It's 2023, and I'm STILL Playing These PS2 Games!

PlayStation 2 Month roles on! That's right, it's #PS2uesday, and as much fun as it is to revisit one of the greatest consoles of all time, the games are what made the console memorable. And while there's a LOT more than just 10 games I keep coming back to, these are the ones I've been playing the most frequently lately.
What are your PS2 games you keep coming back to?
Join this channel to get access to perks:
/ @squarepegs
-----
Patreon: / squarepegs
Subscribe: bit.ly/3dgzpsT
Email: [e-mail]
Merch: www.squarepegsmerch.com
Twitter: / ytsquarepegs
Instagram: @YTSquarePegs
TikTok: / squarepegsgames
Facebook: / ytsquarepegs
---
My Gear (Amazon Affiliate Links help support the channel at no extra cost to you!)
Nintendo Switch OLED: amzn.to/36PwYzm
Xbox Series X: amzn.to/3qDlFB9
Retron 5: amzn.to/3IN42p2
Blue Yeti Microphone: amzn.to/3qEoJx8
Nikon D5600 Camera: amzn.to/3LaHSOM
RODE Shotgun Microphone: amzn.to/36voTzV
Sandisk 128 GB High Speed SD Card: amzn.to/3tE9oyi
Hauppauge HD 60 Video Capture: amzn.to/3IWTQtZ

[@nitewatch3082]

Been enjoying the PS2 content. Hard to believe it's 20 years old! So many good games to play in a massive library.

[@SquarePegs]

I'm glad you've been enjoying it! It's been nice to step fairly far away from an insulated Nintendo world and celebrate one of my favorites. :)

[@RPGryphus]

Yes, thank God for PS1 and PS2 emulators. I started playing FF VII again, damn it felt good to revisit this.

[@junkoenoshima4457]

games used to be so simple and fun now its just one season pass after another and a nonstop grind which is more work then fun

[@SquarePegs]

Well, there was plenty of grind back then, too - we just had more time for the grind so it didn't feel like it. It's hard to sit down with a 100+ hour game as a middle aged human and try to play it with any sense of satisfaction. I legit can't think of more than five or six days out of the last year where I've had an open six or seven hours to just sit and play a game. But you're 100% spot on with the season pass BS. It's my biggest frustration with modern gaming - locking things behind a paywall is so predatory.

[@mikelisagor5970]

The Sky Cooper series brings back great memories. Also Ape Escape.

[@SquarePegs]

I think I've only played Ape Escape on the PS1 - I need to check out the PS2 entries. Thanks for the suggestion!

[@jacobparker6399]

Finally a list that is full of original thoughts not the same rehashed lists everywhere

[@SquarePegs]

Thanks Jacob! My tastes tend to veer sharply away from the mainstream from time to time (despite the inclusion of Ratchet & Clank and Sly in this list), and I try to shine a little bit of light on games some folks might have overlooked. I appreciate the comment, and thank you so much for watching!

[@comboboricua6442]

I am so glad you put Sled Storm here. It was my first ever PS2 game that I got as a Christmas gift when I was only 4 years old. It is my favorite game ever! I still keep going back to this underrated gem🙏🏻🔥

[@SquarePegs]

It's SO GOOD. One of the best, most wildly overlooked and underrated games on the console!

[@lightspeed4448]

I still play Star Wars Revenge Of The Sith on PS2 it's great

[@RetroRivals]

PS2 definitely had a great library and the best part about this video is that it highlights games most of which I never really would have thought of. I always tend to focus on the survival horror pretty much on any console, but I do appreciate a good platformer and I wonder if Tales of legendia would be something Scott would enjoy. Looking forward to the licensed games video next. 😊

[@GameCubeGalaxy]

Great topic to cover, and great picks! Lots of variety, and MAJOR kudos for mentioning Sled Storm. Such an underrated PS2 game! Can't wait to see your picks for the PS2 licensed games video!

[@SquarePegs]

Thank you my friend!

[@LameDadRetroGamer]

You know I'm a sucker for old sports games. Looks like I'm picking up nhl 06. Sled storm is underrated

[@SquarePegs]

NHL 06 is fantastic. Really shows what that EA Canada team was capable of.

[@jamesstrickland517]

Two of my favorites are Driver1&2 and Road Rash plus I have all of the Medal of Honor games as well as Tiger Woods and NFL06.

[@SquarePegs]

I love the Driver games!

