Best games to buy with a new Playstation 2

Cafe Society
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I’ve finally decided to upgrade my faithful old PS1 (6 years old) to a PS2. Initially, I will probably buy a couple of games with the console, and I’m debating what to buy.

I was a big fan of TOCA World Touring Cars on the PS1 (great game for 2 player battles), so was thinking of getting TOCA Race Driver for the PS2. The reviews all seems to agree its a quality game.

I also loved Metal Gear Solid, so was thinking of getting the latest version of this for the PS2. This has also come highly recommended by a friend.

A couple that people have said not to bother with: Gran Tourismo 3 A-Spec (pretty much the same as GT2, of which I was never a huge fan anyway), and Tekken Tag (basically Tekken 3 with nicer backgrounds).

Apart from the titles I’ve mentioned, I’m at a bit of a loss as to what my first purchases should be. Do you have any thoughts on games for the PS2 which have bown you away (all genres considered)?

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I don’t even own a PS2 but as a hardcore pcgamer I can tell you what comes up most as the games to have:

MGS2, like you said

Grand Theft Auto 3 - though if your interested in this you might wait for GTA: Vice City

Devil May Cry

Twisted Metal:Black

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Oh and if you can still return the PS2, get an Xbox.

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Kid: Might I most respectfully ask you to stay on topic? This isn’t a “Should I get a PS2 or X-Box?” thread. Thanks.

First tip: used games are your friend. Right now you can get MGS2 for about $25 or less used, and if you want Grand Theft Auto 3, it’s about $40 used now, but I bet those prices will drop pretty fast once the new version comes out.

There are a couple good rally games which you mentioned, and while I think GT3 is a great game, if you didn’t like #2 then you won’t like 3 either. If you want a good arcade racer, try Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2. Not that deep, but fun. Rent before you buy.

Ace Combat 4 is a lot of fun. Lots to do, lots to blow up, lots of planes. It’s very arcadey though–the planes are each a little different, but it’s no sim. It just went greatest hits ($20 new).

Out of the current crop of sports games, I’d recommend NCAA Football 2003 and Madden 2003, NBA 2k3, and NHL 2k3 (although those last two aren’t out just yet). You might also like Sega Sports Tennis. I don’t like tennis at all but I love this one (It’s a port of the excellent Virtua Tennis 2k2 for Dreamcast).

As for FPS games, I think they are better on PCs, but I did enjoy Medal of Honor. Great atmosphere, although not much replay value. Definetly worth a rental.

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I try to only buy games with a multi player angle as they have much more replay value in the long run.

Having said that I suggest you get the new network adapter as the online service is free and will enhance certain games infinately.

With the adapter SOCOM Navy Seals is a great choice for a shooting tactical game.

Tony Hawks Pro Skater 4 will be great for a less violently themed multiplayer game. If it is 1/2 as good at THPS 3 it will be great.

Non multiplayer games to own I would suggest Grand Theft Auto 3 and probably 4. This series has a great history of easter eggs and hidden things that are fun to locate as well as imersive and detailed game design. WARNING: Both titles are extremely violent and sexually oriented (you pick up whores and park with them to heal your health meter). Also you can pick up a copy of Summoner used for about 20$, great RPG game and Summoner II is coming out soon that looks to be a great game. Resident Evil Nemesis was terrific and scary and now affordable.

If you like to drive fast and enjoy great graphics I still say the release title of Gran Turismo A-SPEC is probably the best overall driving game for the PS/2.

For fighting games Tekken 4 is coming out very soon. It looks great.

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Sly Cooper and the Thievius Racoonus is good.
Robotech: Battlecry, not so good, but they got it all to look right.
The new Superman game is apparently as good as the old Spiderman one.

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Thanks for the tips, guys.

Elwood: Good tips - I hadn’t really thought about renting or buying used. I’ve just had a quick look around on ebay, and theres quite a few PS2 titles up for auction for bargain prices.

MGS2 I think is a must-buy. Can you still hide under cardboard boxes, and takes pills to steady your nerves when sniping? Those were the kind of unusual features that set MGS1 apart from the crowd.

I may rent Need for Speed to see what its like. I remember the old Need for Speed games on the PS1 and they were awful! Hot Pusuit 2 must be a big improvement.

