I loved the ps1, but no console has bested it's successor. Today, it's the best selling console of all time, with one of the biggest game libraries in history. So what are you're favorite games from this awesome console?
I think I'll do a top 5.
5. Spiderman 2
This one was just really really fun. Think GTA if you were Spiderman, and you were responsible for saving the citizens. You're put in an open world Manhattan and given open objectives revolving around the city. The swinging mechanic was extremely intuitive yet complex, allowing the player to choose the general direction to shoot web, then use the analog stick to choose the direction of the momentum of the swing. Then, they could do things like mid air tricks, speed boosts, double web slingshots, loop de loops, it was amazingly fun. The wide story arch matched the movie, but there were a ton of classic villians with pretty big mission trees. Mysterio was definitely my favorite one. You spend like 3 hours of gameplay chasing him, then when you finally see him in person, he goes down in one punch.
4. Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
This one was my first PS2 game when I got the console. I recently went back and finally got all 101 power cells (from a new save) and it was just as fun as I remembered. This game is really THE 3d platformer in my book. It has every cliche and stigma from the genre, but it pulls it off SO well. That, and it has a talking weasel that sits on your shoulder while you play.
3. Ico
There are a lot of things I could say about Ico, but it can be summed up in only a few words. Beautiful, heartbreaking, stunning. It's just one of those truly original games that sucks you into the story not through it's basic puzzler gameplay, but through it's characters, one of whom you must care for throughout the whole game. If it weren't for this game, I wouldn't have originally understood the potential for gaming as an artform, and I'm sure many who have played this game can say the same.
2. Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal
This one is another game that is simply a wonderful mixture of excellent game design and excellent character. The gameplay is fantastic in that it just plays SO WELL. You'll find yourself playing for hours on end because there's enough variation and choice that it can certainly last. I've played this game through maybe 5 or 6 times, and it's a long one. This is the pinnacle of Insomniac Games' excellence. Still waiting for an HD Ratchet collection on ps3...
1. Shadow of the Colossus
This one, on top of being my favorite PS2 game, is my favorite game of all time. It excels even past Ico at drawing the player into a mostly obscured storyline, in a world the player knows little about. The key thing I love about Shadow of the Colossus is the world. The player is given a labyrinthine land of enormous size to explore, and goddamn is it beautiful. There's an area where the player walks over a bridge, toward a forested area, and at this spot, you can look down on a stepped series of immense waterfalls, each flowing down into a river that spans the game world. This spot is one of the most beautiful in the game, and I always seek it out when I'm on my way to that colossus. I haven't even gotten to the Colossi, have I? They're amazing in scale and design. The third (pictured) is my favorite, certainly. The battle takes place on a platform high above a wide lake. You swim out and climb up onto the platform before the battle. You see a pile of rubble on the center of the platform. Suddenly, as you get closer, the rubble moves and stands before you as a lumbering creature with an enormous stone sword with which you climb onto his body.
Every colossus is worth talking about, all 16 of them, but you have to experience this game for yourself. It's really one of the most amazing you will ever have the pleasure to play.
I think I'll do a top 5.
5. Spiderman 2
This one was just really really fun. Think GTA if you were Spiderman, and you were responsible for saving the citizens. You're put in an open world Manhattan and given open objectives revolving around the city. The swinging mechanic was extremely intuitive yet complex, allowing the player to choose the general direction to shoot web, then use the analog stick to choose the direction of the momentum of the swing. Then, they could do things like mid air tricks, speed boosts, double web slingshots, loop de loops, it was amazingly fun. The wide story arch matched the movie, but there were a ton of classic villians with pretty big mission trees. Mysterio was definitely my favorite one. You spend like 3 hours of gameplay chasing him, then when you finally see him in person, he goes down in one punch.
4. Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
This one was my first PS2 game when I got the console. I recently went back and finally got all 101 power cells (from a new save) and it was just as fun as I remembered. This game is really THE 3d platformer in my book. It has every cliche and stigma from the genre, but it pulls it off SO well. That, and it has a talking weasel that sits on your shoulder while you play.
3. Ico
There are a lot of things I could say about Ico, but it can be summed up in only a few words. Beautiful, heartbreaking, stunning. It's just one of those truly original games that sucks you into the story not through it's basic puzzler gameplay, but through it's characters, one of whom you must care for throughout the whole game. If it weren't for this game, I wouldn't have originally understood the potential for gaming as an artform, and I'm sure many who have played this game can say the same.
2. Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal
This one is another game that is simply a wonderful mixture of excellent game design and excellent character. The gameplay is fantastic in that it just plays SO WELL. You'll find yourself playing for hours on end because there's enough variation and choice that it can certainly last. I've played this game through maybe 5 or 6 times, and it's a long one. This is the pinnacle of Insomniac Games' excellence. Still waiting for an HD Ratchet collection on ps3...
1. Shadow of the Colossus
This one, on top of being my favorite PS2 game, is my favorite game of all time. It excels even past Ico at drawing the player into a mostly obscured storyline, in a world the player knows little about. The key thing I love about Shadow of the Colossus is the world. The player is given a labyrinthine land of enormous size to explore, and goddamn is it beautiful. There's an area where the player walks over a bridge, toward a forested area, and at this spot, you can look down on a stepped series of immense waterfalls, each flowing down into a river that spans the game world. This spot is one of the most beautiful in the game, and I always seek it out when I'm on my way to that colossus. I haven't even gotten to the Colossi, have I? They're amazing in scale and design. The third (pictured) is my favorite, certainly. The battle takes place on a platform high above a wide lake. You swim out and climb up onto the platform before the battle. You see a pile of rubble on the center of the platform. Suddenly, as you get closer, the rubble moves and stands before you as a lumbering creature with an enormous stone sword with which you climb onto his body.
Every colossus is worth talking about, all 16 of them, but you have to experience this game for yourself. It's really one of the most amazing you will ever have the pleasure to play.
