Best Pick Up And Play Games For The PS2, Gamecube, and X-Box?

[A Sprite]

Much as I love the last gen, I gotta admit, the haters have a point - even I can't play half the games I own and still have time for friends and family.

 

So, for those of us who are still into gaming for the polygon generations, but don't have time to get epic, what games are worth looking out for?

 

Here's the five that worked for me -

 

1. Burnout 3 - Any game that offers a mode where the whole idea is to create a crash that does as much damage as possible is off to the right start. Unlockables unlock fast, you're rewarded for driving into traffic with more speed - this concept would work in any generation, but it was the last generation that made it happen.

 

2. House of the Dead 3 - the first gun game that works fine without a gun. This game is so accessible that I turned my best friend's nongaming mom into a hardcore zombie killing machine. Only one thing went wrong with this plan -

 

3. State of Emergency ( X-Box version only ) There is a mode here, where there are two hundred people in uniform fleeing from you, and it's your job to kill them all. Add in the custom

for extra wrong, and you have a package no older woman in her right mind can resist. She bought her own X-box just so she could play the game...too bad there was only one TV.

 

4. Crazy Taxi: "Hey Hey Hey, you have 3 crazy minutes -" Sold.

 

5. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater ( 1, 2, 2x and 3 ) No enemies, no storyline, no vast worlds to conquer. There's just a few seconds as you fly into the air, to see what you know how to do, and if after you do it, you can still land on your feet.

[Kid Ice]

Funny, before I even opened your thread I was thinking Burnout 3.

 

Given that I would say:

 

PS2...SSX Tricky

 

Gamecube...any of the Super Monkey Ball games

 

XBox...Top Spin

[christianscott27]

Katamari - for sure

[mimo]

Namco Museum

[8bitgamer]

Tecmo Classic Arcade for the Xbox. I've seen it for $5.00 new at Game Stop.

[Bucket]

Burnout 2 is preferable to 3, if you're looking for accessibility. B3 adds way too many random elements.

 

Tony Hawk 2 is the best of the series on PS1, in my opinion. For PS2/XBox, get Tony Hawk's Underground.

[Bill Brasky]

Why is this in 'classic gaming'?

[A Sprite]

Burnout 2 is preferable to 3, if you're looking for accessibility. B3 adds way too many random elements.

 

Tony Hawk 2 is the best of the series on PS1, in my opinion. For PS2/XBox, get Tony Hawk's Underground.

 

I go with 3 over 2 because of the ability to take out your opponents: people who haven't played games since the Atari era got into it as quick as current gen players and nongamers, something I'd never seen before.

[A Sprite]

Why is this in 'classic gaming'?

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=117664

[supergamer]

Why is this in 'classic gaming'?

 

Man I remember the days when talking about the NES would get you bitched at on r.g.v.c.

 

But yeah, there's still NEW development for PS2. No way you can argue it as classic.

[A Sprite]

Why is this in 'classic gaming'?

 

Man I remember the days when talking about the NES would get you bitched at on r.g.v.c.

 

But yeah, there's still NEW development for PS2. No way you can argue it as classic.

 

It can be moved if it's wrong for this forum. I only included it here because it's tied into the thread about collecting for the systems.

[liveinabin]

I used to play Burnout 3 (as well as 2 as they're totally different games) but Burnout Revenge is even better than 3 for a quick pick-up-and-play. Faster, more destructive, less cheating by the AI and much improved crash junctions (with less reliance on just hitting the bonus). And it's definitely the best looking game on the original Xbox.

 

Also an Xbox racer, Outrun 2006. Beautiful arcade racer, bigger and better than Outrun 2, whose levels are all included within this package anyway as well as a whole load of new ones. And they got rid of the tacky Ferrari merchandise unlockables. A slice of blue-skied Sega perfection.

[jboypacman]

Namco Museum

Tatio Legends 1 and 2

Activision Anthology

Atari Anthology(? i think thats it name)

OutRun Coast2Coast

Mario Kart Double Dash

Smash Brothers Melee

[Technosis]

ditto to what jboypacman listed above

 

I like the 2D fighters, especially Capcom Vs SNK 2 or the Guilty Gear series. Immediate action

[Gentlegamer]

My contribution:

 

Crazy Taxi - multiplatform (originally on Dreamcast)

Crimson Skies - Xbox (campaign game, but very arcade-like game-play)

[jboypacman]

Hey Tech your into CVS2 as well? Cool thats a favorite of ours around here right after SFA2/3rd Strike and before Marvel.

 

Great games and easy to pick up and play as well(love me some Street Fighter Alpha 2).

[DragonmasterDan]

Castle Shikigami 2 for PS2 is just AWESOME. It has a completely jibberish translation (with spoken dialogue) to go with an awesome SHMUP!

 

Also Ikaruga for GameCube is a great pickup and play game.

[ultramoo]

I'd say Halo for the Xbox, all you have to do is run around and shoot. No codes, keys, etc. to look for (like in Doom).

