Retro|Spective 199: The Final Tour of PlayStation 2

[Neon Ignition]

The Sony PlayStation 2 - Turning 22 Next March

We set out to complete our tour through the 128-bit era with Sony's own entry, the immensely popular follow up to their immensely popular debut system. The system still stands as a high benchmark for any other system to try and meet in terms of its success, impact on growing the gaming audience and breadth of available titles.

As before we'll be looking at notable titles that remain exclusive to the system to this day. However, unlike the other systems the qualifying games for PS2 number in the thousands so this will be a bit more refined a list of notable titles and even then will take us a long time to cover. Mindful of finally reaching the 200th entry in this series in time and also how many threads are on the go at once, this will be a thread I step away from and return to in order to give us some breathing room given how expansive the list here is. There will also likely be some instances of games that are available on PS3/PS4 but because they have a more thinly defined definition due to being quickly digitally dumped on there so it's likely a more blurred line with this one.

Before we begin:
Does the PS2 still stand as a go to experience for you after all these years or do you find too much time has passed and the system has finally slipped to new experiences?

[DeathAdder]

Like the DS, there's plenty of shovelware and crap on it, and plenty of games which haven't stood the test of time, or have been rendered redundant by sequels.

But there are still hundreds of fantastic games on it.

[chopemon]

The best console ever made. Stunning library full of all timers, curios and hidden gems. And with PS1 backwards compatibility you have the ultimate games library. I've played so many PS2 games but there's still always something out there to find and try. Often the games are relatively cheap as they were produced in large numbers The exceptions are of course the Atlus games. Wonderful machine with many happy memories.

[Asura]

I only found out recently that the arrangement of the blocks etc. on the startup screen has to do with the number of games you've played, or something along those lines.

EDIT: Also, should really add...

I believe the PS2 is the best single console ever. Not in hardware terms (the Cube and Xbox were way better, and it has terrible video output easily beaten by the Dreamcast) but in terms of sheer wealth of games.

The PS2 has absolutely fantastic games in practically every genre that was big at the time. Okay, it doesn't have a truly great FPS, and I don't think it has a single good real-time strategy game, but apart from those... It has amazing sports games, RPGs, driving games, open world action games, third person action games, platformers... And it just has such an enormous library. You could play PS2 games your whole life and never run out.

to respond to the initial question, I still find myself using my PS2 regularly. I'm actually worried it's going to give up the ghost, as I'll have to find another modded unit.

[speedlolita]

I have to ask [MENTION=5941]Asura[/MENTION] as I've read you post as such on three occasions now - by what metric are you suggesting the PS2 has a bad video output? If I had to guess it would be the rarity of progressive video support in the library or the quality of assets in the games.

I am curious as for me the video is easily as good as the GameCube and Dreamcast. The Xbox is noticeably worse than the rest due to being so dark. Of course, this is all at 480i on a CRT via RGB.

[Asura]

I have to ask @Asura as I've read you post as such on three occasions now - by what metric are you suggesting the PS2 has a bad video output?

An, admittedly, entirely subjective one.

Firstly it has to do with how the PS2's output is weirdly interlaced; you can see this most egregiously when you compare, maybe, Tekken Tag Tournament to Soul Calibur, or the versions of Dead or Alive 2, or look at Ridge Racer V. There's a roughness to the image which I've always found really poor, whereas the Dreamcast's image always seems sharper by comparison.

Secondly, colour; if you compare like-for-like games on the same TV between the PS2 and Dreamcast - so that'd be Crazy Taxi, or Dead or Alive, or Marvel Vs Capcom 2, the PS2's colours never seem to "pop" quite as much. You might be able to configure the TV to improve this.

Finally, some of this is couched in my memory of the era. I just have a very strong recollection of, when you had the 4 machines side-by-side running similar games, the PS2's visual output being noticeably worse than the others.

[Hirst]

PS2 uses interlaced mode on most games which will give you the jaggedness, but I think there's definitely some truth in the colours thing as I noticed it myself even back in the day. Either with RGB Scart or Component it seems the same, especially when you compared it with Dreamcast titles. I think the default video output needs a bit of a gamma boost.

