Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Fisticuff Greatness
Everybody knows Street Fighter 2. It’s one of the most enduringly popular and influential games ever made and turned fighting games from a niche genre into a mainstream sensation. Everyone was trying to capitalise on Street Fighter 2’s success, including Capcom themselves.
Throughout the 90’s Capcom would develop a whole heaping ton of fighting games. Street Fighter was obviously the big one, I mean they made how many renditions of Street Fighter 2 exactly, but there were other games. Games that, while not as well known, are still important games with their own devoted cult followings.
And it seems Capcom wanted to give attention to their other fighting games with the Capcom Fighting Collection. As someone who loves 90’s era Capcom fighters, this was something I was very excited for. Not the least of which because it contained every game in the Darkstalkers series, a series I’m a massive fan of.
And the fact that Red Earth is finally getting a re-release on consoles thanks to this collection is almost worth the price of admission on its own. But how does the collection stack up overall and how do the individual games hold up today?
First up, how do the games run? Well, if you’re worried about input latency then I have some good news, there’s very little of it here. To be clear, there is input latency, I have seen tests that verify it is there, but it is a very imperceptible while playing it. The games all played well and that’s the most important thing.
Just a heads up for those who care about latency, the PlayStation 4 version is supposed to be the worst in this regard. I played it on my Series S where it only has 2-3 frames of delay, while the PS4 has over 4. This is dependent on the resolution, the higher that is the higher the latency. If you want the version with the least input lag, the PC version is the way to go.
The games are presented well here with a lot of graphical options. Every game has 3 different borders, and don’t worry if you don’t like them, you can turn them off, and you have the typical array of filters to pick from. I prefer filter G, it’s the closest to looking like a CRT arcade monitor without being to distracting and is just generally pleasing on the eyes.
You can also adjust various settings in each game like difficulty, rounds and even damage output. You can even have limited credits if you want a classic arcade challenge.
Controls can also be altered to your liking. There’s no way to have al punches and kicks mapped to a button which is a bummer, but they do have buttons dedicated to pulling off EX or super moves. Really liked that feature and it should be a useful tool for newcomers. And don’t worry hardcores, you can turn that off if you want to remain pure.
Every game, aside from one, comes with a training mode to practice your moves. Although I do think some form of tutorial would have benefitted some of the games. These games have a lot of mechanics that newcomers might not know how to use properly, I wish there was some instruction on how to use them for those playing these for the first time. I know you can just google that stuff, but an in-game option would have been appreciated.
And of course, every game here can be played online with rollback net code. Didn’t get the chance to try this out so I have no clue if it’s any good, but it’s rollback so there’s a good chance it will be. Mind you having every game be online is still a win in my book. The Street Fighter Collection only had 4 online compatible games, so this collection having every game be online is a massive improvement.
As for extra’s, you’ve got your typical stuff like in game challenges, a music player and an art gallery. Nothing out of the ordinary but still very well done and comprehensive. The Art Gallery has a ton of concept art and early characters designs that are interesting to go through.
So far this is a great little collection. The games are presented well, there’s a ton of customization options, every game has online and there’s a decent amount of extra’s. On a purely technical basis I’d say it’s well worth checking out.
But what about the games themselves. I mean if the games suck the technical stuff means jack shit. Well, you know what we do here, let’s look at all the individual games in Capcom Fighting Collection and see how they hold up.
Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors
Of all the Capcom fighting franchises, Darkstalkers is probably the most well-known after Street Fighter. Unsurprising given it was the first one they made following Street Fighter 2’s success. The idea for the game was a simple one, “what if Street Fighter, but with monsters”.
No really, that’s it. Someone at Capcom had an idea for a monster themed fighting game and they just went with it. They even attempted to get the rights to the original Universal movie monsters but Universal refused. So Capcom just went, “fuck it”, and made their own designs based on them.
Looking through the concept art for this game is fascinating. I know fighting games will often start off with completely different character designs than what they end up with, but Darkstalkers might just take the cake for this. I love these early designs; I wish I could see the alternate universe where they got used.
