Video games are cool. I love video games, when I get bored. During the lockdown in 2020, I got very bored. So I bought a games console. I had no part time job yet and wanted to get something to entertain myself. Animal Crossing was not enough to keep me sane.
I went to Leamington with my family to spend time together, 3 hours later I was back home with the PlayStation 2. Now, you may ask me why? out of all consoles, why this?! Well, you see, I got this from CeX, a second hand store where people sell their media and the stores sell them. One person's trash becomes another person's treasure. This was my treasure.
When I was a young kid in my first years in Primary School I used to watch my cousin play on the console many years ago. As I grew up, it became the highest selling video games console in the world with 158 million consoles sold. Nintendo were at a close second with the DS at 155 million units. Plus, many of the games released on the console were favourites among the video games industry.
I wanted to jump back into the 6th generation of gaming rather than enter the latest generation. No need to buy a console for £500 with a game costing £70. Here I am with a PS2 console worth £50 and a copy of FIFA 2001 at the cost of 50p.
We're back home and my dad helps me set up my PS2. The sigh of relief comes around when the plugs fit the coloured wires, second sigh of relief arrives when the console boots up, and the final sigh of relief occurs when FIFA boots up. It's game time.
FIFA 2001 is not a good game. It's not the worst FIFA but it's just crap. The music sucks, the controls are terrible, the other game modes are needless and (somehow) the Israelian Football League is in it. This was my only game I had for the console. This was my only game on the console...until a day later.
Rayman Revoluton. I love this game so much! A new version of Rayman 2 on the N64, this remake is leagues above the original. Mainly, there's actual voice acting. In the N64 version, everyone speaks in some fictional language. To summarise, the levels were memorable; especially the one where you ride a sea dragon named Ssssam (yeah very funny) while you dodge cannons from space pirates. It's a dark game, but the controls, story and atmosphere hooked me. But the music, it's angelic. This game was created by Ubisoft, who are a far-cry from who they once were during the 2000s. The final boss, Admiral Razorbeard, was tricky and took me nearly an hour to defeat him. Because of this game, I found something else that France should be known for in place with Daft Punk and Baguettes.
This was where I was at during the end of September. Not bad for the start of my collection. To get things off my chest, I hated the Manchester United license game, it took up half of the memory disc. A typical size for a memory card for the PlayStation 2 is about 8 megabytes, small today but the size was a gamechanger back then.
FIFA 2004 was a big improvement. The music was better with an array of genres, the controls were better but I still sucked at the game. Grand Theft Auto San Andreas is the most sold PS2 game; it sold over 17 million copies on the console. It's been hailed as one of the best GTA games of all time, set in San Andreas in 1992 where CJ returns home at Grove Street to avenge his dead family. He sides with the Green gang along with Big Smoke, Sweet and Ryder. The story consists of surprises, comedy, heel turns and drama and I enjoyed every second of it. I didn't like the controls of weapons, felt robust. I gave up halfway of the game at the infamous train level, where CJ and Big Smoke ride a bike to stop a group of men from the other gang from getting away with money. I fell, I fell again and died numerous times, all with Big Smoke yelling "All you had to do is follow the damn train, CJ". I would if the controls on my bike were not terrible.
And then I get to Pro Skater 3. My favourite skateboarding game of all time!
The Tony Hawk series is very popular with the skateboarding community. As it stands, it's the joint-highest rated video game on the critic site Metacrtitic with a score of 98/100. GTA 3 shares the same score. The object of the game is to make your own skater, complete some challenges with tricks, compete in score competitions and give your skater some bonus power ups. It's such a fun game, so addicting that I found myself beating the game in just one night. Nothing can stop Walter White, #1 skater from the USA. I decided not to buy another skating game, you can't top Pro Skater 3.
Weeks later, Simpsons Hit and Run came along. I see you're getting a lot of nostalgia over that. As of now, I'm nearly done with the game. It's basically Grand Theft Auto for kids. You can go anywhere you want as any character from the Simpsons, steal cars, kick people and robotic bees and stop Springfield from impending doom. It's a great game, even if it is a licensed video game, where many of these are mostly crap. My personal favourite were the levels where I played as Homer and attack surveillance vehicles (which turned out to be pizza trucks).
