Sony has released their most recent PS2 games for PlayStation 5 and fans are underwhelmed with how these older titles are being emulated. Many would assume that emulating these games to look better on Sony’s current-gen console would be easy, but it seems the publisher doesn’t want to do that.
Lance McDonald posted on Twitter about the current state of Sony’s PS2 roms, pointing out how the Tomb Raider: Legend port doesn’t take advantage of the hardware. Running at 30FPS and stuck at 480p, fans don’t understand why Sony doesn’t increase the visuals like one would in a PC emulator. The price of this port is also a ridiculous $30, though that seems to be a Crystal Dynamics decision since Sly Cooper is only $15.
Fans were initially excited when a new PS2 emulator was announced for the PlayStation 5, as it meant more quality-of-life features for these classic games. The fact that fans got games like Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Tomb Raider: Legend was exciting at first, at least until fans got their hands on these titles.
One could argue that Sony is going for authentic emulation with its PS2 re-releases, since this is how Tomb Raider: Legend ran on that system. Sony’s PSP fighting games on PS5 don’t have local multiplayer because that would require a complete rework of the code. It’s kind of cool that Sony is keeping these games as authentic as possible, but the option to make things look better would have been nice.
As to why Tomb Raider: Legend on PlayStation 5 is $30, it seems like Crystal Dynamics is trying to cash in on the series before its next reboot comes out. Legend is a quality game in the series that has a good mix of Lara’s wit and sexiness, but making it $30 is highway robbery. Fans can get the PC version for a dollar and that runs at 60FPS.