Ace Combat sounds like the sort of game I’d like - I’ll see if I can rent it. I don’t really look for realism in Playstation games, so the more arcady the better, really. Does it include things like bombing missions and dogfights?

Regading sports sims - can’t say I’ve ever really liked them that much, but thanks for the tips anyway.

btw, I know what you mean about FPS games. I only every play them on my PC, mainly because I play on-line a lot, and also using the mouse is preferable to the D-pad in an FPS.

zen101: I did rent GTA 2 for the PS1 a while back, but didn’t like the top-down approach to the game play. Again, I will probably rent GTA 3 or 4 to see what its like.

I hear what you say about Gran Tourismo A-Spec. I think it is a superb game for people who like driving games with lots of realism, but not the best choice for people who like more arcarde style rubber burning.

As a side note, when I was playing Gran Tourismo 2 for a while last year, I spent 50,000 cr on Traction Control for my Mitsubishi Evolution (after upgrading nearly every other componant) and it didn’t seem to make any difference to the handling - grrr! :slight_smile:

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I will be buying a PS2, but only so I can play the new Medal of Honor.

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Sounds like I’m into completely different games than you are, but I’ll give it a shot anyway with my favorites:

ICO – it’s slow-paced and puzzle-oriented, but it’s a beautiful game and it’s pretty engrossing. I think it’s one of the best games ever made.

Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance – a shallow dungeon-crawling RPG-like game, similar to Diablo. Pretty damn fun.

Devil May Cry – another rock-stupid game, but fun as hell. Full of ridiculously over-the-top gothic nonsensical cutscenes, but your character has two pistols by default, and you can use them to juggle enemies in the air.

Onimusha and Onimusha 2 – basically, Resident Evil set in early modern Japan. But note that I hate the RE games and can’t get enough of these two; I think that the whole format works better with melee combat.

And be aware GTA 3 is almost nothing like the earlier versions of the game. It’s third-person, not top-down, and it’s really set up more about being in a fully-realized city than the arcade-like style of GTA 2.

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sam–yes indeed, MGS2 has boxes and diazepam to help you snipe. I wasn’t crazy about the story, but I think it’s worth playing through because the gameplay is just so damned good. It’s $25 used at Electronics Boutique, but you can probably beat it on the easiest diffculty sitting in a one-week rental if you just want to try it out.

As for Ace Combat 4, I’ll expand a bit. You can fly everything from A10 Warthogs to F14 Tomcats to F117 Nighthawks to F22 Raptors. The missions are pretty varied–some are dogfighting heavy, some bombing heavy, some a mix. It’s a sim in that you can’t bounce of the ground, and each plane is different in terms of air speed and ordnance, but an arcade game in that you can carry anywhere from 50 to 70 missiles on you plane and the targeting is very simple. Put it this way–you won’t need to read Jane’s All The World’s Aircraft to be good.

Probably my only beef abour AC4 is that it’s kinda short. There’s I think 18 missions, plus some trial missions. There’s still a lot of replayability, I think, though. You can start at the easiest diffculty level (there are 5) and each time you play through the game, earn more money to buy more planes and weapons. You can also unlock new paint jobs for your plane. I think it’s more than worth $20.

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Slight Hijack*

I am going to but PS2 soon and I was wondering if anyone knows or thinks if the price wil drop come Thanksgiving for the big holiday rush. I know the $199 price is only 6 months old or so but I don’t want to buy something today and have the price drop say $50 bucks in a month. I waited this long I can wait a month to save 50. However, I would rather get it now if the stays the same and not worry about inventory come the mad shopping dash.

Also, do I have to buy the memory card? Is there any built in memory I can scrape by with for the first few months? How about the V cable (?) for DVD function? I have a very old TV and if this is just to increase my picture it is not worth it. Or do I need this to play DVDs? I only have ony cable outlet in the back that my VCR is plugged into, can I still use both? I am going to get a new TV in the future but this one doesn’t want to quit on me yet. Damn thing is almost 20 years old!

Thanks fo the help and game suggestions.

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I would not buy Metal Gear Solid 2. It’s only a partly finished game, that was rushed out. That’s why it’s half cutscenes. Luckily, there is a solution.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance is the entire MGS2 game, plus a whole extra set of missions, and a lot more.

Note the second, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is NOT GTA4, it’s GTA 3.5. There are plans for a GTA4, and it appears to be quite the upgrade.

