Top 10 Hidden PS2 Gems

If you're a person that keeps track of the 'console wars' and are one to declare winners and losers, you'd likely say that the PlayStation 2 won the war of its generation. While the original PlayStation did well for itself, Sony's second system is what really put the company on the video game hardware map, especially after Sega fell out of the race and instead became a third party publisher.

Due to the console's success, its library is downright huge, and has something for every variety of gamer to enjoy. Of course, with such a big collection, many games can also be overlooked, leaving them to sit sadly in obscurity. But, that doesn't mean they don't deserve to be played! Here's ten hidden PS2 gems that are worth your time and money.

Oh, and there's a catch to this list. Except for one title, this list contains games that are only on the original PlayStation 2 hardware; if a game's been rereleased, become a PS2 Classic, or is available on another system, you won't find it here. So, some obscure titles like God Hand, Odin Sphere, and ICO won't make an appearance on this list.

10. Amplitude

Before Harmonix hit it big with the Guitar Hero series, they were a small developer with some unusual rhythm games. Amplitude was one of the developer's PlayStation 2 titles from before their peripheral laden series blew up and changed the genre's landscape for years to come.

Anyway, Amplitude backs that rather interesting setting with its somewhat convoluted gameplay. Each instrument and the vocals are all on separate tracks. You go to one of the tracks, and as per rhythm game standards, you have to press different buttons in beat with the music for a period of time. Succeed for long enough, and the instrument track will play on its own for a while, allowing you to go to another track and repeat the process.

The goal of Amplitude is to essentially balance all these tracks so that they are all playing (making the song complete), and making sure that no track goes unplayed for too long (as you lose 'health' for every note missed). It makes for an intense experience, and one that can get quite difficult with later songs, especially when there are a lot of instruments you have to keep track of.

For portable gaming aficionados, this all may sound a little familiar to you: The PlayStation Portable title Rock Band: Unplugged uses this same gameplay, but with a Rock Band flavor to it.