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[Theslammer]

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Ah, we are now in the third(?) year of this gen (if you include the Dreamcast), or the second if we're talking about the PS2. This concludes the first full year of the Xbox and Gamecube, and we had the GBA for mobile gaming.

Making this thread, I realize that 2002 was more fun than I thought! Hope you enjoy the trip down memory lane. We'll see what our next year holds. ^_^

I changed the previous threads section so it didn't take up as much vertical space. I think it looks much better this way! If there's something big missing, lemme know. Here's a Gamerankings list.


2002 Games

Age of Mythology (PC)
Aggressive Inline (PS2)

Animal Crossing (GC)
Armored Core 3 (PS2)
Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings (PC)
ATV Offroad Fury 2 (PS2)
Battlefield 1942
Blinx: The Time Sweeper (Xbox)
Burnout 2: Point of Impact (PS2)

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (GBA)
Contra: Shattered Soldier (PS2)
Crimson Sea (Xbox)
Dance Dance Revolution Konamix (PS1)
Dark Age of Camelot: Shrouded Isles (PC)
DDRMAX: Dance Dance Revolution (PS2)
Deus Ex: The Conspiracy (PS2)
Dropship: United Peace Force (PS2)
Dungeon Siege (PC)

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem (GC)
EverQuest: The Planes of Power (PC)
FIFA Soccer 2003 (PS2, GC, Xbox)
Freedom Force (PC)
Genma Onimusha (Xbox)

Gitaroo Man (PS2)
Grandia II (PS2, PC)
Grand Theft Auto III (PC)

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PS2)
Gunvalkyrie (Xbox)
Headhunter (PS2)
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin (PS2, Xbox, PC)
Hot Shots Golf 3 (PS2)

JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future (Xbox)
Kingdom Hearts (PS2)
Madden NFL 2003 (PS2, Xbox, GC, PC)
Mafia (PC)
Mario Party 4 (GC)
Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (PS2)
Maximo: Ghosts to Glory (PS2)
MechAssault (Xbox)
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (PC)

Medal of Honor: Frontline (PS2, Xbox, GC)
Medieval: Total War (PC)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance (Xbox)

Metroid Fusion (GBA)
Metroid Prime (GC)
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (PS2, Xbox, GC)
NBA 2K3 (PS2, Xbox, GC)
NBA Street (GC)
NCAA Football 2003 (PS2, Xbox, GC)
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 (PS2, Xbox)
Neverwinter Nights (PC)
NHL 2K3 (PS2, Xbox, GC)
NFL 2K3 (PS2, Xbox, GC)
No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way (PC)

Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny (PS2)
Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II (GC)
Puyo Pop (GBA)

Quantum Redshift (Xbox)
RalliSport Challenge (Xbox, PC)
Ratchet and Clank (PS2)
Red Faction II (PS2)

Resident Evil (GC)
Resident Evil 0 (GC)
Rez (PS2)

Rygar: The Legendary Adventure (PS2)
Sega GT 2002 (Xbox)
Sega Sports Tennis (PS2)
Serious Sam: The Second Encounter (PC)

Shenmue II (Xbox)
Shinobi (PS2)
Sid Meier's SimGolf (PC)
SkyGunner (PS2)

Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus (PS2)
SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs (PS2)
Sonic Advance (GBA)

Sonic Mega Collection (GC)
Space Channel 5 Part 2 (PS2)
Spider-Man: The Movie (PS2, Xbox, GC, PC)
Star Fox Adventures (GC)
Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (PC)

Steel Battalion (Xbox)
Stuntman (PS2)

Suikoden III (PS2)
Super Mario Sunshine (GC)
Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 (GBA)
Super Monkey Ball 2 (GC)
Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis (GBA)
Tekken 4 (PS2)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003 (PS2, Xbox, GC, PC)

TimeSplitters 2 (PS2, Xbox, GC)
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (Xbox, PC)
The Elder Scrolls III: Tribunal (PC)
The Italian Job (PS1)

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (GBA)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (PS2, Xbox)
The Mark of Kri (PS2)
The Sims: Unleashed (PC)
The Thing (PS2, Xbox, PC)
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Desert Siege (PS2, PC)

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (Xbox)
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 (PS2, Xbox, GC, GBA)
Twisted Metal: Black Online (PS2)
Unreal Championship (Xbox)
Unreal Tournament 2003 (PC)

Virtua Fighter 4 (PS2)
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (PC)
Way of the Samurai (PS2)
Wild Arms 3 (PS2)

Wipeout Fusion (PS2)
World Series Baseball (Xbox)
WWF Smackdown! Shut Your Mouth (PS2)
Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 (GBA)

 

[Savantcore]

Gotsta be Vice City. Still probably my favourite all-round GTA.

