PS2 PS2 Hidden Gems

[Ikagura Ikagura]

This is still the best home port of SEGA Rally:
View attachment 105339

Which is better since the Saturn was hard to emulate and the PC port was apparently shoddy.

 

[eyixon]

• Samurai Jack: Shadow of Aku
• Shinobi
• Ape Escape 2-3
• Monster Hunter Dos

I'll leave these few to marinate and hopefully get people to try them. I'm currently playing Ape Escape 3.

 

[KenShjIN]

Downhill Domination
Mark of Cre
Shadow of Rome
Hulk
Zone of the Enders
Vietiful Joe
Psi Ops
Okami !

 

[DjQuick2008]

pal version the handling is way better

 

[Maximecool]

hidden gem

 

[Deleted member 560402]

Rayman 2 is getting a remake

 

[VidiyaGaemer]

State of Emergency comes to mind, it's an obscure Rockstar Games game that.....feels pretty arcade-ey. It's fun to play in bursts and is a good game to emulate on handheld emulation devices like Retroids

 

[Deleted member 868270]

Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (English Patched) PSX ISO – RGT Repository

Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (English Patched) PSX ISO Game ID: SLPS-00742. Languages: English Patched, Japanese. For Sony PlayStation.

retrogametalk.com

 

[Maximecool]

Rayman 2 is getting a remake

Wow this fan-made demo is truly beautiful and very well done!

I also want to point out that there was actually an official remake by Ubisoft, exclusive to the PS2, called Rayman Revolution.

It definitely deserves the status of a hidden gem since it’s not the most well-known version.

The game benefited from many changes and improvements, such as a fully interconnected world instead of separate levels, redone graphics and textures, new areas and side quests, extra mini-games, and even additional bosses.

It was released well after the Dreamcast, PS1, N64, and PC versions of Rayman 2, making it the ultimate edition of the game up to this day.

 

[FedexHollow98]

D.I.C.E is a good Racing/Beat em up mash up, IDk if it's based on an anime series but it reminded me of Zoids while i played it, i also loved its unique transparent casing, tried to look for it, but no luck, i fear it was sold or went missing, wich is a shame because bein a original disc i could still play it on PCSX2

I remember have a toy from that anime for Xmas and the toy includes a DVD with certain chapters of the series but in Japanese without subtitles (even though the toy's packaging was in English)

 

[Deleted member 868270]

Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (USA+UNDUB) PS2 ISO – RGT Repository

Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (USA+UNDUB) PS2 ISO Game ID: SLUS-21419. Languages: English, Undub. For Sony PlayStation 2.

retrogametalk.com

 

[TheImmortalP]

Hi everyone, how's it going?

I wanna thank everyone that's posted in this topic. I haven't gone through every post everyone's made yet, but almost everything that I've seen posted is indeed something that was never popular, or ever had a cult following. I'm really impressed and proud of you all.

I also wanted to recommend a yt channel that covers that also are actual hidden gems.

Brave Prove:
I bet that you didn't know about this PS1 RPG, I know I sure didn't.

Shadow Struggle

Loaded:
I'm afraid of getting modded so I won't post a pic, but it's a very bloody, gory smash TV type game.


Langrisser 4:
I know that the first 2 might have a cult following, but I don't know about the rest of the series. It's thankfully got a fan translation.

Gekioh

Asuncia:

Oh hey, a PS1 Turn based rpg that is neither strategic, nor does it look or play like Dragon Quest.

Captain Commando:

Why didn't anyone tell me that there's a PS1 version of Captain Commando? What other PS1 side scrolling beat em ups do I not know about?

Cyberbots Fullmetal Madness

Gear Fighter Dendoh:

Oooh, and here's another PS1 side scrolling beat em up.

Goemon The Grand Cycle Of Oedo:

Yay! Another Goemon got a recent fan translation!

Post automatically merged: Sep 21, 2025

Ok, well the first few pages were for actual hidden gems anyways. The last 2 pages make me wonder if anyone that's posted in them read the intro post.

Dark Cloud 1 and 2? Really?

Bully? ARe you for real? it's Rockstars most well known title on the PS2 after the GTA games.

Post automatically merged: Sep 21, 2025

Please re-read the intro post, I'll share it again:

I feel like I've asked this everywhere else. I've tried googling, gamefaqs, and reddit, but no one seems to actually know some titles that actually are under the radar.

When I say actually under the radar, I'm talking titles that were never popular, and still aren't.

Genres that I'm interested in:

Action games, Action-Adventure, RPGs(that aren't super tactical), And Story-Rich pure adventure titles(not to be confused with puzzle games.)

Examples of what I'm looking for:
7 Blades for example is extremely under the radar, it's my pick for the most fun game on the PS2
Eternal Ring is an another example. It's a very under the radar title from before From Software got big, and is still pretty unknown
Growlanser Generations was actually pretty under the radar, as it was Working Designs final game, and it did pretty terrible, and as far as I know there's no cult following. It is very under the radar. Also, despite being a tactical rpg, it's doesn't actually require you to be strategic, and the story and characters are so compelling. I'd love to find more like it.
Ring Of Red is way too damn hard for me, as it requires a lot of strategy. It's not for me, but it is very under the radar, so please do recc under the radar titles like this.

