God of War 2 (2006/7)
If you live in the US of A, youd probably been playing PS3 for 3 months by the time Kratos got all angry for a second time on PS2. While Sonys third machine released in November 2006 in the States, it didnt appear until March in the UK and Europe--and that was the same month God of War 2 burst onto the scene.
GoW2 is a sterling example of how to squeeze every last drop of power from an ageing piece of hardware. Some of the things Sony Santa Monica did, like the enormous titan fight at the start of the game that saw Kratos climbing seamlessly onto the enormous boss character and smashing it in the face, actually surpassed the set-pieces of the new generation. The rest of the game was super smooth too, and left many looking at the likes of Genji and the upcoming Heavenly Sword with increasingly sad eyes. Oh, Genji--where did it all go wrong? Oh yeah, the Giant Enemy Crab thing.
Persona 4 (2008/9)
When Persona 3 released in 2006, shortly before PS3 took over from PS2, everyone expected--they knew--that the next Persona game would be a lovely, new generation title. Demon hunting on a 7th gen console. Glorious. Oh, wait, its coming out on PS2? In 2008! Really? Oh, you live in Europe? Better wait until 2009 then Despite all this, Persona 4 is looked on fondly by series fans as one of the best Shin Megami Tensei games ever.
While Persona 3 was the game that pushed the series furthest forward, this fourth instalment just did everything so well. Visually, it had no right to be running on PS2, and the soundtrack perfectly suited the mood and feel of the action. The fish-out-of-water characters struck a chord with many fans too, which is perhaps the best explanation for the games enduring appeal.
Fear Effect 2: Double Helix (2001)
Its tough to remember whether Fear Effect 2 was actually any good. All I recall is the beautiful visuals, and the fact that the two sexy lead ladies seemed to love dressing in revealing clothing and touching each other. In hindsight, the idea of using lesbianism to sell this game to the male PSone audience, a year after PS2s launch, was probably the best ploy.
Theres no doubting that the game looked great back in 2001, and that the controls were a huge improvement over the original game (which stuck to Resi style tank movement). However, the increased focus on puzzles rather than combat was a turn-off for action fans lured in with the promise of a little virtual killing to go with their titillation. Still, the artwork looks nice.
Donkey Kong Country 3 (1996)
Ok, lets give this game its full title, just once. Deep breath Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kongs Double Trouble (phew) appeared right on the cusp of the SNES / N64 cross-over. It launched in November 1996, in between the N64s American and European launches. So it counts.
It also counts because its a great platformer, mixing straight jumping, swinging and swimming to create one of the most varied DK games of all time. You can hop into motorboats and hovercrafts, and get help from various animal sidekicks. Its a Rare game, from that magical period when the British developer was producing phenomenal games across Nintendos hardware.
Sheep, Dog 'n' Wolf (2001)
Did anyone here play Sheep, Dog n Wolf? Youd be forgiven for having skipped it, assuming it was some dumb cartoon tie-in on the original PlayStation. You were probably too busy staring at the dull battlefields of Kessen on PS2 to notice this gem of a puzzle game.
It stars Ralph Wolf, who bares a striking resemblance to Wile E Coyote from the Roadrunner cartoons. Hes keen to rustle some sheep from a farm, but Sam the guard-dog is on patrol. Cue a quirky puzzler that looked great on PS One (at the time), and allows players to approach most situations with a decent degree of freedom. Theres plenty of humour here too, something sorely lacking from most console launch line-ups.
Land of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (1992)
Im flashing back - way back - to 1992 for this one. I was happily playing MegaDrive back then. Although pleased as punch to be sprinting through Green Hill Zone as Sonic, and sticking goons with plungers in Quackshot, I was always casting confused, envious glances at Master System owners who were playing the excellent Land Of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse. Yes, even though Castle of Illusion had been available for 2 years, since 1990.
Land of Illusion is, quite simply, a brilliant platformer that showed Master System owners a good time, years after their swanky friends had upgraded to MegaDrive/Genesis. It allows players to pick up objects to attack enemies, find new stuff when they revisit stages, and features the same butt-first attack that everyone loves in Castle of Illusion. Yet it was running on a primitive 8-bit console. When it appeared on GameGear in 1993, LOI impressed a whole generation of handheld players too. Go team Mouse!
Pokemon: Black and White (2011)
By 2011, Nintendo had unleashed the 3DS on the world. Yet its most popular series, Pokemon, stayed staunchly on the old DS. Turns out that was a savvy move from Ninty, as this game shifted 5 million+ copies, becoming one of the most successful DS games of all time. See, many had refused to upgrade to 3DS in 2011, and Black and White represented a perfect excuse to save money and still have 100s of hours of gaming.
Although some critics felt that character designs lacked creativity, the game was very well received by the press too. Perhaps this--combined with those 5 million sales--explains why Nintendo then released Black and White 2 on DS (again, snubbing 3DS) in 2012. Its only now, with X&Y still relatively new to the world, that the resurgent 3DS has been rewarded with its own proper Pokemon game.
TOCA Race Driver 3 (2006)
The Race Driver series had already delivered two excellent PS2 outings when TOCA 3 appeared, so people were familiar with the games pedigree. Perhaps thats why it managed to sell reasonable numbers and maintain the series reputation long enough for Race Driver GRID to appear and enrapture racing fans on PS3 and Xbox 360.
Of course, now its all GRID and DiRT and other racing games written in caps. However, TOCA Race Driver 3 did pioneer several features that have become staples of the series since, like Career and World Tour mode, and the handling still has that delicate balance between realism and arcadey entertainment. And, although it doesnt look it next to Forza 5 and GT6, Race Driver 3 was handsome back in 2006
WeaponLord (1995)
WeaponLord is another game youre probably not familiar with, but hear me out. It launched on the Sega MegaDrive / Genesis back in 1995, and its an above-average fighting game. It sold poorly, and the developers claim thats because it was a year behind the Sega Saturn, with all its shiny Virtua-shaped arcade games. Fair enough.
However, Namco used WeaponLord as the basis for a new game it was working on called Soul Edge, which went on to become the mighty Soulcalibur series. You can see the beginnings of the Soul Edge series in WeaponLords parry system, blade-based combat, and counter-attack moves. So, sorry it didnt work out for you WeaponLord--but thanks for spawning one of the greatest one-on-one fighters of all time, mkay?
Syphon Filter 3 (2001)
Syphon Filter was very much the Resistance of the original PlayStation. A Sony first-party shooter, it was born on the same console that it died on. Well, except for the predictable portable spin-off Again, just like Resistance. Anyway, the third game was actually good, but it shot onto PS One a year after PS2 launched and holds the dubious honour of being the last Sony game released on the first PlayStation.
While Syphon Filter 3 didnt bring anything drastically new to the series, it was still an accomplished game. The series left fans wanting more, which is why Sony resurrected the game on PSP, and why Google searches still yield forums asking for a PS4 version of the game.
