Crazy Taxi - Came out 2/00 for the Dreamcast so it counts! Anyway, my most played racing game. The four songs that got continually looped are permanently etched in my mind. I'd play this for hours at a time on the same two areas. I was one of the few that thought that the original mode was better than the arcade mode or whatever they called it, the city had a lot more going for it, than the arcade, which was smaller, and faster.
Skies of Arcadia - I didn't care much about this game until
spoiler (click to show/hide)
Vyse gets stuck on the island
and the game took off amazingly from there. Encounter rates didn't bother me; I had no idea what the fuck people were griping about, considering how a lot of the same people praised games with instant death spells like the SMT games. The game was a true FF killer, despite having a lot of the same JRPG elements, the way it was pieced together was omg amazing. It was one of the few games I hated to beat because that meant the game came to an end. I also played Legends which was an improvement but fuck, this game deserved a lot better than what it received. It was supposed to get a PS2 port and a PS2 sequel, neither of which occurred. A crying shame :'(
Tekken Tag Tournament - I enjoyed this game a lot. I liked tag fighters and didn't care for the direction Capcom was going with their Vs games. Plus Tekken Bowl
Every time I repurchased a PS2, it was the first game I'd buy for it.
Metroid Prime - Catches too much shit in my opinion. The first game where I cared to get 100% on. The game was great to play during long stretches of time. It isn't a classic FPS but I think it is a great game overall. Lots of varied environments and never really let up the whole time I was playing, whereas a lot of other games blow their creative load in the first half, and then just assumes the player will keep trudging along until the end. A shame about MP2 and nothing about MP3 compels me to buy it. I might get the Trilogy someday but mostly to replay the first one.
Dynasty Warriors 4 - I got into the series from DW3 on Xbox but this was the one that made me gay for the franchise. Bright, colorful, and interesting. Cleaned up a lot of issues I had with DW3 and introduced a lot of variety to levels of the game. With the exception of DW Gundam, I have enjoyed all of the mainline (I don't count XL or Legends) DW and SW games. Although with Samurai Warriors 3 coming to the Wii, that will probably be the third Musou game I'll completely skip out on (I won't get DW Gundam 2). Probably my favorite franchise today and I like reading the reviews for the lulz, because it is obvious they barely spend any time on the game; just roaming out the free mode to capture screens and video. Probably the main reason why I think gaming journalism is a sad joke.
RalliSport Challenge 2 - My favorite racing game of all time. A shame Microsoft abandoned BC on the 360. At least they should put it on XBLM for 1200 pts. The game deserved better. Much better.
Super Mario Galaxy - A shining diamond in a sea of shit. The game was everything a modern Mario should be: classic gameplay elements but taking place in worlds that would be expected of modern hardware (well, you know what I mean). A lot of interesting star missions, a lot of creative levels, the game was chock full of fun and brilliant design. Like SOA, I hated to beat the game because it meant it was over. Probably will end up as my game of the generation unless SMG2 tops it.
Disappointments:Morrowind - I heard a lot of hype from non-nerd Xbox gamers so I got it. OMG, the game was laughably bad. I hated it so much I stopped caring and beat on the ugliest townspeople instead. The game was so crap that all they would do is just wander towards you and see the red flashes to indicate you got hit. Bethesda games are always huge in scope but buggy as fuck and obnoxiously ugly. Morrowind would frequently lock up, which was a blessing because it would freeze around the time where I started hating myself for wasting the time on the game. This was my first foray into the WRPG fold, which after Morrowind, I left and never came back. I watched my friends play Fallout 3 for a while. It seemed fun but Morrowind scared me away from WRPGs, especially Bethesda efforts.
Super Mario Sunshine - I've ranted and raved about the beefs I have with the game. I thought it was half baked and rushed to beat out the Fall 2002 PS2 heavyweights.
Halo 2 - Nowhere near the leap my friends and I expected. Multiplayer maps sucked. We all went back to the original almost right away. In fact, the game was so disappointing that many people I knew just stopped playing the series altogether.
