Capcom / Square Enix / Rockstar GamesYou thought PSone was cool? PS2 put on a pair of Matrix shades, slipped into some Vans, and threw on a Blink-182 tee. Not only did it play the very best games on the planet, it was also a home entertainment system, spinning your Linkin Park CDs (before you ripped them for your iPod) and playing Gladiator on its DVD player. Yes, we were entertained.
And what games. Plenty of classics didn’t start life on PS2, but they got a serious power-up here. It’s where GTA went from controversial but bit-crap top-down crime caper to an incredible 3D city where you could do whatever you wanted, where Silent Hill became a true horror masterpiece talked about in the same reverence as the best horror movies, and where rhythm action didn’t just mean pressing buttons on a joypad, but strapping on a guitar (ok, a plastic one).
Oh, it was also the best-selling console of all time. As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of PS2, here are the 25 best games that made it the console everyone had to own.
25. Psychonauts
Release Date: April 19, 2005
Developer: Double Fine Productions
Genre: Platformer
What it’s about: Raz runs away from the circus to join a summer camp for psychic spies. Using powers like telekinesis, pyrokinesis, and mind-reading, he explores the camp and dives into people’s subconscious minds to solve puzzles and battle their mental demons. One camper thinks they’re a milkman caught in a government conspiracy, another’s brain is a literal war zone. Every mind is its own world, packed with secrets and surreal humour.
Why we like it: Jak & Daxter and Ratchet & Clank may be more famous, but Psychonauts was a platformer with brains – literally. Created by Tim Schafer, the writer behind cult classics Grim Fandango and Monkey Island, it combined clever level design with the offbeat humour of a 90s point-and-click adventure game. Each mind you entered was unique, with its own tale to tell, challenging your platforming and puzzle-solving skills. With its clear mental health theme, it also packed in some genuinely affecting emotional moments. Even when you were battling a talking fish. It was like Inside Out directed by Tim Burton after a Skittles overdose.
24. Devil May Cry
Release Date: August 23, 2001
Developer: Capcom
Genre: Action
What it’s about: We need guns. Lots of guns. Oh, and swords and flaming gauntlets. Half-demon, half-human, Dante is a stylish monster hunter with the attitude of someone who’s watched The Matrix far too many times. When a mysterious woman asks for help stopping the demon emperor Mundus, Dante heads to a haunted castle to slice, shoot, and burn through everything inside. Combat is fast and fluid as you juggle enemies in mid-air with sword slashes and gunfire, flip across gothic hallways, and rack up style points for looking good while doing it.
Why we like it: Devil May Cry was Castlevania made cool. It took the gothic setting and monsters of the old-school platformers and gave it a gallon of Red Bull. Capcom turned swordfighting into performance art, rewarding precision and flair instead of button-bashing like so many action games that came before it. Dante wasn’t just killing demons, he was performing – cracking jokes, striking poses, and radiating main character energy. It looked like a horror movie, played like an action film, and felt like the future. Every stylish action game since – from Bayonetta to God of War – owes it a debt. Not bad for a game that started as a Resident Evil sequel.
23. Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
Release Date: November 3, 2004
Developer: Insomniac Games
Genre: Platformer
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What it’s about: Ratchet the Lombax mechanic and his wisecracking robot sidekick Clank blast off for their third adventure when TV-obsessed villain Dr Nefarious declares war on organic life. What follows is pure cartoon chaos – you’re hopping between planets, flying through asteroid fields, and blasting enemies with weapons that range from plasma whips and lava guns to the Sheepinator, which literally turns enemies into sheep.
Why we like it: Up Your Arsenal arrived just as gaming was growing up. While Jak & Daxter went darker and many PS2 games chased older audiences, Ratchet & Clank kept things bright, funny, and full of gadgets. Mixing old-school platforming with the spectacle of a sci-fi shooter, Insomniac moved on from Spyro in style, creating a game that was as inventive as it was explosive. Dr Nefarious remains one of PlayStation’s great comic villains, and the series’ mix of action and wit still hits. Loud, clever, and endlessly playful, it was a reminder that games didn’t need to be gritty to be great. And with a name like Up Your Arsenal, were you really expecting something serious?
22. Guitar Hero II
Release Date: November 7, 2006
Developer: Harmonix
Genre: Rhythm action
What it’s about: One of those guitars that’s like a plastic guitar, as Simpsons character Otto Man almost wished for. Guitar Hero II was on everyone’s Christmas list back in the PS2’s later years, and for good reason. The original had already taken rhythm action to the next level, but this brought great tracks that you shredded along to on your plastic axe. But if you could nail that Free Bird solo, why hadn’t you bought a real guitar already?
