doors and makes you run around identical buildings. The style and story is still interesting but I think the lack of good design shines through now and it's going to be knocked a fair bit down my list.
I've been playing a lot of old games in the last year, it's funny to see some hold up great and some fall apart.
Last time we did this, the GTA games ran away with it.
To be honest three of them would likely be in my top five (with MGS3 and one of the Pro Evos)
Did anyone like the GTA stories games? I bought two copipes of Vice City and neither worked
I got Vice City Stories and the disc was all scratched up.
Silent Hill 2 may have dire level design but it knows how to put the fear in you
Can someone get Sancty in here to confirm which genre of PS2 game will be arbitrarily banned for no reason?
Wish they would do a HD collection of GTA 3/Vice city/San Andreas.
Can we please class Pro Evo as one game rather than six games?
Either that or we'll all need to agree which one to vote for to avoid splitting the vote (and the answer to that is 'any but Pro Evo 4')
Nope, each year counts as it's own. This is the thread where you come in and champion a particular year. There tends to be a year of any sports game where the mechanics and the teams were just better than others. It is up to you and others to prove your case.
ie.
This is the best NFL game on PS2. It will make my list. The fact you could build your playbook, and use it with any team was awesome. Then you just export it to the memory card. That is the only reason I had a memory card on the XBOX. You could change the audibles for each play called too. The mechanics were just great, and nothing seemed broken.
Games based off of sitcoms.
so coincidentally the Simpsons, Jetsons, and Flintstones games are also exempt. Go figure.
Last edited by The Rick; October 7th, 2013 at 6:30 PM.
NFL 2K5 was awesome. Its the last football game I bought. It'll be on my list.
Any love for the Ratchet and Clank games? The first three will be very high on my list. My list will be weird. I doubt I'll even have 15 games.
Edit: 9,000th post
Here's my list, disguised in alphabetical order.
Bully / Canis Canem Edit Final Fantasy X-2 Final Fantasy XII GTA San Andreas Katamari Damacy Kuri Kuri Mix / The Adventures of Cookie and Cream Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater Pro Evo 6 Resident Evil 4 Smackdown! Just Bring it SSX 3 SSX On Tour SSX Tricky Tekken 5
Last edited by Stan Accy; October 14th, 2013 at 1:43 PM. Reason: Forgot which Smackdown game I owned :$
If SSX On Tour is within 10 places of either SSX3 or SSX Tricky I'll be angry Mr Accy. Terrible, terrible game - which leads me to conclude that you have only ever played 15 PS2 games ever, and that On Tour is in your list by default.
I'll get around to submitting a list sometime today, despite never actually owning a PS2. Will probably be filled with cross-platform titles that I played elsewhere, and whatever games my mates had at the time.
17 days until the deadline. Plenty of time to look over and investigate your lists.
I thought SSX On Tour was a PSP game. In fact I have it on PSP.
Was it ported to PS2? I'm sure that wasn't good then.
UK guys - which Pro Evo are we going for????
I knew I'd get heat for at least three games on the list, and to be fair, I once thought like you. It was on this site that I called it an 'abomination' or 'travesty' or something like that. But then I gave it another go. I know now that its only flaw was to be labelled as SSX. If it had been called 'Snowboarding On Tour', nobody would have batted an eyelid. But this was a massive departure from the previous games, and many people lashed out.
The fact you could only control the SSX crew in multiplayer softened the blow slightly (although Zoe has no place being on skis), and the character creation had many of the objects from previous games (bat wings, riot helmet, gas mask etc). The graphics were more realistic, while the menu graphics had their own appeal (did someone say Napoleon Dynamite?)
And the songs. Oh god. Every SSX game has some of the most fantastic music in videogames, but I think On Tour might be the best. From the drum beats of 'Run to the Hills', there is not a single song that you would skip. It's also the first videogame that made me buy an album based on a song that appeared in it (The Best Little Secrets Are Kept by Louis XIV). Everything just seems to blend in perfectly with how you are doing.
The actual gameplay wasn't much different from the previous games, you could pick it up, play it, and land a few perfectly decent tricks. To win a medal however, you needed to perfect tricks and work on the combo meter. The camera tricks for monster tricks were distracting, but half the technique was learning when to release. It was certainly more intuitive than the default controls for the latest title.
So yeah, it wasn't a terrible game, and IMO it was a lot better than many other games. But I don't think it's top 10 material...
Or whichever one had Farzel Menst
Last edited by Stan Accy; October 14th, 2013 at 1:48 PM.
We are TWO weeks from the deadline. Plenty of time to finalize your selections for submission.
I love Steve and Larson.
So here is where I'm at currently on my list.