[bust3dstr8]

Alien Hominid

 

 

[vdub_bobby]

For the Gamecube, what about Viewtiful Joe, I-Ninja, Metal Arms, and Super Mario Sunshine? I'm looking to get a Gamecube pick-up-n-play game for someone for Christmas and I was wondering about those games - are they good pick-up-n-play games?

 

I already had Alien Hominid, SSX 3, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Ikaruga on my list of possibilities.

 

EDIT: And I do agree that this should be in the modern forum, though I'm glad it's here, since otherwise I probably wouldn't have seen it.

 

IMO if you can still buy new games for the system from department stores then it is still a current system.

 

The Fred Meyers in my area still have plenty of new Xbox and Gamecube games for sale. And, obviously, tons of new PS2 stuff.

Edited December 11, 2007 by vdub_bobby

[A Sprite]

For the Gamecube, what about Viewtiful Joe, I-Ninja, Metal Arms, and Super Mario Sunshine? I'm looking to get a Gamecube pick-up-n-play game for someone for Christmas and I was wondering about those games - are they good pick-up-n-play games?

 

I already had Alien Hominid, SSX 3, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Ikaruga on my list of possibilities.

 

EDIT: And I do agree that this should be in the modern forum, though I'm glad it's here, since otherwise I probably wouldn't have seen it.

 

IMO if you can still buy new games for the system from department stores then it is still a current system.

 

The Fred Meyers in my area still have plenty of new Xbox and Gamecube games for sale. And, obviously, tons of new PS2 stuff.

 

First the bad news..

 

Like books and films, games need editors, someone capable of trimming the fat and excising the padding (Metal Arms: Glitch in the System has a great deal of padding). The game could arguably be half as long—say, twenty levels instead of 42—and be twice as compelling. A skilled editor could have stream-lined the experience, bringing the game's essence to the surface. Considering the great number of things Metal Arms: Glitch in the System gets right, it's a shame that the game is ultimately sullied by its gassy length (it doesn't seem to know when to end) and often sadistic difficulty (did anyone play-test it?).

 

- Gamecritics/com

 

I-Ninja clocks in at a "brief" 10 hours for a hardcore player, but -

 

Many missions must be played twice (three times, occasionally) to completely finish the game, but few actually bear any changes after your first attempts, making for some dull repetition.

 

Super Mario Sunshine gets a mixed review - easy to get into, but the game is long

, worse the penalty for missing a jump is often swimming back to the beginning of the level to try again. You'll grow to miss bottomless pits. Most people feel it was flawed, but Tempest prefers it to Mario 64, so maybe it'll be fun for you too.

 

Viewtiful Joe I can recommend with no reservations.

 

Other games you might want to try are TimeSplitters 2 ( No other 1st person shooter would risk making it's storyline so unnecessary. It's just an excuse to throw as many characters and scenarios at the player for them to amuse themselves with as possible. If you choose, you can skip it completely and go straight to shooting things. )

 

And Wario World - it was almost universally panned for being beatable by a good player within less than 6 hours. With 4 worlds containing 3 stages each, it's shorter than some NES games. Perfect for anybody wanting to just beat a game without exchanging wedding vows with it.

 

Edited December 11, 2007 by A Sprite

[vdub_bobby]

First the bad news..

 

Like books and films, games need editors, someone capable of trimming the fat and excising the padding (Metal Arms: Glitch in the System has a great deal of padding). The game could arguably be half as long—say, twenty levels instead of 42—and be twice as compelling. A skilled editor could have stream-lined the experience, bringing the game's essence to the surface. Considering the great number of things Metal Arms: Glitch in the System gets right, it's a shame that the game is ultimately sullied by its gassy length (it doesn't seem to know when to end) and often sadistic difficulty (did anyone play-test it?).

 

- Gamecritics/com

 

I-Ninja clocks in at a "brief" 10 hours for a hardcore player, but -

 

Many missions must be played twice (three times, occasionally) to completely finish the game, but few actually bear any changes after your first attempts, making for some dull repetition.

 

Super Mario Sunshine gets a mixed review - easy to get into, but the game is long

, worse the penalty for missing a jump is often swimming back to the beginning of the level to try again. You'll grow to miss bottomless pits. Most people feel it was flawed, but Tempest prefers it to Mario 64, so maybe it'll be fun for you too.

 

Viewtiful Joe I can recommend with no reservations.

 

Other games you might want to try are TimeSplitters 2 ( No other 1st person shooter would risk making it's storyline so unnecessary. It's just an excuse to throw as many characters and scenarios at the player for them to amuse themselves with as possible. If you choose, you can skip it completely and go straight to shooting things. )

 

And Wario World - it was almost universally panned for being beatable by a good player within less than 6 hours. With 4 worlds containing 3 stages each, it's shorter than some NES games. Perfect for anybody wanting to just beat a game without exchanging wedding vows with it.

Hmmm. Food for thought. Thanks!

[+FujiSkunk]

Any fighting game, 2D or 3D, is good for a quick play.

 

There's also Raiden III, and the ton of retro game collections out there, a lot of which have already been mentioned.