Why we like it: This is the ultimate party game. Not a collection of mini-games – who plays those at a party anyway? We’re talking a proper party, with booze and that. The “that” in this case being a plastic guitar. This wasn’t the first Guitar Hero (the name’s a bit of a giveaway), but with a bigger tracklist full of classics and a two-player mode that let you trade solos or battle for glory, the original was just the opening act for a global arena headliner.
21. TimeSplitters 2
Eidos InteractiveRelease Date: October 9, 2002
Developer: Free Radical Design
Genre: First-Person Shooter
What it’s about: If there was one battle the N64 won against the PSone, it was four-player split screen. Nothing PlayStation had could really topple Mario Kart or GoldenEye. That all changed when a bunch of ex-Rare devs at Free Radical took their FPS expertise to TimeSplitters 2 – a classic sci-fi shooter where a pair of space marines travel through time to stop an alien race, fighting through the Wild West, Prohibition-era gang wars, and futuristic robot battles.
Why we like it: Before you hid away in your room yelling down a headset at anonymous players, you were elbowing your mate on the sofa while they tried to snipe you in plain sight. Before shooters got serious and bloody. Before winning could earn you a million bucks. Okay, fine – you might prefer that last one. But TimeSplitters 2 definitely put the fun in FPS, with perfect arcade pace, ridiculous weapons, and characters ranging from cowboys and zombies to a monkey with a gun.
20. SSX 3
Release Date: October 20, 2003
Developer: EA Sports BIG
Genre: Snowboarding
What it’s about: The PS1 had Cool Boarders. The N64 had 1080°. But when PS2 launched with SSX, the best snowboarding game debate was over. High-speed racing, Tony Hawk-style tricking and the odd punch to your rival’s face all coalesced to make for a thrilling, shiny launch game that showed the new power of PS2. The third game in the series followed the vogue for open worlds (or rather, a mountain) as instead of multiple slopes, you had one massive peak you could ride from top to bottom without ever hitting a loading screen.
Why we like it: SSX wasn’t just a great snowboarding series – it was the coolest PlayStation game since Wipeout. Everything about it reflected early-2000s style: pounding beats, neon snow trails, and characters dressed like they’d just raided a Quiksilver store. You weren’t just chasing scores, you were chasing style, pulling backflips and spins to Basement Jaxx and N.E.R.D. By SSX 3, EA Big had perfected the formula and added a new twist with the massive mountain. It was fast, stylish, and completely of its time – yet somehow timeless too. If only they still made games like SSX.
19. Burnout 3: Takedown
Criterion GamesRelease Date: September 8, 2004
Developer: Criterion Games
Genre: Racing
What it’s about: Gran Turismo had the realism. Burnout had the crashes. Criterion’s third entry was pure arcade mayhem, rewarding you not just for winning but for driving like the bumpiest bumper car on a dodgems track built over a badger sett. The big new feature was the Takedown – shunting rivals into oncoming traffic or straight through a billboard in glorious slow motion. Add in Crash Mode, which turned pile-ups into a sport of their own, and you had a racing game that cared more about carnage than cornering.
Why we like it: In Gran Turismo, a crash meant a polite thud and a spotless car. In Burnout, it meant fireworks, twisted metal, and slow-motion chaos set to My Chemical Romance. It was PlayStation’s return to arcade racing – the lineage of Ridge Racer and Crazy Taxi – but louder, faster, and far more destructive. Every race felt like an action scene, every wipeout a reason to cheer. While Gran Turismo fine-tuned realism, Burnout 3 fine-tuned fun.
18. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Release Date: November 6, 2003
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Genre: Action adventure
What it’s about: Before Ubisoft became known for Assassin’s Creed, it was in the middle of a creative hot streak. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was the jewel of that era, a revival of a long-forgotten 2D platformer turned into a cinematic adventure. You played as the Prince, an acrobatic show-off who could wall-run, backflip, and vault through traps like a gymnast. Only with swords instead of ribbons. After unleashing a plague of sand monsters, he finds a dagger that can rewind time, letting you undo mistakes and pull off impossible moves with a flick of your thumb.
