PS2 Arcade ports?

[Hatta]

Isn't there a Metal Slug compilation for the PS2? I haven't played it but CGR said it was pretty good.

Edit: Oh, I read your other comments too. You have to check out The Red Star. It's been described as "Streets of Rage meets Ikaruga", and is sometimes compared to Cannon Spike.

[wakeup]

Red Star definitely looks like something I would enjoy. Thanks!

[Weekend_Warrior]

Also, is there any shmups on the ps2 on the quality level of Zero gunner 2, mars matrix, border down, ikaruga, under defeat? Those are probably the only ones I enjoyed from the dreamcast.

Not really. There's Raiden III and R-Type Final, but neither are exactly what I'd call top quality shooters. I'd probably rank them both about a 7 out of 10.

[Weekend_Warrior]

As for other arcade ports on the PS2 (besides Raiden III), I'd highly recommend picking up Capcom Classics Collection, Volume's 1 and 2. Both are great additions to the PS2 library. Especially if you enjoy arcade games from the 80's and 90's.

Games Listing:

Volume 1

1. 1942
2. 1943: The Battle of Midway
3. 1943 Kai
4. Bionic Commando
5. Commando
6. Exed Exes
7. Final Fight
8. Forgotten Worlds
9. Ghosts 'n Goblins
10. Ghouls 'n Ghosts
11. Gun.Smoke
12. Legendary Wings
13. Mercs
14. Pirate Ship Higemaru
15. Section Z
16. SonSon
17. Street Fighter II
18. Street Fighter II': Champion Edition
19. Street Fighter II' Turbo: Hyper Fighting
20. Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts
21. Trojan
22. Vulgus


Volume 2

1. 1941: Counter Attack
2. Avengers
3. Black Tiger
4. Block Block
5. Captain Commando
6. Eco Fighters
7. King of Dragons
8. Knights of the Round
9. Last Duel
10. Magic Sword
11. Mega Twins
12. Quiz & Dragons: Capcom Quiz Game
13. Side Arms Hyper Dyne
14. Street Fighter
15. Strider
16. Super Street Fighter II Turbo
17. The Speed Rumbler
18. Three Wonders
19. Tiger Road
20. Varth: Operation Thunderstorm

[wakeup]

Are there any good vertical shmups? I see that Gradius V and Rtype are both horizontal (they both look really good though). I looked into ps2 shmups a bit and see a lot of Cave shooters. I see they're like all manic shooters so I don't know if I would enjoy them as I haven't really liked a manic one before.

So are there others "must play" shmups?

[J T]

Gradius V is a must play.

[crux]

The best verts on the PS2 are certainly Cave titles, so if you really aren't a fan of manic shooters then stay clear. Espgaluda is the first I'd recommend if you want to give one a try.

Castle of Shikigami (I and II) got ported all over the place, but the only NA versions were on PS2, if that's a factor. I'm not sure which are the most arcade accurate.

Psyvariar 2 is great as well. Technically the Dreamcast one is the closest to the arcade, but it's also the most stripped down accordingly. The PS2 version is still great and has a number of bonuses compared to the Dreamcast version. I highly recommend it.

For rail shooters, it's worth taking a look at Rez. Rez HD is out for Xbox 360 and I've heard better things for the DC version of Rez compared to the PS2 version, but it's a great game regardless.

There's also the Sega Ages Fantasy Zone game. If you're into older shooters, Sega Ages titles are a great way to get them.

The last thing I can think of is Gunbird Special Edition, but again I don't know how it fairs in terms of accuracy.

[elvis]

Heaps of fighters and shmups ported over to PS2. My two favourite genres by far.

Fighters: The various Guilty Gear titles, Melty Blood, Arcana Heart 1 and 2, Street Fighter III: Third Strike, Hokuto No Ken, King Of Fighters Neowave, Xi, MI, MI2, Tekken 4, Tag and 5, Virtua Fighter 3, Soul Calibur 2 and 3, etc.

Shmups: Cave stuff (Mushihime Sama, E.S.P. Galuda, DoDonPachi Dai Ou Jou), Homura, Gradius V (wasn't in arcades, but may as well have been), Shienryu (comes with Shienryu Explosion, which is crap), and heaps of stuff already on Dreamcast (Shikigami, Psyvariar, Chaos Field), Gigawing Generations (although nobody likes that one compared to the first two Gigawing games), Gunbird 1 and 2, and tonnes more.

I have my PS2 in an arcade machine at the moment (RGB/SCART hacked to the arcade monitor's input, and the gamepads hacked to the arcade controls). The PS2 had heaps of noteworthy arcade ports (I think most of Sega/Sammy's Atomiswave stuff ended up on PS2). And as a platform to play arcade stuff on, the PS2 is very worthwhile (and much cheaper than collecting original arcade gear).