[@jamesstrickland517]

@@SquarePegs I also have Driver 3 but was never really impressed with it.

[@sneakysneaky8619]

I-Ninja is so good! I had no idea there was a canceled sequel, makes me wonder what ideas they had for it

[@SquarePegs]

Same! And I'd have loved to see their take on it with the GBA.

[@WavesNGames]

Going to listen to the Taiko Drum Master cover of Love Shack right now. You can't stop me! Crypto! We need more DNA! Freaking love DAH! For the remake they didn't re-record the voice lines. They used the original recordings with a little cleaning up.

[@SquarePegs]

I am eagerly awaiting your thoughts on Love Shack. Once you hit the Kate Pierson impersonator at the start of the song failing miserably on 'LooooooooOOOOOOOVE SHACK!' it only gets worse from there. The Fred Schneider impersonator isn't much better. 😂

[@WavesNGames]

@@SquarePegs honestly it was the guitar that I hated the most lol

[@Oloolo597]

NHL 2002 was my addition back in those years

[@jeremycummings6702]

Right on brotha I still play my ps2 alot and my ps3 as well keep up all the good work buddy!!! I love the Xmen legends series as well!!!!!

[@SquarePegs]

Thanks Jeremy! It's been a really fun month revisiting the PS2. :)

[@RetroTrade]

I'm going to have to pick up the X-Men Legends game !! I have never got to try it and now I'm looking for it thank you Jay!!

[@SquarePegs]

You're most welcome! It's a great series - both it and its sequel are really fun, and the OG Marvel Ultimate Alliance games from the PS3/360 generation are really good, too. :)

[@TheOne_7866]

Glad i bought a ps2 again bk in 2021

[@ArkansasPicker]

Love the SSX games! I'm gonna have to try out Sledstorm!

[@SquarePegs]

It's so good!!

[@samanthaazira]

This video made me think i should do a video exploring my collection of sports games and seeing if i find any enjoyable or fun. You may make me a sports game player yet

[@SquarePegs]

There's a lot of REALLY average at best sports titles out there, but every once in awhile you'll find a gem. I encourage anyone to try out the EA Big line, and the NFL Blitz, NHL Hitz, MLB Slugfest, and NBA Jam series are all great as well. :)

[@samanthaazira]

@@SquarePegs blitz and NBA jam would be my start

[@RussellWheeler-ib3gw]

I like how you included an EA Sports Big game. Growing up I couldn't wait to see what the next game they came out with was. SSX, NBA Street series, & Freekstyle were some of my favorite games on the PS2.

[@SquarePegs]

I loved EA Big. it was a privilege to work there when they were making the Big titles, and having my name on the OG NFL Street remains one of my career highlights. :) Thanks so much for watching!

[@Asaylum117]

It's just too bad how insanely expensive the Sly Cooper games have gotten over the years.

[@joeball13]

Love the ps2 content. Always a forgotten one for reviews, people are quick to forget how PS2 had the numbers back in the day, most units sold plus usually the best graphics vs it's competitors pushing the same game.

[@blackestbill7454]

same, gaming peaked with ps2 and gamecube

[@SquarePegs]

I don't know that I necessarily agree with gaming having peaked at that generation - but I do know that my time for gaming definitely peaked in that generation. I wish I had the time to pour into games now that I had then!

[@erickavery1]

Some that I always go back to are the various Gundam games, specifically Zeonic front, the seriously under appreciated Second Sight, Megaman X command mission, the megaman jrpg, and my favorite rpg on the system Wild Arms 3!

[@SquarePegs]

Wild Arms 3 is SUCH a great game! Excellent suggestion - and I'll have to look into the others! I haven't played any of them!

[@NerdLife84]

I love the street fighter alpha series and I often still play the anthology game on my ps2. Other games I go back to are Jak and Daxter, Def Jam Vendetta, Mortal Kombat Deception and the Smackdown vs Raw games

[@SquarePegs]

I haven't played Deception, and I only recently started up on Jak & Daxter, but DJV and Smackdown V Raw 2008 were very close to making this list!

[@Canadian_Gamer]

5:26 Talk about lazy attention to detail, if you look at Zhsmnov’s image in the bottom left corner, they got him wearing his Flyer’s jersey! 😂

[@CPTcripp]

ive been playing dynasty warriors 4 and yu gi oh duel of the roses the ps2 remote feels so off in my hands i guess im use to the new remotes you can get a 8bitdo adapter which you can link your ps4 remote or xbox however im using the ps4 remote its amazing

[@bountyhunna282]

Playstation 1 and 2 was the best.