Why we like it: The Sands of Time was part of Ubisoft’s early-2000s renaissance, arriving alongside Splinter Cell and Beyond Good & Evil and showing what the studio could really do. It was graceful, inventive, and action-packed, like starring in your own version of The Mummy or Indiana Jones. With its mix of parkour, puzzles, and swordplay, it felt genuinely fresh. Without it, there’d probably be no Assassin’s Creed – and far fewer wall runs in gaming.
17. Final Fantasy XII
Square-EnixRelease Date: October 31, 2006
Developer: Square Enix
Genre: RPG
What it’s about: Set in the world of Ivalice, Final Fantasy XII trades crystals and teenage angst for something a little more political. You play as Vaan, a street kid who gets swept up in a rebellion against a conquering empire, teaming up with a fallen princess, a couple of sky pirates, and a giant rabbit woman. It’s part epic fantasy, part sci-fi opera – the closest Final Fantasy has ever come to Star Wars.
Why we like it: A few years after The Phantom Menace made space politics cool – or at least tried to – Final Fantasy XII went full galactic senate, only far less boring. Its world felt alive, packed with cities, creatures, and characters you actually wanted to spend time with. Combat was fast and seamless, letting you chain attacks and plan moves on the fly instead of waiting for turns. While perhaps not as impactful as PSone’s Final Fantasy VII and IX, it was still another great adventure.
16. God of War
Release Date: March 22, 2005
Developer: Santa Monica Studio
Genre: Action adventure
What it’s about: While many heroes of the PS2 era have faded, Kratos is the great survivor. Well, he is a god after all. Back then he was a Spartan warrior tricked into killing his family and out for revenge against the gods themselves. With his chain-blades swirling and a voice that could reach depths that Hollywood trailer guy Don “In a World….” LaFontaine could only get to in his dreams, he rampaged through temples and across oceans, taking down everything from minotaurs to hydras.
Why we like it: Thousands of years after the fall of the Greek empire, Sony created their own legendary demigod who could stand alongside Heracles. God of War pushed PS2 harder than almost anything else, with each battle and boss fight being huge in scale. Yes, you could button bash a bit (bet big Heracles wished he could have mashed Square to capture Cerberus back in the day) but the age of three hits and you’re dead was over.
15. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4
Release Date: October 23, 2002
Developer: Neversoft
Genre: Skateboarding
What it’s about: By the time Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 landed, the Birdman was already a PlayStation legend. Neversoft took everything that made the first three games great – the perfect sense of movement, the clever level design, and that iconic soundtrack – and let players loose in bigger, more open environments. You weren’t just ticking off challenges anymore; you could skate freely, talk to NPCs, and take on objectives at your own pace. It was a great skateboarding playground.
Why we like it: In the days when people actually bought magazines to read about games, Tony Hawk had become a cover star and Pro Skater 4 was the absolute peak of his powers. While chaining an impossible combo and watching your skater soar above Alcatraz was thrilling, nailing the landing with the crunch of wheels on ground was the most welcome sound outside of System of a Down’s Shimmy. He never hit the same 900 heights again, no matter how hard he tried. And he really did try – who could forget the plastic skateboard sh*tshow of Tony Hawk Ride.
14. Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening
CapcomRelease Date: February 17, 2005
Developer: Capcom
Genre: Action
What it’s about: After Devil May Cry 2 somehow made gun and swordfighting boring, Capcom came back swinging with a prequel that brought back the style and sense of fun of the original. Devil May Cry 3 sees a young Dante opening his demon-hunting business and immediately finding trouble when a giant tower erupts from beneath the city. Inside waits his brother Vergil, a mysterious demon clown, and a giant ghost chariot that looks like it escaped from a heavy metal album cover.
Why we like it: If Devil May Cry was the cocky new kid on the block and DMC2 was a moody teenager that barely muttered a word, this was the series going back to its youth and loving every minute of it. The combat was fast, loud, and ridiculous in all the right ways – juggling demons in mid-air with pistols one second, swapping styles mid-fight the next. The soundtrack screamed, the bosses ruled, and Dante found his swagger again. Even if he was a bit annoying.
13. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Release Date: November 13, 2001
Developer: Konami
Genre: Stealth action
What it’s about: After Metal Gear Solid brought cinematic storytelling to PlayStation, its sequel arrived with expectations as big as Snake’s leap off that bridge. It opens with him sneaking onto a tanker in the rain to investigate a new Metal Gear prototype – all atmosphere, stealth, and guards slipping on puddles. Then, just when you think you know what you’re getting, the story takes a sharp left turn into government conspiracies, AI control, and identity crises that nobody saw coming.
