Racketboy

The whole “Sony-killed-Sega” topic is a sensitive subject for old-school Sega fans. Sure, Sega had plenty of self-inflicted wounds, but in the back of every Sega junky’s mind is the fact the Sega rushed the Saturn to market to preempt the Playstation and the PS2 hype made the Dreamcast’s phenomenal head-start fizzle out quicker […]

In a response to many requests, I’m starting a new series covering the best modern 2D games for newer consoles. Since it is the most common and well-rounded of the modern consoles, I’m starting with the Playstation 2. I also find it an ironic place to start as Sony was has always been […]

When you add a console to your collection, the first thing you want to do is get a handful of games to keep you busy with your new toy. However, most of us can’t spend afford to spend fat pile of cash for a few games. This budget-friendly list should help you quickly find which […]

When there are a number of home versions of a classic game, you can’t help but wonder which version is the best. For older games, it is very hard to find some solid comparisons of various ports. Fortunately, every now and then I stumble across someone who is dedicated to a certain game […]

As a victim of Acclaim’s financial problems, The Red Star was delayed many times and been cancelled at least once. However, XS Games took over the project as it’s publisher and released this shmups/beatemup hybrid game as a budget title for the PS2.
Ever since I first laid eyes on The Red Star back when […]

The Sega Genesis Collection has apparently emerged as one of the best classic game compilations of all time. (If there was a Gamecube version, I would buy it for myself). I was pretty happy to see our friends at X-Play have taken the time to share the Genesis Collection with its television audience and […]

It isn’t every day that a beautiful 2D game gets released on a home console. It is even less frequent that such games make it out of Japan and reach the English-speaking marketplace.

However, Odin Sphere is a side-scrolling action RPG from Altus Software that is not only on its way to the Playstation […]

One of the great things about the Playstation 2 at launch was the ability to not only play a huge library of PS1 games on the new console, but the graphics also had some slight enhancements. Nearly everything was compatible and looked great.
Unfortunately, that has not been the case with the new Playstation 3. […]

With all the hype over the retro downloads on the Wii’s Virtual Console and the XBox Live Arcade, many gamers have completely missed the release of the Sega Genesis Collection for the PS2.
For once, Sega has gotten the clue and included a health spoonful of top-notch Genesis classics on one compliation. While not every great […]

The Dreamcast had a long string of 2D shooters that continued long after the console left the retail scence in most countries.
Trizeal was developed by Triangle Service, a small Japanese developer, and was ported to the Dreamcast in 2005 from the NAOMI arcade platform, making it one of the officially licensed games to be released […]

Castle of Shikigami 2 (also known as Shikigami No Shiro II) naturally originated in the arcades and was later ported to the Sega Dreamcast (in the series of late shmups that kept the DC import scene alive), Playstation 2, Nintendo GameCube, and Xbox. The game was released in Japan for each of those mediums and […]

You are probably already wondering why we are featuring a new Dragonball Z game for the PS2. The primary reason is the fact that the key people responsible for the arcade fighting masterpiece Street Fighter 2 are working on Super DBZ’s development team and that this latest Dragon Ball Z game would play and […]

It looks like Sega finally got a clue. They realized they need to capitalize on their most valuable IP and will be bringing a generous collection of their 16-bit Genesis titles to both the PS2 and PSP.
Perhaps this was inspired by the excitement over their announcement to have Genesis games availible on the Wii’s […]

The Street Fighter Alpha Anthology has hit the streets and is ready to give 2D fighter fans a retro fix on their PS2s.
While SNK has been quickly putting out a number of its old titles via emulated compilations, Capcom took the time to create fully arcade-authentic ports for the PS2 resulting in a very solid […]

We have been seeing a gradual trend of SNK porting the majority of their hits to the PS2 for quite some time. This movement will be seeing a pinnacle this month as we will be seeing most of the remaining King of Fighters games and most of the Fatal Fury titles coming to Sony’s console. […]

SNK has consistantly been putting out ports of its best Neo-Geo games for the PS2 and most of them have been of very high quality. The latest in this series of ports is the Art of Fighting Collection, which has only been released in Japan thus far.
After the lackluster review of the Last Blade […]

Developed by Cave, the makers of such popular shooter franchises such as Do Don Pachi and Muschihimesama, comes another excellent masterpiece that is ported to the PS2 by Taito. Gameplay is reminiscent of titles such as Raiden and Castle Shikigami and there explosion count is pretty high.
Ibara is one of hte hottest shmups in […]

I was just noticing the other day that Sony was looking like it was going to be left out of the online game distribution market leading to a lack of competition with the XBox Live Arcade and the Nintendo Revolution Virtual Console.
Just a few days later, GameIndustry.biz is reporting that Sony is considering a digital […]

The NES is definitely one of the most popular consoles to mod. Over the last year we’ve seen a number of things like an NES turned into a PC, and NES DVD player, and much more. However kotami, one of France’s (if not one of the world’s) premier console hackers has put together one of […]

The new Gunstar Heroes Treasure Box for the PS2 is out now and my friends at Siliconera are already on top of the situation with a full review.
As many of you may know, this is a special installement of the Sega Ages series in which the 3 Sega MegaDrive/Genesis gems developed by Treasure are combined […]

If you’re into importing Japanese PS2 games, there are a few interesting options if you are looking for some classic Konami action.
Famitsu magazine is reporting that the following games will be added to Hamster’s Oretachi Geesen Zoku series of classic arcade games on the PS2:
Contra (the original arcade game)
Akumajou Dracula (aka Haunted Castle in the […]

