Lets talk PS2 Imports. What's good?

[greedostick]

Just looking for opinions on Import PS2 stuff worth picking up. Here is a small list of games I own already, or plan to buy. I am looking for all types of games, especially shooters, and fighting games. I do however love rpg's, especially action rpg's, so any playable rpg's would be worth mentioning. Would also like to talk about Sega Ages Titles, and other re-makes of classis games. Especially updated ones. Anyone play the Fantasy Zone, or Space Harrier Sega Ages titles? They are pretty kick ass. I need to pick up Bonk Still. Anyone play that?

Trizeal
Hokuto no Ken (the atomiswave one)
Samurai Shodown Tenkanichi
PC Genjin
Fantasy Zone (sega ages)
Ibara
Mushihimesame
Nights (sega ages)
DoDonPachi Daioujou
Space Harrier (sega ages)
Adventure Island (sega ages)

[Aussie2B]

Well, if you like shooters, how about Cho Aniki? :)

You should get the Sega Ages Monster World collection. Great set of adventure games and way easier to track down than Monster World IV on Mega Drive. You can also set all of them to English (if they had a release outside of Japan, that is).

[greedostick]

Well, if you like shooters, how about Cho Aniki? :)

You should get the Sega Ages Monster World collection. Great set of adventure games and way easier to track down than Monster World IV on Mega Drive. You can also set all of them to English (if they had a release outside of Japan, that is).

I forgot to put the Monster World Colection on the list. I am a huge fan of the Series. I own all of them already. Even Dynastic Hero for Turbo Grafx, which isn't in the collection. I believe you can play all the games in Eng with the exception of Monster World IV. I may be wrong, but I was playing it a few months back at a friends house, and thought it had a eng language option.

As for Cho Aniki, I should have played that before I sold my buddies copy on Ebay for him a few weeks ago. I assume it is like the PC Engine games.

[j_factor]

Just to nitpick, Adventure Island isn't Sega Ages, it's the Hudson Selection series, as is PC Genjin. I have the Gamecube versions of both, and honestly, they're just okay.

Are European imports counted too? They had a few interesting games that never reached our shores.

Gregory Horror Show is a very quirky horror/comedy game from Capcom.
Michigan: Report from Hell got very mixed reviews, but is worth it if you're a Suda51 fan.
Free Running also got mixed reviews, but I thought it looked interesting.
Forbidden Siren 2 is the sequel to Siren, and better than the original.
Evil Twin (also on DC) is a platformer/action-adventure game with a very dark, gothic, Tim Burton kind of feel.
Maken Shao is a remake of Maken X for Dreamcast, and is much easier than the original, which a lot of people didn't like due to the difficulty.
Atlantis III: The New World was released here for PC under the title Beyond Atlantis 2; it's a very good adventure game, but you should probably play the prior ones first.
And since you mentioned remakes of classic games, they actually have a PS2 version of Robocod (James Pond 2), although I think that's a bit silly.

[Kevin H]

How is the transformers that was only released in japan based on the original versions of the characters? I've been thinking about picking it up.

[AB Positive]

Sega AGES Phantasy Star Collection (not the 3D-ish remake but the original games collection) can all be set to english making it a great import.

Other ones from AGES I love: Fantasy Zone and Dynamite Deka/Die Hard Arcade. Also the Nights remake is quite well done.

Next import I want to get is purely due to my own insanity, but I love me some Momotaro Dentetsu. Monopoly + Trains + Mario Party with an evil baby demon screwing over whoever's in last place... every turn. Glorious :D

[RCM]

They have a pretty solid port (can't confirm it's arcade perfect) of Sega Rally Championship 1995. I picked it up with the crappy SR 2006 on sale at Play Asia a couple years ago for $15. I'm pretty sure it isn't an official Sega Ages game, but it's nice!

[Nico87]

Good topid. Just bought a JP PS2, so recommendations will come in handy.

[mobiusclimber]

Rez w/ trance vibrator is sweet, it really ups the feeling of being inside the game to have that think thumping away against your chest or wherever you put it (ladies... get your mind outta gutter...)

