Sega and the Sony PlayStation 2

[Music] all right for those of you familiar with my channel I recently covered a lot of the games Sega released on the original Xbox and GameCube it was at this time that Sega began its new Journey as a dedicated third-party developer and publisher and if you are interested in those platforms I'll leave a link to those videos down in the description my but I would be doing you all a great disservice to not cover at least some of the Sega games released for Sony's Playstation 2. once figuring in Japanese exclusive Sega released more games on the PlayStation 2 than any other console that generation no kidding there were a ton and I'm willing to bet there's a number of them you haven't played for that reason I'll be skipping the usual suspects in favor of a more curated list of exclusives and the more interesting releases that means we won't spend any time talking about most of the stuff I've already covered on the Xbox and Gamecube or many of the games that were Japanese only while games like Crazy Taxi has its fans I want to keep your attention on a list that largely couldn't be played on any other console that generation despite all that there are still many games here to cover and in this episode we are gonna talk about what I consider to be some of the more interesting releases for the PlayStation 2. we'll save the full reviews for another day so we'll be flying through these to keep the runtime manageable in no particular order Sega and the PlayStation 2. thank you what do you get when you cross House of the Dead with Castlevania well 2001 brought us the answer in a rail shooter developed by wow entertainment this one follows two vampire Hunters as they battle the undead Menace and try and save as many people as they can it was originally a Namco 246 arcade game which was directly based on the PlayStation 2. so the home conversion is fairly accurate it really does remind you of the House of the Dead series in terms of theme and retains a similar setup with two-player Co-op multiple paths and special moves it wasn't all that well reviewed but I really did enjoy it myself it was a worthy like gun shooter that supported both the gun con and guncon 2. if you enjoyed sega's other gun games this one should be right up your alley Virtual Fighter 4 was originally a Naomi 2 arcade game there was no way the PlayStation could replicate the power of that board 100 but you absolutely must respect the job am2 did here released in 2002 this was a massive upgrade over part three in every single way it visually stomped it and the new gameplay felt great while holding on to the core mechanics that were so well done to begin with it was the first game in the series to sell really well in western territories prompting Sega to release the evolution upgrade there as well this came with a massive bonus called Virtua Fighter 10th anniversary an homage to the flat-shaded Virtual Fighter 1 that was released separately in Japan to date it's easily my favorite fighter on the console in 2002 Sega published the red entertainment developed gun grave this was a third person hyper action shooter with quite a bit of inspiration from Devil May Cry as Grave you must avenge Yourself by essentially killing everything that moves in the three-dimensional environments you get access to dual wielded guns and special attacks against countless foot soldiers vicious bosses and environments that can be destroyed it doesn't stray too far from the base action of shooting targets and it can be a tad repetitive in the late game but there is no question it has a ton of style there was another gun grave on the PlayStation 2 called overdose but Sega had nothing to do with that one Shinobi made his triumphant return in 2002 courtesy of overworks now with fully polygonal visuals and play areas that could be explored it was a radical departure from the 2D games this series had been known for the story also takes a much darker turn as demons invade our world and only the Shinobi can stop it if you are familiar with Ninja gaiden's three-dimensional update then you should have an idea of what to expect here the combo latent gameplay is also filled with jumps wall running projectiles and deadly finishers this deserved to be on the Dreamcast but I'll take it either way it was one of the better transitions to 3D for an older Sega franchise in 2003 Sega am2 did a flight combat game called Aero Elite combat Academy this was for the most part a more in-depth version of afterburner instead of Simply blasting off countless missiles that enemies that come straight at you this offers a bit of dog fighting with far more realistic visuals it has a simple arcade mode that throws you straight into the action and it has a few other options like training competition free flight and a two-player mode it's part of the aerodancing series which started back on the Dreamcast developed by hitmaker 2003's virtual on Mars was essentially a Home Port of sega's 2001 virtual law enforce arcade game it largely features many of the same stage and Mech designs a two on two mech-based combat game where your goal is to defeat the other team entirely new to this game is the dramatic mode which gives you missions to complete and a beefed up story that ties it all together it uses the Dual analog for a twin stick style interface and it supports multiplayer despite the popularity of the previous entries this one was not well received with a focus on single player content many felt the core game suffered I had some fun with it so I won't call it awful but without a true twin stick controller or any modern online battle options one could argue that virtual horns Prime had certainly been left behind