The 10 WEIRDEST PS2 Platformers
Transcript
00:00 Welcome to Mojo Plays and today we're counting down our picks for the 10 weirdest PlayStation
00:11 2 platformers.
00:12 For this list, we'll be looking at the wild world of wacky and bizarre platforming goodness
00:18 on PlayStation's beloved second console.
00:21 So what's the most off-the-wall PS2 platformer game you've ever played?
00:25 Be sure to jump down to the comment section to let us know.
00:28 Before we begin, we publish new content all week long, so be sure to subscribe and ring
00:33 the bell to be notified about our latest videos.
00:36 Frogger the Great Quest You've heard of Frogger, right?
00:49 You know, the pixelated green frog who must venture across dangerous traffic and moving
00:54 lily pads alike in order to get to the other side?
00:57 Well, what if I told you that Frogger had quite enough dodging traffic and river rapids
01:02 and decided to become bipedal in order to go on a great quest to rescue a princess?
01:08 Now that certainly sounds wacky to me.
01:10 Frogger the Great Quest tries really hard to be the next 3D mascot platformer, but doesn't
01:16 quite nail the landing.
01:18 Mostly because of how cringey the whole experience feels as you hop around with Frogger, spitting
01:23 at enemies, using your frog mouth thing to hover, and just generally doing quirky frog
01:29 stuff while collecting coins, gems, and other treasures.
01:33 Oh yeah, and I guess also trying to rescue that princess I mentioned at the start of
01:37 this entry.
01:38 It's a darn good thing that Frogger knows frog-fu.
01:41 Vex If you're looking for some rough and tumble,
01:56 attitude-drenched goodness in your PS2 platforming games, then I guess look no further than Vex,
02:01 a game that seems like it should be straight out of the 90s, but is actually from the year
02:06 2003.
02:08 This somewhat darker, non-linear 3D action platforming game stars Vex, a brooding chap
02:14 who must stop the Shadowwraiths from continuing to cause havoc and mayhem for the people of
02:19 Astara and their ancient rifts.
02:21 It's up to Vex to save the day with his arsenal of powerful and unique abilities and
02:25 skills that can make quick work of the shadowy baddies in the game.
02:30 Vex took a different approach to 3D platforming, with more open exploratory levels filled with
02:35 distinct areas and plenty of verticality.
02:39 Where most platformers erred on the side of linearity, Vex gave you more freedom in how
02:44 you explore the nine realms while trying to collect the coveted Wraith Hearts.
02:56 Whiplash
03:04 Had the wonderfully wacky world of Whiplash been turned into a cartoon, it would have
03:08 fit in nicely with the great pantheon of bizarre cartoons such as the Angry Beavers, Ren and
03:14 Stimpy, Ah!
03:15 Real Monsters, and the like.
03:18 Perhaps it's the crazy animal duo of Redman the Rabbit and Spanx the Weasel, perhaps it's
03:22 the madcap story and levels, or perhaps it's even the off-the-wall platforming gameplay
03:28 you can get into, but Whiplash is one loony game to be sure.
03:33 Instead of playing as each character individually or independently, you are actually chained
03:37 together, which leads to a lot of mayhem in each stage.
03:41 As you explore the halls, offices, and laboratories of the clearly corrupt Genron Corporation,
03:48 Redman and Spanx can rack up the combos with frenetic attacks, deal with very much unsafe
03:53 platforming conditions, and even smack and whack the environment around to create quite
03:58 the scientific kerfuffle.
04:07 The Adventures of Cookie and Cream
04:17 Now I don't know what's weirder, the fact that this very early, hyper-colorful PS2 platforming
04:23 game is from renowned Soulsborne developer From Software, or that you can play the game
04:28 with another person via one controller, with each player holding a side of said controller.
04:34 Now I can just leave this entry at those two facts and the weirdness is there in spades.
04:38 However, there's a lot more to this frankly bizarre gaming creation.
04:43 The Adventures of Cookie and Cream stars two adorable bunnies who just want to make it
04:47 home to celebrate the Moon Festival, but before they get there, they are ambushed by a crazed
04:52 rooster who tells them that the moon is now missing... for reason, I guess.
04:58 Each stage sees you overcome obstacles and puzzles, utilize teamwork with the bunnies
05:03 on either side of the stage, and perform lots of double jumps, something the game really
05:08 hammers home in the opening levels.
05:11 Now anyone else up for some ice cream?
05:19 Secret Agent Clank While spin-offs of successful franchises are
05:29 certainly not a new thing, I'm not particularly sure anyone was clamoring for a stealth-infused
05:35 spin-off of Ratchet and Clank, one where you primarily just play as Clank himself, this
05:41 time as a secret agent of course.
05:43 This game started life on PSP, but did eventually get ported to the PS2.
05:48 For the most part, Secret Agent Clank plays out like your traditional 3D action platformer.
05:54 However, the spy-themed story is infused with stealth sections and mini-games, and yes,
06:00 even sections where you control Ratchet who is locked up in prison.
06:04 The weirdness just exudes from this title as you see the tiny robot Clank don different
06:08 disguises, take down massive baddies in comparison to his size, and even partake in some casino
06:14 games.
06:15 This game just feels like a cartoony James Bond experience, and is quite the anomaly
06:20 in the PS2 platformer genre.
