Marc_Savoie

Game recommedations for and questions from a kinda casual PS2 gamer

Hello.
I'm a somewhat casual gamer by most standards. I love my PS2 and the 5 games I have for it. As background the games I own are:
- NBA Street
- NBA 2K3
- GTA3
- GTA: Vice City
- Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3
In a few days I'll be eagerly adding NBA Street vol. 2 to the list.

I'd also like to buy 1 other game when I go buy that one, and there's a few I'm leaning towards. It should be noted that I'm not terribly into action (shooter, etc) or adventure (Devil May Cry, Metal Gear Solid, etc). I'm mostly into sports (sim or arcade, traditional or alternative) and the GTA series...

The ones I'm contemplating include (in the order I'm favouring them):
A racing game
01. Burnout 2: Point of Impact
02. Midnight Club 2
I played Gran Turismo 3 a couple times, but wasn't going crazy over it... is this more sim than arcade compared to the other 2? I think I prefer more the arcade style...thus my Top 2 choices...
- if there's any other yet-to-be-released racing games like the ones I've listed that are highly anticipated, feel free to recommend those to me as well

Other:
03. SSX Tricky (nice and cheap too...)
04. Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer (this might be more rental material I'm thinking....)

I'd love to hear some general feedback to sway my decision. Right now I'm leaning to Burnout 2 (seems like the most fun, arcady stuff) or Midnight Club 2 (as I'm familiar with Rockstar's work through the GTAs...which actually might be a deterant for me- O'd kinda like something new I guess).

I also have a few general questions re: PS2 (didn't figure I needed to open up a bunch of seperate threads:

- Are there any good PS2 volleyball games out there, or on the way??? GameCube has Beach Spikers and XBox has DOA, but I can't locate any PS2 volleyball games. I read a couple previews for the upcoming Summer Heat Beach Volleyball for PS2, but nothing overly positive was said. Any others?

- Any plans for a new version of Hot Shots Golf? I borrowed the latest edition a while ago and had fun with it... I'd consider buying a part 4.

- Any tentative release date for Tony Hawk 5 (my plans are to buy it every second year...thus I skipped #4)?

- How about another SSX game from EA Big?

Thanks for reading and (maybe) replying everyone!

Marq

[c][size=0.5]\"The best way to destroy a taste for what is bad, is to cultivate a taste for what is good.\"[/size]
Best Movies of 2003 : DVDs : DVDs (again)
Top 20 Films : Favourite Horror Films : Favourite Music of 2003[/c]

Allen_Appel

Need for Speed:Hot Pursuit 2 is a great arcadey racer. Shaun Murray's Pro Wakeboarding looks great (I played the demo), but won't release until June. While I think Midnight Club 2 is probably a great game, don't judge an entire company (like Rockstar) on a single great series, or you might get burned on, say, State of Emergency. Since you are a casual gamer, why not get older/used games? Midnight Club is a Greatest Hits title, Burnout is pretty cheap, SSX is around $10, Aggressive Inline is an underrated extreme sport game. There's a PSX volleyball game called Power Spike, but it didn't garner rave reviews.

Marc_Savoie

Thanks!
I really am considering a couple cheap older titles to buy (SSX Tricky and Hot Shots Golf 3 most likely).

I'll have to keep an eye out for that Wakeboarding title when it comes to release day....

Reading reviews of the original Bunrout and Midnight Club, I didn't get too excited, thus my interest in their (seemingly) more well regarded sequels... I'll now look into Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 as well.
Thanks again.

[c][size=0.5]\"The best way to destroy a taste for what is bad, is to cultivate a taste for what is good.\"[/size]
Best Movies of 2003 : DVDs : DVDs (again)
Top 20 Films : Favourite Horror Films : Favourite Music of 2003[/c]

Joe Szott

I would suggest just renting most of those on your list over a few weeks and see which you like best. You seem to have something specific in mind that is hard to articulate, better to find out yourself than take our word for it.

Marc_Savoie

True enough...

To further articulate my debating over a car racing game (and to show how little experience I have as a gamer).. I really loved Mario Kart. I played it A LOT when I visit a cousin.... now I don't expect a "cartoony" race game for my upcoming buy, but if someone could compare my 3 main choices (B2, MCII, NFS: HP2) to the openess of that game I'd appreciate it (I anticipate Need for Speed would be best compared.. if any at all). I'm not searching for as simple (easy to finish) a game as MarioKart, but ...ah hell... I'm still getting nowhere!

Again, I appreciate all the advice so far. It's been very helpful indeed.

Also, while I am certainly looking for advice regarding a racing game... I'm almost certain now to get SSX Tricky and Hot Shot Golf 3 at their low prices as well...

[c][size=0.5]\"The best way to destroy a taste for what is bad, is to cultivate a taste for what is good.\"[/size]
Best Movies of 2003 : DVDs : DVDs (again)
Top 20 Films : Favourite Horror Films : Favourite Music of 2003[/c]

Leslie W

Need For Speed HP 2 is a great game. You also might want to check out WipeOut Fusion. Racing anti-gravity vehicles is fast paced and a lot of fun against the computer or friends.

I have enjoyed every NFS that has come out, but the newest has so much stuff to do, it has tons of replay value.

The rental suggestion is a very good idea. Too may games try to cash in on " name " with either bad quality in play, length, or grapics. I really, really wish I had followed the rental idea before buying Devil May Cry 2. It left me crying.

--

paul h

SSX3 is on the way soon, gamespot have posted a little info on it.
As for Burnout i'd definitely pick up Burnout2, well worth it for the extra modes and improvements over the 1st game.