New PS2 - essential easy and rare games to have?

[Ibuypinball]

Hey all,

I'm about to dump my beloved Dreamcast and move *up* to a PS2 (my girlfriend LOVES Singstar and karaoke, so you can see the raison de terre - party games are a big thing in our house). Yes, I'm what's known as a 'late adopter'. That is, I sit on the sideline and let everyone else buy the newest technology while I patiently wait for their bug testing and early adoption stress on the product. At the end of all that (many years later), I know exactly what technology is worth having a crack at.   

So, as I know next to nothing about this box (the PS2), though I owned a PS1 back in the day, what games would you recommend?  I'd like to know the essential commercial titles, and the rarer Japanese and obscure PAL titles?  Should I chip the PS2 I buy - is there any point with this box?

cheers all... and nice to find this forum at last.   

jon

[danny_galaga]

i have no suggestions, but i'm curious. why can't you keep the dreamcast AND have a PS2?

[Ginsu Victim]

Why the hell would you dump your Dreamcast?
Get the PS2. It's not like you're going to sell your Dreamcast for any amount of money worth having.
Also, the Dreamcast holds a special place in a lot of our hearts around here, so we're all biased.

[Ibuypinball]

i have no suggestions, but i'm curious. why can't you keep the dreamcast AND have a PS2?

Because almost every game I love on the DC, plus a whole lot of new ones besides, are available on newer consoles now. Maybe its time to let go?

[AtomSmasher]

There are a ton of great games on the PS2, heres a list of some of my favorites:

Bully
God of War 1 & 2
Katamari Damacy
Shadow of the Colossus
Final Fantasy XII
Grand Theft Auto San Andreas
Guitar Hero
Viewtiful Joe
Kingdom Hearts
Metal Gear Solid 2 & 3
Rachet and Clank 1, 2 & 3
Okami

I could keep going on because like I said there were a ton of great games, but this should get you started  

[Ginsu Victim]

i have no suggestions, but i'm curious. why can't you keep the dreamcast AND have a PS2?

Because almost every game I love on the DC, plus a whole lot of new ones besides, are available on newer consoles now. Maybe its time to let go?

There are a lot of exclusives you can't get anywhere else. I don't see the need to get rid of your Dreamcast.

For Shenmue, Powerstone, and Soul Calibur alone, keep it. Doesn't mean you can't still have a PS2.

[Ibuypinball]

There are a ton of great games on the PS2, heres a list of some of my favorites:

Bully
God of War 1 & 2
Katamari Damacy
Shadow of the Colossus
Final Fantasy XII
Grand Theft Auto San Andreas
Guitar Hero
Viewtiful Joe
Kingdom Hearts
Metal Gear Solid 2 & 3
Rachet and Clank 1, 2 & 3
Okami

I could keep going on because like I said there were a ton of great games, but this should get you started  

Thanks for (a) answering the question, and (b) being helpful. I'll be looking all those up..

cheers   

[massive88]

Some of my favs not mentioned:

SSX: Tricky
Final Fantasy X
Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec
Burnout 3
Devil May Cry
Maximo: Ghosts to Glory
The Mark of Kri

[shardian]

I will recommend my favorite 2:
Kingdom Hearts
Resident Evil 4

[SavannahLion]

Bully
God of War 1 & 2
Katamari Damacy
Shadow of the Colossus
Final Fantasy XII
Grand Theft Auto San Andreas
Guitar Hero
Viewtiful Joe
Kingdom Hearts
Metal Gear Solid 2 & 3
Rachet and Clank 1, 2 & 3
Okami

Some alternative titles to consider

We Love Katamari (Sequel to Katamari Damacy)
Ico (By the same creator of Shadow of Colossus)
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (I prefer this over San Andreas)
Jak and Daxter (Same vein as Ratchet and Clank, but not as big a series)
Godhand (Similar vein as God of War, not as well received)

[DaveMMR]

I happen to like BOMBASTIC (which is a sequel of sorts to Devil Dice) if you can find it.  It's a frantic little action puzzler.  And yeah, you have the entire GUITAR HERO series.

[danny_galaga]

i have no suggestions, but i'm curious. why can't you keep the dreamcast AND have a PS2?

Because almost every game I love on the DC, plus a whole lot of new ones besides, are available on newer consoles now. Maybe its time to let go?

hehe. no one on this forum understands the idea of 'letting go'. nostalgia is why we're here! i've never had a dreamcast, but from what i hear its quite awesome...

[Ginsu Victim]

It is. I have two. One for the living room, and one for a possible cabinet.