Something that is nice is the optical digital audio, some games sound great hooked up to a sound system. The 5.1 surround capabilities are rarely used though (outside of cutscenes on a few games)

[ZipZap]

Firstly it has to do with how the PS2's output is weirdly interlaced; you can see this most egregiously when you compare, maybe, Tekken Tag Tournament to Soul Calibur, or the versions of Dead or Alive 2, or look at Ridge Racer V.

Interestingly there was a problem with some of those early releases like RRV and Tekken Tag that caused particularly bad jaggies:

https://youtu.be/TGTR0G2xC1E?t=120

It's definitely most noticeble on early games, later on the interlaced content (which was the vast majority of games) starts to look a lot smoother.

These days I quite like the sharper pixels of the PS2. What we used to describe as anti-aliasing on the Gamecube (and possibly Xbox) was mostly just blurring.

[Baseley09]

I can recall thinking RRV looked like a joke compared to the smoothness we'd been seeing on the Dreamcast ( and also scared that my £200 system was going down the pan ).

But later on I came to think that RRV looks sharp as hell and is amazing, jaggies n all.

[speedlolita]

Interestingly there was a problem with some of those early releases like RRV and Tekken Tag that caused particularly bad jaggies:

https://youtu.be/TGTR0G2xC1E?t=120

It's definitely most noticeble on early games, later on the interlaced content (which was the vast majority of games) starts to look a lot smoother.

These days I quite like the sharper pixels of the PS2. What we used to describe as anti-aliasing on the Gamecube (and possibly Xbox) was mostly just blurring.

Yeah, look at Super Smash Bros Melee where you can disable the flicker filter and it removes that blur. I don't think too many Cube games allow this. The Xbox flicker filter can be disabled with a softmodded machine I believe.

Using the example of RRV and TTT, I think to a degree they must have been criticised visually for the American release of TTT to have added anti-aliasing.

[phillv85]

I've got back into the PS2 recently. I tend to ignore most of what was cutting edge at the time now, but it's a gold mine for 2D games, particularly if you're willing to import games. There's so many good fighters and shooters on there. In fact, it's probably got my favourite fighting games library of any console, and is probably a top 5 shmup console.

[Neon Ignition]

I'd say that for me the PS2 stands close to the threshold on what I can go back to. There's a reasonable list of titles that have aged pretty well but it's just a little close a lot of time to too clunky and experience. Kind of comes with being the main platform for many companies who were still getting their heads around the transition to 3D I guess but it does mean it's a treasure trove of interesting curiosities more than probably any system ever made.

[Neon Ignition]

Time to begin the long journey:

10,000 Bullets
Developed by Blue Moon Studios, the game focused on third person action shooting with the ability to slow down time. This led to comparisons with the 2D based Viewtiful Joe series but the lack of a US release and sluggish Japan numbers meant few played it with few copies and only a PAL release beside available.




24: The Game
Developed by Sony and published by Take Two, this tie in game sewed a plot into the storyline of the show when it was enjoying peak success. Offering a mixture of third person, driving and puzzle action players controlled Jack in a tale written by the team behind the show and starring the original cast. The game received mixed reactions, failing to gather enough love to warrant a sequel.




Airblade
Developed by Criterion Games, this was a spiritual successor to the Dreamcast game Trickstyle. Despite this, in essence, the game was similar to early Tony Hawks titles with the skateboard swapped out for a hoverboard. With mixed reviews and a saturated market the game failed to stand out.




Akira: Psycho Ball
A pinball game featuring four tables modelled on the key plot arc of the anime film. Success is rewarded by clips of the film that coincide with the corresponding table. The game largely vanished but scored well in its reviews.




Did you play through any of these games and if so did they enjoy greater life beyond what they had?

[chopemon]

10,000 Bullets is on my to buy list. I have played a chunk of 24 because I used to like the series and it was a competitor to a game I was working on at one point. It's fine but has nothing going for it nowadays.

[samanosuke]

I’d agree the PS2 was the best of a very strong generation (DC, GC and Xbox were all worth owning) but best console of all time? It’s no SNES.