EVERY PS2 Game Released in March 2000

DISCLAIMER: The titles listed in this article are lifted from Wikipedia, and therefore there is the potential that some games are missing. If you know of any titles that are missing from the list, please let us know and we will be quick to amend the article for future readers. Each title mentioned in the article will pertain to its original release, so you will not see a game mentioned multiple times due to a difference in regional release dates.

A-Train 6/A6: A-Ressha de Ikou 6 (March 4th, 2000 – Released in Japan, Europe)

The sixth mainline entry, though eighth release overall, Artdink’s A-Train series whooshed onto the PlayStation 2’s launch day lineup and did so as part of a long-standing simulation franchise. A-Train 6 thrust players into a Sim City-like experience centered around train route development and management, including land purchasing, the creation of stations and stops in key areas, and more. Whilst it never really achieved the same level of success as A-Train 3 (Known simply as A-Train on western shores), A-Train 6 is considered one of the better Midas-publisher titles in Europe and was pretty well-received by genre fans.

DrumMania (March 4th, 2000 – Released in Japan)

The sister series to Konami’s arcade hit, Guitar Freaks, DrumMania also hit store shelves on launch day, exclusively in Japan. First released as an arcade title in 1999, DrumMania followed the gameplay styling that would come to be hyper-popularized by the Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchises in the west. Whilst DrumMania never achieved the same level of success as Guitar Freaks, the series still has its fans, namely those looking for a more serious alternative to Namco’s Taiko: Drum Master series. While the arcade game ended up being quite popular in Asian markets, the same could not be said for the home console port, which was negatively received due to being dubbed “nothing like real drumming” by IGN.

Eternal Ring (March 4th, 2000 – Released in Japan)

FromSoftware have become a household name in recent years, but with their debut PS2 effort, they were relatively unknown, other than for their King’s Field series, on PC. A first-person action RPG, Eternal Ring did take a lot of tropes from the aforementioned King’s Field series, including ball-busting difficulty and for-the-time great visuals.
Unfortunately, reviews were pretty middling for the first RPG on the PS2, due to it feeling a little rushed out of the gate. I have personally had a hard time getting into this one too, as it feels quite primitive by today’s standards. Still, there are people out there that adore Eternal Ring, and kudos to them.

Kakinoki Shogi IV (March 4th, 2000 – Released in Japan)

Developed by ASCII Entertainment, Kakinoki Shogi IV was the first title in the longstanding Japanese chess simulation series. After the series got its start on a whole host of different consoles, including the Super Nintendo, Original PlayStation and the Panasonic 3DO, it was only logical that the Japanese exclusive title would eventually make its way onto the PS2.
The Kakinoki Shogi series in particular features a more fun, cartoony graphical style, and featured a pretty simplistic control scheme, using only a few of the buttons available on the Dualshock 2. Whilst not the most exciting title to launch alongside the console, I am sure it was a solid title for Shogi fans.

Mahjong Taikai III (March 4th, 2000 – Released in Japan)

The only Japanese mahjong video game to receive support from the Mahjong Museum in Chiba prefecture, Mahjong Takai III is probably a little bit of a different experience for those who frequent games based on the Japanese tile-matching game. Developed and published by Koei, prior to their merger with Tecmo, Mahjong Takai III featured two gameplay modes and fully-rendered 3D characters in a story about the Mahjong Millennium League within the Mahjong palace.
Judging by the sole review on GameFAQ’s, this is quite a solid introduction to the rule of Mahjong, but as is usual with these types of games, there are some really difficult matches due to the over-intelligent A.I. system. This still looks like a pretty peculiar experience out there for anyone looking to ascend to the top tier of the Millennium Mahjong League twenty years after release.