[Franco B]

A few others (some already mentioned)

GTA 3, Vice city, San Andreas (I prefer GTA 3 to the next two in the series, cant wait for GTA 4 on monday night tho  ) GTA3 was actually the reason I bought my PS2.

Metal Gear solid 2: Sons of Liberty

Any of the Tony Hawks series

Timesplitters 1,2 & 3 (Future Perfect)

Devil May Cry Series

Rez

Max Payne 1 & 2

Buzz series (has handheld USB buzzers, awesome party games! Music, sports etc gameshow style quizzes)

Eyetoy series (USB camers with loads of interactive games, great for parties etc also)

Half Life (if you dont already own it)

Manhunt

Maximo Vs Army of Zin (think 3d Ghouls and Ghosts) Ive not played the follow up - Ghosts to Glory

Max Payne 1 & 2

Red Faction 1 & 2

Resident Evil Series

Stuntman

The Warriors

[SavannahLion]

I happen to like BOMBASTIC (which is a sequel of sorts to Devil Dice) if you can find it.

I was going to recommend that game, but not a single person I showed it to liked it. I figured I was the only one that actually liked the game. Nice to know I'm not the only one anymore.

Buzz series (has handheld USB buzzers, awesome party games! Music, sports etc gameshow style quizzes)

I've been seeing this game at stores, and on sale no less, but I can't for the life of me figure out what the hell it's about. The one I see has a bunch of monkeys on the box cover, something about hand buzzers, fun for the whole family, but nothing on what the game actually is. The way the game is wrapped up with the four buzzers, it masks the back of the DVD case. Then when I get home, I can't ever remember the title for a Google.

So looking around, I see now what the game is about. Is the Monkey version worth a pickup?

[northerngames]

Ring of Red ...one of the best turn based strategy type game's in my opinion and definatly in my top 10 off all time for any platform.

front mission 4 is another good turn based strategy

and front mission 5 "jap import"

there kinda like playing chess with mech machines in a way.

you will definantly get your time and moneys worth out of ring of red it's not a game that can be finshed in a few day's.

[DaveMMR]

I happen to like BOMBASTIC (which is a sequel of sorts to Devil Dice) if you can find it.

I was going to recommend that game, but not a single person I showed it to liked it. I figured I was the only one that actually liked the game. Nice to know I'm not the only one anymore.

I had the same problem trying to get people into it.  I think it's a great game but it's not exactly "pick-up-and-play".  It's not terribly hard to get the hang of, but it's more of a commitment than the casual players who expect a simple "Tetris-clone" want. 

[Ibuypinball]

Really grateful for all the suggestions - thank you.

I'll be looking *every* single one up,in the near future. I've played Buzz (add to the other party games like singstar and Guitar Hero as well worth getting) and we all really enjoyed it - had forgotten that one. The Eyetoy series is fun with kids around...

thanks all

[AtomSmasher]

A fun eyetoy game is Antigrav.  It's basically a hoverboard game where you lean, jump and duck to move the character and use your hands to hit targets as your flying down the course.  Its one of the few (only?) eyetoy games that isn't a complation of minigames or a rythme game.  It's quite a bit of fun, but only has 5 courses so it's not very deep.

[Daniel270]

Don't forget the PS2 also plays PS1 games, so you might want to browse through the stickied thread for favorite games there

[lordtodd75]

I don't believe these weren't mentioned:
Katamari Damacy
Dynasty Warriors 3
Final Fantasy X

These were mentioned but are great:
God of War
Kingdom hearts
Final Fantasy XII

The first 3 games I have played and beaten numerous times and I still find myself going back to them. If you want an epic adventure go with FFX, If you like fast paced button smashers (2 player split screen) go with Dynasty Warriors 3. If you want a funny and quirky game that involves a lot of item collecting go with Katamari Damacy. If I were you I would get all three!

[AtomSmasher]

I did mention Katamari Damacy and SavannahLion mentioned We Love Katamari.  Oh wait, theres a double negative in your statement so you do believe they were mentioned, nevermind, carry on.   

I did have a lot of fun with Dynasty Warriors the first time I played it, but its sad that they keep releasing the same game with minor changes over and over again.

[lordtodd75]

my mistake (x2) 

[daywane]

want to sell your dreamcast?
I have 3
but one is going out.
one in arcade room
one in bed rom
one in daughters room

I like the harry potters on ps2 (prefer them on the game qube) but thats the game pad I started playing the Harry poters on

jak II
spy hunter 2
army men
gauntlet is great!!!!

[Spaz Monkey]

Rare/semi-rare game would be Marvel vs. Capcom 2