You kids with your new fangled HD next gen whatchamajiggers. Back in my day we just had a potato and a piece of string and we had plenty of uncomfortable fun of the self discovery kind with that. We also had a Playstation 2.

I’ve resisted trumping up the PS2 games because its last gen and shoule completely ignored just like the Xbox and Gamecube are (up until they became 'retro' who makes these bullshiat rules anyway). But the truth of it is I really think the PS2 had the best game library of any console so far, or at least the most well rounded. One of the very best series on the PS2 (and PSP) was Jak and Daxter.

I only recently knocked Jak 3 on the head with my son and can’t recommend it enough. While platformers might seem like the ironclad province of Nintendo, Sony’s exclusive triumvirate of Ratchet & Clank, Jak & Daxter and Sly Cooper games are leagues ahead of any adventures the plumber and his annoying Stockholm suffering princess have had.

Your weapons are upgraded to even more devastating levels, you now have some impressive Light Eco powers to counter your Dark Eco abilities and you fight some Godzilla sized Metal Heads in the wastelands. You’ll spend most of your time getting around in a series of heavily armed dune buggies, each with mission specific abilities which you’ll need to master. The plot is also fantastic and wraps up a lot of the questions and queries that have been hanging around the series for the last two games. The unveil of the mysterious Precursors (a bit of a humorous riff on the Forerunners from Halo) has to go down as one of my most enjoyable gaming moments ever.

The Jak trilogy of games are some of the most pure undiluted video game fun you are ever likely to play. You may curse them at times, some of the time challenge missions are unforgivingly difficult, but you'll never get bored with the gameplay and the story line cries out for you to reach the conclusion.

The whole series is really top notch, even the Daxter game for the PSP and Jak X, the racing game that followed Jak 3. But the pinnacle of the series was really Jak's redemption and discovering his roots in Jak 3. If you like games and have a PS2 kicking around the place for your 2D fighter fix then you really need to get a hold of Jak 3 and have some fun. Don't for a minute presuppose the apparent kiddie nature of the games to indicate a lack of depth, the games are plenty deep and plenty dark and will entertain people of all age. In fact I wouldn't recommend Jak for a gamer younger than ten, because it really is damn hard in parts. Of course you could inevitably wait for the game to be released on the PSN when Sony finally wakes up and starts releasing some of its PS2 library for download, but why wait when that PS2 is just collecting dust. Just make sure you have space on your memory card!

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