your must-have ps2 library

[John Beaulieu]

so what are your ps2 must-haves ..... not just looking for the regular big hitters but the lesser known titles which you just can't do without (and you must give reasons people, this is not a 'list' thread - lists will be deleted)

to get the ball rolling (with some obvious choices)

Winning Eleven 7i (ntsc-j version) - the ultimate football game which gets the most playtime in my ps2. whether in single or multi-player there are always new things to learn,see and do ........ and the sensation when you bang in a 40 yarder in the last minute against your mate is immense

Initial D (ntsc-j version) - powersliding goodness, combined with a J-pop beat ... this is everything an arcade racer should be

Shikigame no Shiro 2 (ntsc-j version) - the best shmup ever made (imo), whatever system you have you should own this game, and rinse it to death

[Inertia_]

Dammit, why do have to start a thread like this five minutes before I have to leave for work?

Amplitude/Frequency: The rhythm utopia. Limitless appeal, supreme cool and never anything less than utterly compelling. The original remains superior in several areas while the sequel demolishes it in others - a must-have pair!

Rez: The rhythm ... err ... Barbados? Another timeless classic that's perfect for those empty moments when you really need your senses bashed in.

Ico: I'm not going to bother explaining this one. Sorry.

R-Type Final: A solid, enjoyable shooter than elevates itself to must-have status thanks to a quite phenomenal sense of atmosphere.

I'll think of more when I get home.

[hankwangford]

Winning Eleven 7Int: I would call this a big hitter to be honest, but it's a mainstay big hitter and always finds it's way into my PS2, even when I'm pissed off with it. I recently X-patched it (yes I do own an original, so I see no harm in doing it) which has attracted me even more. Kariba now gets everyone's name right!

Ring of Red: Engaging, tough and accessible. A cruelly underrated strategy RPG with a storyline that honestly had me wanting even more once it had finished. Kicked off my love of the strategy RPG genre, and for that it'll always have a place in my heart.

Ico: I'm with Inertia_ - nothing needs to be said. The purest gameplay experience of this generation.

[Commander Marklar]

Not got many PS2 games, but here are two I couldn't do without...

Battle Gear 3 - top class driving game, very polished (I've still to get Kaido 2 ); what Initial D should've been.
Shoto Battle 01 - Lovely car mod frenzy, if a little weak in the AI department. It's all about the driving and SB01 performs nicely.

FF-wheel a must.

[John Beaulieu]

just adding those final 2 to my hdd - agree that they are both wonderful driving games (kaido battle 2 and grand prix challenge are sitting right alongside them) - still think Initial D is the better arcade racer though

[SuperBrother]

Rez - You can play it when utterly, utterly pissed on travelling mode without getting killed owing to your dulled reflexes and the shapes, colours and sounds converge into an almost euphoric experience.

Gitaroo Man - Fun, condensed into disc form, has a talking dog, what more do you want?

Tokyo Bus Guide - Utterly essential bus driving sim, quirky, slow paced yet testing. (I have the DC version though)

Contra Shattered Soldier - In hardness terms Contra>nails but it's really bloody good.

[Cacophanus]

Psyvariar Complete - A comprehensive release of Success' impressive vertical shoot-em-up that includes both "Medium Unit" and "Revision".

Gigantic Drive - A very different type of mecha game that involves the player to control the individual limbs of a huge robot.

Katamari Damashii - A simple, inclusive and fun game where you collect everday detritus in order to increase the size of your ball.

ICO - ...because it's beautiful and otherworldly.

[Reef]

Just the 3 for me

Ico - as above
Project Zero - as mentioned in it's own thread doing the rounds now.
GITAROO MAN - the greatest rythym action game bar none - a must.

Gregory Horror Show also gets a deserved mention and I pray each night that katamari damashii (sp) gets a release here (will give it till Christmas and if not then it's a chipped PS2 for me!!)

Would write more but going home to watch the footy

[Geoff D]

Psyvariar Revision - probably my favourite shooter of all time; enjoyed the 2nd a lot, but have come back to this. Hypnotic bullet patterns, stiff challenge. Great.

Ico - because it's beautiful.

Sly Cooper - a wholly underrated platformer; too short & too easy, but sensational to look at & a whole heap of fun to play - looking forward to the sequel.

[Saurian]

Psyvariar Complete Edition - NTSC J
Absolutely adore the game still, very deep, tactic and addictive shoot em up as has been said.

Devil May Cry - NTSC J or US
I can play DMF forever, the system is free and great fun to use.

Initial D Special Stage - NTSC J
This game is like playing the anime! It's SO close to the battle scenes of the TV series playing it after watching is like being part of it all. Time trials are superb, the arcade mode never gets old and the story mode lets yo uunlock loads of extra stuff. Plus the music makes you want to go out and save the universe XD

Disgaea - NTSC US
This game is digital crack cocaine. It's VERY addictive up till you start power levelling your characters, but you do it's more than addiction - when you start getting into the serious power and deeper secrets of the game later on hundreds of hours slip away.

VF4 Evo - Any
The level of play you can acquire on this game is scary, no limits, no constraints - no other VS game is as much a battle of wits as Evo.

(*If* you read the manga)
GioGio's Bizarre Adventure - NTSC J
It's exactly like the Jojo 5th series comics and if you have read them you'll go nuts over how faithful this game is in execution and style. If you've read it you 'll know exactly what's going on and how clever the secret factors of each mission are.

[Meng De]

Ah, this is one of those threads that after you?ve finished typing, you rush to your PS2 to replay the games that you?ve been frothing over. Excellent!