in 2003 Sega wow released a direct sequel to Shinobi called Nightshade this one featured a female ninja and a storyline that had the demon Invasion return it's largely similar to the first game but failed to really take the franchise to a new level the visuals are arguably worse the gameplay is more repetitive and the depths are cheaper and more often it can still be a good game but the expectation of improving on the weaknesses of the first were definitely not met this sequel could have been better 2004 brought us our first PlayStation entry into The Shining series called shining tears this was a multiplayer action RPG with a pretty standard story of a rescued hero with no real memory of his past the gameplay uses lots of combo latent attacks using your various team of characters and the visuals are mostly a cutesy hand-drawn Affair that kinda comes off a little weak when considering this series pedigree it was developed by Nextech and salamander factories and while it wasn't what I'd call a shining debut I didn't mind it too much there had been other shining games that had been different genres and styles in the past so I didn't hate the new Direction I will say the longer you play it the more the combat and story great but overall it's a middling experience that will likely be quite divisive among fans Astro Boy is a 2004 Sonic Team developed action game based on the anime series of the same name I really wanted to like this one but the gameplay holds it back from being something worth your time the camera fights you every step of the way making combat frustrating and tedious this is a huge shame because the core setup is actually fairly well done there's a story here that shows Astro Boy as he gains abilities meets new characters and defends Metro City with multiple areas to explore not even Astro Boy's 1 million horsepower strength can save this one from being a massive let down in 2004 Sega and red entertainment released blood will tell a 3D action game based on the Japanese anime dororo this follows a warrior as he battles demons to rebuild his body you start out missing most of your body parts and as you win them back you gain additional abilities for example it starts out black and white until you get an eye back and can see in color again despite your situation you are far from helpless your body has been augmented with swords for arms and you happen to be able to get around quite well this was exactly the kind of stuff I love seeing with sega's name on it it isn't perfect mainly suffering from lots of narrative interruptions and low times but there's definitely charm here the idea of rebuilding your body coupled with the strange world and characters really drives you to want to see more don't let this pass you by if you missed it it's a solid experience in a similar mold to the otagi series Shining Force Neo was released in 2005 and is a huge left turn for the series developed by Neverland who did the record of lotus War for the Dreamcast this is a purely action RPG experience that feels nothing like The Shining Force games before it Shining Force had always been a turn-based tactical RPG and while you still get lots of story You Can level up equip new items and explore towns and areas all around you when it comes to gameplay it's all pretty much hack and slash action with a bit of magic thrown in this makes this a massive letdown for fans of Shining Force one two and three and honestly feels far more similar to shining tears without the multiplayer and sporting a new art style later areas can even feel more like Dynasty Warriors than Shining Force it's far from the terrible experience many label it it's just not Shining Force as you remember it outrun 2 was one of my very favorite Sega arcade games ever and I was really happy to see it get ported on a few different platforms the PlayStation got its own version of outrun 2006 Coast to Coast courtesy of sumo digital it had online play PSP connectivity for Save content and looked and played really well I still consider the Xbox the best console version but this one certainly held its own for those of you that dabble on the PlayStation 2 Japanese scene there is an updated version of this called outrun 2sp that cuts the censorship on the girlfriend adds some new music and add support for force feedback racing wheels it also shipped with a separate music CD in the case it was a limited release and quite expensive on the second hand Market it was 2005 when Sega dropped the very first Yakuza title on the PlayStation 2. it was developed by new entertainment r d number one and followed the adventures of Kazuma a man in prison for 10 years for a crime he didn't commit as he attempts to put his life back together all sorts of hits the fan and before you know it you have people trying to kill you people you have to find and in between all that you can play games eat Gamble and visit massage parlors it was kind of the natural progression of what Sega started with shinmu with just an added dash of popular open world titles of the time though it was crazy popular in Japan this Series has not seen the same success in many western territories a real shame because it's actually pretty good and I plan on full reviews of the series in the future Sega also dropped one of its first Genesis compilations on the PlayStation 2 as a third party called Sega Genesis collection in the U.S and Sega Mega Drive collection elsewhere the this head hits like golden ax wrist star Shadow Dancer comic Zone and the fantasy star games you could even unlock some arcade titles like zaxon and Altered Beast the emulation quality was a tad suspect but the overall playability was still there making it a good addition if