Morita Shogi (March 4th, 2000 – Released in Japan)

Shogi fans were a little spoiled for choice on launch day, and Morita Shogi seemed to be the one to go for. Designed by renowned Shogi player Kazuro Morita, the game would also be part of an ongoing series that had touched on the N64 and original PlayStation before working its way over to the PS2.
Morita Shogi boasted the most advanced A.I. in a PlayStation board game ever, and with more than 4000 unique situations, you’d surely get your money’s worth with this title. It’s also considered one of the premier Shogi franchises in the video game world, so if you’re into your virtual Shogi, this is a must-play.

Ridge Racer V (March 4th, 2000 – Released in Japan, North America, Europe)

The fifth entry in Namco’s racing powerhouse made huge waves when it hit the PS2. For around a month, Ridge Racer V was the only way you could get your racing socks off on the system, and boy was it a good way to do so. Featuring a heavy focus on drifting, Ridge Racer V was actually the last game in Namco’s series to be home-ported from the arcade version.
Whilst it didn’t really live up to the incredible standard set by R: Ridge Racer Type 4, it’s still one of the better-received titles in the series, and sitting down to play it now will really make you miss the once-King of drift racers.

Stepping Selection (March 4th, 2000 – Released in Japan)

A Jaleco-developed rhythm game based on the arcade title Stepping Stage, Stepping Selection was the first dance-mat title to land on the PlayStation 2. Despite only being released in Japan, Stepping Selection featured a whole host of awesome Western songs, such as Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and the theme to Ghostbusters.
Unfortunately, the home console port’s dance-mat had a cord that was only a meter long, so unless you had a very short TV unit, you probably wouldn’t be able to see the entirety of the screen. There were much better dance titles that would eventually work their way to Sony’s system, so Stepng Selection is probably one you can skip over unless you’re a real dance-mat fanatic.

Street Fighter EX3 (March 4th, 2000 – Released in Japan, North America, Europe)

Whilst a lot of people don’t really look back favourably on Capcom and Arika’s collaboration series of Street Fighter spin-offs, there’s no denying that characters like Skullomania and Garuda are absolutely, undoubtedly awesome. In my opinion, it was a solid start for the iconic series on the platform, and a much stronger product than some of the IP’s previous titles, namely Street Fighter 2010: The Final Fight and Street Fighter: The Movie – The Game.
Street Fighter EX3 was the only fighter on the system for the first few weeks in Japan but it wouldn’t hit Western shores until the following October in North America and didn’t make it to Europe until 2001. Regardless, it’s definitely a game you should check out if you’re a fan of 3D PS2 era fighting games.

Kessen (March 4th, 2000 – Released in Japan, North America, Europe)

A blend of strategy and what would grow to become Musou action, Kessen really didn’t care for the limitations of the new system. The only real-time wargame on the console at the time, Kessen drew the adoration of Japanese history buffs, as well as people who just felt there wasn’t much that could be cooler than grand scale samurai battles. I was one of the latter when I first tried Kessen for myself, and, for its time, it was a technical marvel.
It’s a little hard to go back and play the original entry in the Kessen series today due to some very primitive draw distance and some rather clunky combat controls. It has some very sound mechanical elements to it though, such as mounted combat and troop commands. Truly, Kessen is a game that was ahead of its time.

Fantavision (March 9th, 2000 – Released in Japan, North America, Europe)

A real-time puzzle game involving fireworks, Fantavision started life as a tech demo for the PlayStation hardware, created by Sony Computer Entertainment. The game initially released in Japan, containing only a single-player mode, but when Fantavision came to Europe and North America, it also featured two-player support.
Reviewers were pretty positive about the launch title, with Next Generation dubbing the game “the visually arresting cousin of Missile Command”. This isn’t a game I have been able to pick up just yet, but looking more into it for this article has really inspired me to pick up a copy.

