Through the magic of emulation, it’s now possible to play a selection of classic PS2 games in native PS5 apps as part of the PS Plus Premium offering. For context, the first crop of emulated PS2 classics appeared with the new PS Plus tiers back in 2022, but the games came with major issues that made them hard to recommend, including PAL/NTSC compatibility problems, flawed scaling options and delivery in a PS4 app container. Sony has a chance to offer a substantially updated experience along native PS5 apps, but the revised offering is disappointingly subpar – despite the selection of some great games, including Sly Cooper, Tomb Raider: Anniversary and Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
The core of the issue seems to be a distinct lack of care when it comes to emulation, with some of the same issues we noted with the PS4 version of the emulator remaining unsolved two years later – and some new problems too, as John and Rich noted in the latest episode of DF Direct.
That’s not to say that these releases are completely without merit – you can play through PS2 games with PS5-native menus to enable game enhancements like rewinds or save states, customised controls and a free choice of NSTC or PAL versions, adding welcome options. The problem is that the implementation of these ideas is often underwhelming, or even actively harmful to your enjoyment of the game at hand.
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