| 14 April 2009
The PS2 is the best selling console of all time. When you have a user base of around 150 million, you better have good games. The PS2 did, in fact, have some fantastic games from all genres. It took cues from all of its predecessors, including the failed ones, like Dreamcast. It had some truly original bizarre titles like Katamari Demacry, and some realistic gems like Gran Turismo and the EA Sports series.
Its hard to narrow it down to just 10, but here is my list. Again, only one game per franchise, and some games were omitted since they are mainly ports from other consoles (Resident Evil 4).
#10 - Okami
Probably the second best PS2 game you've never played, Okami was one of the last big releases on the PS2 before the release of the PS3. The game combines Japanese culture, myth, and art into one beautiful package.
The art style is Japanese calligraphy. There is a canvas grain over the world, and you use a celestial paint brush to help transform the world, and attack enemies. The game plays very similar to Zelda with the adventuring, artifacts, and gameplay.
If you haven't played this, I highly recommend it. It is now available on Nintendo Wii, it works well with the motion controls to control the paint brush around the screen as well.
#9 - Madden '03
This one is for all you homos that gave me shit in my last top 10s. Madden took a significant leap on the PS2, and this was the best of the bunch. It was the first to really speed up the gameplay to a realistic level. It added more options to hot routes, the running game, and added a lot of animations. The biggest addition in '03 was the online aspect.
Compare these additions to '04 and the ability to price your hot dogs.. YAY!!
In a quick google search on this game, it notes an error in the game. Ryan Leaf is listed as the Seahawks backup when he retired before training camp.
#8 - Tiger Woods '05
Golf has always been fun on consoles (Mario Golf, Hot Shots Golf, etc), but never realistic golf. Sure this isn't really "realistic", but its as close as its ever gotten. Tiger Woods '05 is the last I played on PS2, and it was the best with minor improvements each year.
This is one of the more fun mutliplayer sports games on the system. You can make the game as easy or hard as you want, by turning on and off grids, assists, and the ability to control your ball spin mid-flight.
The game also added a enw difficulty setting this year called tiger proofing. You could make the course harder with narrower fairways, bigger bunkers, thicker rough, etc.
#7 - Shadow of the Collosus
This game has to be THE best PS2 game you've never played. This game is amazing. In Shadow of the Colossus, you play a character on horseback in a huge world trying to save a girl. It sounds like the formula of countless other games. The big difference is that there are no other characters, no dungeons, no enemies. Just a huge beautiful world that you must explore and traverse searching for Colossi. The Colossi are 16 HUGE bosses. You must slay each one of them.
These bosses are so big, they are levels in their own. You have to figure out how to take them down. Sometimes you have to climb to the top of their head, and sometimes you have to hitch a ride on their fur.
The game is so unique and jaw dropping, it definitely deserves a spot on this list. Go play it now if you havent.
#6 - SSX3
The SSX series is the most fun snowboarding game series by far. SSX Tricky was an instant classic with arcade style over the top tricks and combos. SSX3 takes everything that was good about Tricky and blows it out of the water.
The thing that sets SSX3 apart from the others is that it opened up the mountain. Instead of picking out events, you can now free run from the top to the bottom of the mountain seamlessly. Its a huge mountain too, and will take you quite a while to do so, with many routes to choose from. On the way down, you can stop at different challenges, half pipes, trick parks, etc.
The game runs smooth as hell and controls great. SSX 3 added online as well.
#5 - Gran Turismo 4
There is not much to add to what was already said in the PSX top ten. Gran Turismo 4 sticks to the formula of the first 3 Gran Turismo's. Like the others, its attention to detail is astounding. The game was delayed a year and a half. It shows with the attention to detail. This is the best looking PS2 game and can easily be taken as a real race with a passing glance.
It took everything great about the first 3 and expanded on then without much innovation. While originally planning to have online, that was scrapped. Damage was still absent also.
The game looks and controls so beautifully that it still manages to get into the top 5.
#4 - Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - Subsistence
Metal Gear Solid 3 is first of the Metal Gear Solids to take place outside of an urban, military base setting. The game takes place in Cold War Era Soviet Russia. The first 2 thirds take place in a fictional Soviet Union rain forest. The gameplay is similar to the first 2 Metal Gear Solids. The main difference is camoulflage and having to hunt and eat to survive.
In the special edition (called Subsistence), it inclused a fully controlled 3d camera, special skill missions, and Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2.
The game is loaded with secrets and easter eggs, even in boss battles. In one example, you are fighting an old man. If you save your game and then set the date forward a bit in your eternal clock, you will see that he has died of old age when you load your game, and don't have to fight him.
#3 - Final Fantasy X
I had to pick from either this game or Final Fantasy XII. The only reason I picked this one is because I did not finish XII. I am a much bigger fan of the battle system in XII, but both are really fun games.
FFX was the first Final Fantasy game to transition from pre-rendered backgrounds to fully 3D ones. The Final Fantasy staples were in there, including the obnoxiously over Japanese characters and terrible voice acting. However, the game moved you well from area to area, all very interesting. The Sphere leveling system was nice, and the game definitely offered a big challenge.
Im definitely looking forward to Final Fantasy XIII on the 360.
#2 - God of War 2
This is definitely one of the most fun games on the PS2 and definitely the most violent. God of War was a huge surprise when it came out, and God of War 2 was bigger and better.
While mainly a straight up action adventure game, there were RPG elements thrown in there, like the ability to level up your weapons and abilities with collected souls. You also had magic you obtain from bosses and levels.
However, the absolute best thing about this game is the subject matter. Its amazing that nobody has tapped into mythology like this before, at least not like this. The levels and enemies are second to none on this (and perhaps any) system.
#1 - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
I love the GTA series. This one was hard for me though. Vice City was a very close second. The Vice City storyline was a lot better in my opinion, and many aspects of that game were better. I am not a fan of the working out, eating 3 hamburgers and you are fat aspect of San Andreas. It felt like they were trying to do too much.
That said, I have to give the nod to San Andreas for size alone. Bigger is better I guess. There is just so much to do, and so many different places. Fro mriding your bike in the ghetto, gambling in casinos, flying jetpacks at area 51, looking for bigfoot in the mountains, and base jumping off skyscrapers... you could do it all in San Andreas.
The open world games like this are a lot of fun. However, the formula is being copied so much lately that its starting to become a bit dry. While taking away the linear aspect of games, its starting to become monotonous. Missions are becoming too repetitive. Drive from pt A to pt B, kill these guys, drive back to pt A, watch cutscene, rinse and repeat. The often over the top nature of San Andreas and significant areas to explore did to avoid this, but hopefully it doesn't become stale.
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