The PlayStation 2 had a long life since its release in 2000, with games still getting produced for the machine right up until 2013. Although after 2007 most of these games were downscaled ports of PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 titles released across multiple platforms. Ironically, the graphics peaked, and the machine’s best performing games came towards the end of its true life-cycle around 2006 when the PlayStation 3 was released.

Unfortunately, most of the PS2’s worst looking games were released around the console’s launch. It’s unsurprising that the games from that time don’t hold up very well. This was in large part due to the transition from the PS1 to more powerful hardware. Let’s take a look at 5 PlayStation 2 games that have stood the test of time and the 5 that didn’t.

10 Looks Good: Tekken 5

Released in 2004 and developed by Namco Tekken 5 was the last game in the series to appear on the PlayStation 2. Tekken 5 also marked the 10th anniversary for the series from its 1994 appearance in the arcades.

The Tekken series has always been the benchmark for 3D fighting games in the visual department with even Tekken 3 still holding up on the original PlayStation. Tekken 5, however, could still pass for a very modern game and was a huge improvement over its predecessor.

9 Doesn’t: Grand Theft Auto III

Released for the PlayStation 2 in 2001, Grand Theft Auto III was the first time the series made the leap from the top-down 2D driving game to a fully 3D open-world action game. Make no mistake, at the time Grand Theft Auto III was a landmark title that ushered in a new wave of open-world 3D action games.

Unfortunately, the visuals in GTA III don’t hold up very well even when they have been given a fairly crisp HD makeover. The low polygon count and ugly character models didn’t look great in 2001 and look even worse now.

8 Looks Good: Marvel Vs. Capcom 2: New Age Of Heroes

Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes was ported from the Sega Dreamcast to the PlayStation 2 in 2002. It was the first game in the series to implement 2.5D graphics using the 2D classic sprites against a backdrop that was rendered in 3D.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2’s 2D sprites hold up incredibly well and it is arguably better looking and more comic book accurate than it’s next-gen sequels Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds and Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite. Despite 3D polygons being the evolution in graphics over the years, 2D sprites definitely age better than their counterparts.

7 Doesn’t: Eternal Ring

Eternal Ring was released on the PlayStation 2 in 2000 by the developers of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and the Dark Souls series. Just like the King’s Field series, Eternal Ring is a first-person action RPG that didn’t score very highly with many critics for its clunky gameplay and mechanics.

Being an early PlayStation 2 game, it wasn’t the best looking game either. Thanks to the fogging effect used to hide texture pop-in on older games, it was impossible for players to see more than 8 feet in front of them. Additionally, the animations were terrible and the characters look like they were made out of cardboard boxes.

6 Looks Good: Okami

Developed by the now-defunct Clover Studio, Okami was released on the PlayStation 2. Its gameplay was inspired by The Legend of Zelda series but the cel-shaded art-style was inspired by Japanese ink-washed painting and the works of Katsushika Hokusai. The result is one of the most timeless visual masterpieces in gaming that more than holds up today.

Okami’s creativity, atmosphere, and relevance still shine today and it as been the recipient of remasters in HD for the PlayStation 3, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and the Xbox One.

5 Doesn’t: Time Splitters

Timesplitters was released on the PlayStation 2 in 2000. Developed by Free Radical Design which consisted of a team that worked on iconic Goldeneye 007 and Perfect Dark for the Nintendo 64. Naturally, Timesplitters was considered to be a spiritual successor to those games and maintained its reputation for making first-person shooters work well on consoles at the time.

Unfortunately, on a visual level, the game hasn’t aged well at all. The stylized character designs looked ugly 20 years ago. The animations and textures look like they were slightly upgraded assets from the N64 games, and the draw distances were terrible.

4 Looks Good Final Fantasy XII

Released in 2006, Final Fantasy XII arrived on the PlayStation 2 late in the machine’s life cycle. With the Xbox 360 already moving forward with large scale HD RPGs like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, no one expected Final Fantasy XII to impress on the aging system.

Not only did it impress, but the game was huge and absolutely pushed the PS2 to its limits. A lot of the credit can be placed on the incredible art, architecture, and character designs. This is why the PlayStation 4 remaster Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age looked so incredible when it released in 2017.

3 Doesn’t: Blade II

Blade II was released in 2002 on the PlayStation 2 as a tie-in to the Wesley Snipes action horror movie of the same name. It put players in the shoes of the titular Blade during events that take place six months after the end of the film.

Unfortunately, Blade II was a disaster on every level, employing a fighting system that doesn’t let the player choose their attacks and absolutely hideous graphics. Considering Devil May Cry was released a year prior, and is as close to a Blade adaptation as fans will get, it’s a pity that the rights didn’t go to DmC’s Capcom instead.

2 Looks Good: Rogue Galaxy

Developed by Level-5 and released on the PlayStation 2 in 2007, Rogue Galaxy was another fantastic looking JRPG that released toward the end of the console’s life cycle. Built using the same engine as Level-5’s Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, Rogue Galaxy also uses similar cell-shaded character models.

The game was ported to the PlayStation 4 via emulation and featured visuals that were upscaled to 1080p and trophy support. Even via the emulation method, Rogue Galaxy holds up aesthetically as one of the best looking RPGs on the system.

1 Doesn’t: Summoner

Summoner is an action RPG created by Saints Row and Red Faction developers Volition. It featured a hybrid real-time and turn-based combat system that resembled Square-Enix’s Vagrant Story, and a surprisingly entertaining if not deep narrative.

Yet despite the praise, Summoner was not an aesthetically pleasing title on any level. The character models looked like they were designed for the PlayStation and the muddy textures were distracting. Still, Summoner was a breath of fresh air in 2001 when the console was dominated by Japanese RPGs, so it was easy to overlook its graphical shortcomings.

NEXT: The 10 Best Playstation 2 Games (According to Metacritic User Scores)