IGN's Top 100 PS2 Games

[DigificWriter]

Hi all. I thought I'd start a discussion about the recently completed IGN countdown of the 100 greatest titles in the PS2's massive library. Although not every game on the list is to my liking or taste, I was very pleased with the list overall, particularly their #1 selection. In the interest of sparking discussion, I'm going to include each game in the list, as well as, where applicable, my thoughts on said game(s).

100. God Hand
99. Karaoke Revolution
98. Madden NFL 2005
97. Socom II: U.S. Navy SEALS
96. May Payne
95. SSX Tricky
94. Killer 7
93. Fight Night 2004
92. Kingdom Hearts RE: Chain of Memories
91. Colin McRae Ralley 3
90. Dead to Rights
89. Viewtiful Joe 2
88. Monster Rancher 4
87. Project Eden
86. Battle Engine Aquila
85. Manhunt
84. Gungrave
83. Transformers
82. Burnout 2: Point of Impact
81. SSX 3
80. Spider-Man 2
79. Final Fantasy XII (I'm a huge fan of both the RPG genre in general and the Final Fantasy series in particular; FFXII isn't as good of a game, IMO, as some of the other entries in the series, most of which were released - or re-released - for the PS1, but it's still a great game and one of the best RPGs in the PS2's library)
78. MVP Baseball 2005
77. The Mark of Kri (This game is one of my absolutely favorite games and is one of the best 'non-traditional' action RPGs I think I've played in a long time. The game is brilliant from start to finish, and has a lot of game mechanics that remind me in many ways of games like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask and Okami)
76. Ar Tonelico 2: Melody of MetaFalica
75. Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando
74. Maximo: Ghosts to Glory
73. Kingdom Hearts II
72. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory
71. X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse
70. Tourist Trophy: The Real Riding Simulator
69. Star Wars Battlefront (I personally prefer the sequel, Battlefront II, because it's a deeper game, but the original game is a lot of fun, and reminds me in a lot of ways of the multiplayer modes from games like Halo and the N64's Goldeneye 007)
68. Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love
67. Psychonauts
66. Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance (I really liked this game, but, for some reason that escapes me, I ended up getting rid of it anyways; it reminded me in a lot of ways of the original Gauntlet Legends and Gauntlet: Dark Legacy arcade games [the latter of which was ported to the PS2], and is a game that I would definitely like to repurchase at some stage)
65. WWE Smackdown!: Here Comes the Pain
64. Aggressive Inline
63. Primal
62. Mercenaries
61. The Warriors
60. Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves
59. Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly
58. Star Ocean: Till the End of Time (Square/Square-Enix has made some of the best RPGs of all time, and ST:TtEoT ranks up there amongst the best games the company's ever produced, IMO; this game, for me, is as iconic - and fun to play - as games like the original Chrono Trigger, and the cast of characters is extremely memorable; another thing that makes the game so great, for me, is the setting and theme, since it's like an amalgamation of two of my favorite things ever: Final Fantasy and Star Wars)
57. Tomb Raider Anniversary (Prior to grabbing this game, I had never before played any of the TR games - including the original - but was familiar with the character; the game, for me, was incredibly hard, but also incredibly fun; it also reminded me in a lot of ways of one of the only video games that I've ever played on a computer: Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine, which was awesome, given how fun the former game was)
56. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2
55. Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (Super Mario 64, Donkey Kong 64, and Banjo-Kazooie are 3 of my favorite video games of all time, and I would consider Jak and Daxter to be as good as, if not better than, all 3; of the platformer games that I've played or owned on the PS2, J&D is by far my favorite, seconded only by Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, and is even more fun to play than that game, which is quite an accomplishment)
54. Silent Hill 2
53. Rogue Galaxy (I really like this game; at first glance, it might seem like a cheap rip-off of Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, or else a poor attempt to recreate the 'vibe' of Disney's 'Treasure Planet', but when you get beyond all that, you find a game that is equal parts Dragon Quest VIII, The Legend of Zelda, and Final Fantasy, and is just as fun as all 3)
52. NBA Street Vol. 2 (This is one of the few games on the list that I played but never owned, and, although some of the music and graphical choices weren't really to my taste, I did find the game to be quite enjoyable)
51. Twisted Metal: Black
50. Gitaroo Man
49. Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec
48. Disgaea: Hour of Darkness
47. Suikoden III
46. ESPN NFL 2K5
45. Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny
44. Odin Sphere (This is one of the few games on the list that I actually didn't like nearly as much as I thought I would; for me, it was extremely repetitive and slow-starting, even though the graphics were pretty neat and the premise and concept sounded really cool)
43. Bully
42. Devil May Cry
41. Ratchet & Clank
40. Jak 3

I'll be back later with the rest of the games.

 

[clint g]

Worthless list is worthless without Persona 3 and Persona 4.

 

[DigificWriter]

