A Disney State of Mind

People seem to think Summer ends after Labor day, truth is, Autumn doesn't start until September 22nd or 24th pretty sure. What PS2 journey would be complete without tapping into the Kingdom Hearts series, the unexpected combination of characters from Disney and Final Fantasy. Just enough time for one more in the Summer of Playstation 2 and I’ve committed to finishing this sucker.

I know kung fu

Forget what you know about video games based on movies for just a minute. Now imagine a movie that you loved (or in this case a trilogy). Wouldn't it be great to continue that experience in game form; to relive those awesome moments with you controlling the action. I believe that was always the intent with movie games but it almost never seems to work out. Perhaps game developers should take a look back on some PS2 era games because The Matrix: Path of Neo is a great game.

More Summer of Playstation 2

A loan from good friend and contributor to the Gamedae blog, B-Real. B-Real was nice enough to help me continue my Summer of Playstation 2 with some of his favorites from way back. A pair of popular adventures that I'll be playing for the first time! 

NEW GAMES
Kingdom Hearts (1) (March 28, 2002)
The beginning of the Disney and Final Fantasy mash up. Published by Square Enix (Formerly called Squaresoft)

Kingdom Hearts II (December 22, 2005)
The sequel to the original action, role-playing game

+ Check out B-Real's post from 2010 Kingdom Hearts 358/2

TRAILERS BELOW

Taking a dip in the protoculture

Halfway through writing this post for Robotech Invasion, Harmony Gold, the company that owns the rights to Robotech, launched a Kickstarter campaign for a new animated series. It's exciting to think there is a chance for a new series. Robotech the animated series was one of, if not the first, successfully ported anime from Japan and near and dear to my heart. It was in my early childhood when I first saw it on TV, very early in the morning. All it took was a glimpse of the mecha and I was hooked. Flash forward 30+ years, here I am probably the only person playing through Robotech Invasion on the PS2 recently.

Summer of PlayStation 2

Today, the day of the summer solstice, it is most evident to me that this will be the Summer of PlayStation 2 (for me anyway)!

NEW GAMES
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (November 8, 2004)
A single-player, shooter title published by Sony, Bandai and Atari based on the anime series of the same name.

The Matrix: Path of the Neo (November 7, 2005)
An action-adventure game based on the movie trilogy, published by Atari

TRAILERS BELOW
 

Late to the Party

In this awkward time of the new-Next Gen, with the looming game expo of the year around the corner, you might think I’d be playing the latest and greatest game titles right now. I’m not. I’ve been in a funk lately, not responding well to some of the best “AAA” games I’ve played. I’m also getting tired of the so-called indie games for the Next/Current Gen systems. Without even knowing it I think I was looking for something simpler and more fun to get into, then, as if the by the grace of the Gods, God of War lands at my feet.

sly cooper and the thievius raccoonus

RELEASE: 9/2002 | PUB: Sony | DEVELOPER: Sucker Punch | ESRB: E for Everyone

One game you might not see coming is the sneaky HD remaster of Sly Cooper and The Thievius Raccoonus. For a game released on the PS1 back in 2002 this game is still solid. I don’t have the nostalgic feelings for Sly that some of you readers might but it was a free PS Plus download and I was willing to give it a shot. As a fan of 3D platformers, particularly of the Insomniac variety this is quite an adventure. Originally released on the heels of some favorite platformers of the 90’s like Mario Bros., Sonic and Crash Bandicoot. Sly Cooper feels like “the missing link” in evolution. If evolution involved a Spyro game growing into a modern Ratchet & Clank game.