you had not owned a Genesis back in the day or you had a few games you wanted to revisit later Genesis compilations would crush it in quality and game selection but this one wasn't bad for 2006. in 2007 Sega was back with Shining Force EXA and Neverland was again at the helm this is pretty much in the same mold as what we saw in Shining Force Neo action RPG with a pretty typical story and familiar characters you're after The Shining Force sword in this one and it does add improved pacing and more strategy to the battles but it's still not a particularly compelling entry these games felt so simplified compared to the long battles they took real forethought and skilled a beat in the older turn-based tactical games again not the trash it's often made out to be yet still not at the level the series deserved in 2008 with the PlayStation 2 still on the market and selling well Sega ported a follow-up to Sonic Riders called zero gravity much like the original game this is a hoverboard racer where you do tricks and follow different paths as you battle for number one if you watched my Gamecube or Xbox video you know I didn't get on well with the original and here I was just as unimpressed it of course doesn't help that I haven't played this in 15 years but I'm just as bad now as I was then fans are the first likely will dig it but for the traditional racing fan like myself I just couldn't get into it during the PlayStation 2 days Sega also chose to publish some movie tie-ins and 2008's Iron Man was one such Endeavor it was developed by a company called artificial mind and movement and is a third person action game Loosely based on the movie there's a certain appeal to flying around as Iron Man and Blasting bad guys but it's shallow as a puddle this amounts to little more than doing the same thing over and over enemies and vehicles flood in and keep spawning until the level ends you have different armors to employ a good set of weapons and the feeling of flight is suitably chaotic but after an hour or so you have pretty much seen all this has to offer well-seasoned Gamers can skip it but I'm willing to bet kids will absolutely love it also in 2008 Sega published The Incredible Hulk developed by edge of reality this was based on the film at the time and is absolutely hilarious start to finish you can break or damage pretty much everything in the game it plays terrible but doesn't matter because you can just walk or climb through everything around you there's even a self-heal that makes it a cakewalk for a good portion of the game making this feel targeted to a very young gamer that's about right too because anyone expecting something meaningful from this title is gonna be sorely disappointed play it for the laughs but you won't be coming back for seconds new entertainment r d department number one was back in 2006 with a sequel to the new Sega franchise Yakuza because this underperformed in the west the first time around Sega decided to localize it as cheaply as possible this time leaving the original Japanese voices intact and just adding subtitles one year has passed since the events in the first game and things are still not settled with Tojo Clan still weak and its leader killed you are drawn back into the world of the Yakuza once again much of the game is largely the same from the things you can do to entertain yourself to the combat system it took it two years to get a US release and it did sell a bit better but its popularity was still primarily in Japan because the PlayStation 2 lasted on the market far longer than its competition it received ports of games that were primarily for the newer generation of consoles like the Wii 360 and Playstation 3. One such title was 2008 Sonic Unleashed this was both a radical redesign of the Sonic formula for Sega and a return to the speed that previous 3D outings sorely lacked Dr Robotnik returns corrupts the chaos emeralds nearly destroys the planet and turns Sonic into a freaking Werehog this ends up being a game of two very distinct gameplay engines one is where Sonic is essentially on a roller coaster with lots of ring collecting auto-targeted enemies and a Breakneck Pace that feels fantastic it also has the Werehog levels where you are essentially a lumbering melee machine beating down enemies with combo based attacks that can be upgraded over time some people hated it but I thought it was a nice change of pace from the speed sections still the story and characters are standard fare and there is a repetition here that holds it back from greatness if you played this one on the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 you'll want to know that the PlayStation 2 version takes after the Wii and has numerous design differences it's not the same game and worth a look if you haven't experienced it in 2005 Sega wow and Sega software decided to reboot the Altered Beast franchise into a 3D action game with a very different story characters and setting this time we forego the whole Zeus reanimating a fallen Warrior to save his daughter thing and instead shoot to Modern Times genetic experimentation and a soldier looking for the truth it almost feels like a Resident Evil spin-off really the action takes place in the third person and is mainly close-up melee combat with a dash of projectile based attacks like the original 2D outing you get multiple beasts to turn into here stuff like a wolf a merman a Minotaur a dragon and even an alien like a lot of these revivals it's not a particularly well made experience but it's also not the gutter trash some argue they are I'd play this over the Fighting Force games any day I think Sega targeted these games to kids with simple mechanics to appeal to the broadest