I.Q. Remix+: Intelligent Qube (March 23rd, 2000 – Released in Japan)

Developed by Jumping Jack Flash developer Sugar & Rockets, I.Q. Remix+: Intelligent Qube is a very early example of developers struggling to get to grips with programming for Sony’s second system. This Japanese-only sequel to the original PlayStation game Intelligent Qube/Kurushi is perhaps one of the blurriest titles on the console, and reception for it was so negative due to these technical issues that it never made it across the pond.
For those able to look through the blur and into the game beneath it, this looks like a solid follow-up to the original game, and the addition of a two-player mode seems like a real treat. It’s a shame it wasn’t fixed up and shipped to the rest of the world, as it would’ve likely been a solid performer with some extra time in the oven.

Swing Away Golf/Golf Paradise (March 23rd, 2000 – Japan, North America, Europe)

There is an almost-weird amount of golf games available for the PS2 through countless PGA, Tiger Woods and one-off mini/crazy golf titles (along with Ribbit King’s Frolf), but Swing Away Golf was the very first. It was a good one too, as GameZone gave it a 9.5/10 on release, and most other reviews were in the high 7’s and 8 side of the spectrum.
Swing Away Golf is a title with a lot of content and a lot of charm and is quite possibly one of the best casual golf games available on the system. I’d recommend this one to fans of series like Everybody’s Golf and the obscure and strange Street Golfer.

Q-Ball Billiards Master/Pool Master/Doukyu Billiard Master 2 (March 30th, 2000 – Released in Japan, North America, Europe)

Virtual pool has never really been much of a draw for me, but I’ve played my fair share within the Yakuza franchise. Pool Master, as it’s known in Europe, was the first taste PS2 players had of the ball-potting game. Pool Master was pretty poorly received due to the impossible-to-beat A.I., it wasn’t long until a better alternative was on the market, and Pool Master was basically forgotten.
Due to its less-than-stellar critical and commercial response, the game has become fairly obscure by today’s standards. There are better games out there both inside and outside of the pool genre, so there’s really no reason to pick this one up unless you’re going after a full set.

Tekken Tag Tournament (March 30th, 2000 – Released in Japan, North America, Europe)

Still many people’s favourite entry in the Tekken franchise, Tekken Tag hit the PS2 like a storm. The inclusion of brand-new characters that played exactly like your long-standing mains was a real treat, and this was the perfect follow-up to the universally-renowned Tekken 3. There is no doubt in my mind that this was the best time to be a Tekken fan, and with so many Tekken games over the generation, it was made all the better.
Tekken Tag was very well-received and was THE fighting game to get at the start of the PS2’s lifespan. That doesn’t mean that the other options were bad, in fact, both Street Fighter EX3 and Dead or Alive 2 are amazing games, but they just weren’t on the same level as Namco’s powerhouse.

Dead or Alive 2/Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore (March 30th, 2000 – Released in Japan, North America, Europe)

The series that brought jiggle physics to the masses was really getting into a stride with the second entry, and it’s still going strong today. Perhaps one of the most fluid counter-based 3D fighters of all time, Dead or Alive 2 is where the series really came into its own.
Dead or Alive received multiple perfect score ratings from critics at the time of its release, and went on to have a total of nine different releases in total (excluding DOA2 Ultimate on Xbox and the two PSN releases). Dead or Alive 2 is still a game I go back to regularly, and you should too.

Driving Emotion Type-S (March 30th, 2000 – Released in Japan, North America, Europe)

The other racer that came out in March 2000, Driving Emotion Type-S was far more serious than Namco’s Ridge Racer V, and appealed to another audience entirely. PS2 players would have to wait an entire year for a new Gran Turismo game, so this was one to fill the void.
The racer did very well in Japan, but didn’t make anywhere near the same impact on Western shores, with a 44,000-unit difference within the first week. Reviews were pretty middling for the SquareSoft title, though, and it was unfortunately forgotten a year later due to the release of Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec skidding into the racing genre.

Highlight of the Month: Tekken Tag Tournament

As good as Ridge Racer V and Dead or Alive 2 might be, they just don’t quite topple Namco’s double-dip into the 3D fighting genre. If you haven’t played this game before, you’ve been making a huge mistake for the past two decades.

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