PS2 games that are damn good, but not avail in the U.S.

[Anthony1]

Obviously, with the PS2 being a Japanese bred system, it's going to have a large number of games out in Japan that don't always make the voyage across the pond. It's also going to have some games released in Europe that also aren't going to make the trip over to the U.S. for whatever reason.


What I'm curious about, is which of these games are damn good, and should be experienced if possible?


I'm not very knowledgeable about Japanese PS2 games, but there are a few that I would really like to play. Games like:


Project Altered Beast - heard it's kinda crappy and hard to get into, but still I would like to check it out

Hudson Collection - Bonk's Adventure - this is also on the GameCube, I've heard that the Cube and PS2 version are basically identical.

Hudson Collection - Star Soldier - I've heard that this game is kinda dissapointing, in terms of the fact that they did the remix of Star Soldier for the NES and not Super Star Soldier for PC Engine.

Hudson Collection - Adventure Island - I haven' seen a screen shot of this, but I would imagine it's pretty cool.

Virtua Cop: Rebirth - I don't know diddly squat about this game, but assume that it has arcade perfect versions of the Virtua Cops on it, and maybe a new Virtua Cop game.

Virtua Fighter 10th Anniversary - Also don't know anything about this, but assume that it has some arcade perfect versions of various Virtua Fighters on it.

Space Invaders: 20th Anniversary - Don't know anything about this.

Gunbird: Special Edition - Don't know anything about this but assume that it would be cool

GigaWing: Generations - Don't know anything about this, but assume it would be cool.


Basically, I saw a list of Japanese PS2 games, and these ones caught my eye, but I'm sure there are other ones with weird Japanese names that are really good.

So if anybody has a good feel for PS2 imports that must be played, please let us know what's up!

[MegaDrive20XX]

Virtua Fighter 10th Anniversary - Also don't know anything about this, but assume that it has some arcade perfect versions of various Virtua Fighters on it.

^ this was released in the USA, it's a bonus feature in VF4 Evolution..it's just VF1

VF2 was re-released on PS2 recently under the import "Sega Ages 2500 Series"

[BigGeorgeJohnson]

I think GhostMaster was just released in the UK for PS2 and Xbox, I'm hoping someone will bring it over.

I don't know too much about Japanese imports, except that I'm praying for US release of Dragon Force for the PS2.

[davidbrit2]

Beatmania IIDX
Pop'n Music
Both series range from insultingly easy to inhumanly difficult depending on the song. Beatmania seems to be more relentless most of the time, though.

Initial D Special Stage looks damn good, but I haven't gotten my grubby mitts on that yet.

And that Star Soldier remake is HOT.

[kainemaxwell]

Initial D Special Stage looks damn good, but I haven't gotten my grubby mitts on that yet.
It's very good! A friend of mine has it and one the Naruto titles!

[Cryomancer]

The Simple 2000 (and any number higher than 2000) are mostly entertaining, especially considering their prices.

Japanese "liscense" games tends to kick the ass of American ones. Shinkon Gattai Godannar Godannar, and Kamen Rider 555/Blade are good examples of this. the Kamen Rider games aren't terribly deep but the models are damn nice and if you're a fan you'll get a kick out of it. Godannar is awesome if you're a fan or not.

The Sega Ages collection, don't think that I have to go into detail about why updates of Phantasy Zone, Space Harrier, and Alien Syndrome are worth the time.

[link1110]

Dragon Quest 5
Tales of Destiny 2 - Hard, but fun.
Tengai Makyou 2: Manjimaru - Don't expect to be able to do ANYTHING in this game without a walkthrough though, even with a moderate knowledge of Japanese.

[petewhitley]

The Simple 2000 (and any number higher than 2000) are mostly entertaining, especially considering their prices.

There are some gems in the Simple 2000 series, but there are just as many (or more) dogs. Anyways, I vote Sanyo Pachinko Paradise Volumes 6 through 11. Yes, all of them.

[Mayhem]

DoDonPachi for PS2. Bullet heaven/hell :P

[pookninja]

the adventure island remake((takahashi-meijin no boukenjima)is very good.if your a fan of the old nes/snes adventure island games,or of old school platformer games,you need to get this one for sure.

[Daft Punk]

The Knight rider game that is uk only.( I think its uk only)


The smash bros clone with all of the mascots in it.

All of the bemani titles.

[Berty]

Espgaluda

[digitalpress]

I'd highly recommend going back and reading Greg Wilcox' "Did You Know?" back issues. Greg discusses a number of PS2 games in these columns, and I've made some purchases based on his column.

http://www.digitpress.com/columns/

[fishsandwich]

The UK has a PS2 game based on the Underworld movie. I heard it smells.

http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/images/2003/all/boxshots2/919538.jpg

:D

[Aussie2B]

Well, Radiata Stories is a recent release, and it may eventually get a US release, but it's seriously one of the best games I've ever played. Technically, it's an RPG, but the real focus and purpose of it is to place you in a massive world full of characters with their own unique lives and schedules and your goal is to interact with them and recruit them to your party (there are 177 characters to recruit, seriously). Think of it as a Shenmue/Majora's Mask kind of game with RPG battles and dungeons added in. It's a really whimsical, light-hearted game with a beautiful stylized storybook world, and the wonderful music is by Noriyuki Iwadare of Lunar and Grandia fame. The battles are similar to Star Ocean 3, understandably, but they're different enough to be their own kind of gameplay. Jack, the main character, is the only one that you directly control, but you can direct your party to do various things throughout the battle with different commands.

Square Enix of America hasn't so much as said a single word about the game, but I really recommend it, whether it's as a possible future US release or as an import. If Star Ocean 3 is any indication, though, I'm kinda scared of how the localization of the game would turn out. o_O

[Cryomancer]

Another game I forgot to mention is GANTZ. Based on the anime that's based on the manga of the same name, very awesome game. It's not very long, but it's replay is alright as after you beat it once you can replay as any of the characters.

The characters range from a few high-school guys, a sadako-lookalike, a lara croft look-alike, and...a dog. Only dissapointing part is that it doesn't include the characters that only show up to be killed, or go as far to include the panda or ESP guys, or the dinosaur fight. I'm hoping for a sequel.

It's a damn fun game though, mostly running around in a group of three (two computer controlled characters) and blasting the hell out of aliens. Very bloody, but most of the blood is green, purple, blue, ect. There's a couple good red explosions now and then though. There's a basic gun, a "sniper" gun, a "capture" gun, and a really long-ass sword as well as a few mine-like items and other boosters. You can also charge up your combat suit and do extra damage, throw cars, break parts of walls, jump far, ect. ONe last feature to mention, is that the guns have time delays, so you can continue to damage an opponent for overkill points and they will have more explosive deaths.

Very cool, worth checking out, I also suggest the anime/manga, but it's not for kids by any means. The show got censored on JAPANESE TV if that tells you anything.