LOTR Two Towers was my jam back then as well. And Spiderman. Great year for film tie-ins.

 

[KraytarJ]

Metroid Prime. No doubt.

 

[Clipse]

Jet Set Radio Future. I bought the OG Xbox for this game alone.

 

[Kyoufu]

Final Fantasy XI. It turned out to be my favourite game of all time.

 

[Tibrim]

Warcraft: III was definitely my favorite. Campaign was epic and custom games kept it alive for so long.

 

[Luigi87]

A lot of games I love and respect here: Metroid Prime, Metroid Fusion, Super Mario Sunshine, GTA Vice City, A Link to the Past on GBA...

But I think personally I need to give it to Kingdom Hearts.
It's the game that originally sold me on PS2 (and got my mother to purchase one for me randomly), and so I kind of hold it dear for that reason.

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

Vice City. One my favorite games ever. The atmosphere is just perfect, and has the best licensed soundtrack in a game ever. I don't think a GTA will ever top Vice City for me.

 

[Sub_Level]

Metroid Prime

Technically MSG2 Substance is my favorite but I count MGS2 as a 2001 game.

 

[mindatlarge]

Two Metroid releases in one year, oh the good old days.

Probably have to go with Prime, but there are a lot of games I like that were released in 2002. Seems this is the case every year. These threads are really cool.

 

[ClutchAnderson]

100% Morrowind. It was my first Elder Scrolls and game of that decade for me

 

[mrmickfran]

Metroid Prime

 

[Naked Lunch]

Battlefield 1942
Still probably the best game in the series. The franchise has fallen off a casual cliff in recent years. 1942's scale was immense - some maps featured 32 vs 32 tank battles in deserts. You could drive huge warships - now a days ships like this are a limited control gimmick where your team has to be getting their ass kicked for them to appear. The maps were wide open - and there was so much room for strategy and tactics. I miss those days...

 

[kromeo]

Man, trying to make me choose between REmake and Metroid Prime... I won't do it

 

[WarrenD]

GTA probably.

Although I definitely put the most hours into Pro Evolution Soccer 2 multiplayer.

 

[emrober5]

SOCOM

still the best online TPS I have ever played.

An HD version would absolutely kill on PS4.

 

[OBias]

Warcraft III was definitely my favorite game of 2002.

 

[Hellshadow]

Metroid F'N Prime

 

[pete_clarf]

Holy shit, what an amazing year. If I have to pick one, I think I'm going to go with Eternal Darkness... but my mind could change in 10 minutes.

 

[hydrophilic attack]

Vice City narrowly beats Kingdom Hearts for me

 

[Claptrap]

Gothic 2, probably still my favorite RPG.

 

[arigato]

The original Ratchet and Clank, man 2002 has to be one of my most cherished years in gaming.

 

[Strangelove77]

Kingdom Hearts. Or Vice City.
I can't choose.

 

[Phediuk]

Warcraft 3 or Neverwinter Nights.

NOLF2 was good too.

Edit: forgot Morrowind. That might take it, actually.

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

There are so many, but If I had to pick one it would be Vice City.

 

[Bog]

Metroid Prime, though my most played was easily Hot Shots Golf 3.

 

[Syf]

That's a tough call between Warcraft III, Metroid Prime, and REmake. Probably Metroid Prime.

 

[MechanicalWall]

Metroid Prime.

That was easy.

 

[UrbanRats]

1. Morrowind.
2. JSRF.
3. REmake.
4. GTA Vice city.
5. Super Mario Sunshine.

 

[Sir Ilpalazzo]

Gunvalkyrie. Could stand to be a bit harder but it's one of the most unique 3D action games out there - love it.

