Greatest Hits' a great value

A few months back Sony launched a greatest hits line for the PS2. After releasing such a collection on the PSone to much fanfare, Sony reasoned that it could strike gold twice. If a PS2 game sells 400,000 or more copies and has been on the market for at least eight months, Sony has deemed it qualified to receive the greatest hits logo and a sweet $19.99 price tag.

For only $80.00, you could pick up the following four games for the PS2 and find yourself in possession of a solid, fun, and varied video game library:



Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies

Are you itching for war? Do you think that flying an F-22 and providing air cover for thousands of infantry storming a beach is fun? Well, if so then you should probably join the Air Force. But if you don't have that kind of time, buy Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies.

Providing a good mix of realism and arcade fun with an intense story, sweet graphics, and engrossing gameplay, Ace Combat is the total package. If this kind of game is even remotely your thing, go out and buy it immediately. This most recent addition to the Greatest Hits list is arguably one of the best.

Overall rating: B+



NBA Street

EA Sports Big makes great games (SSX, SSX: Tricky, etc.) and it has a solid foothold on the sports simulation/arcade niche of the video game market. While most gamers seem to be familiar with the brilliant SSX series, EA Sports Big's NBA Street is often overlooked and it's a shame because it's truly one of the most fun sports games that I've ever played on a video game system.

NBA Street offers gamers a mix of the NBA with the rough and tumble world of street ball. That's right: street ball. Rather than playing in Madison Square Garden or the Fleet Center, this game takes place in locales such as a court in an upscale section of Beacon Hill in Boston or on the backstreets of Harlem. But the twist: the game includes both street-ballers and NBA stars. It's a fast-paced cousin of the old school NBA Jam series but don't be fooled _ it's not simply a rehash of that series; it goes far beyond it in every way. Great basketball physics and animations and stellar gameplay make this one a big winner.

Overall score: B+



Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy

Every good video game library needs to include a solid platformer _ everyone who owned the original Nintendo had one of the Mario games; everyone who owned Sega Genesis had one of the Sonic games; and everyone with a PS2 should own Jak and Daxter. It deserves to be in that same category.

For $19.99, you simply can't find a game that offers this much _ animation rivaling that found in some feature films; a gigantic, living, breathing, continuous world for Jak (and his comedic sidekick, Daxter) to explore; brilliant script writing and character design; and incredibly fun and varied gameplay. From collecting power cells along a beach, to flying a small vehicle across a lava pit, to catching fish and killing giant snakes in the jungle, Jak and Daxter has the diversity to please any platformer fan. I would even argue that it deserves mention as one of the best platformers to ever grace a video game system.

Overall score: A



>Twisted Metal: Black

You may remember the Twisted Metal series. Hopefully if you do then you'll also remember the original Twisted Metal and its brilliant sequel Twisted Metal 2 for the PSone. The first two were amazing, fast-paced car combat games _ they were, in fact, the first ever car combat games as this series invented the genre. The versions that followed, three and four, were developed by another company and it showed. They were painfully bad. All should rejoice, though, as Twisted Metal: Black was developed by the same core of people at Insomniac that made the first two games.

Not only is Twisted Metal: Black the best car-combat game ever (and this is without question, it's not even close), it could also arguably be considered one of the best action games and/or best fighting games of all-time. Set in a dark world, with maniacally demented characters, sweet special effects, and hardcore, incredibly fast-paced action set in levels that range from a rolling suburb, to a snowy mountain top, to the always popular city rooftops, Twisted Metal: Black borders on perfection. Even its theme song is incredible _ it's "Paint It Black" by the Rolling Stones. With this game, you absolutely cannot go wrong.

Overall score: A+



But the list doesn't end here. With new greatest hits appearing every few weeks, there are now well over 20 greatest hits to be had for the PS2. And one of my sources suggests that the patient gamer may even find the highly-acclaimed blockbuster Grand Theft Auto III on this list in the very near future. Budget gaming is no longer for the lame; there's something here for everyone.