Good two-player PS2 games?

[DennyA]

Saw an interesting topic with few replies on one of the Usenet newsgroups, so I figured I'd post the question here, where the pros reside...

Anyone know of any good two-player PS2 games that are accessible to casual gamers or even non-gamers? Now that my wife is seven months pregnant, I'm finding it easier to talk her into sedentary activities like gaming.


It'd also be nice to have some games that I could toss in the PS2 when non-gamers who are over at our place express interest. Gran Turismo 3 is good for that.

Suggestions?

[GMicek]

Part of me wants to suggest SSX(or SSX Tricky) for the casual gamers, but they're actually pretty difficult games in my opinion. Maximo is a pretty easy game to get ahold of I think, and it's entertaining enough that they'll actually want to. Mister Mosquito is great as well. Rez is a game that pretty much anyone can play well, and it's a lot of fun.

I enjoy playing Kengo against my friends quite a bit. Mainly because we yell and do cheezy fake dubbing when we talk trash. NBA Street is fun to play with friends, especially if you don't feel like playing a simulation. Dead Or Alive is a good fighting game to play, it's great for casual gamers (in my opinion) because pretty much anyone can pull off some great moves in it.

[Monty Cantsin]

Anyone know of any good two-player PS2 games that are accessible to casual gamers or even non-gamers?

Cookie and Cream is a great little two-player 3D platformer. The game is completely cooperative, gameplay is built around collaboration between the two players. Somewhat reminiscent of the Lost Vikings games.

[GMicek]

Cookie and Cream is a great little two-player 3D platformer. The game is completely cooperative, gameplay is built around collaboration between the two players. Somewhat reminiscent of the Lost Vikings games.

This might be a tad off topic, but i would kill for an updated version of Ice Climber and/or Balloon Fight. Now those were fun games to play with friends.

[Tyjenks]

Part of me wants to suggest SSX(or SSX Tricky) for the casual gamers, but they're actually pretty difficult games in my opinion

Actually, my wife, who's gaming heights include Tetris and Scrabble on the PSone, really dug SSX. She would stay up late nights with me and loved it. She has never done that with any game. Go figger.

[GMicek]

Actually, my wife, who's gaming heights include Tetris and Scrabble on the PSone, really dug SSX. She would stay up late nights with me and loved it. She has never done that with any game. Go figger.

Well, i'm sure she's better than me. I feel like someones grandpa when i play those games, it's pretty humiliating. Now that i mention it, for the number of games that i play i sure do suck at most of them. For example, i used to think that i was the greatest Red Baron player in the world until i played it online once, ugh.

[Murph]

For example, i used to think that i was the greatest Red Baron player in the world until i played it online once, ugh.

Never a fair comparison. Playing online is the fastest way to be humbled, period.

I've been playing Warcraft II for years. Thought I was pretty good, 'til I played on Battle.Net. It's sad, really.

[Mark Asher]

"I've been playing Warcraft II for years. Thought I was pretty good, 'til I played on Battle.Net. It's sad, really."

Yeah, it's tough. Half the kids these days are on Ritalin. How are we supposed to beat a 14 year old on speed? It ain't fair!

Back in the day I could give a C&C player ranked in the top 50 on Kali a good game, but that was a slower-paced game with maps that cut down on fast building. Starcraft though -- yeesh!

[dannimal]

I got a huge kick out of playing Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance with a buddy of mine. Mindless hack-n-slash, for sure, but pretty and with a not horrific story.

[Supertanker]

I think co-op play is essential when playing with a casual gamer. It is reassuring to have an experienced gamer at your side giving you tips. It is intimidating and frustrating to have that experienced gamer kicking your arse in a competitive game, or sit around for your 30-second turn while they play for 10 minutes or more. No co-op PS2 games come to mind except Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance, or some of the sports games.

It is fun in Halo to let the newb up ahead a bit and give them sniper cover, though. Is there co-op play in MoH:Frontline? That would be great.

[Tom Chick]

No 2-player support in Frontline. It's a single player game only.

Actually, Jedi Starfighter (there's a PS2 version) has co-op multiplayer and it's good for a newbie, in much the same way Halo is. In fact, Jedi Starfighter is a pretty good game for a console space sim.