That same week, I did the impossible.
Ooooh boy, Final Fantasy X (ten if you're not good at counting roman numerals). To cut the story short, you play as a sports player named Tidus who finds himself in the future and joins in an adventure with other heroes to defeat the monster that is Sin. I'm not an RPG guy, like a lot of people. But this game is a good introduction to RPGs. The combat is smooth, the characters are fun and easy to understand and the world building slaps. Of course I gave up halfway because my characters were not levelled up well and the monsters kept on taking a lot of damage to them. Instead, I watched a gameplay of the rest and was pleased that I chose to stop where I did. Other than that, awesome game.
Near the end of the year, I bring home TimeSplitters, one of the first releases for the console. It's as simple as you think, you play as a multiple characters in different eras. First you're an explorer hunting for treasure in the 1930s and the next you find yourself in space in the 2400s killing cyborgs to get a defibrilator to escape a burning ship. What sold people back then were the online levels, which sadly I could not get in because the internet support for the PS2 had ended in 2007.
This was my collection in December. My cousin gave me the Scooby Doo game, which I wasn't a fan of. I still have it when I feel like giving it another go. Gran Turismo 3 was not for me, especially the tight control of the cars. Metal Gear Solid 2 was a fun game, but gave up as I wasn't good at stealth games. But I was good at Crazy Taxi, which was created by Acclaim Cheltenham (finally a Cheltenham reference!). You can choose one of the four taxi drivers and the object of the game is to complete journeys by getting customers to their locations in under 5 minutes. There are small mini games too like taxi bowling and drifting challenges. It's a fun arcade game. Half Life is a great first person shooter game, much like the PC version. Only problem, no save feature! No save, no play.
Bully (Canis Canem Edit) is another fun game. I played as a kid who is sent to Bullworth school, a place for disadvantaged school children. In it you get through the school year by confronting groups of people such as the nerds, jocks, the greases and much more. Unfortunately, the nerds beat me at my game and it was on to Parappa the Rapper 2.
While the original is a blast and was the first rhythm game released on consoles, the sequel keeps the flow going. The story is wild, Parappa gets called a 'baby' by his girlfriend Sunny while he has a bit of a moment trying to impress her. Parappa has a crisis and wants to try and wow her by becoming a man. He's 14, you still got time buddy. While this adventure takes place, another teen is on a plan to turn everything in the world to noodles (don't ask, the game was made in Japan). Many rapping stages take place in a burger store, his house watching a strict instructor on TV then being shrunk by one of his dad's inventions; in a barber's store, a military base with the sister of one of the main characters in the 1st game; the HQ of the villain with a surprise rap battle and then a celebratory rap to end the game. The further I get, the harder the levels became. How I managed to complete the game without losing a single rap still surprises me.
2021, new year. arrives and another game catches my eye. SSX Tricky, a wacky snowboarding tournament game. So wacky, I beat the game...twice. Once as Moby, the Liverpudlian guy on the left and Elise (who was voiced by Lucy Liu). There are 9 levels with three rounds each, a heat, semi final and a final. The music is amazing, the level design rocks, the banter caught me off guard and it's a lot of fun. Play in the Winter and feel immersed.
SSX 3 would come around and steal the spotlight over the past game. There are more courses with 3 peaks on a mountain, the music was better, the controls were more smoother, the replay-ability got me back to the game a day ago and it's proof that EA could make great games. If only they tried these days. If I had to be honest, SSX 3 is my favourite in the series. Pure bliss.
The Sonic Mega Collection is a nice celebration of the Sonic games of the past. It features all of the games released on the Sega Mega Drive, including the original Sonic Trilogy. Mostly all of the games featured in this collection are really fun. The ones I spent a lot of time on were Sonic 1, Sonic 2, Sonic SpinBall and Sonic Drift. The others were alright. But to top it all off, the speical features included all the cover pages for the American Sonic comic, extra illustrations from the game and short clips from the past games. Neat from Sega.
I bought two fighting games. First one was Dead or Alive 2. Pretty easy game because all I did was tap buttons furiously hoping to beat the asses of many fighters in my way. I played as Big Bass, the American Cowboy and beat the game in 20 minutes! To complete the game, you have to play as all characters and beat all their levels. Nothing leads to an ultimate boss sadly. But I have to admit that the watch-along feature is nice as I could put two computer controlled characters fighting together for as long as I want and I would keep them there while I was completing my University essays.