Why we like it: The MGS2 trailer at E3 2000 caused queues around the block and helped sell millions of PS2s before it even launched. But it was clear that Sons of Liberty would live up to the hype almost immediately. It was tense, clever, and unpredictable, balancing stealth with spectacle (those Hollywood-style cutscenes). And just when you thought you understood it, it pulled the rug out from under you and asked questions about technology, control, and information that feel even more relevant today.
12. Grand Theft Auto III
Rockstar Games Release Date: October 22, 2001
Developer: Rockstar
Genre: Action
What it’s about: It’s hard to believe now, but this writer, together with his boss, took a risk when putting the anonymous star of Grand Theft Auto III on the cover of a magazine because there was nothing else. Unlike Trevor, Michael, or CJ, the real star was Liberty City itself – a 3D glow-up of the grimy, rain-soaked parody of New York that you could freely explore. You played a silent crook betrayed by his girlfriend and left for dead, climbing the criminal ladder by running errands for mob bosses, blowing up drug shipments, escaping from the police, and doing deeds your parents wouldn’t have approved of.
Why we like it: If Goodfellas or The Sopranos had let you take the wheel, it would’ve looked like this. Grand Theft Auto III gave you complete freedom to drive, shoot, and misbehave however you liked – which, back in 2001, was genuinely shocking. You could steal a cab and work as a taxi driver, hijack a tank, or get chased halfway across the city by the FBI because you ran over one too many pedestrians. Parents hated it. Politicians condemned it. Players couldn’t get enough. It may have lacked the main-character energy of later games, but this is where a pop-culture phenomenon really began – and it set the tone for gaming for the next 25 years.
11. Kingdom Hearts II
Square EnixRelease Date: December 22, 2005
Developer: Square Enix
Genre: RPG
What it’s about: While everyone was banging on about how wild it was to see Square and Disney teaming up, nobody stopped to think about how strange it was to see Tron, Mulan, and Jack Sparrow in the same adventure. Kingdom Hearts II once again follows Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they travel between Disney worlds, fighting shadowy creatures called Heartless with an oversized keyblade and enough optimism to light up Midgar. One minute you’re duelling pirates in Port Royal, the next you’re zipping through the digital world of Tron.
Why we like it: If The first Kingdom Hearts was charming but clunky; the sequel made it sing like Ariel. Combat was faster, flashier, and far more satisfying, letting you chain magic, sword strikes, and team attacks in a blur of light and colour. Each world felt like a proper Disney playground, and the emotional storytelling hit harder than anyone expected, especially from a game where Donald Duck is your healer. 20 years on, Kingdom Hearts II remains the best in the series.
10. Gran Turismo 4
Sony Computer EntertainmentRelease Date: December 28, 2004
Developer: Polyphony Digital
Genre: Racing
What it’s about: You know the score by now: a garage of cars a Premier League squad could only dream of, realistic handling, and licence tests harder than reverse-parking a Range Rover at a British supermarket. Yes, Gran Turismo 4 gave players over 700 vehicles to race, from everyday hatchbacks to Le Mans monsters, across dozens of real and fictional tracks.
Why we like it: While Burnout was all about bending metal and chaos, Gran Turismo 4 was pure precision for petrolheads. It was all about control, cornering and shaving milliseconds off your time. Every car handled differently, every mistake was punished, and yet the satisfaction of nailing a perfect corner was unmatched. It looked stunning for its time, too, with photo-realistic replays and gleaming reflections bouncing off the shiny bonnets that still looked pristine even after your Skyline had slammed into the wall for the 20th time. Don’t worry about the lack of damage though, this is another PS2 classic that can be considered peak.
9. God of War II
Santa Monica StudioRelease Date: March 13, 2007
Developer: Santa Monica Studio
Genre: Action adventure
What it’s about: By 2007, the PlayStation 3 had already arrived, but the PS2 wasn’t done yet. God of War II was its last great stand, and what a send-off. It opens with Kratos, newly crowned as the God of War, stomping around ancient Greece like he owns the place. That is, until Zeus sends him crashing back to Earth like Thor in the Marvel film (sorry, mixing mythology). From there, it’s another brutal revenge tour through mythology – fighting gods, flying on the back of a Pegasus, and turning half of ancient Greece into rubble along the way.
Why we like it: God of War II was everything a sequel should be – faster, bloodier, and bursting with confidence. The opening fight against the Colossus of Rhodes felt like a boss battle crossed with a natural disaster, the kind of set piece that left you wondering how the PS2 was still coping. Combat was meaty, the puzzles broke things up nicely, and even amid all the chaos there was a moment that managed to be genuinely moving. Press circle for emotion.
