3 Popular PlayStation 2 Games That Aged Poorly

Published Aug 18, 2026, 6:31 PM EDT Tom Wilson is a Gaming Features Writer at Screen Rant. Over the past five years, Tom has worked as the Editor-in-Chief at The Game Crater, as a Staff Writer for GamingIntel, a List Writer at TheGamer, and, of course, as a Senior Writer at ScreenRant. Tom has experience writing reviews, guides, news, and features, and has been responsible for teams of writers, training them and editing their work. Tom graduated with a Masters in Multimedia Journalism, and has since gone on to build up his portfolio of games journalism work. There are so many games from the PlayStation 2 era that have aged like a fine wine. From Shadow of the Colossus to the Jak series and beyond, the vast majority of the PS2's library holds up and remain classics that are still absolutely worth playing today. However, as phenomenal an era as the PlayStation 2 provided with its vast swathe of incredible games, a handful of its very best titles simply aren't as fun to play today as they were back in 2026. Much like the worst aged PS1 games of all time, the PlayStation 2 has its fair share of duds. Yet, crucially, these games were seen as revolutionary, legitimately enjoyable, or even iconic for the time. While their achievements and contributions to the gaming industry are not lessened by their newly perceived lack of quality or frustrating elements, it is still hard to appreciate them in the same way as we did over two decades ago. 3 Yakuza Kiryu beating up a group of enemies in Yakuza on the PS2. Yakuza was an incredibly popular title in Japan and has since gone on to birth an immensely successful action series globally. One cannot escape the endless recommendations to play this legendary series for long, and for good reason too. Yakuza as we know it today is a unique, extremely entertaining, heartfelt, and cinematic experience that is like no other game on the market. The same was true when the original Yakuza launched on the PS2 back in 2005 (and 2006 internationally), where it received positive reviews, at least in Japan. However, today, Yakuza is one of the most unplayable PlayStation 2 games; its endless loading screens, constant camera woes, clunky combat, and infamously terrible English dub (Luke Skywalker's own Mark Hamill does turn in a rather fun performance as Majima) prove to be too much for returning and new players. Of course, like all of the games on this list, the original game was revolutionary for the time and pushed the industry in an interesting new direction, all while establishing one of the most wonderfully bizarre and endlessly creative series. However, that doesn't mean that Yakuza on the PS2 has aged well or is worth playing today. With the Kiwami edition all but ironing out the vast majority of its issues, fans should probably stay away and enjoy its more modern entries that better showcase just how well the formula it established can work. 2 Grand Theft Auto 3 There is no denying just how revolutionary Grand Theft Auto 3 was when it was released on the PlayStation 2 back in 2001. It practically established the blueprint for open-world design and introduced a number of key features that are still used today. The foundations GTA 3 laid down can be seen in Rockstar's best work and will likely be evident in the upcoming GTA 6; that's how prolific and influential it has proven to be. Consequently, at the time, GTA 3 was one of the most sought-after PS2 games, selling well over 11 million copies. However, were one to play Grand Theft Auto 3 today, they'd be faced with a mediocre and extraordinarily simple experience that isn't really worth the time and effort required to see its credits roll. From a small, bare-bones open world to the complete lack of basic mechanics like swimming, GTA 3 feels like a relic of the past. Shooting fares no better, with awkward controls making taking down enemies a tiresome chore; the story is hampered by Claude's inability to speak, and so many of its missions are infuriatingly designed, seemingly with the express purpose of irritating players. GTA 3 will always be a classic of the genre and a highly-regarded PlayStation 2 classic when viewed from the correct perspective of its contributions at the time and how it felt to play it back then. It was an amazing experience booting up Grand Theft Auto 3 before its successors made it feel utterly obsolete, as there really wasn't anything else like it. However, today, GTA 3 is a poorly aged mess that isn't worth your time, especially with there being so many better games in the series that are easily accessible. 1 Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec is one of the best-selling PlayStation 2 games of all time and adorned practically everyone's shelves alongside the many other must-haves of the era. In many ways, Gran Turismo 3 has aged rather gracefully, its stunning visuals proving to be impressive even by today's standards. Polyphony Digital and series creator Kazunori Yamauchi's desire for photorealistic visuals, at least for the car models, absolutely future-proofed the earlier entries like GT3 and made them more palatable experiences today. However, unlike its visuals, the rest of A-Spec has aged poorly. The original PS2 controller isn't robust enough for the complex controls the game requires; its AI, as if in an attempt to better sell the game as a realistic driving sim, is far too punishingly difficult; its roster of cars is also extremely truncated when compared to its predecessor and immediate successor, making it a less content-rich experience overall. That's not to say that Gran Turismo 3 is unplayable on the PS2, but now that there are better entries, one has to wonder why you'd ever play it today. Brand Sony Original Release Date February 4, 2000 Original MSRP (USD) $299 Weight 4.85 lb