by Stupid Ross

The Sony PlayStation 2 has to be one of the best consoles to date, with so many great releases, as well as some absolutely terrible ones, which us here at Plop Culture love. The PS2 was the first console I owned when I actually had my own money to buy games, unlike all the previous ones where I had to wait for birthdays and Christmas. My birthday is the end of December so I literally had to wait all year to get new games. Not coming from a wealthy family, I was always late to the table with new consoles, which isn’t a bad thing, as in Sonys case the Platinum titles were already on the shelves when I got my PS2. With money in my pocket and a brand new PS2 I was ready to go, so here is the list of my favourite PS2 games of all time.

Time Splitters (2000 – Eidos Interactive)

Time Splitters was the first game I had for the PS2, coming in a bundle pack with Crazy Taxi. Never really being a fan of first person shooters I didn’t expect to really like it. But I was wrong, I loved it. Its sleek comic book inspired design was colourful and rich in detail. Similar in gameplay and mechanics to N64’s Goldeneye, it was familiar and easy to enjoy. It had a great multiplayer mode that I used to play with friends all the time, and an amazing level editor was a great addition. You got to design your own level to play in multiplayer mode, making it as simple or complex as you like. The main story mode of the game could be played single or multiplayer, which was something I used to look for in games at the time, as I was still too young to go to the pubs and clubs at the weekend, and instead used to go to my friends’ house and play video games. Time Splitters received a fairly good reception from critics, GameInformer giving it 9.5/10, not too shabby for a release title. I will always remember this game, for the sheer fact that it was the first PS2 game I played, and plugging it in for the first time and seeing the graphics shift from PS1 completely floored me.

Time Splitters gets a Stupid Ross rating of 7/10.

Headhunter (2002 – SEGA)

Headhunter is not usually a game I find that people have played or even heard about. I discovered it as a demo free with a magazine and instantly loved it. I played the demo over and over again, and then gathered what games I could to trade in at Gamestation so I could buy it. Headhunter is a 3rd person shooter where we play as Jake Wade, a headhunter in a near future Earth. Criminals are used to harvest their organs for the wealthy, the headhunters use special weapons and bullets so that they do not damage their targets body tissue and organs. Between levels, the game changes into a kind of racing game, where Jack travels around on his motorcycle, which was a pretty cool element to this game. We were treated to great graphics and art direction, with impressive cutscenes used to tell the story. A sequel was released on the Xbox and PS2, but I never got around to playing it. Headhunter was received pretty well overall however it was the SEGA Dreamcast version that received the better reviews. I don’t know why I liked this game so much, but I would recommend people try it out if they can, it was fun to play.

Headhunter gets a Stupid Ross rating of 7/10

Final Fantasy X (2001 – Square Enix)

I am a huge Final Fantasy fan, and this for me was a real treat. Final Fantasy with PS2 graphics and voice acting. I eagerly awaited its
release and bought it the same week it came out. Our main protagonist is Tidus, a Blitzball player from Zanarkand, who is thrown into this adventure when Sin, a giant whale-like monster, destroys his home town. Gradually meeting up with your party, as with most Final Fantasy games, they begin their quest to defeat Sin. With each character in the party having their own personal demons and issues with Sin, they travel the world defeating monsters and enemies, seeking out Sin and destroying anyone that gets in their way. Despite its flaws, one being the voice acting is absolutely terrible in some places, it really is a strong story and a great game. Most notably known for the embarrassing laughing scene (Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha), which will make you cringe and squeeze your controller to breaking point, Final Fantasy 10 for me is one of the better titles in this long-running series of games. Final Fantasy 10 was received well and sold over 1.4 million copies in its first week in Japan from pre-sales alone.

Final Fantasy 10 gets a Stupid Ross rating of 8.5/10

Shadow of The Colossus (2006 – SCE Japan Studio)

This action adventure game is probably one of the best of all time. We play as Wander who must travel the vast continent on horseback
to defeat 16 Colossi, massive creatures that Wander must scale and defeat, in order to bring back to life a girl called Mono.

