Category: Sony PS2

  • Review: Shadow Hearts (PS2)

    Shadow Hearts: Developer: Sacnoth Publisher: Midway Genre: Turn-Based RPG Release Date: 12/11/2001 My New Year’s Resolution was to review every game I played straight through this year, so here we go. Shadow Hearts was originally released a year before I started working in the industry, but I did manage to review Shadow Hearts Covenant (10/18/2004…

  • Review: Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity (PS2)

    Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity Genre: Racing Developer: Sonic Team Publisher: Sega Release Date: 01/08/2008 Hey look, it’s Sonic the Hedgehog in another racing game! That’s… well, yeah. On one hand, the idea of Sonic in a racing game makes absolutely perfect sense; his entire gimmick is that he RUNS REALLY FAST, and it would stand…

  • Review: Obscure Aftermath (PS2)

    Obscure Aftermath Genre: Survival Horror Developer: Hydravision Publisher: Playlogic Release Date: 3/25/08 (estimated) The original Obscure, if you’ll excuse the tired joke, lived up to its cleverly chosen name upon US release; a budget title published by small-scale publisher Dreamcatcher and developed by virtually unknown company Hydravision, it quietly slipped out onto store shelves, attracted…

  • Review: Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law (PS2)

    Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law Publisher: Capcom Developer: High Voltage Genre: Adventure Release Date: 01/09/08 Capcom’s Phoenix Wright series took off in a way that no one expected. Where it was first announced, people expected it to be as successful as say, Wall Street Kid. It became a major cash cow for Capcom, as well…

  • Review: NeoGeo Battle Coliseum (PS2)

    Neo Geo Battle Coliseum Publisher: SNK Playmore Developer: SNK Playmore Genre: Fighter Release Date 12/17/2007 SNK Playmore’s track record with its fighting games has been less than stellar for a while. After KoF 2002 and 2003, everything seems to have fallen apart. Games like KOF XI, Maximum Impact II, and NeoWave were mediocre at best.…

  • Review: King of Fighters XI (PS2)

    King of Fighters XI Publisher: SNK Playmore Developer: SNK Playmore Genre: 2-D Fighter Release Date: 11/14/2007 Well here it is: my 150th review. How crazy is that. That’s a little more than 30 reviews a year since December 2002. I purposely chose KoF XI to be the 150th game that passes through my fingers. Why?…

  • Review: Spider-Man: Friend or Foe (PS2)

    Spider-Man: Friend or Foe Publisher: Activision Developer: Next Level Games Genre: Action/Beat ‘Em Up Release Date: 10/3/2007 Activision has had a pretty good run with Marvel titles. All their Spider-Man titles, including the movie tie-ins have received praise from gamers and journalists alike. It’s rare that a licensed series has that level of consistency in…

  • Review: Growlanser: Heritage of War (PS2)

    Growlanser: Heritage of War Publisher: Atlus USA Developer: Atlus Japan Genre: RTS Release Date: 9/19/2007 Bit of a meander here folks. First a bit of trivia. The actual name of Growlanser: Heritage of War in Japan in Growlanser Generations. However, that name was used by Working Designs when they published Growlanser II and III together…

  • Review: Grim Grimoire (PS2)

    Grim Grimoire Developer: Vanillaware Publisher: Nippon Ichi Genre: Real Time Strategy Release Date: 6/25/2007 You know, you’d think after a few years of Nippon Ichi being a publisher in the US that I’d have learned on simple lesson: If it’s an NI developed game, I will really enjoy it. If it is one they brought…

  • Review: Art of Fighting Anthology (PS2)

    Art of Fighting Anthology Publisher: SNK Playmore Developer: SNK Genre: 2-D Fighter Release Date: 5/30/2007 You know, ten years ago, if you told me I could have even one Art of Fighting game for 15 dollars, I’d have scoffed. I mean these were the days of MVS and AES games costing 150-300 dollars a pop.…

  • Review: Taito Legends 2 (PS2)

    Taito Legends 2 Developer: Taito Publisher: Empire Interactive Genre: Retro Compliation Release Date: 5/16/2007 You know, I have a problem with games being Gamestop/EB Games exclusive, only to find the game was released on May 16th, but not a single store in a 250 mile radius of my house got one in until the following…

  • Review: Guitar Hero 2 (PS2)

    Guitar Hero 2 Publisher: Majesco Genre: Music Release Date: 11/07/2006 Guitar Hero came from obscurity to be one of gamingâ┚¬â”žÂ¢s bright spots in 2005, combining rhythm-based gameplay, an impressive list of rock songs and an intuitive guitar-shaped controller. The result was a phenomenon which crossed normal gaming barriers, allowing non-gamers and hardcores alike to enjoy…

  • Review: Final Fantasy XII (PS2)

    Final Fantasy XII Developer: Square-Enix Publisher: Square-Enix Genre: Action RPG Release Date: 11/01/2006 Yeah, I know. I’m as shocked as you are that I’m reviewing this. I understand all too well I’m considered Final Fantasy’s biggest detractor. I know Squaresoft loathes me and that my name is considered profanity around their parts. But here’s the…

  • Review: Sega Genesis Collection (PS2)

    Sega Genesis Collection Publisher: Sega Developer: Sega Release Date: 11/8/2006 Genre: Retro Compilation The Sega Genesis is in my top three systems of all time, along with the Sega Saturn and the Neo Geo Pocket Colour. I spent so many hours on that thing. Sonic, three different Shining games, Streets of Rage, Eternal Champions, Mutant…

  • Review: Justice League Heroes (PS2)

    Justice League Heroes Developer: Snowblind Studios Publisher: WB Games Genre: Action RPG Release Date: October 17, 2006 Just as sure as I have unending loathing for first-person shooters and countless GTA clone engines out there – there are certain genres and franchises that I am a mark for in the land of video games. Specific…

  • Review: Bully (PS2)

    Bully Developer: Rockstar Vancouver Publisher: Rockstar Games Genre: Action Release Date: 10/17/2006 Bully. All Rockstar said was that they were releasing a videogame with that title and it sparked a controversy that spread like a wildfire through an orphanage. Jack Thompson, Anti-Bullying groups, etcetera have been all over the game throwing around accusations such as…

  • Review: God Hand (PS2)

    God Hand Genre: Action/Beat-em-up Developer: Clover Publisher: Capcom Release Date: 10/10/2006 Clover Studios has certainly been busy recently; aside from the exceptionally entertaining Okami, Capcom is releasing their second Clover developed title in two months, God Hand. But whereas Okami is a fairly easy cel-shaded semi-serious Zelda-esque adventure, God Hand is a fairly difficult not…

  • Review: Scarface (PS2)

    Scarface Genre: Action/Adventure Developer: Radical Entertainment/Vivendi Games Publisher: Sierra Release Date: 10/10/06 I don’t know where the motivation to do this has come from, but a lot of developers seem to be interested in dipping into older movies lately for the purposes of making video games. Because, you know, there just aren’t ENOUGH bad licensed…

  • Review: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner (PS2)

    Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army Genre: Action RPG Developer: Atlus Publisher: Atlus Release Date: 10/10/06 RPG franchises, if you’ll allow me a moment to abuse my analogy license, are a lot like relationships. No, not because of what occurs within them, and not because of all of the people…

  • Review: The King of Fighters 2006 (PS2)

    The King of Fighters 2006 Genre: Fighting Developer: SNK Playmore Publisher: SNK Playmore Release Date: 9/19/06 Look, let’s get this out of the way up-front: if I can be considered a fanboy of any video game/video game series on Earth, it’s King of Fighters. I’ve been playing the KOF games since 1995, and been addicted…