Resident Evil, Contra: Shattered Soldier, and Shinobi are great too.

 

[Pacotez]

What a shitty year actually. Too many games, a lot of good ones, but the overall quality is lower than in the other years.

I'm not counting stuff like Genma Onimusha or ALTTP (ports from previous years release), doing so feels like cheating.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2, REmake and Warcraft 3 are the best ones followed by:

NFS Hot Pursuit 2
Neverwinter Nights
Resident Evil 0

Everything else is a tier or two bellow.

 

[Theslammer]

With Kingdom Hearts, I used to loop Simple and Clean - Orchestral version infinitely. It just felt great, though at the time, I remember talking to a lot of people who were underwhelmed by the score compared to other Square games.

Contra: Shattered Soldier was a game I was extremely hyped to play. Then I finally got it and I got the Disc Read Error. >_<

 

[SheHateMe]

If I'm honest with myself, it's going to be Vice City. No matter how much I try to make it otherwise.

Like, Kingdom Hearts holds a very special place in my heart and I played countless hours of Tekken 4 and I was wowed by Ratchet and Clank and I couldn't put down Timesplitters 2 nor could I stop exploring in Metroid Fusion and all these games are so important to me...

...but Vice City just grips me in a way that I can't explain, even 15 years later.

 

[cubicle47b]

Warcraft III. Vice City is a close second.

 

[nickgia]

Metroid Prime
Kingdom Hearts
Animal Crossing

 

[acheron_xl]

Magic Online

 

[Accoun]

It was a good year. Probably Jedi Outcast for me.

 

[Vital Tundra]

Shoot Metroid Prme, Animal Crossing, and Kingdom Hearts are the top 3. Don't know the order.

 

[Silver Arrows]

NFS Hot Pursuit 2 and it isn't even close. Has to be the PS2 version or bust.

Honorable mentions go to THPS4 and Burnout 2.

 

[HvySky]

Metroid Prime, the greatest game ever made.

 

[TheDinoman]

Hey OP, just wanted to say the image you chose to represent Metroid Prime is actually from MP2 Echoes.

Speaking of which, Prime is king. Fusion's pretty good too. I did like Mario Sunshine when it came out, but not so much anymore.

 

[TheAdmiester]

March 14, 2002:

/thread

 

[Theslammer]

Hey OP, just wanted to say the image you chose to represent Metroid Prime is actually from MP2 Echoes.

Speaking of which, Prime is king. Fusion's pretty good too. I did like Mario Sunshine when it came out, but not so much anymore.

FFFUUU-

Of all the games on the list, that was the one I was most unsure of since it's been so long since I've played it.

I'll find a correct one.

 

[EdwardTeach]

At the time, it was vice city for me. The setting and humour really clicked with me at that age. Looking back metroid prime, mario sunshine and morrowind were all amazing games.

 

[Soulblighter31]

The list has the mediocre Medal of Honor game from that year that means nothing and did nothing for no one but lacks the game that was one of the best games ever made up to that point and stands as one of the most important and influential game ever made. What gives ?

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/27/medal-of-honor-the-game-that-defined-the-modern-fps

 

[hydruxo]

Ratchet & Clank for me.

 

[Wollan]

 

[Theslammer]

The list has the mediocre Medal of Honor game from that year that means nothing and did nothing for no one but lacks the game that was one of the best games ever made up to that point and stands as one of the most important and influential game ever made. What gives ?

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/27/medal-of-honor-the-game-that-defined-the-modern-fps

Conspiracy!

Spoiler

I'm always prone to skip something. I put in each thread to let me know if there is something big (or hell, small) missing from the list. It is there now.

 

[Shaanyboi]

Jedi Outcast or Warcraft 3. The latter was a great reinvention of the franchise, and the lightsaber battles in JK2 were amazing.

 

[maxcriden]

We only played Sly Cooper in full for the first time a couple years ago but absolutely loved it, so if I can read the title as "is" instead of "was," that's probably my pick. Really super fun game with terrific 3D stealth platforming and creativity to spare. Very timeless and charming graphics and art direction, too. And it controlled super smoothly.