Just got a PS3...give me some PS1 and PS2 game recommendations (1 Viewer)

[Todd H]

To be honest, I've never owned a PS1 or PS2. And since the PS3 is backwards compatible, I'd like to explore the earlier catalogs as well. Any recommendations? Thanks.

 

[Todd H]

Oops. Could a mod move this to Videogame Software? Thanks.

 

[Harpozep]

Well, you have to give us some ideas of what you would like to do and the type of gameplay you crave. Many types out there for reasonable money , especially used PS2 games.

A LOT of first person shooter games exist as well as RPG fantasy types. These are worlds apart.

I am a fan of the quest/hack/slash genre such as Balder's Gate and The Champions of Norath. In these you have the potential of cooperative playing with other players as you explore realms in real time, defeat monsters , get treasures, upgrade your wardrobe, weapons, powers, etc. Lots of customization and hours of fun. When you finish, you unlock secret characters and higher/harder levels and you may start again!

All in all, these are the type of games I love.
Though shooting Zombies in a FP shooter game can while away the hours as well!

 

[Todd H]

Thanks for the reply. I'm not too interested in RPG's. I like things like fighters, racing games, and more arcade-like games. I enjoy games that are fun, but don't require me to spend hours on end in front of the television trying to complete them like most RPG's do.

 

[RAF]

With all the gaming systems I've owned over the years (starting with Pong!) I somehow never got into the PS/PS2 scene. But when I purchased my PS3 (mainly for the Blu-ray capabilities) I decided to try a couple of PS2 titles, partially to see how compatible the PS3 was, and partially because there were a couple of titles over the years that intrigued me and weren't available on other systems.

Besides, Sony has re-released some of their "Classic" games at an under $20 price point so you might want to try some of these bargains. I would think that anything in your favorite genre that won "Game of the Year" honors from any of the major reviewers (magazines and web sites) would be worth a look.

For me I chose God of War and Shadow of the Colossus (both won top honors in recent years). I picked up both of these titles for well under the cost of a single PS3 title and the slightly lesser graphics was well worth it to me.

I'm sure that there are many other titles that would fit this profile (in your gaming of choice.) Let us know what you come up with.

Happy hunting!

 

[Todd H]

God of War does sound interesting so I'll probably pick that up. There's one old PSX game that I've heard about for years that I've got to get my hands on as well...Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. I loved the old Castlevania games and heard SOTN was amazing. Discovering all of the gems in the PSX and PS2 libraries is going to be fun!

Edit: Holy crap is SOTN expensive, even used! Is it THAT good?

 

[Jeffrey Noel]

Silent Hill....awesome PS1 game!!

 

[Bryan X]

Crash Team Racing is a great game for the PS1.

 

[BrianB]

It's long out of print, and has legions of fans. It's also being re-released for the PSP & the XBox 360 (via XBLA) for sensible prices. I'd wait for them

 

[Chris Roberts]

All recommendations are games I own and still play. I don't own a PS3 though, just a PS2.

For racing games;
Gran Turismo 3 - The racing simulator that most will recommend. I prefer arcade racing myself and that's only a minor part of GT3.
Burnout 3: Takedown - A great arcade racing game where you're rewarded for taking risks and causing accidents.
Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2 - You can try and outrun the cops or be the cop trying to catch the bad guy. Also a solid racing game without that feature.
MX Unleashed - If you ever played Excitebike before this is kind of like a modern version.

For fighting games;
Virtua Fighter 4: EVOLUTION - A great fighting game. Uses all realistic moves rather than fireballs or magic swords.
Fight Night 2004 - A great boxing game. I don't even like boxing, but this game is addictive once you start playing.

For first-person shooter games;
Red Faction - You're fighting in a rebellion on Mars. One of the best FPS on any system ever.
Half-Life - A classic and the PS2 version is really good. Also has a co-op mode to it.
Timesplitters 2 - Great if you play multiplayer at home (as opposed to over the net in which case look for Timesplitters 3).