While the steady stream of NAOMI shmup ports (see Radilgy and Under Defeat for the latest) is greatly appreciated I and many others would like to see some fighting action on the Dreamcast. Melty Blood: Act Cadenza is a slick fighter for the NAOMI arcade system (which was a port of an indie PC […]

Just when Capcom seemed to have fininshed making “Dream Match” Versus fighters, SNK picks up the pace with its own Neo Geo Battle Coliseum. This slick fighter has made its way from the Atomiswave arcade system to the PS2 and so far it sounds like it is a decent port.
From NSCX:
“Tussle with famous and […]

The first amurai Spirits (Samurai Shodown in the US) game from the new Atomiswave hardware. Tenkaichi Kenkyakuden (usually refered to as “Tenka” in the US) is filled to the brim with character selections, gameplay options, and beautiful graphic work. It looks to be the Dream Game for Samurai Shodown fans.
So far both the […]

One of the rarest of all Treasure games is at last being brought out of hiding. A retail source in Japan reports that Sega’s upcoming PS2 Treasure Box compilation will not only include the Genesis and Mega Drive versions of Gunstar Heroes, but it will also contain the elusive Game Gear version of Gunstar Heroes […]

IGN Recently posted the Top 50 Best Selling PS2 Games of 2005 and Sonic Mega Collection Plus is number 22 — beating out titles such as Need for Speed Underground 2 and Madden NFL 2005. The Mega Collection sold 468,000 units last year — not too shabby.
This at least shows that there is obviously […]

The latest issue of Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu has revealed that Sega is working on yet another Shining title. Although the series has spawned a long line of titles, recent games in the series have been widely considered to be huge letdowns, as both Shining Tears and Shining Force Neo receiving below-average scores from the […]

I was just looking at The Magic Box’s entry for the upcoming Street Fighter Alpha Anthology for the PS2 and saw some screenshots of the menu system. While it is nothing fancy, it does give some indication that there will be at least a small amount of gamplay options included.
Shown in the screens are:

Arcade
Versus
Survival
Dramatic Battle

I […]

Capcom has announced plans to release Street Fighter Alpha Anthology on the PS2.
It will include arcade ports of…

Street Fighter Alpha
Street Fighter Alpha 2
Street Fighter Alpha 2 Gold
Street Fighter Alpha 3
Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix (aka Pocket Fighter)

I admit, it would have been nice to see these included in the Street Fighter […]

Back in July of ‘05, I mentioned that Sega was working on a graphically enhanced version of the first Panzer Dragoon game (originally for the Saturn) for the PS2. Since the original was a great game, but had rough graphics, I was very interested in this upgrade.
Today, Famitsu magazine released some new screens of […]

Namco x Capcom is a game that has quite a hardcore buzz around it.
We still haven’t heard any news on it coming out of Japan, but I know for a fact that it would sell well if it did. I believe Namco is making a huge mistake if they do not export it. This game […]

The highly-anticipated Mega Man X Collection has finally been released here in the US. I personally suck at the games, but I know there are a lot of Megaman fans out there (hence all the games). The compilation is being released for both the PS2 and Gamecube (I guess XBox gamers aren’t much […]

As I reported earlier, the PS2 will be getting an awesome game collection from Sega and Treasure. Vol. 25 of the Sega Ages 2500 series (aka The Treasure Box) for the PS2 will include Gunstar Heroes, Dynamite Headdy, and Alien Soldier. (Read more about these games on my original post).
I’ve just learned of some new […]

Radiant Silvergun and Panzer Dragoon Saga aren’t the only Saturn games that command a high premium on eBay. Dragon Force was one of the best RPGs on Sega’s 32-bit system.
Fortunately, Sega is re-releasing Dragon Force on the PS2 with enhanced graphics and sound (without butchering it like many of their other updates). The […]

As I mentioned briefly before, SNK Playmore will release the PS2 port of the Atomsiwave arcade fighting game NeoGeo Battle Coliseum on December 22 in Japan.
As those familiar with the arcade version are aware of, this Versus fighter features characters from all over the SNK world; including World Heroes, Metal Slug, Samurai Shodown, and of […]

There is a buzz on the Net now that an obscure, new VS fighter is coming to the PS2.
Spectral vs. Generation is a vs. fighting game where the 10 most popular characters from Idea Factory’s RPG games, Spectral Souls and Generation of Chaos, collide. You read that correctly — a VS. fighter that […]

There are four new 2D fighters on their way to current-gen consoles — 3 for the PS2 and one for the Gamecube. I’ll be talking about each of them a bit more in the next few days, but here’s a head-up…
PS2:
NeoGeo Battle Coliseum
Guilty Gear XX Slash
Spectral vs. Generation
Gamecube:
Bleach

Another Outrun installment is scheduled to be released on the PS2, PSP, and PC in March. That’s right — no XBox version right now, however the game is devloped by the same guys as the XBox Outrun 2. I can’t blame Sega for moving platforms — the XBox version didn’t quite […]

I like to think that this compilation is a result of my evangilising the possibilities of retro compilation packs and constantly mentioning Capcom’s name in the process… one can hope
Anyway, Capcom’s Retro Collection seems to be a very well-rounded package and includes a number of gems that retrogamers around the world have been clamoring […]

SNK has some more great classics coming to the PS2. They recently announced a PS2 port of the arcade fighting game Samurai Spirits: Tenka Ichi Kenkakuden. The game will support online battle using the KDDI matching service.
SNK Playmore has also announced 4 new titles in the NeoGeo Online Collection series for PS2:

NeoGeo Online Collection […]