Cho Aniki: Legend of the Holy Protein is all kinds of awesome, probably the best in the series. My only complaint is it's a lot less homoerotic than the other titles. Sorry, but that kinda craziness is why I play Cho Aniki.

Sega Ages: Phantasy Star I, II & Collection - These are all great. I & II are a bit tough to play without knowing Japanese but if you are familiar enough w/ the english versions, you can get through them, and it's fun to see the way they remade everything.

There's a great Goemon for the PS2. If you're a fan of the series, it's worth picking up.

Code Age Commanders is a highly playable Action-RPG from Squeenix.

I also love Tales of Destiny 2. This is the actual sequel to the first Tales of Destiny, not simply the renamed Tales of Eternia.

Let me know if you're looking for PS1 recommendations too. Since, you know, the PS2 can play those as well.

[greedostick]

Nice recommendations!

Euro games are most definately appreciated. I plan on selling my Ico now and getting the PAL version. I will have to check out the Goemon mentiond, as well as a few others. Unfortunately I don't have a Japanese PS2. I am using a original model ps2 with a flip top, and a Magic Slide Disc. So I am not sure if I can play ps1 imports. Would be nice if I could. Cause there are some good shooters. I have to say, that anyone who doesn't own Hokuto no Ken (the fighting one), should definately consider picking it up. It plays kinda like guilty gear, but is a little slower paced. For any Fist of the North Star fans out there, it is a must own.

[greedostick]

Other ones from AGES I love: Fantasy Zone and Dynamite Deka/Die Hard Arcade. Also the Nights remake is quite well done.

So does that have Dynamite Cop, and Die Hard Arcade on it? And is Die Hard Arcade updated at all? I have to agree, the Nights sequel is pretty sweet. I am going to get rid of my Saturn version and pick it up.

[Kid Fenris]

You need to own ESPgaluda if you like shooters in any way. It's one of Cave's best. Too bad it was never re-released as a budget title.

[Aussie2B]

I dunno about the Goemon. Seems like Goemon fans are more often disappointed with it than not. Can't say I've played it myself, but it does look pretty lame. I still would've liked Working Designs to get that US release out, but I'm not surprised that Sony gave them problems about it.

[Nico87]

Let me know if you're looking for PS1 recommendations too. Since, you know, the PS2 can play those as well.

Bring 'em.

[Red Earth]

i recommend Monster hunter 2. takes a second to get the hang of everything and it helps if you've played the original MH before, but really it's a fun game and PS2 import only.

[mobiusclimber]

Bring 'em.

Boundary Gate - It's an excellent, enhanced port of the PC-FX title. If you don't own a PC-FX and love old-school first-person dungeon crawlers, you'll want to pick this up.

King's Field - We never got the first game in the series, and, in fact, our King's Field is really the second title. However, you need to be a fan of the series to want this one. It's graphically poor, tough as nails and of course you won't understand the storyline if you can't read Japanese. I had fun with it for awhile, but the challenge later on in the game can get to be a bit off-putting.

Little Princess: Maru Oukoku no Ningyou Hime 2 - I'll admit I haven't played this, only seen it being played. It's a sequel to Rhapsody. If that didn't get you interested, nothing I say possibly can. There's also a translation guide on gamefaqs so you can enjoy the story, humor and etc. I'm trying to track down a copy of this one...

Khamrai - This is an action-RPG title, with a slightly confusing battle system. Thankfully, there's a Youtube vid with a translation of how to do battle in the game. The graphics in this game are really great, and it seems to have a very good storyline as well from what I can understand of it.

PAL: Shinken Densetsu - I haven't spent nearly enough time playing this one, but so far it seems to be really charming. It's very old-school RPG-ish and fairly simple to play (at least so far as I've gotten). Definitely worth looking into.

Spriggan: Lunar Verse - One of my favorite action titles on the PSX. Gameplay is like a mix of Metal Gear Solid, Tomb Raider and Ninja Gaiden. (In other words, it's not a shmup like previous Spriggan titles.)