Virtua Fighter 4 was my favourite. I knew a lot more of the characters in the game and it was a bit more challenging than Dead or Alive. I played as Lion Rafale after failing to beat the game with some of the characters. I'd recommend keeping your eyes on the enemy and remember the secret moves to defeat the game quicker. After many attempts and 30 minutes later, I got to the final boss, Dural. I lost, she was too strong and it was a one-chance fight. Even if I lost, Virtua Fighter thanked me for trying my best. Aww thanks.
This was my collection. So...the new games. Wipeout Fusion was fun but gave up halfway, I wasn't a fan of Kingdom Hearts. It's alright but I wasn't for me. Viewtiful Joe was good until it kept on getting repetitive and the second boss being too hard. Killzone was just boring. It's like Call of Duty but felt like it was rushed to compete. TimeSplitters Future Perfect is an improvement from the first TimeSplitters; especially the comedy through an adventurous story. As always, I gave up in the middle to stop myself from Frustation. Other than that, it was a fun time playing the game. Resident Evil 4 wasn't my type of game, but I still kept it as it was a special edition version of the game.
Okami is my kind of game. You play as a Godess named Ameratsu from Ancient Japan who turns into a dog to save the land from demons. Throughout the game, I could bite villains, draw shapes to defeat bosses, learn new skills by drawing constellations in the sky, draw a circle in the sky to bring the sun out, terrorise villagers for fun and learn about Japanese myths and legends through my time. I could have kept on going, but the game was 18 hours long and stopped at the 7th hour. Just a bit too much.
However, I did complete this game. Jak and Daxter, the Precursor Legacy! So fun, it got me into the fanbase and also helped me through my second year in University. You play as Jak, who is tasked to stop a dastardly duo from destroying the homeland with dark powers. Daxter, a hybrid Otter and Weasel, joins in to help out (for comedic reason). I enjoyed the whole experience. The world was continuous, no loading times, the characters were fun, exploration is fun and it's easy to complete the game. I even come back to it and explore the game just for fun and calmness. Jak 2, however, was not my thing sadly. It's more mature, darker and more harder. Much like GTA.
Summer 2021. The collection keeps on growing! Let's quickly get through the new games. Formula 2001 is trash. Trash controls, trash graphics and trash gameplay. Space Channel 5 is another rhythm game but I couldn't keep up with the rhythm. Dynasty Warriors 2 was good, it's a war simulator. After one game, I decided this isn't for me. Super Monkey Ball Deluxe is basically the first two games morphed into one game. You play as a monkey named AiAi who uses his big ball to navigate through courses. It's a trial and error game where you need to get through 9 worlds with 18 levels each. To complete a world, at least over 10 levels need to be completed. Only that can stop Dr. Baboon from stealing all the bananas for himself. Midnight Club 2 is a racing game in the style of Need for Speed; as always, I gave up near the halfway point. Beyond Good and Evil was nice. Another Ubisoft game too before the Rabbids shredded the ethos of the business. I played as an undercover journalist, named Jade, who uncovers the truth of the police force. It turns out that there's been a coup and she finds herself part of a resistance set to take the force down and restore peace to the land. What threw me up was the stealth levels. Just no. Sorry Jade.
Ico comforted me after my disappointment with Beyond Good and Evil. Before, I had tried Shadow of the Colossus, a good game where I had to defeat giants to save a Princess from eternal sleep. In Ico, I play as a kid with horns who plans to escape a huge castle with an older girl who has been abandoned. During their escape, puzzles are solved, shadow monsters are defeated and the secrets of the caslte and the story of the castle is covered. It's another solid game that stands out as a classic.
January 2022, my collection so far.
As of writing now, the day at Angle News is nearly over. I would love to talk about the Ministry of Sound game, Fantavision, Alien Hominid, Ratchet and Clank, Worms 3D, Harvest Moon, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Devil May Cry, Rez and SLY COOPER!
But, I want to keep you waiting.
My experience continues in part 2. Who knows when? Maybe when I get more games or maybe when I decide to give myself a rest.
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