06:28 Doctor Muto I feel like everyone at least knows someone
06:40 who has played Doctor Muto, despite the game really never being a part of the regular platforming
06:46 genre discourse from the early 2000s.
06:49 For the uninitiated, Doctor Muto is a bonkers platforming adventure game all about science.
06:55 Okay, actually, make that mad science.
06:58 You of course play as Doctor Muto himself, a crazy scientist who wants to use his knowledge
07:03 to create free energy for everyone on his home planet.
07:07 And strangely, his home planet is called Midway.
07:09 Yes, after the game's publisher, Midway.
07:12 Now that's certainly odd to me.
07:14 Unfortunately he mistakenly destroyed his planet instead and must now rebuild it.
07:19 On top of all of that weirdness, it's the fact that Doctor Muto must explore various
07:23 dystopian-like stages while transforming into all manner of animal-esque aberrations such
07:29 as a gorilla, a mouse, and even a goofy fish.
07:32 I guess it's no surprise this one ended up in cult classic territory.
07:44 Ape Escape 2 Get your ape radar and monkey net ready since
07:55 it's time to catch us some adorable helmet-toting monkeys.
07:58 Yep, that's Ape Escape 2 for you.
08:01 A downright bananas game, see what I did there?
08:04 The follow up to the beloved Ape Escape sees Jimmy, Natalie, and the professor working
08:09 hard to cinch a bunch of pants to the monkeys in Monkey Park.
08:13 Wow, that's a sentence I never thought I would say in my life.
08:16 However, things go awry when Jimmy mistakenly sends some monkey-controlling helmets instead.
08:22 Now the wacky team must venture to some frankly delightful and imaginative levels to wrangle
08:28 up the monkeys so they don't keep causing mischief and mayhem.
08:32 The sheer variety in the gameplay here makes this one a real gem, since you are constantly
08:36 searching for monkeys, using your wide arsenal of tools, solving environmental puzzles, and
08:42 even collecting some gotcha coins for some extra goodies back at the laboratory.
08:54 Disney's PK, Out of the Shadows
09:02 While a superhero platforming game really isn't all that weird, it's the fact that
09:06 this one, Disney's PK, Out of the Shadows, is actually based on an Italian comic book
09:12 series.
09:13 In this game, you play as Donald Duck, who happens to be working at a security tower,
09:17 before he dozes off to sleep only to be greeted by a dream version of Daisy, Huey, Dewey,
09:22 and Louie, who tell him that he's just too angry all the time.
09:27 He dreams to be a superhero, and, well, he gets his wish via a glowing green AI.
09:33 Alongside this, Earth is being attacked by some alien beings, and Donald Duck, now as
09:37 PK, must save the day, even if he doesn't really know what he's doing.
09:43 While most of the stages do kind of look just the same and kind of generic, it's pretty
09:48 darn cool to see PK use his superhero powers and abilities to take out baddies, perform
09:53 platforming feats, and rescue some trapped scientists.
09:57 It just hit me that a ton of the games on this list actually revolve around mad science
10:01 of some kind.
10:03 That's interesting indeed.
10:11 Stretch Panic Wow, I really don't know how to easily
10:21 convey just how bonker Stretch Panic truly is.
10:25 I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise given it was created by developer Treasure,
10:30 of Gunstar Heroes, Mischief Makers, and McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure fame, to just name
10:36 a few of their absurdly crazy games.
10:39 Stretch Panic is really on a whole other level though, as you play as Linda, a girl who must
10:43 deal with a dozen of her sisters who are incredibly conceited and thus make her feel pretty bad,
10:50 not unlike something like Cinderella.
10:52 Fortunately, or unfortunately for Linda, she befriends a demon-possessed Scarf, and also
10:58 finds herself and her sisters in an otherworldly, fever dream-like dimension.
11:03 While the game is light on actual platforming, it still feels and plays like a game in the
11:08 genre, albeit with lots of Scarf slapping of disproportionate human characters, stretching
11:14 the environments to get around, and just generally being a quirky nuisance in hyper-vibrant stages.
11:26 Psychonauts I mean, come on, it's Psychonauts, perhaps
11:34 a game that is the epitome of weirdness and the poster child for bizarre PS2 platforming
11:39 adventure games.
11:41 If for some reason you haven't heard of Psychonauts, you play as Raz, who heads off
11:45 to a summer camp for the psychically gifted.
11:48 In hoping to avoid his family's crazy circus, Raz thinks it best to pursue his dreams of
11:53 actually becoming a fully-fledged Psychonaut one day.
11:57 This game, created by Tim Schafer and Double Fine, heavily leans into the idea of psychic
12:02 abilities, mind powers, and entering others' consciousness, for better or for worse at
12:08 times.
12:09 The whispering rock psychic summer camp area might be the most benign part of the game,
12:14 as the rest of the experience sees Raz hopping into people's brains in order to solve their
12:18 psychic conundrums, which makes for some downright wacky levels.
12:22 Honestly, it's a lovely game that deserves your time and attention.
12:26 Plus, its sequel is just as odd and just as fun to play and experience.
12:31 Now get out there and kick some astral projection.
12:40 Do you agree with our picks?
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12:49 [music]