Examples of what I'm not looking for:
Shadow Hearts(My favorite rpg from asia!), Valkyrie Profile 2, and Radiata Stories is an example of a title that isn't really known by a lot of people who don't really know the ps2, but if you still really love the system and you were big on rpgs during the systems lifetime and you had the internet, you've known about them for decades. These are not what I mean when I say under the radar. They have a decent sized cult following too.
Clock Tower 3, Haunting Ground, and Rule Of Rose have a huge cult following, and are not what I mean when I say truly under the radar.
Dues Ex got a ton of attention on the PC, which is my main platform of choice. This is not what I mean when I say under the radar.

 

[grapedutch369]

Including both PS1 and PS2 results in quite a long list of answers, but to add to this the game that comes to mind for me is Linda Cubed Again an enhanced remake the PC Engine CD rpg a la the Lunar games. This is the only version I know of that has an english patch. I suspect this game inspired the Pokemon series but its way more interesting than those

 

[TheImmortalP]

Including both PS1 and PS2 results in quite a long list of answers, but to add to this the game that comes to mind for me is Linda Cubed Again an enhanced remake the PC Engine CD rpg a la the Lunar games. This is the only version I know of that has an english patch. I suspect this game inspired the Pokemon series but its way more interesting than those
View attachment 113964View attachment 113965

I watched youtube essay on this, it is indeed a fascinating game that is way more interesting than any pokemon game I've ever tried.

 

[DreamCPS]

Mad Stalker is a remake of an old game originally released for the PC-Engine and some Japanese computers. It is one of the best retro mech games out there, imo.

 

[TinRattler]

Gladiator sword of vengeance

 

[TheImmortalP]

Where were we?

Don't Lose! Kendo Magic 2: Fighter with RPG elements where you gain power as you go through the game.

Fireman 2 Pete and Danny: Oh wow, I didn't know there was a sequel to Fireman, I loved the SNES game!

Love and Destroy: Mech and Dating Sim, nice! Sadly there's no fan translation.

Galaxy Fight

Abalaburn: Budget title that feels part Megaman Legends, and part 2d Arcade Fighter.

Kileak The DNA Imperative: Pre-Residen Evil FPS/Survival game that pre-dates Resident Evil. It's also got Live Action Cutscenes. I played this during the PS1 era. Warning: More of an interesting curiousity than anything else, and it's really really hard!

Novastorm: Shoot em up with FMVs that hold up surprisingly well, feeling like a playable cutcenes.

Mad Stalker: Oooh, another beat em up that I didn't know about. It looks great, and it's all about building up your attacks.

Gunm Martian Memory: Whoah! There's Battle Angel Alita video game? And it's an action rpg?!!! And it's good?!!! How did I not know about this?

 

[TinRattler]

Gladiator sword of vengeance

 

[TheImmortalP]

More PS2 games. Have you played any of these?

Mystical Ninja Goemon Zero:

Apparantly it's more action heavy zelda-like

Gigawing Generations:

World Super Police

Sub Rebellion

Fist Of the North Star:

Tear Ring Saga Berwick:

Fire Emblem-like Game from a Fire Emblem Dev.

Splatter Master:

Oooh, another side scrolling beat em up!

Rockman Power Battle Fighters:

Oh wow, how did I not know about this Megaman game?

Glass Rose:

Oooh, a PS2 Point and Click Adventure game!

Forever Kingdom:

Party Based sequel to Evergrace. I forgot about this game!

 

[aviaovrumvrum]

Very interesting game that I don't see a lot of people talking about

 

[VampireLord1024VampireLord1024's icon]

omg! this is a super cool one :D

Yes, I played it during August last year and I really enjoyed it. Still waiting for the first game to get English translated as well as the third and fourth games.

 

[sandevistar_]

galerians - ash. nuff said

 

[Yurokashi]

Dunno if it's been mentioned, but to anyone who enjoys racing games, you should try out Choro-Q HG 2, aka Road Trip in NTSC regions and Road Trip Adventure in PAL regions. It's a cute and charming little game developed by Takara. It's a blend of a pseudo-RPG and a Racing game, with little chibi cars. The graphics are pleasant and the controls are not that bad.

IIRC, the main goal of the game is to become the President of the world. The map of the game is HUGE, like HUGE HUGE. You can create your own town, play minigames, customize your cars, have teammates, advertise for businesses and more. It's really great and you won't regret it.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

I remember a game with maids having guns.

 

[thanonyx thanonyx]

I remember a game with maids having guns.

Simple 2000 Series Vol. 105: The Maid Fuku to Kikanjyuu (or in English, The Maid Uniform and the Machine Gun)​