Barely any PS2 games have been added to the PlayStation Plus Classics catalog since the service’s 2022 revamp, and the ones that are included are HD conversions or remasters, meaning they lack the additional features seen in the emulated Play Station 1 and PlayStation Portable titles. However, that may be about to change according to a leaked listing for an upcoming re-release of 2002’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars game.
This comes courtesy of PS Deals (via Gematsu), which specialises in tracking the backend of the PS Store for updates. The listing obviously isn’t live, but PS Deals was able to find and share a description and screenshots for Star Wars: The Clone Wars alongside a purported release date of June 11. This should mean we’ll see the game added to the Classics catalog in next month’s update.
What’s most interesting, however, is how the game will be “enhanced with up-rendering, rewind, quick save, and custom video filters.” This will make it the first PS2 game on the catalog to have such features, and seems to suggest that there’ll finally be a dedicated PS2 emulator on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. Ideally, this will result in PS2 games being more frequently added to the service.
I can think of several PS2 classics that myself and fans would love to see arrive on PS Plus via emulation, such as the original Ratchet & Clank and Sly Cooper games. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if more obscure choices took priority considering Sony’s track record with the catalog so far. To date, the PS1 line-up still lacks era defining games like the first Tomb Raider and the Crash Bandicoot series, but does have Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. Not to mention it seems the first of these emulated PS2 games will be a Star Wars movie tie-in rather than any major first-party exclusive.
Still, we can always hope, and more PS2 games is better than none. It should at least add some extra value to the Premium tier for PS Plus and, depending on which games are added, could incentivise more people into subscribing. Maybe one day, Sony will somehow get a PlayStation 3 emulator working too, so we don’t have to make do with its cloud streaming service to play old PS3 games.
