your must-have ps2 library

[Fuddle]

this has been on my mind for a while now, and i'm really strugling to think of many things.
Initial D is the most obvious, because i think its just one of the greatest things ever. it feels more than just a game. if your a fan of initial D in general, then its such an amazing experience.
dont know what i would have done with my time last year if this wasnt around.
Psyvariar is another...i'm not a huge fan of shmups, but even to my untrained eye, its pure class.

apart from those two i'm not too sure. ace combat 4 and metal gear solid 2 are nice, but i could live without them. maybe gran tourismo 3, but with 4 coming along that wont be needed.
i'd love to say DDR aswell, but i only have limited experience with dancing stage. if i had the proper version/mat/room to play i'm sure i would really get into it...and hopefully will one day.

[Crispin]

What the hell is wrong with you people? No mention of:
Eyetoy
Fun for all the family. I've had complete novices have a blast on it. Those who don't want to play are entertained by watching others flail about like morons. Single player mode is fun for a while. I recommend equipping yourself with two Squidjees for the window cleaning game. Mirror time is highly satisfying for those seeking a cerebral challenge, or for those wanting to mock others. Kung Foo is great fun, and on the harder difficulties is perfect for solo play. However on the harder levels it's too sweat inducing to play at a party. The boxing one is poorly designed, simply because the uppercuts means tall people tend to keep on punching the lampshade. My lampshades back home are made of sharp metal.

Ratchet and Clank
A nice effort from Insomniac, but one that does have some frustrating flaws. Criminally spaced checkpoints, dying then respawning only to find your ammo is depleted from the first attempt, but all the enemies are still there, But something about it is rather appealing. There isn't any real depth, or some central idea. The only thing it has is lots of weapons. In spite of this you'll find yourself absorbed up to the final boss, when you won't give a **** and probably never complete. Must have? Not really. Worth looking at? Yes.

I won't repeat the excellent ones mentioned here.

[Commander Marklar]

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)

This the same as the Japanese one, yeah?

[nickgodfrey]

PaRappa The Rapper 2 and Gitaroo Man - Never do these games fail to up lift me. If you've had a hard day at work whack one on and you'll feel happy again. They can be completed quicky (not so much so Gitaroo Man) but you'll return in six months to hear the music.

Initial D - I love "Running through the 90's"

[Ady]

Right...

Ico : A wonderfully beguiling electronic fairytale.

Gitaroo Man : Possibly THE best rhythm-action game I've ever played - and with some of the best music, too. Even the english dub is good.

Prince of Persia : Yeah, I know it's multiformat, but the PS2 version is easily the best, what with its gorgeous dream-like effect and all.

And finally, though it's not an essential (imo), Gregory Horror Show deserves a place in your PS2 collection.

[goldbricker]

Frequency - A whole new slant on rhythm games with great presentation and one of the best reward systems I've ever experienced. The more you play the game, the more stuff you unlock and the more skillful you become. I did like Amplitude to but once you'd won everything early on there was no incentive to play further.

Winning Eleven 6/6FE/7/7I - The best football game and my favourite multiplayer game of all time especially between two evenly matched players.

Prince of Persia - I haven't played and enjoyed an adventure game in literally years. This totally engrossed me from start to finish - even the fighting. I played ICO and also loved it but it was too short which is why POP just nicks it for me.

Burnout 2 - A cracking arcade racer which smooths out the problems of the original. If you get bored of the main game then you can play the crash mode for hours of fun.

[Moodmon]

PES 3

Don't look at me like that. I know, but my PS2 wasn't chipped at the time. Anyway, still the best football game I've played. Even after spending most of my time on it, I can still be surprised by new things that I find, or when I manage to smack the ball onto the post and it goes into the opposite corner of the net. Better than all that is the fact that you will not win every single match you play, even in single player. Though if you prefer dribbling to passing it around, I'd get PES 2.

Gitaroo Man

Rhythm action at its finest. Pretty much every musical style under the sun, and though the ten levels don't sound like much when the difficulty ratches up, and you waggle the stick like a true Gitaroo Man, the game comes together beautifully.

ICO

For reasons more intelligent people than me have explained far better than I ever could have.

[Madbury]

Ha ha,

good to see that initial D is still polarising opinion. It's the first game that came to mind when I was thinking of my 3.

Initial D Special Stage The marmite of all racing games, captured my heart the very first time I played the arcade version. It's arcade thrills of the highest quality. Think of it as a game not a driving simulator and its genius shines through.

Katamari Damashii Simple fun that is easy, but captivatingly addictive. I can't wait for the sequel

Battle Gear 2 OK so the graphics are rubbish, but the gameplay is spot on, perhaps even better than the technically superior and bigger Battle Gear 3

[Darwock]

I can't be bothered saying what's already been said, but:

Grand Prix Challenge hugely underrated racing perfection

Way of the Samurai hugely underrated and replayable fighting perfection

Guitar Freaks/Drummania I assume the costly peripherals are the reason these Bemani titles are often overlooked, but they make PS2 the ultimate console for me.

And it's all thanks to Parappa

[112]

Id have to say my must have ps2 gams are as follows -

Silent hill 2 - My first outting in the series and still my fave. Lush graphics and sound. With a hell bent, crazy plot which was left to the players warped mind to figure out.

FFX - Again my first outting in the series and still my fave, Jaw dropping CG, brilliant sound and a nice plot to boot. I especially liked some of the attacks available to dispach the enemy.

Ridge Racer V - Oh my word, this is an absolute dream to play. The controls are slick and sharp! The Sound totally apprpriate. Frustratingly difficult AI, but overall a very good effort from namco considering its a rush job for the PS2 launch.