Persona 3 - or at least the upgraded version - did make the list, but Persona 4 didn't. Anyway, here's the rest of the list, as well as my thoughts:
39. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (My cousin absolutely loves the Dragon Quest/Warrior franchise, but I was always much more partial to Final Fantasy... at least until I played Journey of the Cursed King. The character designs in the game are awesome, and the story and gameplay mechanics are as good as anything you'll find in the best games in the FF series [FFX, FFVI])
38. Timesplitters 2
37. Viewtiful Joe (This is another game that I didn't ultimately end up liking as much as I thought I would; the game's concept and graphics are neat, but the transformation mechanic didn't seem as polished or as easy-to-use/utilize as it could've been)
36. Amplitude
35. GrimGrimoire
34. Beyond Good and Evil
33. Ridge Racer V
32. Black
31. Dark Cloud 2
30. Guitar Hero
29. Soulcalibur II (This is another game that I got rid of and can't quite remember why; I've always thought that the SC series was one of the better fighting game franchises out there, with a storyline that was deeper than most games in the genre and a cast of characters that really reminded me in a lot of ways of the characters from Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat; I really want to get my hands on the third installment in the series at some point, and might also go back out and re-purchase SC II as well)
28. Guilty Gear X2
27. Frequency
26. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES
25. Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus (This game reminded me in a lot of ways of old-school side-scrolling NES games like Ghosts and Goblins and the old SNES and Gameboy versions of Donkey Kong Country, except with a 3d graphics engine; the background characters were great, as were the graphics and level designs)
24. Final Fantasy X (This is hands-down my favorite game in the Final Fantasy series, and would be much higher if I were going to put together my own list of the Top 100 PS2 titles of all time; however, that's neither here nor there. The reason that FFX ranks as my #1 favorite FF game is due to a combination of factors, most primarily the storyline and the characters; the battle system, party switching mechanic, and Sphere Grid are also awesome)
23. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
22. Katamari Damacy
21. God of War
20. Resident Evil 4 (I'm not usually a fan of this type of game, but bought RE4 due to the game's high placement on a list of the Top 25 PS2 Games of All Time [also compiled by the folks at IGN], and was pleasantly surprised by the game's mechanics and storyline; the creepy atmosphere also reminded me in a lot of ways of the old Castlevania games from the NES, the original Metal Gear Solid, and one of my all-time favorite NES games, Maniac Mansion)
19. Rez
18. Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening (This is another game that I didn't like - at least after an initial playthrough, short though it was - as much as I was expecting to; however, given how short my initial playthrough of the game was, I definitely need to play it again to see if my opinion changes)
17. Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner
16. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (In talking about Jak and Daxter, I mentioned that PoP: SoT is my second-favorite platformer that I've played for the PS2; the game was also my first exposure to the world of PoP, and really reminded me in a lot of ways of some of my favorite old-school NES platform games, such as Double Dragon II, Ninja Gaiden, and the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game. My favorite aspect of the game is the fact that the entire story is essentially one giant flashback, as narrated by the titular Prince; I especially like how he'll chime in with comments like 'no, no, that didn't happen' or 'that's not what happened' if you - as a player - screw up and die without being able to reverse your mistakes using the Dagger of Time)
15. Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
14. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
13. Virtual Fighter 4: Evolution (This is another game that I didn't like as much as I thought I would, although there are definitely certain things I like about it, the character designs being one of those things)
12. Guitar Hero II
11. Burnout 3: Takedown
10. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
9. Gran Turismo 4
8. Grand Theft Auto III
7. Kingdom Hearts (Even though I haven't gotten that far in it and haven't played it for years, KH is still one of my favorite RPGs of all time, and one of the most purely innovative games in the genre; the elements that make up the game are so disparate that they shouldn't mesh at all, which makes it all the more satisfactory - and surprising - that they do in fact work and work well. Getting to play through classic worlds from various Disney films - and fight alongside characters from said worlds/films - is great, and the inclusion of Goofy and Donald as permanent party members is a stroke of genius because they perfectly compliment not only each other, but Sora as well)
6. Okami (If there's one game that deserves to be called the equivalent to Nintendo's classic Zelda series, it's Okami; this game takes everything that made games like Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask so great and memorable in terms of game mechanics and tosses behind it one of the most interesting - and original - storylines I think I've ever seen in a video game, which is made all the more awesome by the fact that said story is based on Japanese mythology and folklore)
5. Ico (This game may be one of the most under-the-radar video games in the history of video games, and is certainly one of the most under-the-radar games available for the PS2; it's also one of my favorite video games ever from any genre or console; part of the reason I love this game as much as I do is because of how unique, interesting, and unassumingly complex it is, even though it seems at first glance to be your average, run-of-the-mill platorm adventure game)
4. God of War II
3. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (Even though the GTA games aren't really my cup of tea, I played GTA: VC and found it to be rather fun; I don't know if I'll end up keeping it long-term since, as noted, it really isn't my cup of tea, but it is a fun game nonetheless)
2. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
1. Shadow of the Colossus (I absolutely LOVE this game; everything about it is dang near perfection; the game mechanics and graphic design truly make it unlike any other video game I think I've ever played; if you own a PS2 and you've never played this game, get your hands on a copy, because it is truly well worth your time and energy to play)

 

[Geck]

Glad to see Okami place so high - it's easily one of my favourite games for any system, if not at the top of that list.

A decent list overall, though I still think some games, such as the original KH and FFX are hugely overrated. KH has almost unworkable controls making gameplay frustrating (especially during combat), and unlike DigificWriter, I find the characters in FFX (particularly Tidus) incredibly unlikeable, along with some awful voice acting, making me not care about them or the story. I preferred Rogue Galaxy over both as a solid PS2 RPG.

 

[crouteru]

I don't see why it's necessary to make a top 100 list. It'd be more useful to simply list in no order all the great/popular games for the PS2, since everyone's list would be different.

 

[Random_Spock]

66. Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance

31. Dark Cloud 2

Sweet . I have the #66 one and I rented the #31 one... wish I could get a hold of it again though.

Where's Draken: The Ancient's gate on this list? I love playing that game .

 

[TemporalFlux]

A shame that Superman: Shadow of Apokolips didn't make the list. At least in my opinion, it's the only time someone has done justice to a Superman game.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

God Hand at 100, well, I'm glad it's there...

 

[Mr. Adventure]

God Hand at 100, well, I'm glad it's in there...

 

[zakfa]

PS2 had a great library. I'm surprised they left out the Yakuza games. Oh well.

 

[CorporalClegg]

Lame.