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To NYR: The price probably will not come down for several months after Christmas. They’d probably like to drop it, but there are cost issues. There is no built in memory, the memory card is a darn good thing. The cable… well.

If you have an old TV, 20 years old, there may be a small risk that plugging the TV into it will kill it. I put a DVD of F1 into my PS2, and it blew out the speakers of my old TV.

If you have a 20 year old TV, it probably only has a coaxial cable adapter, and not the RCA (Red, white for sound, yellow for audio) or Svideo (Black cable with many wires in it, looks like a PS2 Mouse, with Red and White RCA) or Component Video (Red… blue, Green, video, Red and White RCA, IIRC) adapters. If so, you will probably need to purchase either a PS2 to Coax adapter or a RCA to Coax adapter, as the PS2 only comes with an RCA cable out.

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Thanks E,

Just want to make sure I understand you:

  • Yes I have a coaxial calble adapter (I think). It’s the old school looking thing that fits the cable TV wire.

  • In order to even play the video games I will need an adapter, right?

  • This adapter will allow me to play DVD’s as well, right? Or do I still need something else?

  • Not sure what the “F1” DVD is.

Hey another thought just crossed my mind. I do have a hi-fi Sony VCR. Not that I needed it but they are cheap now. Can I run PS2 through my VCR. I am not home at the moment but I think there are multiple jacks in the back like the ones you mention.

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Just checked my VCR model on the internet and it obsolutely has three jacks in the front (never realized cause I never used them). They are the red, yellow and white ones you described.

Can run the PS2 through there?

Thanks agian for the help and soorry for the Hijack, Samarm

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I would add “SSX: Tricky” to the list. Even if you think you’d hate it. I have no interest in either sports games or racing games and SSX is incredibly fun. Fun to play, fun to watch.

I’ll second Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance. Good no-brainer game for when you just want to kill you some stuff.

Those two are the only games I’ve played at length on my PS2. In fact, I kind of regret buying the PS2, as I don’t really like most of the games on it. I just wasn’t born a console gamer. But even I like the above two.

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Yes, you probably can play the PS2 through the three jacks in front. Plug the PS2 in, turn the VCR on, set the input to front jacks (Often done, if no obvious controls, by going to channel 2 and then going further down.) The coax adapter for the PS2 is like ten-fifteen bucks, though, if that doesn’t work.

The X-Box needs a controller to play DVDs. The PS2 plays DVDs out of the box. What I was discussing was simply hooking it into the TV at all. There is one slight problem, in that you will be using the PS2 controller to play the DVDs with. There are aftermarket remote controls sold. An F1 DVD is a DVD with Formula 1 car racing on it. Lots of loud engine noises.

They have sampler games for the PS2. Called the ‘Jam Pack’. Pick up two or three, play around, see what you like. Also, many magazines also have sampler games. Advertising, you know.

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Since no one seems to have answered it yet: NYR, yes, you will need a memory card. The PS2 has no internal memory for saving games. The good news is, you probably only need one. They hold a lot.

And yes, you can run your PS2 through those jacks on the front of your VCR. That’s what they’re for.

I’ll third, or whatever, Baldur’s Gate and GTA3. I also found Dark Cloud and Jak & Daxter to be pretty fun.

I didn’t especially care for Twisted Metal: Black. For a car combat game, I thought it was rather too linear, and the vehicles are not customizable. Maybe it’s just me.

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I’ve heard this before, but I haven’t heard exactly why it’s not considered a full sequel. From the screenshots I’ve seen, it doesn’t look like it’s just a handful of extra scenarios as an extension of the last game or anything. Is it really short or something?

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About running the PS2->VCR->TV coaxial input question:

Yes, that will definitely work for the games; that’s how I ran mine for a long time. But will it work for DVD’s? I know that when I bought a DVD player, I was surprised to learn that I had to upgrade my TV as well, because I was unable to run the DVD through the VCR because of the built-in copy protection from either the DVD or the VCR. I had to upgrade to a TV that has both coaxial and RCA jack inputs and connect the DVD & VCR separately to the TV.

Since then, I’ve heard that this isn’t true of ALL DVD players, just some combinations. Does this work for playing DVDs on a PS2?

I wish I could fit more acronyms into this post… anybody mentioned FFX yet?