I have recently gained access to a PS2, a Game Cube and an XBOX.

I have never played on any of them before. What games should i track down and play on them?

I like pretty much an type of game - cooperative titles would be particularly appreciated.

Basically this is a request for your opinions on which are the 'must play' games on these consoles. My knowledge of PC games is extensive but i know next to nothing about older consoles.

Thanks in advance!

ps i already have on the list:

ICO
Grand Theft Auto series (quite enjoying GTA3 so far)

For the PS2, I would whole-heartedly recommend Killer 7 if you can find it anywhere. Also, Shadow of the Colossus.

For the Gamecube, Super Smash Bros. Melee.

For the XBox, Ninja Gaiden.

PS2 - I'm getting one soon only to finally be able to play Ico, Shadow of the Colossus and Okami.

GameCube: Metroid Prime, Resident Evil 4 and Wind Waker - ridiculously good games. I also really like the absurd speed in F-Zero GX and Eternal Darkness certainly has its moments so far.

I would hold off on Okami as a truly superior Wii version is coming out shortly.

Its support 480p Widescreen and full motion controls for the paintbrush.

Other last gen games: if you dont have Burnout 3 or Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, start there.

GC - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azakaban
One of my favortie all time games.

Xbox - Panzer Dragoon Orta, Ninja Gaiden, Psychonauts, Psi-Ops (Not crucial but it's great fun. Think exploding brains and telekinetically throwing people into fires and meat grinders.) Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow.

PS2 - Project Zero 1-3 (Fatal Frame in America), Okami, Street Fighter: 25th Anniversary (For Street Fighter 3. Essential 2d fighting.)... Is it really bad that I can't think of any more for PS2?

Gamecube - Resident Evil 4, Mario Kart: Double Dash (but you probably know that one), Metroid Prime, Viewtiful Joe, Wind Waker... Pretty much everything kboman said,

Unless you have a problem with playing a character who seems like something of a dick when you first start out, I can't recommend God of War 1+2 strongly enough for the PS2.

Also (for PS2)

Bully - If you can't get scholarship ed. Either way make sure you at least rent this game

Okami - If you enjoy Zelda type games, have an open mind, and don't mind an easy game.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence - It's a stealth game at heart which may turn you off but normal mode can be blown through in whatever
way you see fit. Ending is AMAZING. You don't need to know the series to enjoy this game but you may have more appreciation for it if you look through wikipedia AFTER you finish the game.

Resident Evil 4 - some awkward dialogue, not really scary, but gameplay is very solid.

XBOX: Psychonauts and Ninja Gaiden are all I can really recommend. Stick to PC for shooters.

Gamecube: The only gamecube game I've played is Windwaker... and I strongly recommend it. Yes, it's cartoony, the sailing is monotonous at the endgame and it's quite easy. That said the art style really gives it a certain charm you won't see in most games especially with character expressions. (plus cell shading is really easy on the eyes when playing last gen games) It has a certain kind of 'fun' to it that I'd need a lot more coffee to put into words but I'll just say it's one of those games where I would forget to eat it was so enjoyable.

for the xbox i'd recommend Kung Fu Chaos for a good party game. its a good laugh with a group of you playing it.

Jet Set Radio Future for the XBox as well as the aforementioned Kung Fu Chaos.

For the Playstation you could find the Wild Arms and Alundra lines. FREQuency as well if you can get your hands on that

Persona 3 for ps2 and Zone of the Enders 2

Xbox: Any Splintercell, Ninja Gaiden, Psychonaughts, Dead or Alive 2 & 3.

PS2: Metal Gear, Final Fantasy, Ratchet and Clank, Jak & Daxter.

Gamecube: >:-( Never had one, sorry.

PureFuzz:
for the xbox i'd recommend Kung Fu Chaos for a good party game. its a good laugh with a group of you playing it.

Is that the game with the dancing FBI guys? If so, I recommend also, it's funny as hell.

Most of these titles worth owning from the previous generation have already been listed. I suppose that means to interpret my list as a "yes, these games live up to the hype" collection of games. This list is quasi in order from best of the best to worst of the best.