The artwork for this game is absolutely beautiful and is topped off with a fantastic soundtrack, that caused me to aimlessly ride around doing absolutely nothing for hours on end. Each Colossi is very different and unique in their own way, needing different tactics to bring them down. This is difficult at times, but enjoyably so, sometimes taking a while to work out how to defeat each Colossi. A very emotional game, not ever knowing that what you are doing is the right thing, or whether you are murdering beautiful innocent creatures. A remake was made for the Ps3 in 2011, and then an HD remake for the PS4 in 2018, which really enhanced this wonderful game for a new generation of players. Shadow of The Colossus was critically and commercially successful and will be forever known as one of the greatest games ever.

Shadow of The Colossus gets a Stupid Ross rating of 9.5/10.

Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 (2001 – Neversoft)

The first Tony Hawks game to be released on the PS2, and in my opinion one of the last great Tony Hawks games to be made. Backed by a fantastic soundtrack and decent roster of pro skaters, this was the first TH game to introduce the revert, which allowed players to make longer trick combos by incorporating vert tricks into manuals. It was the first TH game to have an online playable function, which I never used as I didn’t buy the network adaptor, and honestly wasn’t really fussed about. Improving the gameplay mechanics from its predecessors, the game was smooth, difficult and so much fun to play. TH3 was a critical and commercial success, receiving a 10/10 review from Gamespot and awarded the best sports game at E3 in 2001. This was easily my favourite Tony Hawks game on the PS2, and there was quite a few.

Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 gets a Stupid Ross rating of 9/10.

Kingdom Hearts (2002 – Square Enix)

I first saw Kingdom Hearts when I was just browsing in HMV with my mate, who was home from the Army for Xmas leave, and said he’d buy me a PS2 game for Xmas. I was looking at the shelves and Kingdom Hearts caught my eye. I saw a familiarity with my love of Final Fantasy, yet Donald Duck and Goofy were on the cover. Intrigued, I chose this as my Xmas Present. I went straight home and stuck the disc in. Puzzled and confused for the first hour, I wasn’t quite sure what I was playing. 8 hours then went by without realising, and I was hooked by this strange gaming combination. Playing as Sora wielding your Keyblade, accompanied by Donald and Goofy, destroying the Heartless in numerous Disney film locations, this game is so much fun. Seeing all the Disney and Final Fantasy cameos throughout the game is great and amusing.

Spoiler alert**
Getting to battle Cloud Strife in the Hercules Colosseum is a personal highlight for me. Spawning a sequel on the PS2, which is just as great, and Kingdom Hearts 3 on the PS4, all of which were commercial and critical successes. What’s not to love.

Kingdom Hearts gets a Stupid Ross rating of 8.5/10

WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2007 (2006 – THQ)

My favourite wrestling game to date, just for the amazing General Manager Mode. I have great memories of playing this with Plop Culture’s Rubbish-Man, hours and hours of multiplayer GM mode when we probably should have been out socialising and drinking ourselves stupid with friends. This is just your standard WWE release, it was the first to introduce fighting in the crowd and the analogue system. Improving most aspects from the 2006 edition, with an updated roster including one of my personal favourites, The Pirate Paul Burchill. The GM Mode was the highlight of this game. Being able to make your own roster and matches, push your favourite stars to the top of the company, Paul Burchill being pushed into every title opportunity possible. This game is also responsible for Rubbish-Man’s hatred of the band Rise Against, due to a few songs being on the soundtrack, and the excessive hours we put into the game. The standout song on the soundtrack has to be ‘Bullet With Your Name on it’ by nu-metallers ‘Non-Point’ if I ever hear this song I immediately get transferred back to these nights with Rubbish-Man.

Let’s hope that one day WWE2K bring back General Manager Mode, as I would lap it up and push Breezango into all the title pictures.

WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2007 gets a Stupid Ross rating of 7.5/10

Canis Canem Edit (Bully) (2006 – Rockstar Games)

Jimmy Hopkins is a bit of a bad egg, sent to Bullworth Academy by his Mother and Step-Father so they can go travelling. Jimmy soon sees that his new school is full of bullies, to which Jimmy is not going to put up with. Jimmy’s aim is to bring about a change, and that’s just what he does.

Starting in the confines of the school Jimmy must attend his lessons, which is how we level up our character. This can be a bit of a chore later in the game when the town of Bullworth is opened up as a playable area. The lessons are fun mini-games, so it’s not too bad.

You have to complete missions involving the different school cliques to progress through the game, with plenty of time to explore and indulge in the vast side missions and quests. There is a variety of vehicles and weapons to choose from to aid you in your quests, from bicycles, skateboards, and go-karts to stink bombs, slingshots and Jimmys fists. Jimmy continues to fight for what is good and to bring order to his new home. As it is with Rockstar Games, this game gained some controversy upon release due to its content, but that didn’t stop it being a critical success. A fun game for all gaming fans, Bully has plenty of content to keep you playing for weeks if not months.

Canis Canem Edit gets a Stupid Ross rating of 8.5/10

Shadow of Memories (2001 – Konami)

Shadow of Memories was a game I knew nothing about until I saw it on the shelves at Gamestation. After an annual clear out and trade in of games, I was looking for something different. I liked the look of the artwork and the synopsis looked interesting, so I gave it a go. It was not what I expected at all. We play as Eike Kusch, a time traveller, with the aim to try and prevent his own murder. We have to try and change the events of time in order to keep Eike alive, going back as far as 1580 to try and identify Eike’s killer.

During my first play-through, I was quite confused and did not do very well at all, but I learned from my mistakes and gave it another go, understanding more of the games strange plot and gameplay.

Not wanting to reveal too much about the plot, as it is another game that I haven’t found many people who have played it (Plop Culture’s Sulky The Lion being the only one) it is a real joy to play, and replay as it has multiple endings. Gaining a mixed bag of reviews upon release, but being praised for its deep and engaging story. Give it a go if you want a break from shooting and adventuring.

Shadow of Memories gets a Stupid Ross rating of 8/10

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004 – Rockstar Games)

My favourite game in the GTA franchise, San Andreas did not leave my disk tray for months. You play as CJ in the fictional Californian town of San Andreas, returning to his hometown after the death of his Mother. Getting back together with his old gang and friends, CJ spends the game progressing through missions and side quests, unravelling the truth behind the murder of his Mother. Loosely based around the early 90’s Bloods vs Crips wars, and LA riots, the game’s soundtrack helps to put you in this time period with the likes of NWA, 2Pac, Cypress Hill, Public Enemy and a few Rock tracks from Faith No More and Rage Against The Machine.

I remember the open world of San Andreas being huge, with so much to explore and so much to sidetrack you from the main story missions. The one major flaw I can remember was the awful mission where you had to chase Big Smoke on a motorcycle. I spent hours and hours trying to complete this mission, nearly giving up and breaking my console numerous times. San Andreas had a huge voice cast including numerous celebrities such as Samuel L Jackson as Officer Halfpenny, Shaun Ryder, Axl Rose, David Cross and many many more. A cast so huge in fact that San Andreas entered the 2009 Guinness Book of Records for the largest voice cast in a video game. No Grand Theft Auto game would be complete without some media controversy. This time around it was for racial stereotyping, which was moronic, due to the themes of this title. Also the infamous ‘Hot Coffee Mod’ where a software patch was released to show the sex scenes after CJ’s dates. Fully clothed sex scenes that are in no way sexy. A great title in the GTA franchise and definitely worth checking out if you haven’t played it.

Grand Theft Auto San Andreas gets a Stupid Ross rating of 9/10.

Honourable Mentions:
Conflict Desert Storm 1&2
Airblade
Ico
Escape From Monkey Island
Broken Sword 3
Lassie
Kingdom Hearts 2
WWE Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth
Tony Hawks Pro Skater 4
Tony Hawks Underground

There we have my favourite PS2 games, please comment with some of yours, and your favourite PS2 memories.

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