What are some of the best ports of PS2 games on the Switch? (2024)

There's something about the PS2 for me. It feels like the apex of so many aspects of gaming as it has evolved and changed throughout its history. It was the ultimate cross-section of enhancements in 3D rendering, manageable development costs, genre diversity, exploding worldwide popularity, and Japan's presence in the AA and AAA space. The end result of that unique blend of environmental factors was arguably one of the overall best software libraries of any gaming console. I have a lot of nostalgia for gaming all throughout the 90's from the NES to the PS1 and N64, but the PS2 era of gaming was really a sweet spot for me where it just felt like everything was firing on all cylinders and masterpieces from nearly every genre were plentiful all on one platform.

Why do I bother to lead with that little retrospective on the PS2 in a thread about PS2 ports on the Switch? I do it to help paint a picture of how PS2 games have an elevated status in my brain because I lived through that era at a very impressionable time (high school and college). And a weird side-effect of that perception is that any time a game that was originally release on PS2 is ported competently to the Switch it feels kind of like magic to me while playing.

PS2 emulation has improved greatly in recent years to where one could even have a decent experience with most PS2 games running via an emulator on their phones, so logically I shouldn't be that impressed with one running on the Switch with its aging mobile chipset. But I am because my brain associates everything pre-PS2 with emulation and then everything PS2-onward feels somehow different when running on portable hardware. So when I see a good port of a PS2 game running perfectly on Switch, a Nintendo handheld, it has a weirdly special feeling to me. It's like I'm my younger self looking at it thinking, "A PS2 game on a portable device?! This is the future!"

Now that I've probably torpedoed interest in this thread with a needlessly long preamble, I wanna hear about any and all good ports of PS2 games on Switch.

Just to clarify, I'm talking about any game that was originally released on PS2. For example, Persona 4 Golden just got a Switch release, but it's a Switch port of a Vita port of a PS2 game. That counts. Make sense?

Here's are a few solid ones that come to mind for me:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdiPlnd8bN4

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lepYAuyssc

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hytj3Gv40J4

You already mentioned Final Fantasy X, so I would also add FF XII.

Also, the Mega Man X7 and X8 games included on the MM X Legacy Collection 2 come to my mind!

I suppose Katamari Damacy fits the bill.

Haven't tried the GTA Trilogy on Switch yet but did get Red Faction: Guerrilla when it was deeply discounted.

Pace said:

I'm playing Onimusha Warlords on my switch lite at the moment and it seems to be a pretty good port, I never got to play the original but I'm having fun. I'd probably get the sequels if they were ported too.

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The main issue with the port is that they changed a bunch of the music for the worse for whatever reason, but otherwise it seems good for anyone who never played the original.

BourbonJungle said:

I suppose Katamari Damacy fits the bill.

Haven't tried the GTA Trilogy on Switch yet but did get Red Faction: Guerrilla when it was deeply discounted.

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RFG is technically a PS360 game. But that reminds me, THQ Nordic and company have ported a surprising number of PS360 games to Switch:

Red Faction Guerilla
Darksiders
Darksiders 2
Kingdoms of Alamur
Saints Row: The Third
Saints Row IV

All but Alamur originated at THQ (or just after), I'm surprised that they've done zero PS2-era remasters IIRC. No OG Red Faction ports and the like. They remade Destroy All Humans 1 and 2 (the former got a late port on Switch) and Spongebob: Battle for Bikini Bottom (didn't turn out so good on Switch sadly). But yeah outright remasters of PS2-era games are at zero I think.

We got both de Blob 1 and 2 from Wii however on Switch. Oddly they weren't perfect from what I've seen (the logo intros seemed to chug of all things). Also sad that Baja: Edge of Control HD never made it to Switch, another THQ PS360 remaster, but I'm betting licensing the vehicles likely caused a... ROADBLOCK to that.

Edit: OH, silly me, we did get a Switch console-exclusive remaster of Eurocom's Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy from THQ.