Japanese PS2 game recommendations?

[Kroogah]

I won a Japanese PS2 on Ebay yesterday and it is being shipped today. Excuse me for a second...

*does the happy JPS2 dance of joy* WHEEEEEEEEE!

*ahem* OK, um....I bought it for Bemani games but I am drawing a complete blank as to what other games I want to buy for the system. I'm not into RPGs, nearly every fighting game has been localized...

Here's my want list thus far:
DDRMAX 1 & 2
Beatmania IIDX 3rd-6th
GF 4th/DM 3rd
Keyboardmania
Metal Slug 3 ^_^

Any suggestions?

[Kid Fenris]

If you like old-school shooters, you might want to keep an eye out for Do Don Pachi Daioujou. It ships April 10.

And I always wanted to play Angel's Present: Marle's Kingdom, or whatever they call that sequel to Rhapsody. Even without Atlus' subtly sarcastic translation, it might be fun.

[davidbrit2]

You forgot one: Pop'n Music. ;-)

[Sardius]

Two words: Stepping Selection (http://www.elecplay.com/preview.html?article=2543).

Man, that game is AWESOME. Just look at those screenshots and tell me that you aren't immediately electrified. And like, it's got the theme from Ghostbusters in it! I can't tell you how long I'd wanted to stomp on a foam mat along to the funky beat of Ray Parker Jr.'s magnum opus, and this game made my dreams come true. Thanks, Jaleco!

Actually, IIDX is pretty much the only really good thing that the import PS2 scene has to offer. I've yet to play a really, really good JPS2 game that wasn't either part of the bemani series or wasn't released in the US. And hell, even the US DDR releases are starting to be better than their Japanese counterparts now. Still though, IIDX is more than enough reason to buy a JPS2, so don't feel too disappointed when you can't find anything else worth playing.

[davidbrit2]

Coming from Sardius, I suspect there's some sarcasm in that comment about Stepping Selection. ;-)

Honest to god, though, I would buy it just because it has Ghostbusters. Yes, I'm that obsessed with the movie. For $20, what the hell.

[Kroogah]

@davidbrit2: I can't believe I forgot that! I just bought a Pop n' Music controller with the 1st game off of Ebay, too! >_<

@Johnny Turbo/Sardius: Oh yeh. One of my friends is giving his PS2 the flip-top mod, and neither of us can really think of any games worth getting besides Bemani stuff. But we want Bemani stuff VERY badly. ^_^

[davidbrit2]

What, you mean Bemani isn't a good enough reason to mod a PS2? ;-)

That's probably about all I'd buy, too. And at $50 for the lid and Swap Magic 2, I just might...

[ManekiNeko]

There's always Guitaroo Man, if you'd prefer to hear the characters talk in Japanese. Uichi sounds a little like a brain damaged Ash from Pokemon in the American version of the game.
Past that, I'm drawing a blank. I don't keep up with the Japanese PS2 scene, because I don't like the system enough to keep up on its Japanese releases.

JR

POST 42!

[Sardius]

@davidbrit2: I can't believe I forgot that! I just bought a Pop n' Music controller with the 1st game off of Ebay, too! >_<

@Johnny Turbo/Sardius: Oh yeh. One of my friends is giving his PS2 the flip-top mod, and neither of us can really think of any games worth getting besides Bemani stuff. But we want Bemani stuff VERY badly. ^_^

Dude, you have a Pop'n Controller? If so, you MUST get Pop'n Music 6. It's seriously one of the best bemani games I've ever played. Nevermind that it's a PS1 game, either, it's goooood.

...wait, on second thought, you might not be able to play Pop'n 6, since PS2 modchips can't get around Konami's insane PS1 mod-lockout protection. Crap. Well, I suppose Pop'n 7 would be just as good as if not better than 6, but I haven't played it. The point I want to make, though, is that Pop'n Music has gotten a LOT better since that first release you bought, and you're definitely going to want to check out the more recent versions sometime, especially since you have the controller.

And yes, while Stepping Selection is horribly lame as a dancing game, I'd still say it's worth the twenty bucks just for the Ghostbusters theme. And the insane FMV backdrops. And the horrible vocals on the cover songs. It really is a great party game, just for all the wrong reasons.