[@SquarePegs]

They definitely were great systems. The PS2 in particular has aged like a fine wine. :)

[@Nobility731]

This man hit it right on the head about the Playstation 2 , I stoped playing playstation 2 back when Metal Gear Snake Eater Came out , Purchased Man Hunt 1 and 2 , and Had not played it since . I see the playstation 5 is making a playstation 5 remake that looks just like the playstation 2 , my big headed Russian Girl Friend loves it

[@GenerationPixel]

A great list, despite you managing to slide a Hockey game in 😂, but I-Ninja, that's one that's managed to pass me by 🤔 consider it added to my hunt list 😎👍

[@SquarePegs]

I will almost always slip a hockey game into a conversation. I knew when I scheduled out the videos that NHL 06 was gonna land somewhere, but the question was whether it was here or in the $100 challenge - and then I decided to do the $100 as Greatest Hits only, and the decision was made. :D I-Ninja is money. So much fun!

[@rmgb-tv]

Have you tried the PS1 Sled Storm? It's quite different, no BIG branding, but it's still quite fun One I return to time and time again is OutRun 2006: Coast to Coast. What an amazing conversion of an arcade release!

[@SquarePegs]

I haven't played the original, no! I didn't discover there was an original until I did my EA Big ranking video back in December. :) OurRun 2006 is AMAZING.

[@tomallica420]

I play my PS2 more than my modern systems

[@SquarePegs]

Its got such an incredible library, I can see why! I go through phases with it where it'll be the only thing I play and then I hang it up for a few months, but I've been really enjoying getting back to it this month. :)

[@tomallica420]

@@SquarePegs I agree! I really need to jump into my backlog but I keep getting sidetracked by arcade sports games haha

[@lTinyl]

X-Men legends was perfect and they should make more of it (the Midnight Suns is pretty fun too cause you have card game there too)

[@SquarePegs]

I haven't played Midnight Suns yet - I actually forgot that it released! Thanks for the reminder and suggestion!

[@davidb69]

It’s funny nhl 2006 I see as the worst of the lot, I do love 04,05 and 09 on ps2 . Another game I’d include that doesn’t get enough love is mlb power pros, the game is a HUGE RPG(yes baseball rpg) . I also recommend the army men series on ps2 .

[@SquarePegs]

I'm looking for Power Pros this weekend! I hadn't even heard of it!

[@davidb69]

@@SquarePegs it was out for 2 years on ps2 and wii( I don’t recommend the wii version) so there is mlb power pros and mlb power pros 2008 , hope you find it

[@HamOzer]

0:24 the playstation 2 *the audio cuts out"

[@SquarePegs]

Yup. It sure did because the fade didn't sound right. The cut also doesn't sound right, but the fade sounded more not right, if that makes sense?

[@HamOzer]

@@SquarePegs maybe

[@tomrwills]

I'm 35, soon to be 36. I love fighting games... I've never played Street Fighter outside of one match in a barcade. They just never looked as appealing to me. I'll have to check them out. I wish Alpha was on the anniversary collection.

[@SquarePegs]

Well - the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection is the way to go, in that case! You get the OG arcade release of Street Fighter, every version of SF2, every version of SF3, and Alpha 1, 2, and 3. It's the best Street Fighter collection that Capcom has released, and it's mercifully usually fairly inexpensive. I think I got my physical copy on the Switch for under $20 at Target - it's always one of the back aisle endcap cheapo games with things like Monopoly and Uno. :D

[@tomrwills]

@@SquarePegs ah I didn't notice it had Alpha. I'll check it out. Dirt cheap right now!

[@BatKirk]

I strongly recommend From Russia With Love. Gameplay wise it holds up really well. An enjoyable and often overlooked title because it was received just okay reviews on release. Not a perfect masterpiece or anything, but a solid title that's still fun today.

[@SquarePegs]

I'll look for it this weekend! Thank you for the suggestion!

[@inputfunny]

Have you ever played "007: Everything or Nothing"? That's a really good 007 game that has the same kind of gameplay as "007: From Russia With Love".

[@xavierpierre1676]

capcom vs snk 2

[@SquarePegs]

Great game!