Cho Aniki - This one has worse control than the PS2 sequel, and the graphics are a bit pixelated due to being mostly digitized characters, but in some respects I like this game more. It's even weirder, for one thing, and to me has more of the Cho Aniki flavor that I love. It's better than the Saturn version and not as good as Ai-Cho Aniki for the PC Engine. I'd recommend picking up this AND the PS2 one and then deciding for yourself which you like better.

Angel Eyes - It's a decent 2D fighting game made slightly more enjoyable by the fan-service-y female characters in it. It plays as well as you'd want it to, and is a fairly fast-paced fighter.

Beyond that I haven't played many other games I could recommend (tho I know a few I could recommend against), but I also haven't even made a dent in the huge pile of PSX titles I own.

[Nico87]

Wow, thanks, mobius! Unfortunately I can't understand a word of Japanese, so I doubt I'll look into those titles as a priority, with the exceptions of Cho Aniki and Angel Eyes.

[mobiusclimber]

You should at the least pick up Spriggan. The game is cheap and is one of the greats. You really don't need to know Japanese to play it, either. You'll miss out on the storyline, a bit anyway (it's told thru FMV and cut-scenes, so you can kind of glean some meaning from them), but the gameplay more than makes up for that.

[Aussie2B]

What storyline in King's Field? :P As far as I can tell, it's basically "Descent into the pits of hell and fight Satan", haha. I'd recommend it to King's Field fans too. Just watch out for the option in the game's menu that formats your entire memory card... I lost a 100 hour Tactics Ogre file I wasn't even done with yet that way. :/

There's also Shadow Tower Abyss on PS2, for that matter. Similar stuff, but definitely a lot fancier. The first King's Field actually came out in 1994 and was one of the very first PlayStation games, so it's also interesting for the historical aspect.

Getting back to PS1, there's plenty of great Konami shooters to look into. I'm partial to the Detana TwinBee Yahho! Deluxe Pack, but there's also Parodius and Gradius Gaiden. On the subject of TwinBee, there's also TwinBee Taisen Puzzle Dama, a fun Puyo Puyo-style puzzle game. Honestly, you could go with any Taisen Puzzle Dama on PS1, but the TwinBee version is the best value because it also include the full arcade original. Can't beat two games in one.

If you want something really silly, try out Bakusou Dekotora Densetsu: Art Truck Battle to play a Japanese truck driver, racing against other drivers to make your deliveries, and customizing every detail of your truck with lights, art, you name it.

If you don't mind checking a FAQ a tiny bit, I recommend Ganbare Goemon: Ooedo Daikaiten since the stages are straight-to-the-point 2D platforming. It's a little derivative for a Goemon game (mostly based on 2), but it's still good fun.

I could recommend a bunch of games that are more text-heavy, but I'll just leave it at that, at least for now.

[mobiusclimber]

What storyline in King's Field? :P As far as I can tell, it's basically "Descent into the pits of hell and fight Satan", haha. I'd recommend it to King's Field fans too. Just watch out for the option in the game's menu that formats your entire memory card... I lost a 100 hour Tactics Ogre file I wasn't even done with yet that way. :/

There's also Shadow Tower Abyss on PS2, for that matter. Similar stuff, but definitely a lot fancier. The first King's Field actually came out in 1994 and was one of the very first PlayStation games, so it's also interesting for the historical aspect.

I'm pretty sure you're being at least partially facetious about the storyline. All the Kings Field games have stories, it's just that they are told through the NPCs you meet in the dungeon/tower. I didn't find this game to be as compelling without that aspect, but it's still a fun game for awile. Or I thought so anyway.



Getting back to PS1, there's plenty of great Konami shooters to look into. I'm partial to the Detana TwinBee Yahho! Deluxe Pack, but there's also Parodius and Gradius Gaiden. On the subject of TwinBee, there's also TwinBee Taisen Puzzle Dama, a fun Puyo Puyo-style puzzle game. Honestly, you could go with any Taisen Puzzle Dama on PS1, but the TwinBee version is the best value because it also include the full arcade original. Can't beat two games in one.

