In the PS3 Slimmer topic, people were talking about the great, innovative, and original games on the PS2, created back when developers took more risks.
What are these games? What are the games that someone with a dusty PS2 slim or OG PS3 with hardware back-compat should go back and find? What are your favorite niche titles, the really original games, or the sublime gaming experiences that those of who were more PC focused during the PS2 years should be sure to experience?
Ditto for PS1 games.
Thankfully any PS3 can play PS1 games, so that helps a bit. :)
Final Fantasy VII
Front Mission 4
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is my favorite platformer of all time, no contest. Not a risk-taker, but definitely fits as a “sublime gaming experience.”
As mentioned in the other thread: Warship Gunner 2. Build your own WW2-style ships from the hull to the superstructure, installing engines, guns, systems, you name it. Then take them out and pound the crap out of other WW2-style ships. Talk about an outlier genre in any format, be it mainstream console or neckbeardy PC indie. Koei really made lots of games like this.
Two PS2 greats from Incog: Downhill Domination and War of the Monsters.
ICO. Ico Ico Ico.
Also innovative and great:
Gitaroo Man
Sly Cooper
Katamari Damacy
Okami
Shadow of the Colossus
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
Dark Cloud 2
Rez
Mark of Kri
Disgaea?
Amplitude?
Innovative, but not necessarily so great:
Mister Mosquito
Disaster Report
I kinda want a PS2 just for Test Drive: Eve of Destruction, honestly. If y’all haven’t played that wonderful game, and have a PS2 or original Xbox, geeeet it. Soooooo fun.
Gladius
And that card/monopoly game that I have completely blanked on. Grrr, stupid, old brain.
EDIT Culdecept Thanks Tortilla!!!
ICO. Ico Ico Ico.
Also innovative and great:
Gitaroo Man – Unique music gameplay. Endearingly silly story. Some great music. Hard but satisfying.
Sly Cooper 1 – Solid platformer with innovative stealth gameplay.
Katamari Damacy – Like nothing else.
Okami – Beautiful, fascinating, and HUGE.
Shadow of the Colossus – Not as brilliant as ICO, but way more ambitious.
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time – Classic combat platforming. Excellent level design.
Dark Cloud 2 – Everything and the kitchen sink RPG.
Rez – Freak-out music shooter!
Mark of Kri – Crazy-unique combat system. Violent. Really violent.
Disgaea?
Amplitude?
Innovative, but not necessarily so great:
Mister Mosquito – Weird and disturbingly sensual.
Disaster Report – Survival horror with an earthquake instead of zombies.
Hells yes.
War of the Monsters has seen more gameplay on my 60GB PS3 than all of our native PS3 titles combined. (My kid and I love playing it together. :)
Ohhh, apparently War of the Monsters is now on PSN! HAVE to see if there’s a demo!
Final Fantasy Tactics for me on PS1
I suspect you mean Culdcept.
Yes, Culdcept is fantastic. They released a new version for the 360, it was excellent too. But the game just doesn’t seem to be catching on much.
Bushido Blade.
Ahhh, Gracias! I kept saying “C-something” in my tiny brain, but nothing could jog my memory and google was no help with just a “C” to go on.
Great picks! Some others:
PS1: Bushido Blade (and BB2 but I don’t remember what much of the differences were).
Super Puzzle Fighter II. Fortunately remastered for PSN.
PS2: Guitar Hero 1, 2, and let’s say 3.
Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City, and (my favorite) San Andreas.
SSX and SSX III
Flight Odyssey was fun to play with, though I don’t think I ever beat it.
So many great memories on the PS1, these are only a few:
Suikoden 1/2 - Some of the best RPGs ever made.
Simcity 2000 - My first PS1 game of what was an excellent port. Played it to death.
Tomb Raider - Getting surprised by the T-rex is still one of my favorite gaming moments.
Return Fire - Split-screen head-to-head multiplayer was a blast!
Poy Poy - This game was SOOO much fun with your friends. You basically battled it out with each other on these little arenas where getting killed by the environment (like a t-rex chasing you) was just as fun as getting killed by your friends.
Final Fantasy VII - Classic in every sense of the word.
Final Fantasy Tactics - I actually made this game impossible to beat because I kept replaying battles to level up all my characters to 99.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV/VI - Cao Cao!
Soul Blade - My fighting game of choice. I was the weirdo who liked playing Voldo. Story mode was amazing.
Twisted Metal 2 - Played this one to death in co-op with my friend. My god what a game. Destroying the Eiffel Tower was marvelous. :D