Dynasty Warriors 3 & 4 Certainly my favourite series this gen, so far nothing has beat the sheer pleasure and depth of these games. I have chosen both here, DW3 due to its now very cheap price (About ?15 ish) and also it has a greater focus on the overall Three kingdoms story. DW4 has some very nice upgrades, totally different maps, new characters and lots of game play tweaks. Both still look graphically good and deliver a fantastic Hack and Slash/RPG experience. Oh and both have a fantastic co-op mode which raises the game's value immensely.

Virtua Fighter 4 Evo I know that this gets a lot of love on these boards, so it might be common knowledge... This game is so addictive, finally a fighter that delivers a fantastic single player experience. Sega did a bold move here by all but dropping the "story mode", and in a almost Brechtian way turning the game into a game, about you the player playing the game. I hope that future VF titles drop all pretence of the main story and focus on the arcade challenges. This is the first fighting game that I have been bothered to learn movesets and combo's for, mainly due to the excellent training mode. Customisation of the characters, rewards for success at every turn = sheer joy!

Dynasty tactics 1 & 2 Both very good SRPG titles. The second edition is the best, as it ironed out the cheaper moves from the first and added a new chain tactics system. The first I'd recommend, as it has a superior story mode and will probably be better as an entrance title to Koei's reworking of Chinese history.


Tenchu 3 A brilliant update of the PS1 series, big chunky graphics, excellent music and a good follow up story line for Tenchu lovers. Some have complained about the stupidity of the AI, but this just adds to the fun.

Looking forward to see what everyone else picks.

[the shape]

Despite it having been my job to work with PlayStation2 every day from its Japanese launch until 2002, I rate very, very few "must-haves." If GTA3 hadn't been converted to Xbox, I'd include that. (Though it's not exactly lesser-known.)

Sky Odyssey Because I love to fly without having to shoot. Because of that beautiful little physics system that really conveyed the buoyancy, freefall, lift of piloting a little craft through the air. Because it's a charming test of control and dexterity that really felt like I was flying something. (You had to turn off the simplified handling, of course.) Because I was the type who after completing Pilot Wings 64 would frequently go back just to fly around.

Dog of Bay Because I had no idea motion capture could be this sexy. (And they're dogs.)

Klonoa 2 Because it was the only thing that felt like a real platformer on PS2. Because it was utterly beguiling with it's style and story and world. Because the repeatable mechanic of using your enemies to throw/bounce/burst was so fun and responsive I felt connected to the game. Prefer the first game, but hey, it's a PS2 thread.

[Kungfu]

Gran Turismo 3 - repeatedly delayed but the wait was well worth it. Will never forget the first time the sunlight broke through the overhead foliage and blinded my eyes. Bought a PS2 on launch but wasn?t impressed until this game was in the disc tray.

Onimusha: Warlords - Resident Evil with samurai swords. A game which never became boring as you could never predict where you would be going next or what the next boss would be. 128bit hack & slash action.

World Soccer Winning Eleven 7 International - the game I have spent literally weeks playing. Football perfection.

[Kubrick]

After hating it for ages, I now my NTSC-J PlayStation2. Here's some of my favourites:

Metal Slug 3
Great conversion of a fantastic "one more go" game. It's almost perfect. I like the Slug series so much, I've even got Slug4 preordered even though everyone says "it's ****e".

Rez
I prefer the PS2 version of Rez and play it in moderation so it stays fresh. Whether you play for fun, or completion & high-scores, it's brilliant either way, and very unique.

WE7:International
The reasons why this is great have already been mentioned, but personally I just can't resist booting this up after watching footy on TV.
Huge game, and frighteningly realstic. I feel I've only scratched the surface of it, so I'll be skipping WE8 untill the next installment with English language appears.

Kaido Battle 2: Chain Reaction
Combine an Initial D-style drift game with Gran Turismo-style realism & handling, and KB2 is what you get. Made by car nuts, for car nuts. Other games in the Genki Racing Project aren't too shabby either...

Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec
Yes, you start off with crappy, slow family cars, and yes, it's way too time-consuming & boring to 100% it, but if you persevere and collect the faster cars, there's nothing to touch it if you have a GT-Force wheel.

Ferrari F355 Challenge: Renewal Qualify Edition
The Dreamcast version pisses all over this, but play the PS2 game with the GT-Force wheel and it's awesome, it feels a lot like the arcade version!

Psyvariar: Complete Edition
This game really ought to be terrible...horrendous loading times, poorly-defined fuzzy graphics, only a handful of basic-looking enemy craft which are repeated on every level, and the levels themselves are tiny. Plus, some of the bosses don't even move and just sit there...BUT, if you look beyond all that, and make an effort to learn the game's intricacies, it's fantastic. It's the BUZZ system and the mesmeric bullet patterns during boss encounters which make it great- who would think that not shooting could be so much fun! Love the music too.

EDIT:

Ridge Racer V
How could I forget this? Brilliant game. Pinnacle of the series IMO.

[Brim]

Despite not warming to the PS2 from the launch (despite owning a NTSC J from pretty early in its life) I'm now enjoying it more than ever due to some pretty stunning games. Okay, here we go:


Ridge Racer V
I have bought and then sold 3 copies of this game, each time having completed it I've thought 'thats it' then 3 months later I want to play again. This time I'm keeping my copy.

Metal Slug 3
I used to own this on a Neo Geo which got sold, however this is an absolutely fantastic conversion of a Neo classic (although, obviously the continues option is getting hard to resist).

Winning Eleven 7 International
The reason behind many late nights, and why my missus goes to bed regularly on her own. So realistic in it's portrayal of football that I couldn't play it after the England v France game due to depression...

Rez
It's an experience as much as it's a game and if it's late and your on your own, with the lights off - it gets no better than this.