Games

Some racing recommendations:

Midnight Club 3 Dub Edition

Enthusia

Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2 (the PS2 version is the best one)

Burnout 3 Takedown AND Revenge, both are stellar

Tokyo Extreme Racer 3 and Drift 2

Jak 3

Arc the lad 2 twilight of spirits is a cult classic

Another one for Jak & Daxter. I've got OpenGOAL and PCSX2, and between them both I have the full Jak series. I was playing Jak 3 when I had a crash, but then I had been playing it like all day.

I've also been making my way through the first three Sly Cooper games (loved the series as a kid, but only ever got to play the third one for myself) and they've been running flawlessly.

My plan is to play through the Ratchet & Clank PS2 games as I never really got a chance to play them when they were fresh or otherwise. I'm excited for those.

Then I might go and play through the Spyro PS2 era games, minus the original trilogy as I have Reignited already.

Aside from those I have a bunch of other classics I've played and loved/wanted to play like the Tak games, Ultimate Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2, Batman: Vengeance, and others.

I would also be open to suggestions. I'm very into 3D platformers and action RPGs.

Try Steambot Chronicles! It's my favorite game of all time by a wide margin, but it's been forgotten by time. It's a really cool adventure game with a ton of different things to do, from piloting a giant robot to playing different musical instruments in a band, to decorating your own little apartment, and a bunch of other stuff! There's a lot of dialogue choices to make too that can affect how people treat you, and lead to a few different endings, including being a hero vs a villain. The graphics and soundtrack are great, too! I can't recommend it enough!

One of the weirdest games I've ever played: Okage: Shadow King.

Think Final Fantasy gameplay + Zelda: Majora's Mask level of being genuinely bizarre as all hell.

Fair warning, the music will be stuck in your head for the rest of your life.

The Simpsons Hit and Run is a solid GTA style game and is considered to be one of the best Simpsons games ever. The Simpsons Road Rage is a rip-off of Crazy Taxi but is still a solid game. The Simpsons Game is also a good game that kinda does it's own thing. Don't bother with the Simpsons Skateboarding, that one sucks.

Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition Remix. If the first three Fast and Furious movies tickle your fancy, it’s the go to game

Any of the Suikoden games really. Legend of legaia 2

Ephemeral Fantasia for an extremely underrated gem.

Chrono trigger and cross are both good on the SD.

How is XIII via emulation? Would love to try that on my Steam Deck.

Gotta play the Time Splitters games. (3 of em).

Whatever Gauntlet games they ported from Arcade.

All the GTA games (GTA III, GTA VC, GTA SA, GTA LCS, GTA VCS). There are some good Need for Speed games too, and a bunch of great Tony Hawk games. TimeSplitters, SOCOM, and Red Faction are great too.

Need for speed underground 2, this is my favourite racing game of all time. I sunk so much time into it.

My personal favorites on PS2, as someone who did not own a PS2 while it was still being manufactured and sold as new. This does not include remakes/remasters or games that have better ports on other platforms (for example, Soul Calibur 2 on GameCube, Dead or Alive 2 on Xbox, Neon Genesis Evangelion 2 Another Cases on PSP, or Need for Speed Underground 2 on PC).

• Haunting Ground
• Kuon
• CyGirls (Both discs are fun but I prefer disc 1)
• Drakengard 1 & 2
• Ico
• Lifeline (requires microphone, very underrated)

ICO.

Downhill Domination is... honestly stupid as all hell, but by design: it's a lot of fun :P

It's a downhill mountain bike racing game with a combat system, and it's ridiculous. You start being able to punch the bicyclists next to you; once you knock enough of them off their bikes you upgrade to being able to kick; then iirc you eventually get a stick or something lol. Otherwise, it's just another get-from-point-A-to-B-as-fast-as-possible game that doesn't require a lot of thought.

...so grain of salt, cuz the name of this one doesn't sound right, but the screenshots look correct: Gradius V?

Side scroller arcade-y jet fighter - I remember it being good.

I just don't remember it being called Gradius >_<

I’m with the Ico and Shadow of the Colossus stans, but I’d be curious how your emulation handles the light effects. PCSX2 struggles in my experience.

It’s my wife’s favorite game. She has a small shrine to it in her library!

I absolutely loved KH1/2 FM