Metroid Prime
Wind Waker
Ninja Gaiden
Soul Calibur 2
Panzer Dragoon Orta
Ico
Grand Theft Auto 3
Eternal Darkness
Devil May Cry
Super Smash Bros Melee
Metal Gear Solid 2
KOTOR
Halo
Fable

Everyone else and their mothers seem to think Shadow of the Colossus is amazing. I am is staunch disagreement, but chances are you will find the game to be fun. I estimate that only about one in ever six billion people in the world dislike that game.

KaynSlamdyke:
Jet Set Radio Future for the XBox as well as the aforementioned Kung Fu Chaos.

For the Playstation you could find the Wild Arms and Alundra lines. FREQuency as well if you can get your hands on that

yeah i have to agree with this guy. i'm currently trying to hunt down "jet set radio" myself, but no dice. i was a big fan of "jet grind radio" on the dreamcast. i don't know if they're the same thing but with one extra character or what, or maybe just a plain old sequal. but either way, get it if you can and never let go.
another game for the regular xbox that i know of is a game called "theif deadly shadows", i'll be picking that bad boy up in the near future, and i know where to get it too, so you should go check it out if you can (stealth assasin game... sweet)
what else...
in-case you haven't been able to tell i'm trying to pick up all the old xbox titles i want to play before they decide to take them off the shelves... unless it's a little independent pop shop or something, thgen you have nothing to worry about.
* metal gear solid substance (basically mgs2... alot of people didn't like it but alot of people did, so whatever. i liked it, but it was also the first mgs game i ever played too.
(i'm in the process of playing shenmue 2, if you played the first one on dreamcast or haven't, you should check it out anyway, very cool... you can get it for like five bucks)
also since you have a gamecube, you should go find yourself a copy of "skies of arcadia" very cool rpg, and also one of my favorites next to "chrono trigger" and skies of arcadia was also originally released on the dreamcast (are you starting to see a pattern here)
-anyway yeah, that's it for now since this is a pretty long tag to begin with.
have fujn now

Apologies for the repeat(s)

Devil May Cry

Devil may Cry 3

These games are popular for a reason. Whether you have played 4 or not (and Yahtzee's review is slightly misleading, though he nails other issues spot-on) these two gems of the series are worth every second spent playing them. At the absolute least, you owe it to yourself to play the first one. 3 is thus far the series pinnacle, with 4 a close second.

Fanboying aside, a game for the Gamecube I did not like but believe was awesome is Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. Worth it for the fun ways to make your character go nuts if nothing else.

From there, Silent Hill 2 and 3 are functionally must-haves. See if you can nab a Silent Hill 3 with the soundtrack disc still in it.

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King is probably the best/only co-op game I have :) Love it, though. If you liked the movies, pick it up.

Ikaruga for the GameCube, and Rez for the PS2 (both originally DreamCast games) along with Shadow of the Colossus and Ico on PS2 are good games for that platform. I agree though about waiting for the Wii version of Okami. Katamari Damacy for PS2 is also a lot of fun. I also recommend Psychonauts.

Selka:

Everyone else and their mothers seem to think Shadow of the Colossus is amazing. I am is staunch disagreement, but chances are you will find the game to be fun. I estimate that only about one in ever six billion people in the world dislike that game.

Like me. Horribly overhyped game. Does this mean there's something wrong with us?

Beyond Good and Evil for the Xbox.

For the PS2, I highly recommend both Final Fantasy Chronicles and Chrono Cross (they're both PS1 games, but they play fine on the PS2). I am a huge fan of the Chrono series, and the reason why I recommend Final Fantasy Chronicles is that it contains two games, one of them being the first game of the series, Chrono Trigger (the other game is Final Fantasy IV). Chrono Trigger was initially seen on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and this port to the Playstation includes a few more extras, but has a problem with loading times. If you can look past those load times, however, you will find a superb JRPG (or if you can somehow play it on the SNES, you may wish to consider it as the load times can be annoying on the PS1). Chrono Cross is the sequel to Chrono Trigger, and is an amazing game in itself (one of my favourite games of all time, if my opinion matters at all). And CC is not a port or anything, so there should be no problems with loading or anything.

