your must-have ps2 library

[John Beaulieu]

Armored Core Silent Line (ntsc-U) - its Gran Tourismo with robots . i am sure another member can give this one more justice on just why its a must-have

Grand Prix Challenge (pal) - the best f1 game on consoles, made by the same peeps who made Le Mans 24hr (iirc) this game is bloody fast. never played it with the ff wheel (something i need to remedy soon)

[Abhisara]

Winning Eleven 7 - I play this far too much. In fact I skipped over WE7I just so I could have a chance to play some of my other games. Will definitely be getting WE8 though

Ico - This game looked so lovely that I had to buy it when it came out. The only problem was that I had to wait another 7 months before I could get a PS2 to play it on! It was definitely worth the (very long) wait.

Psyvariar Revision - What a game! You get such a buzz when you get your levelling up spot on (no pun intended). It's a shame there are so many people out there who don't know how to play it properly and dismiss it.

Katamari Damashii - This game is so much fun. You'll constantly have a huge great smile stretching from ear to ear on your face while you play this.

Taiko no Tatsujin (any version) - I've lost count of the number of friends who've loved playing this while visiting our home. It even appeals to those who normally don't play games. Maybe it taps into some sort primal instinct that's within us all to freely bang away on a drum.

[IcePak]

Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution
It might be a dumbing-down of the series, but the heart of the gameplay is still there. The fighting system still has plenty of depth left to make for an interesting (and fun) solo experience, but the game is at it's best with friends, because it's highly balanced (moreso than VF3) meaning that no character is better than any other, so you both have to be skilled in any character's fighting style to have any chance at beating your opponent.

Rez
This game is such an enthralling experience, and if you know how to play it, it won't be long before you enter "the zone" and it just gets better from there. It's a shame that more games like this aren't made, although I suppose those that are made turn out to be very special.

Timesplitters 2
This is almost "Goldeneye 2". The game plays very similarly to that of Rare's masterpiece, providing an enthralling single player experience. The multiplayer experience is good fun, but I personally feel it doesn't match up to the addictiveness that Goldeneye had.

Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec
Most racing games these days bore me. From the get-go this didn't, and it's because of that that it's special to me. The cars handle beautifully, the tracks are gorgeous, and well designed, and that's just the Arcade Mode. Admittedly I have never gotten into the Gran Turismo mode as much as I have the Arcade mode, but there is plenty of depth and challenge in this mode, hell just earning some of the higher class licences can be a heck of a challenge.

Burnout 2: Point of Impact
This game built up on the already impressive original Burnout game (although it has become quite dated after playing Burnout 2) and it still continues to impress and enthrall me to this day. The sheer excitement that the game provides is unrivaled in any modern racing game, and it has that "one more go" syndrome happening for it, which can't be beaten.

Metal Slug 3
An impressive conversion of a bloody brilliant game. Another "pure fun" game, and it's even better with friends. The design and look of everything is so damn unique and very cool as well. I don't know what else to say except that talking about the game has made me want to play it some more!

[MD]

Well my must have games are with me as I travel the world with my Jap PS2...

Anyway in my tiny collection that I brought with me.

Initial D - Just read Saurians description, sums it up nicely. Although not sure about saving the world, racing around mountain roads very fast maybe...

Grand Theft Auto 3 - This is a game you love or you hate and as it cost me nothing and as it's Japanese I love it, no only joking. Probably one of the few games that does offer a great deal of (limited) freedom, although the missions can be frustrating at times. It is nice to be able to just cruise around the city, listening to Flashback FM, whilst gunning down a few bad guys and doing jumps in the high powered sports car you just stole from some guy that probably deserved it .

Gradius III & IV - Gradius III, not quite as good as the other Gradius games but still very playable. Although Gradius IV looks like some guy with a high spec PC decided to do a shareware version of Gradius...

Auto Modelista - Yeah it's not a great racing game, however it's still a fun 15 minute game, especially as you try and win races in the underpowered and slow Subaru 360.... It also has some of the nicest racing game music on the PS2 outside Initial D.

[ElAlcesDiablo]

Kuri Kuri Mix (EU/JP) / The Adventures of Cookie & Cream (US). Bit of a **** PAL port, but it's still a fun and unique game that can be gotten pretty cheap atm. It's a co-op split screen, top-down-behindish, vertically scrolling, platform-puzzle game. There's a sore lack of decent co-op games imho and this one does it well, requiring you to work together a lot. And it's cute, wacky and profoundly silly. You can also play single player with a bunny on each stick, which is certainly a challenge of coordination.

Freak Out (EU) / Stretch Panic (US) / Hippa Linda (JP). Again the PAL port isn't good. It's very short, it's not really got much depth or replay value... But, it's one of a kind. Wonderfully imaginative with great style and unique game mechanics. It's a 3d action game with you controlling a girl with an animate scarf that can grab and contort pretty much anything in the world and with that it's basicly a Treasure boss rush. As I say, it's short and disappointingly limited in many ways, but if you can get a cheap copy I'd recommend giving it a bash.