8. Final Fantasy X
Square EnixRelease Date: July 19, 2001
Developer: Square
Genre: RPG
What it’s about: After the brilliance of Final Fantasy IX – the one starring a Jawa in a sorting hat – Square had a lot to live up to with its first PlayStation 2 game. Final Fantasy X follows Tidus, a star Blitzball player (think underwater football, only less fun) who’s dragged into the world of Spira, a land haunted by a giant sea monster called Sin. Teaming up with summoner Yuna and her guardians – including Auron, who looks like a Jedi that’s seen too much – Tidus joins a pilgrimage that takes you from tropical islands to thunder plains, temples, and frozen ruins.
Why we like it: This was Final Fantasy getting with the new era: fully voiced cutscenes, a combat system that finally let you swap party members mid-battle, and visuals that made the PS2 look years ahead of its time. You’d spend hours grinding through random battles, then break it up by dodging 200 lightning bolts in a row for a rare item or trying to convince yourself Blitzball was fun. Its heartfelt story was emotional, a bit awkward, and completely absorbing. So good, it became the first Final Fantasy to get a proper sequel – but this one was the best on PS2.
7. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
KonamiRelease Date: November 17, 2004
Developer: Konami
Genre: Stealth action
What it’s about: Before Solid Snake was saving the world with cardboard boxes and cigarettes, there was Naked Snake – his mentor, and the star of this Cold War prequel. Sent deep into the Soviet jungle to rescue a defected scientist and stop a nuclear crisis, Snake has to sneak, hunt, heal, and survive. You patch up gunshot wounds, literally eat snakes, and smear yourself in mud to blend into the undergrowth like a camo-clad Bear Grylls with a mullet.
Why we like it: Ok, the cutscenes were long enough to require a vat of popcorn, but in between was genius stealth action. The jungle felt alive, the systems were smarter than ever, and the boss fights were unforgettable. The End, a sniper battle in the forest, could last hours – unless you cheated and sniped him early, or just waited for him to die of old age. And then there was that ladder climb, scored to the Bond-style Snake Eater theme that made you feel like Roger Moore scaling the Eiffel Tower in A View to a Kill… if it had lasted three years. Bizarre, ambitious, and brilliant, Snake Eater proved stealth games could still surprise you, even three instalments in.
6. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Rockstar GamesRelease Date: October 27, 2002
Developer: Rockstar North
Genre: Action
What it’s about: For all the cool moments on PS2, none beat hopping on a scooter at the start of Vice City and hearing Billie Jean blast out of the radio (don’t ask how you could hear it over a moped engine). Set in a neon-soaked, 1980s Miami, you play Tommy Vercetti – a low-level crook fresh out of prison trying to build an empire from the ground up. You’ll buy businesses, run errands for the mob, and blow up everything from drug deals to helicopters with that trusty rocket launcher.
Why we like it: Vice City took GTA to the next level, with a main character who could speak (imagine that?) and the best soundtrack in gaming – a tour through the 80s as vivid as Stranger Things Season 3. But its real DNA was Scarface meets Miami Vice: pastel suits, fast cars, and heavier firepower than a small army. None more so than in The Rub Out mission, storming Ricardo Diaz’s mansion in a hail of gunfire. And who could forget the Keep Your Friends Close finale, where a rocket launcher blast could mean victory or instant death? Yes, San Andreas went bigger, but Vice City was tighter – a city small enough to feel like home, where you knew every street, every alley, and every mansion you’d bought up to fund your empire.
5. Soulcalibur II
NamcoRelease Date: March 27, 2003
Developer: Namco
Genre: Fighting
What it’s about: A tale of souls, swords, and questionable fashion choices, Soulcalibur II pits warriors from around the world against each other in a bid to claim the titular holy blade before the hulking knight Nightmare can restore its evil twin, Soul Edge. It’s flashy, fast, and full of fighters swinging everything from katanas to giant axes across temples, castles, and rickety bridges.
Why we like it: It’s tempting to call this Tekken with swords – which it basically is – but that’s not a bad premise. Every swing, parry, and slow-motion finishing blow landed with style, and each fighter had a distinct weapon and rhythm, from Mitsurugi’s samurai precision to Voldo’s… whatever Voldo was doing. The PS2 version even got Tekken’s own Heihachi as a guest fighter (even though everyone secretly wanted to play the GameCube one with Link). It was like Tekken was handing the baton to Soulcalibur to earn its place as the number one PlayStation fighting game, even if only temporarily.
