15 Best PS2 Compilations

Activision Anthology collects 45 of Activision's Atari 2600 games, Pitfall! and River Raid among them, plus two that had never been released. The PS2 got it first, nearly a year before the PC version. The disc adds new gameplay modes for each game, plus 3D views of the cartridges and the original manuals.

The menu is a kid's bedroom, where you pick cartridges off a rotating stand and change the music on a tape deck, all of it licensed eighties tracks. Hit a high score in some games and you unlock modes where the colors are distorted, or the game is projected on a rotating cube. Players who love old Atari games still call it great.

Metal Slug 4 & 5 is a double pack made for the US market. Japan and Europe got them as separate games, and the PS2 pack arrived three months before the Xbox one. Metal Slug 4 keeps the same gameplay as the earlier games and adds a bonus scoring system that rewards you for how many enemies you take down in the time allowed.

Metal Slug 5 was the last Metal Slug released on the Neo Geo, and it lets you slide while shooting. It also puts you in the Slug Mariner submarine, which is a lot more fun than it sounds. Players still put it on their PS2 lists, and it is an easy way to pick up two more chapters of the series.

Taito Legends 2 is a different collection on the PS2 than on the Xbox. The PS2 version runs on the engine of Japan's Taito Memories discs, and four of its games are exclusive to it, G-Darius and RayStorm among them. North America got it more than a year after Europe, and its release swapped Puzzle Bobble 2 for Bust-A-Move Again.

Reviewers liked the presentation, with every game sorted into chronological order and plenty of useful options. The weak spots are small but real: G-Darius and RayStorm have loading screens, and the bonus content stops at instruction panels. Eight of its games were split across the platforms because of porting issues, so you had to buy more than one version to get every game. Players still put it on their lists.

Sega Genesis Collection puts 28 Genesis games on one disc, with Phantasy Star II, III and IV among them, plus Altered Beast and the original Genesis version of Golden Axe. Digital Eclipse built it, and the PS2 got it nine days before the PSP. Europe waited until early 2007. There is even a museum area with facts about the games and a hint area to help you finish them.

You unlock interviews with the original developers and a set of Sega arcade games, and the PS2's arcade set is different from the PSP's. The disc also hides unlockable trailers for Phantasy Star Universe and Virtua Fighter 5. Players still recommend it as a one-disc Genesis shelf.

Samurai Shodown Anthology gathers SNK's weapon-based fighting series from the first Samurai Shodown to Samurai Shodown VI. The PS2 disc came out in Japan in 2008, and North America waited until 2009. Terminal Reality developed it and SNK Playmore published it. The same collection also came out on the PSP and the Wii. It starts with the 1993 original and runs through Samurai Shodown VI from 2005, with Samurai Shodown III: Blades of Blood and Samurai Shodown IV: Amakusa's Revenge along the way.

The one thing missing is Samurai Shodown V Special, which made significant changes to the original release. Everything else in the main series is here. Players who collect SNK fighters on the PS2 keep it on their lists.

Taito Legends packs 29 arcade games, from Space Invaders and Bubble Bobble to Rainbow Islands and Operation Wolf. The European release was published by Empire Interactive, who licensed the games from Taito and developed the compilation. Sega published it in North America, although its name isn't credited on the American release. Extra features include interviews with some of the game designers, original sales flyers and arcade cabinet art.

The presentation and the bonus material are generous, and some of the games are filler. That is the honest trade with any big arcade pile: you get the legends, and you also get the games nobody asked for. Players still speak well of it.

Growlanser Generations was the first time the series came to North America, with Working Designs putting Growlanser II: The Sense of Justice and Growlanser III: The Dual Darkness in one package with extra features. Between them they promise over 60 hours of play, with multiple endings to chase.

In combat you give each party member orders at the start of every turn, and each game also has an auto-battle feature that lets the computer fight for you. The series was developed by Career Soft. It is the odd one out on a list full of arcade discs, and that is why RPG fans love it. Players who dig into the PS2's RPGs still rank it highly.

Capcom Classics Collection holds more than 20 arcade games, 1942, Final Fight and Ghosts 'n Goblins among them. Most were converted from the old Capcom Generations and Street Fighter Collection 2 ports rather than the arcade originals. The games can be played in either one or two player mode, and the disc adds remixed soundtracks, game tips and original artwork.

