The PlayStation 2 era was an odd time. Games were becoming bigger but still didn’t cost small fortunes to create. Due to this, the era was filled with experimental titles, some trying to learn just what to do with the extra third dimension the industry was so obsessed with and others that were trying something entirely new.

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The PlayStation 2 is home to just about any genre imaginable as well as many experimental games that defy genre. To give thanks to the PlayStation 2 and all of the creative games that were released for it, here are 10 of the weirdest titles you will find on the system.

10 Mad Maestro!

Mad Maestro! is an early PlayStation 2 game where you play as a conductor who is attempting to save the town music hall by playing classical music throughout a small village. The game is similar to the other music-based rhythm games as you must tap buttons to the beat of the song playing in order to proceed. Between each level, you are visited by a fairy who is guiding you in your quest to save the music hall. Being an early title for the system, Mad Maestro! uses the then brand new technology in the PlayStation 2 paddle that registers how hard you tap a button.

9 Rez

Rez was developed by Sega and plays very similar to the Sega Saturn Panzer Dragoon games. You fly through a frame wire space and are approached by different enemies from all angles and, much like Panzer Dragoon, you can rotate 360 degrees, lock onto enemies, and build up combos.

Rez is about a rouge computer virus taking over digital space. As a hacker, you must go into the digital space and eradicate the virus. The game has been ported over to other more recent consoles as Rez HD and there has been a VR version called Rez VR.

8 Ico

Ico was the first game developed by Team Ico, the team behind The Last Guardian and Shadow of the Colossus. You play as a young boy who has been banished to a forbidden land and locked away. After escaping your confines, you find a girl who is also trapped. Both the boy and the girl must escape the forbidden land with the young boy leading the girl along.

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Combat is very minimal in Ico, instead, the game is focused more on environmental puzzles to make it through the strange world. The story is also very minimal with only one prominent event happening throughout the experience.

7 Katamari Damacy

The Katamari series stars the Prince who attempts to roll katamaris around mundane places like homes, towns, and gardens to meet the wishes of the King of All Cosmos. As they stick to the katamari, it will grow in size. Meeting a certain size is the main task of each level.

Katamari Damacy is the first game in the series and was followed up with many different sequels on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and more. Recently, Katamari Damacy was remade called Katamari Damacy Reroll which was ported to the Nintendo Switch and PC.

6 Stretch Panic

Stretch Panic was developed by Treasure, the team behind Gunstar Heroes and Ikaruga. Stretch Panic is notable for being the first game ever developed by Treasure that was 3D as they tend to make side-scrolling sprite-based games.

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Stretch Panic centers around a young girl named Linda who has the power to bend, pinch, and stretch enemies and objects with the magical scarf around her neck. Many of the enemies are women with large chests and you must pull on them until they pop - yes, you read that correctly.

5 Lifeline

Lifeline appears to be a typical survival-horror game where you make your way through a spaceship infested with aliens but, unlike most other survival horror games, you do not have direct control over the main character. Instead, you control the main character by giving her voice commands. With a mic attached to the PlayStation 2, you tell the main character to explore different rooms, fire at enemies, and pick up items. In between battles, you can have one-on-one conversations with the main character and learn more about her, strengthening your bond to this girl that you must guide through the spaceship.

4 Killer7

Killer7 was developed by Suda 51, creators of Shadows of the Damned and the No More Heroes series, and was published by Capcom. You play as a man with seven different personalities. Each personality appears as an entirely different character with their own personality and guns to fight with.

In Killer7, you cannot freely move around a 3D space. However, in this 2005 action-adventure game, you can command your character to either move forward and backward. When you get into a combat scene, the game turns into a first-person shooter where you must fire at enemies before they reach you.

3 Space Channel 5

The PlayStation 2 Space Channel 5 port includes both Space Channel 5 and Space Channel 5: Part 2, both of which were originally created for the Sega Dreamcast. Both Space Channel 5 games star Ulala, a reporter for Space Channel 5 who fights aliens with her dance moves. In February 2020, Space Channel 5 VR was released for PlayStation 4.

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Space Channel 5 is a rhythm game that play out like a game of Simon Says. You must mimic the dances done by the aliens which apparently impresses them so much that they give up. The games are also notable for featuring the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.

2 Gitaroo Man

Gitaroo Man is a unique rhythm game where you not only press a button in time with the game's beat but you also have to move the thumbstick in order to stay within the line on the screen. The game has a wacky and colorful style that is very it's own with eccentric characters and odd locations. You play as U-1 who takes on different opponents in musical battles. Both U-1 and his opponent have their own life bars and you must deplete the opponent's life bar in order to make it through the stage.

1 Mister Mosquito

In Mister Mosquito, you play as mosquito bothering a poor Japanese family and attempting to suck as much blood out of them before they get irritated and attempt to swat you. Once a human is irritated enough, you’ll have to sting them on their pressure points so that they will calm down and you can proceed with sucking their blood. You have free reign to explore large levels that are different areas of the house, triggering different things like stereos to distract the humans while you suck their blood.

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