Ah yeah, I forgot about the shmups. I've played both TwinBee Deluxe Pack and one of the Parodius games. I suck at shmups tho, but they seemed to be top-notch. There's also a TwinBee RPG, but I haven't played it, so no comment.

[Aussie2B]

The TwinBee RPG is nice for fans, but anybody else would probably be turned off by how simplistic the graphics are. It would've been awesome if they made it a super-detailed 2D RPG like how the shooters are, but no such luck. It plays kind of like Chrono Trigger since it's got the ATB system and combo attacks.

As for King's Field, yeah, I was being silly, but the stories are about as barebones as they come. They really do come down to "This world is completely fucked; save it." I've never heard of anyone playing them for the story, and I'm surprised that not understanding the tiny bit of dialogue made that much of a difference to you. I'd say the main downside to playing them in Japanese is not understanding the menus and such.

[mobiusclimber]

As for King's Field, yeah, I was being silly, but the stories are about as barebones as they come. They really do come down to "This world is completely fucked; save it." I've never heard of anyone playing them for the story, and I'm surprised that not understanding the tiny bit of dialogue made that much of a difference to you. I'd say the main downside to playing them in Japanese is not understanding the menus and such.

Nah, I'm probably just overstating things. I think part of it was the difficulty (like, needing to money grind at times to buy things), not knowing where to go next, and then on top of it not getting any story elements, that did it in for me. I really just got stuck and didn't feel like figuring it out after that. I'll probably end up going back to it at some point and enjoying it again, I just kind of got frustrated with it, I think.

[Shirokuma]

on a different take, there are a lot of japanese games i really like.

Sengoku Basara X is awesome. amazing game.

i have Bust a Move (Groove) 3: Dance Summit 2001...but only if you like rhythm games. in that vein, Beatmania 2-DX 9 is good stuff.

i like some Operators Side...definitely a weird niche game.

Another Century's Episode is teh shizzors. nothing like some Gundam Wing on Gundam Wing action. love me some Gundam Heavyarms.

[SuperFamicom83]

Ougon Kishi Garo is pretty Sweet!

[smork]

Simple series games!

EDF 1&2 (Chikyuu Boueigun 1&2 in Japanese)
Zombie vs Ambulance

[greedostick]

Nice! Looks like I have plenty to keep me busy for awhile. Thanks for the help, and keep em comin.

[Shirokuma]

Simple series games!

EDF 1&2 (Chikyuu Boueigun 1&2 in Japanese)
Zombie vs Ambulance

ah! ZvA. that game is awesome! simple series is good. you can get all 4 Onechanbara, Love Tennis, World Dodgeball Championship all for the cost of a new x360 game. :)

[mobiusclimber]

ah! ZvA. that game is awesome! simple series is good. you can get all 4 Onechanbara, Love Tennis, World Dodgeball Championship all for the cost of a new x360 game. :)

LOL only if you avoid Ebay! XD Sellers seem to want more than what these games retailed for when new for used copies of them.

[Shirokuma]

yo, i totally noticed that. people are selling the simple 2000 series for upwards of $40-$60! robbery!

[smork]

Play Asia usually has the simple series in stock for $25ish. These games are really easy to find so I don't think anybody should pay more than that!

[SuperFamicom83]

Simple 2000- kyonshi panic, the splatter action, Pirates! plenty of skulls, and The Tokusatsu Hero are all really sweet ones!

[mobiusclimber]

Man, I think even $25 is highway robbery, but I guess that's for a new copy? This must be why the Love*Mahjong game keeps selling every time I put it on Amazon (for less than $25).

[smork]

Man, I think even $25 is highway robbery, but I guess that's for a new copy? This must be why the Love*Mahjong game keeps selling every time I put it on Amazon (for less than $25).

Yeah, that's what Play Asia sells the new copies for. Should be able to find most of the simple series for half that used, methinks.

[Shirokuma]

yea, but just go direct to the source. i've bought simple 2000 games for 100yen off of yahoo japan. you add in shopping mall japan's deputy fees, you're looking around $8 per game. not too bad.