Volume 2 only has titles that were not in the Capcom Generations series, and every game gets options like rapid fire and a bigger screen. The extras unlock through high scores or odd jobs like collecting the Yashichi item in several games. That keeps you coming back to titles you would otherwise clear once. Players tend to buy it with Volume 2 and recommend the pair.

Mega Man Anniversary Collection holds the first eight Mega Man games and unlocks two arcade fighting games, The Power Battle and The Power Fighters, which had a limited release outside Japan. The PS2 version adds the pilot episode of the old Mega Man cartoon and arranged music for the first six games.

It uses the PlayStation version of Mega Man 8, not the Saturn one with its bonus boss battles, and reviewers marked it down slightly for thin extras. The PS2 cartoon episode was still praised. Players usually recommend it together with the X Collection.

Midway Arcade Treasures collects 24 arcade games, and it's really three older PlayStation collections rolled into one, with the same extras those discs had. Digital Eclipse developed it, and Midway issued it for the PS2, the Xbox, the GameCube and the PC. The special features are the same on every version. Midway followed it with two more volumes.

That's also where the weak spots come from. The documentaries and interviews are grainy and recycled from earlier Midway collections, and Smash TV slows down. It still turns up on players' PS2 lists.

Street Fighter Alpha Anthology ports the three Alpha games and Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix from the arcade, then adds a remixed Alpha 2 Gold in which Cammy is playable in every mode, not just Versus and Training. Two secret games, Street Fighter Alpha 3 Upper and Hyper Street Fighter Alpha, wait at the end.

Hyper Street Fighter Alpha adds secret fighting styles on top of the ones in Alpha 3, with a soundtrack that reaches back to Street Fighter II and Final Fight. Every game has Arcade, Versus and Training modes, and the Alpha games add Survival and Dramatic Battle. The original Dramatic Battle mode from the first Alpha, with Ryu and Ken against Bison, is a secret. Fighting game players put it on their PS2 lists right next to the Anniversary Collection.

Street Fighter Anniversary Collection pairs Hyper Street Fighter II, where each fighter plays exactly as they did in one of the five Street Fighter II games, with Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. It even comes with Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, plus five different soundtracks and adjustable gameplay rules.

All bonus stages are removed, although the music is kept in the gallery. The PS2 bundle only came out in North America, since Japan got the two games separately. It is the version most players mean when they say the PS2 has a great Street Fighter disc, and 3rd Strike alone is worth the price. Players still name it among the PS2's best fighting games.

Mega Man X Collection holds the first six Mega Man X games and unlocks Mega Man: Battle & Chase, a racing game that had never come out in North America. Every game now saves to a file, though loading a save still drops you on the old password screen, with the right password already filled in.

You also unlock artwork and music from the series. Mega Man X3 is based on its 32-bit update, and the last three games are based on their PlayStation versions. Battle & Chase unlocks after you finish the first three games. Unlike the Anniversary Collection, the PS2 and GameCube versions of this one are identical, so nothing is lost by picking the PS2 disc. It only came out in North America. Players still recommend it.

Metal Slug Anthology holds all seven games up to Metal Slug 6. Metal Slug 1 to 5 and X run through Neo Geo emulation and Metal Slug 6 is a port of the arcade game, and the graphics are virtually the same as the originals.

The PS2 got it a few months after the Wii, with a normal controller, which spares you the Wii version's grenade throws by wrist twist. That alone makes it the better way to play. The same collection also came out on the PSP, the PC and the Wii. It still makes plenty of players' PS2 lists, and it is the one disc that holds the whole series.

Sonic Mega Collection Plus holds all 14 Genesis games from the GameCube's Sonic Mega Collection, including two that only Japan had gotten on that disc, plus six Game Gear games. They run on a Genesis emulator Sonic Team built themselves, and reviewers praised its faithful emulation and low price.

Seven games are open from the start. Many of the games start locked, and you open them by launching other games again and again. Sonic CD is still missing. The extras include Sonic videos and illustrations, plus scans of the instruction manuals. Players still recommend it anyway.