The top 10 are firmly on the list. The last 5 are tentatively there. I have switched out a few of them a couple of times in the last week or so, but keep coming back to basically this list.
Are we still looking at the same deadline? I've been busy and haven't had time to work on my list yet. How many submissions do you have?
I noticed you have MGS 3: Subsistence on your possibles. I may have asked this already, but are we differentiating Snake Eater and Subsistence?
I can push it back if more people want in. I have 7 at this time.
No. I'm combining them.
Ok, cool.
My top three is set before even brainstorming a list but it gets interesting after that. While there were probably more games that's I'd rate more highly on PS1 and PS3 respectively, the overall quality of PS2 games is just so steadily great. That's awkwardly worded, but the overall average I'd rate PS2 games would end up higher than PS1 or PS3, even though I'd have certain games rated higher than most anything on PS2. Such a great system, apart from the terror of DISC READ ERROR, the most hated boss in history.
rick, i wanna get a list in, but right now my time is pretty crunched. if i dont have one in by middle next week do you think you could pm me a reminder?
i got a lot of work shit going on, family stuff this weekend, and some other shit that i don't wanna get into.
You'll get mine later tonight.
can do. In fact if anybody else would like a reminder I would be happy to do so.
ONE WEEK WARNING
Submissions due by next weekend.
Just as a reference to others, the games that made my list were:
Shadow of the Colossus
Metal Gear Solid 3
Silent Hill 2
Resident Evil 4
God of War
Metal Gear Solid 2
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
God of War II
Balder's Gate: Dark Alliance
All-Star Baseball 2004
MVP Baseball 2005
Final Fantasy X
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Ico
I have 10 lists in at this point. I would like to have at least 15-18 when we go. But want in one hand... I know I know.
I'll send mine in Sunday. To much going on today and tomorrow to get it done yet.
I have 12 entries in at this point. I'm going to let this go all the way until Saturday night. So the due date is November 2nd.
My list in alphabetical order;
Bully
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy XII
Final Fantasy X-2
God of War
God of War 2
GTA Vice City
Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts 2
Metal Gear Solid 2
Metal Gear Solid 3
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Rogue Galaxy
Shadow of the Colossus
Sorry, damn, I'll get my stupidly big list chopped down
Neither God of War 1/2, ICO, nor Shadow of the Colossus made my list because I didn't play them until I got the PS3 versions.
Only have 9. In no order.
Ratchet and Clank
Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando
Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal
WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain
WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth
ESPN NFL 2K5
X-Men Legends
X-Men Legends II: Rise of the Apocalypse
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Medal of Honor: Frontline
Edit: Forgot about Medal of Honor: Frontline. That makes 10.
Last edited by blackening; October 28th, 2013 at 10:18 PM.
The RPG's on this system were shit compared to those on the PS1. I didn't have a single one on my list.
And no love for Manhunt? I loved that game.
It's true though. The PS2 marked the dramatic decline in quality of the Final Fantasy series. I never played Dragon Quest or Kingdom Hearts in fairness, but it is indisputable that the PS1's RPG library was vastly superior.
I'd argue the complete opposite.
The PS2 saw the pinnacle of rpg games, I don't think we'll ever see a better selection of rpg games for any system, ever. The best FF game ever in 12 (my best game ever, in truth), the Grandias, two more great FF games, some of the best action-rpgs ever seen - people need to play Rogue Galaxy if they haven't, outstanding - and a great variety of systems and types in the likes of the Tales series, Suikoden series and Wild Arms series. And then of course there's the Persona series, though that was a bit mental japan for me.
I find Kingdom Hearts to be much overrated. But if you like tactics style rpgs La Pucelle Tactics is superb. Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, and X-Men Legends were both really fun top-down rpgs in their own rights. But I did enjoy the PS1 RPGs much more than the PS2s.
Bollocks.
Forgot about Disgaea.
My list in alphabetical order.
Destroy All Humans
Freedom Fighters
Grand Theft Auto III
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Lego Star Wars
Medal of Honour: Frontline
Metal Gear Solid II: Sons of Liberty
Spiderman II
Star Wars Battlefront II
Tekken Tag Tournament
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Timesplitters II
War of the Monsters
WWE Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain
I still regard the beach landing in Frontline as one of the best opening levels of a game I've ever played.
Yea. That really should go on my list, and I had forgotten all about it.
Agreed. Totally forgot about that game. Can I send a revised list?
Yes sir.
When is the deadline?
2 More Days
1 More Day
Submitted my list, at last. I had a much smaller library for the PS2 than I did the PSOne, and tended to stick to the same things over and over. I managed to fill up 15 slots nonetheless, with only a couple of series appearing more than once (GTA and Smackdown, which I suspect will be common here).
