Katamari Damacy
From the moment you see the Monty Pythonesque title sequence—all flying pandas and singing geese set against the annoyingly catchy title music—you know you're dealing with the most unusual and original game to hit the PlayStation2.
You play a pint-size cosmic prince frantically rolling his Katamari (a sticky ball) around a landscape filled with household objects. At first, the Katamari can pick up only thumbtacks and other small items. But the larger it gets, the more it can pick up, until eventually you've got a ridiculous giant ball of junk that can successfully spear skyscrapers.
This is the game that the phrase "fun for kids of all ages" was made for—and it doesn't hurt that, at $19.88, it's less than half the price of a regular video game.
Ideal for: Young kids, Japanophiles