I haven't played too many of the side-scrollers, but I know friends like Devil May Cry a lot.

 

[Dave_Brown]

Metal Gear Solid 3 is a pretty decent title. I'm not much for RPG games, I prefer more of the solo war fighter and MGS and Splinter Cell are a good one. There are 3 titles I usually by day of release: Metal Gear Solid, Splinter Cell and SOCOM: U.S. Navy Seals.

 

[Brandon_T]

SSX Tricky. If you want a fun racer type game, this is a great snowboarding game. Its fun single or multi player, one of the only games me and my friends will still sit an play.

 

[Chris Dias]

I highly recommend ICO. Especially if you like Shadow of the Colossus as it was made by the same team. It's my favourite PS2 game and I used to work for Sony as a game tester and have played pretty much every game they've made (up until early 2003 that is)

Chris

 

[RAF]

Thanks for the lead on ICO. I looked it up and it really looks like a classic early PS2 game. Unfortunately, Sony's site says that there are compatibility issues with ICO and the PS3 since it flickers throughout the game play. This is probably related to the fact that it's a 2001 (early) PS2 title. That's a shame since I'd really like to have checked it out on my PS3.

 

[PerryD]

PS2 also was the king of platform games, I'd recommend Jak & Daxter, Sly Cooper, and Ratchet & Clank, all AAA titles and feature a couple sequels each. I'm also a big fan of Klonoa 2 and Ape Escape 2. For something really odd, pick up Katamari Damacy and it's sequel We Love Katamari.

 

[Tony-B]

My favorite PS1 games:
Ape Escape
Boombots
Crash Bandicoot series
Dead or Alive
Gran Turismo 1 and 2
Both of the Oddworld games
PaRappa The Rapper
Ridge Racer 4
Sled Storm
Tenchu 1 and 2
Skullmonkeys
Intelligent Qube
Incredible Crisis
Spyro The Dragon
MediEvil
Tekken 3
Hot Shots Golf series
Metal Gear Solid series

PS2 games:
Amplitude
Beyond Good And Evil
Burnout series
and of the DDR games
Devil May Cry series
Downhill Domination
Gitaroo Man
God Hand
God Of War
Grand Theft Auto series
Gran Turismo series
Hot Shots Golf series
Ico
Legacy of Kain series
Jak And Daxter series
Katamari Damacy/We Love Katamari
Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2
Metal Gear Solid series
Okami
Psychonauts
Rez
Shadow Of The Colossus
Twisted Metal Black
Ratchet and Clank series
Psi-Ops
War Of The Monsters
Frequency
Parappa The Rapper 2

 

[Anicrow]

As far as PS2, and non RPG goes I'd say two the must plays would be the
Metal Gear Solid series, (All amazing, yes even 2...)
Devil May Cry (The first one will always be the best, but 2 and 3 are well worth playing)


Aside from that I enjoyed the Final Fantasy series (They really got me started on RPGs)

IF you're into racing, Need for Speed underground is a blast, Gran Tourismo is wicked realistic (Accept the AI is PERFECT)

and well, who doesn't like destroying 100k + Cars in Burnout?

...Over and over again.

 

[Gord Lacey]

I love "Burnout" 3 and 4 (can't wait for 5 on the PS3).

The "Grand Theft Auto" series is great. I've played "Vice City," "San Andreas" and "Liberty City Stories" (a port of the PSP game). "Bully" is a recent GTA-style game, but it's not as long and contains some great lines.

There's a series of PS1 games that I still play; the "Pro Pinball" series. Some of them can be hard to find (especially "Timeshock," the best of the bunch), but they're the best pinball games I've played on any system, and the lower-res graphics are fine for a pinball game.

Gord

 

[Todd H]

Wow, so many recommendations! Thanks to everyone. It's going to take me a while to go through these lists.

 

[TheBat]

try spider-man 2 and hulk: ultimate destruction.

Jacob