7 Games That Defined The PlayStation 2
It’s hard to believe the Sony PlayStation 2 turned 20 years old a little over a week ago. When it first came out in the year 2000, I was barely conscious of the gaming world at three years old. Around 5 years later, after saving my dad’s pocket change over the years in a giant plastic Crayola crayon piggy bank, we purchased the PS2 Slim version bundled with Jak 2 and Gran Turismo 3, and it soon became a staple of my childhood.
Over 150 million PS2s have been sold and with good reason — great games, easy to use, a disc reader that dually served as a DVD player, and a fantastic controller design that set the foundation for future controllers. Here are seven of my all-time favorite PS2 games that I sunk hours into as a kid.
ATV Offroad Fury
A PS2 exclusive released in 2001 brought me into the world of ATV racing and a fantastic (albeit limited) open world to explore. I loved racing my ATV up and down hills, over trains, and going to the edge of the map just to have my character get blown up and thrown back into the main area of play.
Driving to the edge of the map meant instant death and to this day remains the best way I’ve seen a developer deal with too curious players. By hitting an invisible wall, an explosion sound effect was triggered, followed by your character screaming and ATV getting violently thrown into the air for a good distance. I’ll link a video of someone performing the out of bounds death sentence here.
Guitar Hero
When my dad first came home with Guitar Hero, I was a bit skeptical of the game. I had expressed no interest in playing the guitar and it felt weird that he was buying me a music-based game. But I quickly was drawn into the game with its simple yet effective guitar mechanics combined with the “Star Power” abilities that boosted your points and got the crowd going.
At one point, I bought a PS2 cheat codebook from my school’s Scholastic Book Fair and memorized the “Unlock Everything” cheat (I can still remember it — Yellow Orange Blue Blue Orange Yellow Yellow). There was something awesome about playing Megadeth’s Symphony of Destruction as the Grim Ripper, and I didn’t quite get the same feeling playing Guitar Hero Aerosmith.
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
My PS2 Slim came bundled with Jak 2, but since the game was rated “T” for “Teen” and I was under 13, my dad didn’t let me play it. Browsing Blockbuster’s video game section one afternoon, I stumbled upon the first game in the series. Since it was rated “E” for “Everyone,” my dad bought it and I was transported to a world of precursor orbs, power cells, a hoverbike, and various “Eco” powers.
As someone who has never owned a Nintendo 64, the platforming in Jak and Daxter was the closest thing I experienced to Super Mario 64 at the time. You could roll, long jump, double jump, punch, spin kick, and use Eco powers to defeat your enemies and access new areas. I loved the process of collecting precursor orbs and gathering power cells to continue the story, as well as the sleazy yet panicked demeanor of Daxter the Ottsel. It’s a game I replayed time and time again when I got bored and will stay in my memory for a very long time.
Lego Star Wars and Lego Star Wars 2
How could I create a list like this and not mention the first two Lego Star Wars games? Lego Star Wars was a fantastic game that set the gold standard for future Lego video games.
Intuitive controls, break and build mechanics, easy character switching, and collectible pieces in each level brought me back again and again. My younger brother and I used to play these games day in and day out and were floored when the second installment allowed us to build our customized characters.
Star Wars: Battlefront 2
Out of all of the games on this list, Star Wars: Battlefront 2 is by far the most replayable game in this blog entry. Splitscreen mode allowed my brother and me to collaborate in Galactic Conquest, a mode that placed two opposing factions in warships across the galaxy duking it out for total control.
By winning battles, we’d earn credits to pay for units, battlefield upgrades, and ships while strategically placing our units near valuable planets. Assault on Mos Eisley was another popular mode, giving us control of all the playable hero characters in the game at once to fight the Jedi or Sith on the desert planet. I’m not alone in wanting a remaster of this title, and I can dream.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
A little after the midlife point of the PlayStation 2’s 13-year life cycle, one of my friends gave me a copy of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for my birthday, and fundamentally changed the way I look at video games as a power fantasy.
Starkiller had, to quote Emperor Palpatine in Episode III, “UNLIMITED POWER.” I could pick up Stormtroopers with the Force, throw them away, impale them with my lightsaber, use Force lightning, and perform devastating lightsaber combo attacks on any that stood in my way.
The story was unlike anything I had been exposed to in a game before, and I loved collecting lightsaber crystals and customizing my character’s outfit (my favorite is pictured above.) It’s a shame the sequel was rushed in an attempt to gain more money; the quality of a game in development for four years can’t be replicated in nine months.
Other Titles
There are, of course, many other games I didn’t put on this list because I wasn’t exposed to them as a kid. My parents were responsible and didn’t want me playing games like God of War or Grand Theft Auto, and I didn’t seek them out. At 16, I had to convince my parents to get me The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim because it was rated “M” for “Mature,” ages 17 and up.
There’s a reason the games on this list were labeled as “PlayStation Hits” and why I’ve stayed with the brand for so long. I appreciate the console exclusives, the feel of the controller in my hands, and all the memories I had growing up playing the aforementioned titles. These were the games that stood out to me the most, and I hope I brought some nostalgia to whoever read the entire post.