I'm tallying up the scores, and such. Psycho said he was going to get me a list today, and if you want to get a last minute list in then... GET ON WITH IT!
It won't get anywhere in this because the Brits seem to be rubbish at voting and all the other games in the series will dilute the votes but Pro Evo 2008 should have done well in this. Possibly the ultimate football game and certainly the last playable Pro Evo.
Pro Evo 2008, and Pro Evo 6 have 2 votes each.
I've played video games since before most people on here were born but the PS2 I always considered to be a 'break-out' console for me. It was the first machine I'd got within 6 months of launch and I played it throughout its entire lifespan. And yet putting this list together has made me realise that I only played a handful of franchises and probably only scratched the surface of what it could do.
Pro Evo ranks highly in my list. Simply put - at its PS2 peak it was the best sports engine ever released. To this day I feel bad about playing FIFA on the PS3 because part of me always feels I should have stayed loyal to Konami as thanks for their great work in the mid-2000s.
MGS3 is not only the best PS2 game ever , it is the best game ever IMO. I found it next to impossible to rank the GTA games on this list and could easily rank each of them as being the best in the series depending on what day it is.
Metal Gear Solid 3
Pro Evolution Soccer 2008
Grand Theft Auto San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto 3
Grand Theft Auto Vice City
Pro Evolution Soccer 6
Pro Evolution Soccer 5
Lego Star Wars 2
Medal of Honor: Frontline
Bully/Canim Canis Edit
Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain
Lego Star Wars
Metal Gear Solid 2
Transformers
Crazy Taxi
Last edited by Beefy; November 3rd, 2013 at 7:27 PM.
This list was hell to try and whittle down. I'm still not sure I'm happy with leaving a lot of great games off the list, but between games that have more personal history with me, ones that I've actually played through all the way, and ones that I felt deserved more recognition, I managed to make one. I don't like revealing the list before the countdown, but as usual, here's my honorable mentions list(games that made it past the first cut, but not so much the second):
And here's everything before I cut the list down:
Even still, there are a few obvious omissions because I never played them(i.e. Jak III and Shin Megami Tensei games) or I considered them more prominent on another system(i.e. Viewtiful Joe and Code Veronica).
Yes, I fucking loved this song.
And you are right, this is arguably the best football computer game ever (the PS2 version certainly). We had it in our house at uni and everyday descended into matches or tournaments.
And you are right, I'm rubbish and didn't vote. This would have been number 1 for me.
I PLAY FOOTBALL AND YOU PLAY FOOTBALL, WE ALL PLAY FOOTBALL, HEY HEY.
I'm finishing up with some questions, and should start the actual list tomorrow.
Seriously did nobody play Manhunt?
An amazing game, one of Rockstar's best imo.
I just discovered that this game was banned in several countries and sale was prohibited to those under 18 in the UK. So maybe that explains the lack of love for Manhunt; many of you probably haven't played it. Do yourselves a favor, find it and play it. There's a PC version too I believe.
I remember the hullabaloo over Manhunt but never did get around to playing it, though I did intend to purely out of spite for the usual pearl-clutching reactionaries who can't think their way out of a paper bag but will climb on any bandwagon fuelled by outrage that the press sets in motion.
I hear the sequel was awful.
It was. They seem to have jumped the shark by the time the sequel rolled around. The first game is great though. Think MGS meets Mortal Kombat, Rockstar-style.
And the people campaigning for this game to be banned were the same ones that fought to have the GTA series banned as well. So take that for what it's worth.
Never played Manhunt, but I do remember the news story about a guy who stuck massive knife into some bloke and blamed his actions on the game.
I conquered Macedonia and it's all because of Sid Meier, the bastard.
Playing Mortal Kombat always filled me with the urge to impale people onto spikes irl. Video games are the devil.
I actually didn't ever play Manhunt. One of those glaring omissions for the sheer fact I never got my hands on it.
! When is a list due? I just saw this
It was due last Friday. I'm waiting on a question, so if you think you bang one out quick then I'll take it.
That's what she said.
YAAAAAAAAAAAS
My top 15 PS2 games
1. Pro Evolution Soccer 5
2. Pro Evolution Soccer 4
3. Pro Evolution Soccer 3
4. Pro Evolution Soccer 6
5. Pro Evolution Soccer
6. Pro Evolution Soccer 2
7. GTA: San Andreas
Pretty sure that is the entire list of PS2 games that I ever played. I could pad out the final 8 places with games I played like 10 minutes of (Silent Hill 2, some WWE game, GTA3, Gran Turismo 4) but they would only be there by default, I didn't even like them particularly.
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