A first round of PlayStation 2 games playable via a new PlayStation 5 emulator was made available recently, but they don't bode well at all for the native PS3 backward compatibility Sony is rumored to be working on.
The tech experts at Digital Foundry took a good look at this first batch of games, which include Tomb Raider: Legend and Sly Cooper, highlighting how emulation is really poor for both games. For the game starring Lara Croft, the experience is marred by a blurry image, which isn't the result of a low resolution, which nonetheless saw a slight boost over the original release, but of bad choices in image treatment that lead to bad results. The available visual modes are also bad, such as those featuring some bad CRT filters that fail to recreate the feel of older televisions. At the very least, games feature both NTSC and PAL options sporting 60 Hz and 50 Hz modes, respectively, and some performance improvements.
It is really baffling how Sony can't seem to get PlayStation 5 backward compatibility right, as even the previous PS4 emulator used to play PS2 games on the current generation console is extremely flawed, making other options, such as upscalers and emulators, much better in terms of image quality. With the PlayStation 3 being a notoriously more complicated system to emulate, Sony not getting PS2 emulation right is definitely concerning. Hopefully, things will be improved in the future to offer proper backward compatibility that can do justice to these classic titles.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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