IriidaV
2000
Before Marvel's Spider-Man for PS4, before Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, before Spider-Man 2 for PS2, this was the definitive Spider-Man game. It's a little rusty with some clunk controls and is definitely a product from the days before open-world video games. But if you were a fan of the 90s animated series or just a fan of the character in general, this was (and still is) a great pick up.
Tekken Tag Tournament is one of the best ways to explain the technological leap from the Sony PlayStation to the PlayStation 2. Using an enhanced version of Tekken 3's engine, the detail in character models and environments on display here is amazing in 60hz, 480i, and with a stellar soundtrack and a lightly refined set of controls accompanied with the tag system, this was a great game to play on your brand new PlayStation 2.
1999
I'll admit my memories of this game are hazy now, with my main recollections being of night-time car journeys, relying on the street lamps to see what I was doing, and an embarassing moment of finally catching Ho-Oh, changing my mind about giving it a nickname but not knowing how to cancel, so panicking and naming it "Ho-Ho" accidentally.
It expands greatly on the original games with 100 new creatures to try and collect, and having the end-game objective of going back through Kanto again was mind-blowing at the time. This and Silver are key games in the Game Boy Colour's line up for a reason.
It expands greatly on the original games with 100 new creatures to try and collect, and having the end-game objective of going back through Kanto again was mind-blowing at the time. This and Silver are key games in the Game Boy Colour's line up for a reason.
There's something slightly...off about this game that I was always unable to put my finger on. It expands on everything present on the first game, with added features of different times of day, more abilities, and being able to explore street-level areas. But as someone who played a lot of the original game and was well-versed with the limitations of it, I think it's these new features that gives me that weird feeling. It feels like a cracked-mirror version of the original and the stories of it being re-worked so close to release due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks further add to that uncanny feeling I have.
This is easily the best of the classic Pro Skater games before it all shifted going into THPS4. Both levels and goals are creative and entertaining and the addition of the revert ability was a godsend for keeping up ridiculous combo chains. PS2-era extreme sports gaming at it's best honestly.
This was a fun little game back in the day. The creative level design of arenas all over the world made matches infinitely more entertaining and the ability to create your own robots was always a fun challenge when you had grown tired of the ones from the show.
This, to me, is the perfect stepping stone between the N64/PS1 era of 3d platformers and what they would become in the years following. Jak and Daxter was a huge technological evolution from the Crash Bandicoot formular for Naughty Dog, with vast, open, challenging world areas, an entertaining plot that didn't talk too down to it's audience, and a killer soundtrack - and all with next to no loading times whatsoever. This was my first 100% completed game as a kid and is still stunning to this day.
The ports just get worse and worse as they release more and more based on the previouss iteration. It expands very little upon the Dreamcast version, and the main issues that were present in the original - namely the bad audio mixing and sensitive controls - are still here. The improvements to the art aren't immediately noticeable either but it's at least a better Gamecube port than what the original Sonic Adventure got.
2002
This was a rough game back in the day, and not just because it's sequel forever set the standard for superhero video-games. In a way, it expands on what the PlayStation 1 titles were doing, but the wild navigation of elevating via web-swinging and the overall blandness of it all just bring it all down. But hey, at least it gave you cheats to play as Mary Jane or Aunt May!
2001
Tekken 4 is not a bad game - the ability to play the game at 480p, 60hz was an amazing accomplishment for it's time, and the further-expanded detail into character models and environments goes to show how much of a tech demo Tag Tournament was in comparison. It tries to strike a balance in innovation for both the gameplay and everything else, with nice cinematic slideshow intros for characters and a few interesting animations sprinkled through the arcade campaigns, but the fighting itself feels a lot heavier than past titles. it's not necessarily bad, but there's a weight there to animations that feel strange to see in a fighting game.
THPS4 marks the start of the series veeing away from the arcade-like gameplay into one that takes advantage of miniature open worlds in a post GTAIII world. It largely works, and I always have a blast whenever I go back to the ever-imaginitive level designs and challenges with the banging soundtrack, but there is a sense of mystery and wonder that's almost been lost in the transition away from limited play times.
Possibly one of the most infamous "remasters"/ports out there - broken lighting, misplaced textures, and iffy collision detection are abound in this edition of Sonic's amazing 3D debut, and they only get worse and worse with each new re-release since they're all based on the previous port. Character models get a significant upgrade but it's just not worth everything else going wrong.
If you have to get this version on one platform, make it the Steam release where you can install the Dreamcast Conversion mod which fixes everything.
If you have to get this version on one platform, make it the Steam release where you can install the Dreamcast Conversion mod which fixes everything.
In the wake of Grand Theft Auto III, a Simpsons game attempting to copy the formula would not have been high on my expectations, yet here we are, nearly 20 years later and still talking about it. It's a decent game, if a little shallow, and does a commendable job at fitting as many references and easter eggs as it can.
2003
What an odd decision for Naughty Dog to hop on the GTAIII band-wagon and make their own "hijack vehicles in a vast open world and blast folks with guns, oh and also a skateboard too" game. It works, just about, but there is a charm from the original that definitely gets lost in favour of the more edgy approach to story-telling. It's very much down to each individual that plays it to whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. But hey, open world with a fairly solid art direction on the PS2 at 480p, 60hz was a great experience at the time!
Possibly my favourite of the PS2 Ratchet & Clank games, Going Commando takes everything from the original and ratchets (hah) it up to 11 - the rpg mechanics and supplementary guns and armours were a great addition and the tweaked controls to allow for strafing were very much appreciated. A 480p, 60hz experience here and an amazing one at that.