The Hardest PS2 Games Published By Konami, Ranked

Konami made a big splash on the PS2 thanks to their continued success with franchises like Castlevania and Metal Gear. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty in particular helped sell the vision of the PS2 albeit a year after the console launch.

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The amount of power that Hideo Kojima and his team got out of the PS2 was jaw-dropping at the time including light and shadow effects and the sheer ability to blow up a watermelon. If now-deceased comedian Gallagher played video games, he would have surely been impressed with the watermelon effects. Is Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty a hard game though? If not, what Konami games on the PS2 are challenging beyond belief?

8 Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner

GameFAQs Difficulty: 3/5

Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner is hard like many space shooters are. This one throws mechs into the mix to make things a bit more challenging. Jehuty, the one players will inhabit as the pilot Dingo, handles a lot smoother than something on the ground like a Gundam.

There are difficulty levels to make things a lot easier, but the core difficulty will be a challenge on top of the actual hard modes. Players will have to get good at dodging dozens of beams firing at Jehuty simultaneously in some instances.

GameFAQs Difficulty: 3/5

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, again, can be as easy or as hard as players want to make it. Hideo Kojima has always been good about that which is why Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner can cater to a wider audience too. However, with Snake Eater, even on the easiest setting it can be a pain because of all the gameplay mechanics.

Players will have to sift through menus to choose from dozens of camouflage patterns to blend into the environments with Big Boss. They also have to eat to keep strong and dig bullets out of their bones. It was a groundbreaking and immersive entry in the series but one with plenty of challenges that some saw as a bit too clumsy.

6 Silent Hill 2

GameFAQs Difficulty: 3/5

All three mainline Silent Hill games on the PS2 are in the same range of difficulty levels. Silent Hill 2 stands out among them though since it was Konami’s first attempt on the console for the franchise. Some things are a bit more haphazard than the sequels which would arm protagonists with more weapons, for example.

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James, the star of Silent Hill 2, will mostly have to bash his through creepy monsters with melee weapons. Even when guns appeared. ammo was scarce as were other resources in the game, adding to the tension in an already terrifying survival horror game.

5 DDRMAX Dance Dance Revolution

GameFAQs Difficulty: 3/5

DDRMAX Dance Dance Revolution is no joke as it can kick anyone’s butt whether they are fit or not. Unlike modern dance games that typically look at hand placement only, like Just Dance, DDR was all about foot placement on a mat controller.

Some songs are easy enough to dance to while others will make players look wildly unhinged. It’s good exercise though that will surely sweat up anyone’s daily exercise routine. All of the PS2’s DDR games are challenging, but as this was the first one to hit the console, it’s worth highlighting.

4 Ring Of Red

GameFAQs Difficulty: 4/5

Ring of Red is kind of like Front Mission which is Square Enix’s mech-based tactical RPG. Ring of Red is also a mech-based tactical RPG but aiming takes place in real time just like Sega’s Valkyria Chronicles series. That makes the game harder than any Front Mission off the bat not to mention the obscure strength of the enemy’s AI.

It is unbelievable at times, forcing players to strategize and plan their moves with the utmost care. It’s worth doing though as the alternate history story of a post-WW2 Japan being split into two nations via the United States and Russia is interesting.

3 Lifeline

GameFAQs Difficulty: 4/5

Lifeline’s difficulty comes into play because of the accessory needed to play it. The game takes place in a space resort that gets flooded with aliens. A waitress, Rio, gets caught in the middle but manages to arm herself in the chaos.

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The thing is, Rio cannot be controlled directly. Instead, players view her through a camera and then use a microphone to issue her orders. It was innovative for a horror game, but it was too ahead of its time because the technology was not responsive enough. This led to poor Rio dying a lot.

2 Contra: Shattered Soldier

GameFAQs Difficulty: 5/5

• Released: October 22, 2002
• Developer: Team Kijirushi
• Platforms: PlayStation 2

The Contra games are notorious for being hard just like Capcom’s Ghouls ‘n Ghosts franchise. Typically they follow one hit and you’re dead type of rules and it’s not much better in Contra: Shattered Soldier which is part of the thrill.

To finish this game, players have to “git good” and dodge and shoot like a savant and the challenge will make even Dark Souls diehards weep. It’s going to take some practice but eventually beating the game will be one of the best feelings in the world. The one plus side to this is that it is short.

1 Gradius 5

GameFAQs Difficulty: 5/5

• Released: July 22, 2004
• Developer: Treasure
• Platforms: PlayStation 2

Gradius began in arcades in 1985 and it’s one of the staples of the horizontal shooter genre. Players will take a ship, go into space, fight other ships, and then move on. Gradius 5 is not quite as brutal as a bullet hell akin to Ikaruga, but it’s still no picnic. It and Contra: Shattered Soldier are so close together in terms of challenge that it is sometimes a toss-up.

Gradius 5 wins slightly nine times out of ten because there are far more projectiles being blasted at all times and there is less space to dodge in than Contra: Shattered Soldier. Make no mistake though, both games are going to make players cry.

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