audience possible that of course means there isn't much here for someone looking for something deep and meaningful but if you're just looking to kill stuff it certainly has its charms in 2008 Sega Studio China ported nights into dreams to the Japanese PlayStation 2. it was exclusive to that region and featured a number of huge upgrades to the visuals which included increased draw distance and better textures it also included the content from Christmas nights built in and some added costumes despite the passage of more than 10 years since the Saturn original night still held its own as a score attack game and it actually plays quite well with Sony's pad there was also a special edition of it called the nitopia dream bag which included a storybook the later Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 ports were based on this content with Sega picking up technosol's IPS they developed the 2008 release Thunder 4 6. this gets a lot of bad opinions because of its Throwbacks and homages to pass games in the series but I really enjoyed it it's true the sound and visuals could have been stepped up but I love how the difficulty scales so well for beginners and Veterans and I appreciate the designs that are so familiar to the series The developers chose this time to take the radiant silver gun approach to the weapons and give you them all right from the get-go so they can be changed at any time I really dug that too because it allowed me to play it how I wanted it does it live up to the Techno soft develop titles I guess it depends on your expectations but I had a blast with it and still own it all these years later I didn't realize it for years but in 2002 Sega brawl virtual cop Elite Edition to the European PlayStation 2. it was a compilation of the first two games in the series that supported namco's guncon 2. these ports of the arcade Originals featured enhanced sound and visuals while retaining the same great co-op gameplay it doesn't do anything new and I would have loved it to have been released a year later with Virtua cop 3 but I'll take it either way it was not released in North America and the Japanese version was called Virtua cop rebirth Sega rally 2006 was a PlayStation 2 Japanese exclusive that continued that great series of racing games It upgraded the visuals quite a bit while retaining much of the arcade Centric gameplay you knew and loved it has a load of new cars and tracks and there was a special edition of it that included an arcade Port of the original cigarale Championship it was never ported to any other console and remains a true exclusive to the PlayStation 2. the Sega ages 2500 games was a series of releases by various developers that were so named for their budget 2500 Yen cost at first they were polygon remakes of classic Sega franchises before morphing into ports of games spanning many years of Sega Home console and arcade Hardware there were a total of 33 volumes with everything from Master System games Genesis games Saturn games and a number of popular arcade games as well on my first channel I covered these games in a video series that I unfortunately lost the original Masters too so I'll be redoing that video again in the near future there is a ton to unpack with this series a lot of good but also a fair bit of not so good so it's something definitely worth talking about for now let's do a quick Montage of what these games included [Music] thank you foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] happens [Music] thank you [Music] thank you [Music] questions [Music] [Music] thank you foreign the PlayStation 2 was loaded with many more Sega developed and published games than I've shown you here but I wanted this to be just a taste of a much broader range of games that I intend to cover in the future as I mix in 6th generation coverage we are going to start to see Xbox GameCube and PlayStation 2 games more frequently and see just how Sega begin to change as a third party before its ultimate form as a Holdings company after its merger with Sammy it was an interesting Journey with many surprises and let downs and it makes for one heck of an interesting topic if you'd like to see a PlayStation 2 game that I didn't cover here let me know down in the comments and maybe I can fit it in in a future episode should you have any interest in the titles we did Cover PlayStation 2 emulation is actually quite solid these days so if you have a PC don't be afraid to give it a go there are even some pretty nifty upgrades in regards to resolution and performance you can use since we are on the subject of the PlayStation I also plan to mix in some OG PlayStation coverage as we expand to non-sega Hardware while Sega themselves weren't prevalent on that platform many of your favorite third parties were and it's always nice to see what they were up to outside of sega's Ventures I will of course remain very Sega Centric in my coverage but in order to grow and keep the entertainment varied I think you guys will enjoy seeing games from other platforms being featured here if you are anything like me the more games the merrier I'm Sigalert X thank you guys for watching and I will catch you next time [Music] thank you [Music]

Channel: Sega Lord X

Views: 95,184

Keywords: playstation 2, sega, ps2, playstation, playstation 2 games, segalordx, sega lord x, sega saturn, sega genesis, sega dreamcast, mega drive, megadrive, game gear, 32x, mega cd, genesis, saturn, master system, sega cd, gameplay, review, movies, retro games, retro gaming, video games, ps4, xbox, wii, nintendo, gamecube, n64, ps1, ps3, psp, vita, switch, atari

Id: HwXghjPlmBk

Length: 26min 37sec (1597 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 23 2023