Other than those, I recommend the games of the Metal Gear Solid series: Metal Gear Solid (for PS1), Metal Gear Solid 2 (for PS2), and Metal Gear Solid 3 (also for PS2).

I'd advise Goldeneye : Rogue agent for the Ps2. Its severley underrated, dual wielding guns is fun, and the eye powers are very cool when you learn how to control them.

Also Ratchet and Clank : Up Your Arsenal, Pikmin, Luigis Mansion and Destroy All Humans.

GBA: Golden Suns 1 + 2
Gamecube: Pikmin, Metroid Prime 1, Custom Robo
PS2: Dynasty Warriors 4, Starwars Galactic Battlefront 2, WWE Smackdown! Here Comes the Pain (the last good one).
Xbox 1: Never played
Ngage: Oh god no.

For the Gamecube (only thing I have, sorry)

Fire Emblem; Path of Radiance. It's like chess. With swords. and magic. and a plot...kinda...

Meteroid Prime 2: Echoes. It's almost a photocopy of the first. With ammo. And giant talking bug-things. And a FORTY STORY TALL FOUR LEGGED ROBOT THAT WANTS TO KILL YOU! RUN!

Super Smash Brothers Melee. This game alone is worth buying a gamecube. I still play this game. It's f***ing awesome.

Everything else has been said. Sorry to the people who said Melee before me; it's the Chuck Norris of Gamecube Games, though; it warrants multiple mentions. Or it will kill you...

Strafe Mcgee:

Selka:

Everyone else and their mothers seem to think Shadow of the Colossus is amazing. I am is staunch disagreement, but chances are you will find the game to be fun. I estimate that only about one in ever six billion people in the world dislike that game.

Like me. Horribly overhyped game. Does this mean there's something wrong with us?

Well, lets check. Did you play Halo?

Thanks very much to you all!

Don't worry about duplications or only owning one console its no problem. Now how to whittle down the list... :)

More advoce

PS2/1

Resident evil 4. (Amazing)
Burnout Revenge (same as above)
Shadow of the Coloussus (practically unique, and brilliant)
Ico (same as above, but rarer than iridium-plated razorblades)
FF7-13 (will eat your time like elephants eat peanuts, but worth the buy.)
Area 51 (decent shooter, dual-wield and monster-transform)
BLACK (amazingly loud and violent shooter)
MGS 1/2/3 series (stealth,but with a brilliant story, amazing gameplay and a cool charecter (well, 1, 3 and half of 2)).
Psychonauts (great)
Timesplitters 2 (the greatest multiplayer shooter known to man. if not bought, you are missing out on something beautiuful)
Grandia (like final fantasy,but rubbish graphics. Still got a nice plot and excellent gameplay)
God of War 1 and 2. (utterly brilliant, brutal and violent combat.)
Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City and San Andreas. (if you don't own these, you are something of a criminal against the gaming world)
Mercaneries: (like GTA, with better guns and vehicles. And airstrikes.)
Total overdose: (Funky gunplay twist on the GTA-style free-roaming. Set in Central America)
Zone of the Enders (giant robots fighting. What's wrong with that?)
Soul Calibar 2 (Best fighting game played to date)
Spartan: Total Warrior (Greek fighting game, but utterly different to god of war, with massed battles and tactical combat)

PS2 - Jace Cocoon 2, Summoner 2, GTA 3, GTA Vice City, GTA San Andreas, God of war 1 and 2, Silent Hill 2, FFX, MGS 2 and 3, Guitar Hero 1, 2 and 3.
Gamecube - Resident Evil 4

I second Spartan: Total Warrior. Also if you like smashing things then Inredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction is a great game available on all three consoles. Also I highly recommend Lego Star Wars I/II though this may be a moot point if you have a ps3/ xbox 360 since you can get the Complete Saga version. IN a Star Wars vein I also recommend either of the Battlefront games, though II is more varied.

