The second crop of PS2 Classics to be reaped Tuesday
Until now there were only six games on the Playstation network that were PS2 classics, and now that’s about to change. Three new classics are hitting the store this week. A farming sim, an arcade shooter* and a Vampire temptress game that somehow despite always being crap is still popular.
Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland
The Harvest Moon franchise has many, MANY iterations, and it seems they just get more and more complex as they go along. The difference in Save the Homeland is, just like the title suggests, you have to save your town, in this case from becoming a resort. There is no marriage in this version though, because you only play the game for one full year at a time until you get to the ending. There are 9 different endings, and when you reach one, you have the option to start over with all your animals intact, so you can continue to grow and develop your farm over multiple playthroughs instead of having to start from scratch over and over.
Raiden III
Raiden 3 is another arcade shooter, the world is infested by Aliens etc. etc. You pilot a ship that shoots them down etc. etc. Nothing really exciting story wise, but if it’s being released so early there must be something great about the gameplay. This one originally came out in 2005 in Japan and then in 2007 in NA. If there are people with fond memories of this one might as well pick it up, but considering it was only released 4 years ago, perhaps all those fond memories that people have can be played through on the game they most likely still have.
BloodRayne
I must admit that I’ve never played the BloodRayne series, not that playing as a smokin hot Vampire lady that uses her thighs to suffocate enemies isn’t appealing. It did hit a %75 on metacritic for the PS2 version, but I think I might just have to check this out for the corn factor alone. The reputation for the series was mostly sullied by the god awful film they made of the same name, by everyone’s most hated director Uwe Boll. That movie received a 4% on the Rottentomatoes.com aggregate score, and still he managed to make a sequel (which wasn’t even rated or released in theatres). Looking forward I think the Legacy of Kain series would be a better group of Vampire games to port, but hey, that’s just my opinion (I’m sure it’s in the works).
So there you go! BloodRayne, Raiden 3 and Harvest Moon : Save the Homeland all up as PS2 Classics this week on PSN. If you’re somehow not an Uncharted 3 fan, check em out.
* Edited for error, Raiden 3 is not a twin stick shooter, but an arcade shooter.


October 31st, 2011 on 6:10 pm
OMG HARVEST MOON! Yeah, sorry about the shouting but I love that game. I was like one of the few who didn’t care about Save the Homeland. I got 5 endings. I may buy it on PS3, even though I have it on PS2. Raiden III is a nice arcade shooter but never tried Bloodrayne.
I wonder if Bloodrayne was put on a CD. I know back on PS2, blue discs were CDs and I know Save the Homeland was a CD. Was Odin Sphere a CD? Maybe Sony can release all PS2 CDs. Just a thought, I am rambling. I just can’t believe Save the Homeland is coming to the Playstation Network.
October 31st, 2011 on 8:27 pm
well technically raiden 3 isnt a twin stick shooter….i have the game i played it a couple times
November 1st, 2011 on 11:36 am
Yes you’re absolutely right, I was mistaken, thanks for keeping me honest!
November 1st, 2011 on 1:46 pm
where’s Psychonauts???? they really should’ve done greatest hits first…
or some underrated gems like Okami, Beyond good and evil, Primal, Metal arms, and then some…
November 1st, 2011 on 3:44 pm
Psychonauts would be a good one to add on for sure, but If you’re looking for Beyond Good and Evil there’s an HD remake on the store for 10 bucks as well!
November 1st, 2011 on 4:33 pm
crap, forgot about that HD remake… but there’s just too many to count, oooh!!! Shin megami tensei: Nocturne would be great!!! that game is fairly tricky to find, P3 or P4 would be appreciated as well, maybe Bully too. or the GTAs….*continuing ranting on and on*…………
November 2nd, 2011 on 12:23 am
mobile light force 2 and sky gunner need to be on this ps2 classics
November 4th, 2011 on 10:49 am
Psychonauts would be awesome, my PS2 copy is getting kinda worn out. I’d also like to see Blood Omen 2, Soul Reaver 2, and Legacy of Kain: Defiance on PSN.