Many video game consoles have made an undeniable mark on the industry, but the leap forward that came with the PlayStation 2 is unbelievable. The Sony console brought with it many impressive features and what’s largely considered to be one of the best libraries of games for any console. Although not as well-known as some other features, the PS2 could support more than 2 players, even if not many projects took advantage of it.
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The PlayStation 2 found tremendous success with most of its ideas, but it also pushed forward certain innovations that flew under the radar. The PS2 is largely a two-player console, but the advent of Sony’s multitap allowed more people to jump in on the multiplayer action. As most people might not have used this feature all that much, let's highlight some of the standout PS2 games that had 2+-player multiplayer.
Updated on January 19, 2026, by Mark Sammut: We have expanded this article with a few more games, specifically focusing on titles that used online multiplayer. Rogue Trooper and SOCOM: Combined Assault have been added.
24 Marvel Ultimate Alliance
Four-Player Co-Op Action RPG
- Developer(s)
- Raven Software
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
- Platform(s)
- Xbox (Original), PC, PS2, Xbox 360, Nintendo Game Boy Advance, PSP, Wii, PS3, PS4, Xbox One
Marvel Ultimate Alliance is a dungeon-crawler-style action role-playing game, similar to the Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance series and the X-Men Legends games before it. It's a good single-player game where players can switch characters on the fly, but it's even better with friends in local co-op mode. Marvel Ultimate Alliance supports up to four players at once.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance offers a diverse roster of characters, including Spider-Man, Captain America, Hulk, The Fantastic Four, Blade, and Daredevil, among others. It remains one of the best superhero games ever made and features a decent story with one of Marvel's greatest villains, Dr. Doom. Doom has put together a faction called "The Masters of Evil" that includes a good rogues gallery of minor and major supervillains as minibosses and main bosses.
23 Champions Of Norrath
Up To Four-Player Local Co-Op
Champions of Norrath was one of the PlayStation 2's best and most polished action RPGs. It's also an excellent multiplayer game that supports up to four players in local co-op. It is set in the same universe as the long-running EverQuest MMORPG series. Champions run on the same engine as Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, but features more in-depth character customization, smoother gameplay, and tons of randomized loot to find by fighting through its varied 50 missions and levels.
Some of the more challenging enemies in Champions of Norrath require strategic approaches rather than hacking and slashing through hordes of mindless goblins, and players have the option of choosing from five different classes. Playable characters include the Barbarian Warrior, a strong Conan-like warrior who is a master of melee weapons; the Wood Elf Ranger, a skilled archer; the Erudite Wizard, a formidable magic user; the High Elf Cleric, a healer; and the Dark Elf Shadow Knight, who combines weapons and sorcery.
22 X-Men Legends
Four-Player Co-Op Action RPG
- Developer(s)
- Raven Software, Barking Lizards Technologies
- Platform(s)
- GameCube, PS2, Xbox (Original), N-Gage
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
Those who want to live out the fantasy of being one of the X-Men mutants will have a blast with X-Men Legends. This PS2 release dropped in 2004 and gave players the chance to jump into a top-down beat-em-up featuring some of the best characters from the X-Men franchise. There are 15 different characters to choose from, each with their own unique abilities and powers, with popular names like Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Cyclops, Rogue, and Storm making the roster alongside others.
A couch-cooperative affair, up to four players can hop into this adventure and fight alongside one another as they fight foes and iconic X-Men bosses and enemies. It's one of the better cooperative experiences out there and a great choice for those who like beat-em-up style releases.
21 Tales Of The Abyss
Four-Player Co-Op In Battles
There were a lot of great RPGs present on the PS2, but many of them are single-player adventures. Thankfully, there are a handful of RPG releases that allow for multiple players and a few that open themselves up to more than two players at a time. Tales of the Abyss is perhaps one of the best examples of this, allowing players to enjoy a couch-cooperative RPG experience with a robust story and classic RPG elements.
All the overworld and exploration elements are controlled by one player, but things open up to upwards of four people at one time during combat. It's a great title with fun and engaging content that will keep players engaged for hours, even when they're not controlling the action.
20 Shrek 2
Four-Player Co-Op
Movie tie-in games are rarely seen today, but back in the early 2000s, almost every major film release with action sequences had a video game adaptation. Many of these games struggled to impress fans and critics, likely due to them having to stick to tight release schedules that coincided with the film's release.
Although Shrek 2 is far from a masterpiece, the 4-player PS2 game does offer some great action-packed fun and is still worth a play today for any group looking for some simplistic entertainment.
19 WWE SmackDown! Here Comes The Pain
Six-Player Matches With A Peripheral
The PS2 has a fantastic lineup of wrestling games, and WWE SmackDown! Here Comes The Pain is the best of the bunch. Frankly, it might be the greatest WWE game ever, and it is still an absolute blast to revisit today. While some earlier games incorporated multiplayer, Here Comes the Pain took things up a notch by supporting up to 6 players, making it very fun to take part in, for example, a Royal Rumble.
Now, it should be sad that most modes are two-player only, or they jump up to four for tag matches. The campaign is also mainly single-player, although you can play other card matches that don't involve your wrestlers.
18 Crash Nitro Kart
Four-Player Racing
- Developer(s)
- Vicarious Visions
- Genre(s)
- Racing
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Game Boy Advance, GameCube, PS1, PS2, Xbox (Original)
Vicarious Visions' Crash Nitro Kart may not have lived up to the high standards that Naughty Dog set with Crash Team Racing in 1999, but it's still a fantastic kart racer in its own right and great fun to play with friends.
Racing isn't the only multiplayer mode that Crash Nitro Kart offers, as the game also brings back the Battle Mode from the PlayStation 1 classic.
17 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003
Four-Player Matches
Released in October 2002, EA's Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003 is one of the highest-rated golf games of all time, and it is still enjoyable today. The game is also excellent on PS2 and allows up to four players to compete across multiple game modes.
Most of the multiplayer modes can be played by alternating with just one controller. Speed golf, however, must be played simultaneously as it requires players to chase after their ball once they've hit it, leading to some great golfing races.
16 Buzz!: The Mega Quiz
Eight-Player Games
Although most of the PlayStation 2's attempts at creating innovative equipment like the EyeToy fell flat, there were a few that performed well, one of which is the Buzz! Buzzer.
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Buzz! The BIG Quiz was the second entry into the Buzz! Franchise, and is one of a whopping 13 games from the franchise that appeared on the PlayStation 2. Buzz! The BIG Quiz was a huge hit with casual gamers, and it is still fun to revisit all these years later.
15 Rock Band 2
Four-Player Co-Op Mode
Rock Band 2
- Released
- December 18, 2008
- ESRB
- t // Lyrics, Suggestive Themes
- Developer(s)
- Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
The Rock Band series finally gave people the chance to get a band together with friends while giving them the safety of a virtual crowd to ensure that no fruit would be thrown at the struggling vocalist.
Rock Band differentiated itself from its Guitar Hero competitor by allowing four people to play simultaneously with microphone, drum, lead guitar, and bass guitar controllers.