-Tom

[Anonymous]

im on the other side of the globe and i actually play japanese versions PS2 games... so the names of the game may / will be different and some probably wont make it to the States etc

sounds like u are looking for easy to play games... well get this my parents are playing puzzle bubbles (shoot different color balls and line them up, every 3 same color balls will go away...) so much that they have become experts, i cant even win them (they are playing the ps1 very old version, but i think there is a new ps2 version out there)

other than that, try to hunt down some shooting games... gun brawl was a kick ass duel game and its not bloody or anything like that, its comical and very funny. each stage u have an objective, ranging from 'shot everything that moves' to 'only hit a specific colored target' etc. gun brawl was the japanese name of a ps1 game for sure and i played it in the States before under a different name of course...

both games are very casual. u can fire it up and play a few stages, have enough fun and turn it off.

i think u should choose more in the line of funny, comical looking games. nothing serious / hardcore. i hope u have a chance to walk around and take a look at some update arcade games. they might give u a pretty good idea of what u want or what u can expect.

hope this helps... :D :)

[DennyA]

I wasn't necessarily looking for coop games; we can be quite competitive. :twisted:

However, I burned my EB credits (and $15 :wink: ) yesterday on:
Cookies and Cream
Gauntlet Legends (loved the old Gauntlet, this looks like it could be fun!)
Namco museum (I must have Galaga for every electronic device in the house)
Jeopardy for the PS1

And of course, guess which one we ended up playing last night? Yep, Jeopardy. It's not bad, other than the hassle of entering answers on a game controller.

One question, though: When I tried to save the game in Jeopardy, it told me there was no memory card present. This is on a PS2, with an 8MB memory card. Can PS1 games not save on PS2 memory cards? If that's true, can you use a PS1 card on the PS2 to save PS1 games?

[Tom Chick]

Denny,

Unfortunately, PS1 games aren't compatible with PS2 memory cards. I still have to keep a PS1 card around because of this. Also, you still have to use a multitap to play four player PS1 games on the PS2.

I've really been enjoying Gauntlet Legends on the Gamecube, even though it looks pretty bad. I really like some of the additions to the series. And it's always nice to just veg out on the couch and kill lots of stuff with a minimum of fuss.

-Tom

[Dave Long]

You can leave a PSOne memory card in the second slot of your PS2 for saving PSOne games. I'm playing through Chrono Cross among other RPGs for the older system right now and I just moved the PSOne card over to the PS2's second memory card slot and all is fine.

You can also get a second 8MB PS2 card and format it for PSOne I think.

--Dave

[Chris Floyd]

Denny (or anyone else),

I'm curious to know how Cookie and Cream is. If you got around to playing it between sessions with Alex Trebek, let me know what you think. I'm always looking for good cooperative games.

[Anonymous]

I do not normally post here (the few times I did, I managed to kill the thread), but I picked up Cookie and Cream some time ago for the wife (nongamer) and I (gamer) to play together.
We both thoroughly enjoyed it, though there are a couple of caveats. We found that at times during the game, one 'side' was tougher for her to pull off than the other. As a result, we would switch controllers and restart the level. In addition, it is a platform game not completely unlike the Crash Bandicoot series. If your significant other is lacking in the hand-eye skills (or at least not honed by years of serious time-wasting.. errrr.. skill enhancement), prepare to have your patience tested as you AGAIN restart the level before she couldn't make the jump to lily-pad 42.
Also keep in mind that as a single-player experience, the game is ass. You play both parts, having to switch between them constantly to get anywhere. Not fun.
OK, in hindsight, the caveats are pretty large. I guess if I was to make a recommendation, get a cheap N64 and pick up a Mario Party game or 2. Those she loved playing as it was a mix of coop and competitive throughout the game and she actually had a shot at beating me.

[DennyA]

Still haven't tried Cookies and Cream...

But, I was able to postpone Jeopardy last night on the excuse that I hadn't had time to pick up a PS1 memory card yet, and did we REALLY want that Old Testament category again?

So we played Gauntlet Legends. Wow, that's cool. VERY easy to get into for novice gamers, and she really enjoyed the coop play.

I have to dig out the Amiga emulator and show here what we thought was cool Gauntlet action in the late 80's now. :lol:

[GregB]

In a post on another thread, Tom Chick mentioned The Unholy War for the PS1. I picked it up on a lark some time ago, and it really is an excellent two-player game. A bit like Archon.

[Tom Chick]

Tom Chick mentioned The Unholy War for the PS1. I picked it up on a lark some time ago, and it really is an excellent two-player game. A bit like Archon.

For good reason! It's from the guys who did Archon (as well as Star Controls 1 & 2).

-Tom

[balut]

My friends and I used to have the greatest time playing Unholy War against each other on PS1. Then again, we also had a blast beating each other in Archon, Archon 2: Adept, Archon Ultra, and Star Control 2 Supermelee.

It's a shame how little exposure Unholy War received for PS1, though.

- Balut

[Jason Cross]

My friends and I used to have the greatest time playing Unholy War against each other on PS1. Then again, we also had a blast beating each other in Archon, Archon 2: Adept, Archon Ultra, and Star Control 2 Supermelee.

Yeah, Toys for Bob. The amazing duo of Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III.

They made both Star Control games, The Horde (actually quite good title for the 3DO system), Pandemonium, both Archons, Mail Order Monsters...

If you hit their website (http://www.toysforbob.com/), you'll see under "new games" that they're working on something called Minions, which they best describe as "fantasy Star Control 2."

Be still my heart!

And of course, they're porting the 3DO SC2 for the PC now and giving it away.