The Playstation 2

was the first console that attracted mass attention after the sleepy days of text based computer games (go left, go right, run left ....) and before that, well genesis and pong (beep, beep - people actually watched other people playing pong, now that was excitement!).

Anyway, we got spoiled by the ever improving graphics that the PS2 brought and many games have gone on to become true classics with great storylines and extended play. One of these games can take days or weeks to solve and kids love the control of exploring new realms and places on the map and getting upgrades and opening up new levels for further exploration as the story unfolds.

Here we will bring these great games back to life. As the PS2 console prices have recently dropped, PS2 is experiencing a resurgence in popularity. Plus you can play PS2 games on the PS3 as well and save your progress in internal PS3 memory instead of on memory cards that have limited memory, can get demagnetized or lost. (but if you store memory cards in a safe place, they are ok for backing up games as well for those that don't have a PS3).

Check out some of the PS2 games that have become classic video games for kids like Ratchet and Clank series, Jak and Dakter series, Sly Cooper series (funny how all the classic games have become series). One review site on the net that specialized in the classic Ratchet and Clank Review series is at the blog, http://www.videogamegamer.blogspot.com. But even so, there were some better games in the series and some not so hot ones released as well, so to navigate the good and bad from the ugly, here are our tips, recommendations, video game review and just plain opinions about these great PS2 games. Happy gaming!

My favorite PS2 games are:

• Ratchet and Clank Up Your Arsenal
• Jak and Daxter - The Precurser Legacy
• Suikoden IV
• Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus
• Kingdom Hearst II - Disney
• Dragon Quest VIII - Journey of the Cursed King
• Suikoden Tactics
• Ratchet and Clank - The original
• this is my opinion, mileage may vary..... but these exploration games are hours of fun, so get Ratchet and Clank Up Your Arsenal or if you have that, check out Sly Cooper and Jak and Daxter. A new website, http://www.giftedgamer.com explores some of these games and provides further suggestions on Rock Band and other popular kids video games.