4. Shadow of the Colossus
Team ICORelease Date: October 18, 2005
Developer: Team Ico
Genre: Action adventure
What it’s about: Forget towns, side quests, and chatty companions – this was just you, a sword, a bow, and your horse, Agro. Wander rides into the Forbidden Land hoping to bring a lost love back to life by slaying sixteen enormous creatures known as colossi. Each one is part boss fight, part climbing puzzle. You find them by holding your sword to the sun, following the light across an empty wilderness, and then working out how to scale their vast bodies before your stamina bar gives out and they fling you halfway across the map.
Why we like it: After the quiet beauty of Ico, Team Ico went bigger and bolder. Shadow of the Colossus stripped away everything but the essentials and somehow made that feel epic. The open land seemed endless, Agro felt like a real horse, and every colossus was a fight you had to figure out as much as conquer. From the flying serpent that swooped through the desert clouds to the mountain-sized brute you climbed via its beard, every battle felt up close and personal. One more monster, one more impossible climb, and one more ride in deep thought as you tried to figure out what the hell just happened and what it all meant. There’s been nothing like it since.
3. Silent Hill 2
KonamiRelease Date: September 24, 2001
Developer: Konami
Genre: Survival horror
What it’s about: James Sunderland arrives in the fog-covered town of Silent Hill after receiving a letter from his deceased wife. Searching for answers, he finds only ghosts, memories, and monsters that seem to know him a little too well. The most famous of them all is Pyramid Head, a hulking butcher who drags a giant blade through the mist.
Why we like it: While other horror games relied on jump scares and splatter, Silent Hill 2 got under your skin. The fog hid half the world from view, your radio hissed whenever something unspeakable was near, and you were never sure what was real. It wasn’t about ammo or headshots; it was about atmosphere and dread. Every street felt wrong, every sound set you on edge, and every monster looked like something you weren’t meant to see. Like a low-budget horror film where someone forgot to turn off the fog machine, Silent Hill 2 was eerie, sad, and completely unforgettable. Two decades on, no game matched it until Silent Hill f.
2. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Rockstar GamesRelease Date: October 26, 2004
Developer: Rockstar North
Genre: Action
What it’s about: After Vice City, GTA moved from ’80s excess to early ’90s grit. Carl “CJ” Johnson returns home to Los Santos after his mother’s death, only to find his family scattered and his old neighbourhood at war. From there, it’s a rise through the criminal ranks that takes you across the whole state of San Andreas – from the gang-ridden streets of Los Santos to the quiet countryside and the casinos of Las Venturas.
Why we like it: The ambition of San Andreas was off the scale. You could lift weights at the gym, eat too much pizza, and get out of breath running from the cops, or get lost in the wilderness chasing UFO rumours. One mission had you breaking into a secret government base to steal a jetpack; another had you flying a jumbo jet back to Liberty City. There were shootouts, heists, car chases, and plenty of distractions in between. It captured early ’90s California perfectly, from the Grove Street gang wars to the winding canyon roads that stretched for miles. The soundtrack was just as good, with A Horse With No Name and Killing in the Name among the highlights that nailed the state’s split personality. And if you didn’t deliberately make CJ fat, you weren’t having fun.
1. Resident Evil 4
CapcomRelease Date: October 25, 2005 (PS2)
Developer: Capcom
Genre: Horror
What it’s about: You thought Link in Soulcalibur or Mario turning up in NBA Street was frustrating for PS2 owners? Try waking up in 2004 to find Resident Evil 4 was a GameCube exclusive. Luckily, PS2 players didn’t have to wait long for Leon S. Kennedy’s greatest adventure, and it was worth it. Sent to a remote European village to rescue the US President’s daughter, Leon quickly finds himself facing mobs of infected locals, hooded cultists, and several angry men with chainsaws.
Why we like it: This was Resident Evil reborn. Capcom ditched the slower, fixed-camera horror for something faster and much more intense. The over-the-shoulder aiming changed everything, making each infected battle more of a thrill. You’d barricade windows, kick down ladders, and cling to your last shotgun shell as the villagers closed in. Then, just as you caught your breath, the game threw in a lake monster, a collapsing castle, and a giant statue that tried to kill you. It was scary, ridiculous, and brilliant from start to finish. Resident Evil has never been better.
Now check out the best PSone games of all time.