112

[kingmobster]

*Ahem*

Nobody has mentioned the two Maximo games yet ... absolutely brilliant in my opinion - though both do have shortcomings. Great mix of action and platforming, with lovely deformed graphics. If I have to choose one, it would be the first of the two.

I also love Ratchet & Clank. (And Rez + Ico of course, but who doesn?t?

[dc-arena]

Ridge Racer V
One of the best arcade racers of all time, and still holds up four years later. Awesome.

Rez
Just.. Its Rez. So very special to me, this game. Has something about it that I just connect with so perfectly. A forever classic.

Katarami Damashii/Damacy
Rolly rolly fantastic. A brilliant game, and a breath of fresh air. Oh how I love my Japanese PlayStation2, delivers the proper games out there. This is so original, and so damn enjoyable to play with a cracking control setup. And the music...

ESP Galuda
Another classic shooter. Much more accessable and friendly to the non-robot than DoDonPachi, this is incredible. Love the character switching too.. Very deep, very playable, very important to own in your collection.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
The ultimate stealth em up, with some beautiful levels, awesome bosses and the craziest only-the-Japanese-could-do-it twists and plot lines of any gaming adventure.


Gitaroo Man
Anyone who doesn't feel for the little fella when hes playing the acoustic number simply doesn't have a soul. One of the PlayStation2 greats.


Ico
Nuff Said.


Fantavision
Vastly underated if you ask me. Very cool, very playable, very game.


Castlevania
A great game in 2D, and this makes a really good switch to 3D. One of the better examples out there on how it should be done - only 'Prime does it better. Puts the like of Devil May Cry to shame.

Hyper Street Fighter II
Like it needs something said..


Gran Turismo 3: A Spec
Single player main game can be boring, but you gotta love the game in TT mode.. Unbeatable for a "realistic" racer on any platform.

Burnout 2
Fantastic..


Dog of Bay
An unusual game with dog headed people. Its a music game through and through, and I love it. Not too different to other music games out there, but this is a good un for sure.

Kuri Kuri Mix
I dare anyone not to laugh in co-op mode in the music level


Jak and Daxter
What? The Americans making really well made, utterly fantastic 3D platform games? Better believe it..




That'll do for now.. Probably forgotten a few.

[iloveannie]

1. Ico for its countless charms.
2. GTAVC for its living city, freedom and soundtrack.
3. Eye Toy Play for getting my mum to play 'headers'.
4. Any dance mat game for keeping my daughter and her mates, err... quiet(?)
5. Fantavision's two player mode for being excellently head-doing while wasted. The bar moves across the screen and you know you could win if only you could understand what the **** you were doing to make it move ;-)

[Chadruharazzeb]

Pah, didn't see this thread till yesterday. Now I can't add anything that hasn't already been done several times. I'll do it anyway, alphabetically listed.

Ace Combat 04
Arcadey hot-doggery on a grand scale. Simple yet deep to play, incredible visuals (STILL), great soundtrack, masses of unlockable extras, and a wonderful sense involvement in a semi sci-fi war effort.
See here. Now.

Devil May Cry
The best action adventure game ever made (GTF Ninja Gaiden), and one that epitomises Japanese game design for me - brash, loud, in-yer-face, cool as hell characters, oozing quality and polish from every orifice. Oh, and it's incredibly simple to pick up, relentlessly satisfying to play over and over again (in fact it gets better the more you become familiar with it).

Ico (again)
Beautiful, sublime, moving, epic, yadda yadda yadda etc.... I played this game from beginning to end four times in succession. Fair enough, it's quite short, but there's not many games I'd have done this with. Owns POP in the "assault-course puzzle rescue game" genre.

Onimusha 2
The best of the trilogy IMO. Mind boggling number of routes through the game, four extra characters to control, ludicrous amount of extras and great replay value. See here as well

Rez
Easily one of the most imaginatively desgined games of all time. Unique graphical style, arse kicking music which adapts to how well you play, lasting challenge on Score Attack mode. Best played in a cinema.

Ridge Racer V
Shove your realistic racing/ drift games somewhere nasty - Ridge 5 is pour hommes. Difficult to master but incredibly rewarding - nothing beats the feeling of owning a lap without skuffing the walls or being closed down by the (risible) CPU cars. "But it's so jaggy!" they said, but they weren't playing it properly. The graphics are perfectly suited, as is the excellent soundtrack, brilliant car design, perfect arcade handling, and the best presentation of any game ever in the history of gaming.


Honourable mentions to:
Winning Eleven 7i: Nowhere near the 9/10 game seemingly every review says it is, it's got more flaws than a skyscraper and still not as good as Sensible World Of Soccer. Still, I haven't been able to put it down for two months so it must be doing something right.
GTA: Vice City: Very cheap and rather nasty, what it lacks in technical quality and originality, it makes up for by being a bit of jolly good, silly fun to play.

[Ratso]

On top of those already mentioned:

APE ESCAPE 2
It's pretty easy and quite basic visually, but it is tremendously playable with an enormous sense of fun. Plus it has an ace, unockable Monkey Football mini-game.

GUILTY GEAR X2
Teh best looking 2D fighter evar, with loads of characters and cool, outrageous moves.

BOMBASTIC
Unique puzzle game (aside from it's predecessors) featuring many gameplay variations. Compulsive Vs and Co-Op modes too.

FANTAVISION
Old as the hills, but still satisfying and theraputic.

ZOOO
Insanely compulsive puzzler and cheap as the proverbial chips.

TIME CRISIS II/3
Some of the best lightgun action you'll get at home.