[@RPGryphus]

No love for the best PS2 games ever made such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms series, Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires or the best of them all, Kessen 3? 🤔🤨

[@SquarePegs]

The Romance series has never really connected with me, starting back on the NES. I think they're good, but I don't feel a compulsion to keep playing them repeatedly. Same with Dynasty Warriors - and really anything that uses that engine. I have fun with the games, and then I'm good to never really go back to them with any kind of regularity. The Kessen series I'll admit I've never actually played. Looks like they're related to the Nobunaga series?

[@RPGryphus]

@@SquarePegs They are related and also made/produced or whatever by KOEI as well, but is somewhat of a mixture between the Dynasty Warriors and Nobunaga's Ambition games. Only Kessen 3 is worth playing today, the other two have very poorly aged on all aspects, but they were good when they first came out. Kessen 3 is more story driven (uchronical) and less strategy/tactics burdened, so people who were not impressed with Dynasty Warriors and too intimidated (or just not interested in committing too much time or thought into a game) by Nobunaga's Ambition, usually would find Kessen 3 a perfect balance. It takes around 30 hours of gameplay for a playthrough, and you need at least 3 playthrough to really complete the game, and maybe 4 or 5 for completionists that missed a couple of things in their first 3. That's because the first playthrough is on normal, which will unlock the hard difficulty (which turns out to be easier in many aspects since you get to carry over some of the stuff you bought or found in the previous playthrough), and after that you unlock the expert difficulty which is a lot harder, not only because the enemy are stronger but the game actually adds a ton where in previous playthrough they were absent. I started playing again 2 weeks ago, I'm in my 3rd playthrough, on chapter 7 on a total of 12 chapters (13 for hard and expert difficulties). I recommend you try it, if only to be properly introduced to the game.

[@RPGryphus]

@@SquarePegs They are related and also made/produced or whatever by KOEI as well, but is somewhat of a mixture between the Dynasty Warriors and Nobunaga's Ambition games. Only Kessen 3 is worth playing today, the other two have very poorly aged on all aspects, but they were good when they first came out. Kessen 3 is more story driven (uchronical) and less strategy/tactics burdened, so people who were not impressed with Dynasty Warriors and too intimidated (or just not interested in committing too much time or thought into a game) by Nobunaga's Ambition, usually would find Kessen 3 a perfect balance. It takes around 30 hours of gameplay for a playthrough, and you need at least 3 playthrough to really complete the game, and maybe 4 or 5 for completionists that missed a couple of things in their first 3. That's because the first playthrough is on normal, which will unlock the hard difficulty (which turns out to be easier in many aspects since you get to carry over some of the stuff you bought or found in the previous playthrough), and after that you unlock the expert difficulty which is a lot harder, not only because the enemy are stronger but the game actually adds a ton where in previous playthrough they were absent. I started playing again 2 weeks ago, I'm in my 3rd playthrough, on chapter 7 on a total of 12 chapters (13 for hard and expert difficulties). I recommend you try it, if only to be properly introduced to the game.

[@RPGryphus]

@@SquarePegs So I replied to you, but my comment keep being deleted... Not sure why.

[@RPGryphus]

@@SquarePegs They are related and also made/produced or whatever by KOEI as well, but is somewhat of a mixture between the Dynasty Warriors and Nobunaga's Ambition games. Only Kessen 3 is worth playing today, the other two have very poorly aged on all aspects, but they were good when they first came out. Kessen 3 is more story driven (uchronical) and less strategy/tactics burdened, so people who were not impressed with Dynasty Warriors and too intimidated (or just not interested in committing too much time or thought into a game) by Nobunaga's Ambition, usually would find Kessen 3 a perfect balance. It takes around 30 hours of gameplay for a playthrough, and you need at least 3 playthrough to really complete the game, and maybe 4 or 5 for completionists that missed a couple of things in their first 3. That's because the first playthrough is on normal, which will unlock the hard difficulty (which turns out to be easier in many aspects since you get to carry over some of the stuff you bought or found in the previous playthrough), and after that you unlock the expert difficulty which is a lot harder, not only because the enemy are stronger but the game actually adds a ton where in previous playthrough they were absent. I started playing again 2 weeks ago, I'm in my 3rd playthrough, on chapter 7 on a total of 12 chapters (13 for hard and expert difficulties). I recommend you try it, if only to be properly introduced to the game.

[@Oloolo597]

I prefer Hulk rather than the X men game

[@blindgamingplays3678]

Ultimate destruction was very fun