In light of the theoretical PS3 launch date, I'm going to artificially extend the regular Farewell to the PS2 feature. Starting next time, we're going to switch to bimonthly and only cover three games an entry. This should get us into August or later!
released September 2003, purchased September 2003
We enjoyed several DDRs back on the PS1, but I'm not sure why I waited for MAX2 to get one for the PS2. It's not like there is a great deal of change between versions.
This game sparked a serious DDR-as-exercise phase in fourhman.home, to the point that I set up a permanent DDR area in the basement. This series will kick your ass, even on the "low impact" exercise setting. The game tracks your burned calories and such, which looks pretty impressive in rather short order. You might recall the media suddenly realizing that DDR exists about this time, and half-assed stories slugged "a video game that IMPROVES your HEALTH?!?!?1//1/1/!??!?1 WTF!" all over the place.
I'm looking forward to DDR morphing into more of a lifestyle thing, where you can use your own music and regularly download new songs and dances. It could become a huge exercise tool if they would evolve it outside of pure video games.
Favorite track: "Love at First Sight" by Kylie Minogue. Yes, it's in iTunes.
Memory Score: You have to get two dance mats. It's a given.
released September 2003, purchased September 2003
Where did this come from?
I'll tell you where: from the Let's Rip GTA Retro-Style department. Seriously, this came out of nowhere - well before the remake movie hit - and even had a crazy, no-one-is-going-to-do-it-but-Joe peripheral gimmick. And I'm not kidding: this game is totally Classic Starsky & Hutch, with the original actors' likenesses and everything. There's even the gigantic in-game shrine to Huggy Bear, with photos and interviews and bios. I'm guessing he wouldn't sign off on his character's inclusion unless they let him turn the game into his own personal street team.
Anyway, the game is mostly an all-driving GTA, which we used to call Driver. What sets it apart is a 2P mode that allows the use of a light gun... one player drives the car while the other player shoots stuff. This was the whole reason I got the game and a very specific high point in the history of the GunCon2. We had a grand ol' time, although the last few missions became unreasonably hard on the shooter.
Memory Score: There's this hilarious cutscene that makes it look like Starsky and Hutch kiss.
| Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando |
released November 2003, purchased November 2003
Peak of the franchise thus far.
Ups the life counter, lets you upgrade your weaponry, much more sidebar missions, even rewards you for having played the first one. Just off the top of my head, I'm calling this the best action-platformer of this generation. Of course, what's the competition, fucking Sonic Heroes?
I will say that I don't care about the Ratchet Universe much beyond R&C themselves. The punny characters, comedy cliches and cartoon plots feel a little too desperate to me. I especially hate Captain Qwark.
No, this game excels in the environments (distinctive without being overbearing, a tough line to ride) and in the action. When I think about Ratchet & Clank 2 - and I did think about it quite a bit when #3 turned out so average - I always flash back to cracking that energy whip across throngs of swarming little blue puffballs. It was definitely a game that could put you in the zone.
Memory Score: R&C have fully occupied the former Bandicoot center of my brain.
released November 2003, purchased November 2003
Gimmick purchase.
Like Nintendo's eReader, the USB EyeToy is a wacky peripheral that arrived on a wave of big promises... and then never really paid out. The history of video games is littered with such technology. EyeToy fared better than most - rumors say it will appear next on the PSP - but it never became a must-have.
Part of the problem is that Sony only released a few EyeToy-exclusive titles (and then packaged most of them with more EyeToys, so if you bought them all you ended up with enough EyeToys to run a home security network) and dragged them out over years. By the time Anti-Grav hit, no one cared anymore. And the US will likely never see Chat, which combined video conferencing with one-on-one games like Chess and Battleship.
The other half of the EyeToy's slow start is this initial Play disk, which forces you through an obnoxious interface (camera usage for the sake of it) to play an vastly uneven set of mini-games. The best ones are a kung fu punching game and a color-matching fireworks game. And even though you can register several players, there's no overall scorekeeping method and no way to declare an end to it. You just keep doing stuff randomly until somebody wonders aloud where the eReader is.
It just wasn't a very enthusiastic start, and probably turned more gamers off than it turned on. The music to Wishi-Washi is pretty hilarious though.
Memory Score: My EyeToy has been used most to play poker.
Next time: Two movie games and a Dreamcast port (they still make those?!)