ICO, Rez, Gitaroo Man, DMC, Psyvariar etc are great and there's no end of celebration threads for them.
I'll second Klonoa 2, it doesn't get mentioned much, but it should, it's a fun and absorbing 2.5d platformer.

[nips]

I don't have a PS2, so I thought I'd offer my weird list of games that I'm buying (or planning on buying) in preparation for when I get my PS2. They are all my must have games based on reviews and my personal interests:

La Pucelle Tactics: I really like tactical RPGs, I've not played Disgaea (obviously), so I'll start here and progress on to what I'm led to believe is a better game.

Disgaea: From the great first play thread and the amount of appreciation surrounding this game, I just have to get it. I'm really looking forward to it.

Phantom Brave (upon release): I think that there's a pattern here... seeing as I've never played a nippon ichi game, I've got a lot of confidence in them.

Frequency/Amplitude: It sounds like a good idea to me, I could use a relaxing game after the deep tactical RPGs.

DDR: I haven't looked into the differences between the different games, but I really want a DDR game and a metal dance mat so I can play it with my girlfriend and stuff...

Ridge Racer 5: I quite like racing games, and following all the good things this forum seems to say about this title, I think that it would be a very worthwhile investment... I may pick up Inital D as well if that's worthwhile...

[John Beaulieu]

lists will be deleted

[Uli]

lists will be deleted

what the f***???

reason why?

[nips]

I personally like that this isn't a list thread becuase I'm looking to get some PS2 games, so descriptions are invaluable in deciding what I should get. Thanks so far

Also, we have lots of list threads, by adding descriptions it promotes the posting of a smaller number of the best games with detail, instead of every game you've got with no reason... It's more of a discussion then...

[John Beaulieu]

nips put it nicely just why lists will be deleted

[Zed]

Well many have already listed, sorry "noted", great PS2 games, so ones not yet mentioned:

Mark of Kri - wonderful atmosphere, engaging graphics and style, fun combat system. Takes a blend of ideas from other games and hashes them into something better. Just too short though... Also its about the only game i've seen with Maori influences, go the NZ team!

SOCOM 2 - while not a must have online shooter in the big scheme of things (much like Halo is average when considering all FPSs incl. PC games), it is the must have PS2 tactical shooter / online shooter. Nothing else even comes close for human vs human action on the PS2, big fanbase and pretty decent matching system (compared to say Splinter Cell: PT's shocking system).

Everything else i'd mention is either cross-platform, or been mentioned above (Armored Core, TimeSplitters 2, ICO, BG&E etc).

[ryodi]

Jak II - Was the victim of an unwarranted backlash and after playing the original J&D recently I have to say that this much better. Great voice acting, wonderful locations and a very challenging game with not as many difficulty spikes as you would think from reading the reviews.

Sly Raccoon - A true platform game compared to the action adventure of Jak II. It is far too easy but as a gaming experience it is unsurpassed with a gentle sense of humour and Sly is the greatest creation of this generation. The linearity and relative lack of levels means I sold my copy but everyone should play it through at least once.

[Shibusawa jr.]

DEUS EX: As I gave up on pc gaming long ago this was quite a surprise. I bought both Half Life and DE for ps2 to see if I missed anything and while the first one failed to impress me DE was everything I could possibly wish for. Brilliant music and atmosphere and a story that was quite interesting for some of us amateur historicans (sp) out there. (Also lovely to play this again to wash away the bad taste that is DE:IW)

ACE COMBAT 4: Still the best flight combat game this generation (why?). Subtle, moving story to complement the more immediate action. Somewhat easy although getting all the different skins for all your fighters proved tricky enough.

R-TYPE FINAL: I'm old and so is R-Type. We go way back. The Last Resort tribute/rip off brought back dear memories of joy and pain. Although I prefer vertical shmups and think Ikaruga and maybe Psyvariar are better games/do more to push the genre forward, there's no doubt that I'm enjoying Final the most.

XENOSAGA: Overall consistency, brilliant music, great style and design, actually pretty good voice acting (Chaos/Jr. can be irritating but their voices do suit their characters) and an involving battle system (Mecha implementation in battles could do with a slight overhaul) make this easily my favourite RPG of recent times.

[superkully]

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City This is the game that brought me back to videogaming in December 2002 after my entire collection was stolen in the summer of 2001. The game completely blew me away (expecially as I had only wanted the console to watch Band of Brothers boxset all the way through).

Ace Combat 4 arr, there's something about this game which urges you on from one mission to the next.

Err..

Thing is I wouldn't advise you to buy (or even try) every game in this list. I tried that when I started my first job and bought a Dreamcast. For the first time in my life I had money and I was buying all sorts of **** and not really playing anything (apart for Crazy Taxi) for any extended period of time. It was always a case of I'll buy this for the winter or because it was a bargain.

[Gareth C]

These have all been mentioned, but they need seconding...

Katamari Damashii Easy to play and complete but so much fun that I go back to it again and again.

RezAnother simple game, takes no effort to learn, a little more to master. It's another game that can be played purely to experience it, incredible.

BurnoutThe original was a breath of fresh air for jaded gamers tired of arcade racing clones. Another pick up and play game that gets the adrenalin pumping and is fun to play without even worrying about "winning"