Also if you're looking for something a little bit different try Second Sight or Timesplitters: Future Perfect.

Metal Arms for the Xbox. Lots and lots of awesome shooting.

If you like driving games, Forza Motorsport is a must (for my money, it's better than Gran Turismo).

Other people have recommended Ninja Gaiden, but I'll recommend it again.

Rainbow Six 3 pretty much defined tactical shooters for the last-gen consoles. The xbox version lets you issue orders through your headset. And the semi-sequel Black Arrow was xbox exclusive (also worth a look).

Project Gotham Racing 1&2 are nice if you like expensive cars.

Spyro and Okami for the PS2 are both great titles.

I can only really speak for ps2/psx games, as I didn't pick up xbox till 360 came around buuut there's some good ones I haven't seen mentioned.

RPGs-
Anything Final Fantasy, VII-XII as well as anthology(PSX)(V and VI I believe), collection(PSX)(FFI and chrono trigger?) and of course the great FF Tactics(psx). Highlights would be VII, X and XII, and tactics.
Breath of Fire 3 - excellent and fairly unheralded for some reason
Legend of Dragoon

Shooters-
Red Faction - one of the best console shooters period, 2 isn't as good, but still solid.
I keep hearing Timesplitters 2 as being good, but I could never get into it myself, it's been gathering dust for years.

Gradius V - It's Gradius. A great shmup that will break you.

Ace Combat - Any out of the series, 4, 5 and zero being ps2, the original(air combat), 2 and 3 being psx. Excellent games if you're even vaguely into jet fighter games.

Katamari Damacy and Everyone <3's Katamari - I cannot reccomend Katamari highly enough, it absolutely rules.

Ratchet & Clank - Pick one from the series, they're all excellent.

Armored Core - Be the pilot of a giant robot charging around blowing up other giant robots... oh and you're a merc! Ridiculous levels of customization as well. There's a few psx and a few ps2, just pick one, you won't go wrong.

Max Payne - a fun, dark, and at times hokey festival of blood and explosions.

Devil may cry - I can't speak on the sequels, but the original is definitely fun, even if it's a bit of an emo kid.

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time - rediculously fun and just plain ridiculous acrobatic moves and rewinding time. You can't go wrong. I can't speak on the sequels, as I haven't played them, don't know why I haven't though.

Resident Evil 4 - Pick this up on ps2, or gamecube if you don't have a wii. If you have a wii, get it on there.

X-Com: UFO Defense - If you can find it, one of the best strategy games of all time. It's psx, but psx games run on ps2. It's on PC as well, but you need to find a user made patch to get it to work on a computer built in the last 8 years.

That's all I got.

[edit] - Grand Theft Auto III - probably the best out of the series.

Different people, different tastes.

Any Resident Evil game
Metroid Prime 1/2
Street Fighter Anniversary(X-box only as the PS2 version lacks Street Fighter 3)
Final Fantasy(any)
Sonic Mega Collection(PS2/X-box as they have additional content)
God of War 1/2
Kingdom Hearts 1/2(seem kid oriented but are awesome games beneath it)
WWE games(if you like wrestling, although the X-box ones are a bit lame)
Fable
Ninja Gaiden(For the challenge)
Red Faction(if you can find it)
Devil May Cry(1/3, 2 is utter crap)
Xenogears 1/2
Ace Combat(Squadron Leader, Belkan War)
L.o.Z Wind Waker
Gran Turismo(PS2)/Forza Motorsport(X-box)(both great driving sims)
Burnout(any you can find except Dominator)
Tekken(any)
Soul Calibur(any)
Guitar Hero/Rock Band(PS2)
Fahrenheit(One of the most original games EVER!, a must have)

Well thats it. Some of these may have different names depending on your region, but this is all that comes to mind right now.

Happy Hunting;)

Agreed with Beyond Good and Evil, don't listen to the bad reviews, it's actually a very entertaining game!

indecisivegamer halo is regarded as the best console shooter. If the OP plays comp shooters then no doubt he will probably dislike halo.