10. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2, XBOX, PC) - Rockstar North
『グランド・セフト・オート・サンアンドレアス』
This was the best GTA by far as the main character could swim ffs and was black! A freakin' huge open-ended state of San Andreas comprised of three major cities Los Santos, Las Venturas and San Fierro; compared to the previous games where you are stuck in one city. Going from one city to another would take yoinks but luckily the train network would open soon enough. With so many things to do like taking over rival gangs' turf, flying kamikaze remote-controlled planes into enemy targets and to just working out in the gym; this was one truly great game that won't be surpassed until GTAIV is released in April.
9. Shadow of Memories (PS2, XBOX, PC) - Konami
『シャドウ・オブ・メモリーズ』
The odd game in my list that no one else knows about (besides Ren). It was one of the first two PS2 games I got and also one of the rarest. Being one of the first gen games for the PS2, the graphics are shockingly bad but thats not why its good. It has a twisting story that spans four different time periods of one village and its inhabitants. You are a traveller named Eike in the year 2001 and you have been given a gift from a mysterious stranger (voiced by Mario's Charles Martinet!) after being killed while wandering the village. The gift allows you to travel through time to prevent your death. It all sounds easy but the more you travel back in time, the more you get to know the villagers and their reasons for wanting you dead even though Eike has never met them before in this life. With eight different endings and multiple ways to control your destiny, this game is one for the history books!
8. Kingdom Hearts (PS2) - Squaresoft
『キングダムハーツ』
One day during PE, Ren came up to me and said "OMG! Aeris is back!" and I'm like wtf. Then he explained to me about Disney and Squaresoft are making an Action-RPG game together. Now there I was being totally skeptical about a game filled with Disney characters and classic Final Fantasy characters. Not caring about it until close to launch day, how so wrong I was >< Even if you don't like Disney at all, the story, characters and gameplay are just so awesome that you'll ignore the Disney characters altogether. My only gripe was the Gummi Ship missions but those can be quickly completed and you don't have to do them ever again. Easily more accessible than other Square RPGs, this one was a start of a brand new franchise and a new money cow for Square and Disney.
7. Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams (PS2) - Capcom
『新鬼武者-DAWN OF DREAMS-』
Free from the restrictions of Resident Evil movement and of using the face of famous stars, Capcom could do whatever they wanted with the last Onimusha game. Being able to switch between four different characters in-game on the fly (kicks REZero) to ultilise each characters specific weapon of choice. The story is a big one here, a demon-slayer taking on his parents in a bid to save Japan. The old Onimusha's return as well in one form or another. Ah the music, I love the music in this game ranging from upbeat techno to epic scores with Japanese instruments occasionally popping up and reminding us that this is feudal Japan. Seeing Soki turn into Fierce Deity Link kinda Onimusha in the game's climax is just.... wow. Ayumi Hamasaki also lends her songs for the Opening and Ending: Startin' and Rainy Day respectively. Startin' doesn't suit it at all but Rainy Day really helps the sad ending get to your emotions. I really wish they'll make a sequel cause Soki is just mad. Also nice to see Capcom have so many related media for this game like manga about the backstory and an FMV movie of the game's whole story if you're too lazy to play. All in Japanese though but its good and I bought two different copies :p
6. Soulcalibur II (GCN, PS2, XBOX) - Namco
『ソウルキャリバーII』
After never playing Soulcalibur but loving the original Soul Blade on the PSone and having Link included, this was a must buy for me! Well even without Link I would get it because this was the ultimate weapon-based fighting game ever! Exclude the exclusive characters and you would have the most balanced game in the whole series and there was Raphael, the most unique character ever included in any fighting game. While there were a few clones, it was still great with no slowdown on the best version: Cube's. Sadly Sony paid Namco buckets of cash for Soulcalibur III to appear exclusively on the PS2, its easy to say Soulcalibur II was the best of them all.
5. Tekken 5 (PS2) - Namco
『鉄拳5』
Ahh Namco, you guys hold the top two spots for the 3D fighting games genre and how I loathed the Tekken series until Tekken 5 came around. Perfect in every way from the balanced gameplay, graphics and the highest character selection in an original Tekken game! We have Kempo master Feng Wei, Blade copy ninja Raven, Jin's hot cousin Asuka Kazama and returning characters like Eddy Gordo and Bruce Irvin, this was the best Tekken swan-song for the old PlayStation 2. As much as I wanted its revised edition, I'm not gonna get a PSP and a PS3 just to play them when Tekken 5 on the PS2 is already perfect :)
4. Viewtiful Joe (GCN, PS2) - Capcom
『ビューティフル ジョー』
Originally appearing exclusively on the GameCube as one of the Capcom5 games, it was ported over to the PS2 with Dante as an exclusive character, the original version still comes out on top as its cel-shading is perfect and there is no slowdown or freakin' long loadtimes. During a time where there wasn't any new interesting IP franchises around, Capcom brings out the Red Power Ranger clone: Viewtiful Joe along with his catchy catchphrase "Henshin A-Go-Go Baby!". Been a while since we had a super fun but hardcore 2D side scroller beat'em up game. PlayStation 2 cover cause it looks so much better.
3. Super Smash Bros. Melee (GCN) - HAL Laboratory/Nintendo
『大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズDX』
Every Nintendo fan's wetdream. Pitting 26 Nintendo characters together in 29 different stages with orchestra music is like... wow. I don't think I need to say anything else other than, Nintendo Australia sucks.
2. Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (PS2) - Kojima Productions/Konami
『メタルギアソリッド3 サブシスタンス』
Along comes Snake Eater, no more sneaking in one confined location, here we see Naked Snake go into the jungle while ultilising its surroundings to sneak his way towards Boss, his former mentor and traitor to the United States. This is a story of Solid Snake's father, while still not Solid Snake himself, he's no pissy Raiden either so its still very very cool and manly! One major gripe is the camera angle the game is presented in. It works for MGS1 and 2 where there are walls and a radar but for the jungle and no radar, it doesn't work. So Kojima revised the camera to normal third-person view and what we got is the best MGS3 package ever. The story is very epic and shows the start of MGS story back in the Cold War. Every PS2 owner should get this even if its just for the Existence Disc, which is just the whole story for those lazy to play through it cause the story and music are just that epic!
1. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
『ゼルダの伝説 風のタクト』
Nintendo fans cried afoul when presented with a cartoony Link instead of a realistic Link and bagged it every second they could. Instead what turned out was a very very solid piece of gaming history that has been praised by all and will be remembered for its cel-shadiness. Nintendo showed us that graphics ain't everything. Even when Nintendo released Twilight Princess, Wind Waker still outshines it in everyway. Luckily Nintendo released Phantom Hourglass and its legacy lives on. I'll never forget the first time I played it, presented with the open sea and seagulls flying in the sky and then seeing Young Link wake up with expressions I've never seen before. Truly epic and spectacular!
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