Two to tango
Soaking in the 2000s vibes with PS2
Honestly, if you’ve played almost any PS2 game on PS4, you’ll know what to expect here. You’ll even recognise the library, because it’s the same one that’s been trotted out for years. That’s really the most disappointing thing about the current state of this classic console on PS Plus – it’s just business as usual, collecting together 24 games from the PS2 Classics library.
No port here was made after 2017 (which was the Jak games), the selection being as far as PlayStation got with introducing a retro library to PS4. It’s a good lineup beyond Jak – you’ve got the creepy Forbidden Siren, three Star Wars games, action games like The Mark Of Kri and Primal, quirky, bubbly hits like Ape Escape 2, Everybody’s Tennis, and FantaVision, JRPG epics like Dark Cloud and Rogue Galaxy, and more
NEXT LEVEL
There are plenty of obvious omissions that seem extra-odd on a first-party service like PS Plus – where are Ratchet, Sly, and Kratos? The answer goes back to this being a somewhat barebones collection that was never intended to be an on-demand library like this, and until we get more rereleases of games beyond the pre-existing library, PlayStation’s sense of commitment to celebrating this beloved console feels lacking. These games don’t even get native PS5 builds. Only PS4 versions are available, with all the quirks those always had (and PlayStation veterans more than likely already own their favourites anyway – they’ve frequently been extremely cheap in sales). Again, these are great games, but these ports feel old hat now, and, as they’re older, don’t have any of the emulation features supported for PS1 and PSP.