25 Most Criminally Underrated PS2 Games Of All Time

It's not until you really take a look back across the entire PS2's lifespan that it hits you just how absolutely phenomenal the console truly was. The highest-selling system of all time with 155 million units under its belt, Sony's sophomore machine was the apex of video game production budgets matching any and every developer's artistic vision.

The resultant influx of titles ran the gamut from those that literally invented new genres (like GTA III and Kill.Switch) to experimenting with new graphical possibilities (cel-shaded Sly Cooper and the pastel-styled Herdy Gerdy). The indie scene as it exists today WAS the mid-tier of development back then, with a ton of titles seeing the light of day in quick succession as publishers were happy to feed an ever-growing market.

All that said, such a steady influx of content inevitably meant a handful fell by the wayside. We've all got those games we find, love and treasure - yet the wider world seems oblivious to their charms - so why not take stock of all the finest ones that really knocked it out the park, yet didn't have the audience at the time?

25. Tenchu: Wrath Of Heaven

For the jump across console generations, Wrath of Heaven turned Tenchu into one hell of a confident package for its biggest audience yet. Co-operative multiplayer stealth was a first for the genre, and that was after you became acquainted with the huge amount of ways you could take out foes.

Items included smoke bombs and throwable knives, as abilities saw you killing enemies from atop ceilings and charge-slicing through groups at once. Seriously, once you got the hang of the controls, you could TEAR through areas like the supernatural ninja badass you were born to be.

The A.I. was great fun to play around with, the story took you everywhere from Japanese villages to underground caves and every kill animation felt incredibly satisfying to hammer home.

Please, From Software, Dark Souls is all well and good, but where did Tenchu go?!