What’s especially interesting about the character designs was that they were all done by different artists. Most fighting game tend to have a singular artist to help design the characters and levels with maybe one or two others helping them out. But in Darkstalkers everything from the characters to the stages were all done by different people.
This sounds like it would be a visual clusterfuck of clashing styles, but it surprisingly works. A lot of that is due the connecting tissue holding it all together. See, Darkstalkers doesn’t just take inspiration from classic monsters, it also took inspiration from Japanese Anime and Looney Tunes.
No, I am not making that up. Darkstalkers might seem like a serious cool game on the surface but there’s an inherent goofiness baked into its DNA. It gives the game a personality that’s all its own. Mixing the innate coolness of anime with the slapstick silliness of golden age animation.
This was the thing that drew me into the game as a kid, well that and Morrigan’s design. I love golden age animation, it’s one of my favourite things in the world, so to see a game embody the spirit of that while mixing it with badass monsters and anime sensibilities, of course I’m going to love that.
The animations are excellent, and the stages are some of the best Capcom had made to that point. This was the first Capcom fighter made specifically for the CPS2 arcade board and they really wanted to show off what it could do. Even today it still looks great.
Then there’s the characters themselves. This is one of the most eclectic casts for any Capcom fighter. You’ve got Victor the hulking Frankenstein monster with a heart of gold, Rikuo the curiously attractive fish man, Sasquatch the big goofy… Sasquatch, real creative name there guys. But my personal favourite is, has and always will be Jon Talbain the Kung-Fu fighting werewolf. Do I even need to elaborate on how cool that is?
But those aren’t the ones people remember. The ones people remember are the female characters, Felicia the cat-girl and Morrigan the Succubus. And it’s easy to see why. Look at them, they’re goddamn gorgeous.
This cast of characters was so different from what most players were used to. Sure, most fighters had the occasional weirdo like Blanka or Baraka, but they were the exception not the rule. In Darkstalkers it is the rule. Even the human looking characters have something odd about them. It was a cast of oddballs, and it really helped the game stand out.
Even the lore was cool. The characters all had interesting backstories that were a little bit more fleshed out than most other fighting games stories at the time. Seriously look up Darkstalkers lore at some point because it gets nutty.
The gameplay of Darkstalkers was also innovative. Concepts like chain combos, air dashing and air blocking arguably got their start in this game. The addition of chain combos was ingenious, not only making the game easier to play than its contemporaries but also making the game more aggressive and fast paced that even the almighty Super Turbo.
To give you an idea of how aggressive this game was, it was one of the first games to have guard cancels. Moves that let you go from a block to a counterattack. If that sounds familiar, it’s because it would be the basis for the Alpha counter system in the Street Fighter Alpha series.
Then there was its Super Move system which allowed you to do powerful super moves or boost the power of one of your specials. That’s right, Darkstalkers was one of, if not the first fighters to implement an EX special moves systems, something that would become a mainstay in many future fighting games.
When you really think about it, Darkstalkers was the original anime fighter. Think about it. A more aggressive play style, easy combo chains, over the top animations and special moves. In many ways this was the game that Guilty Gear and BlazBlue based themselves on. It would even prove influential for the Marvel fighting games, and we all know how big those became.
But despite how influential and important this game is, I can’t say the original Darkstalkers is a game I go back to often. Don’t get me wrong, it’s far from a bad game, but something about it feels off when compared to the other games in the series.
The Special move system is an example of this. You only get one bar and if you use any special move while it’s full it gets used up. You can’t even store it because it drains quickly once filled up. Later games would let you store multiple bars of Super, so going back to this system feels awkward
Even a lot of the move-sets here just feel a little off. Jon Talbain doesn’t feel the same as he does in later games which throws me off and he isn’t the only one like this. The controls aren’t quite as refined as later games, it’s harder to do chain combo’s here than in any of the other games.
And then there’s the AI. This was an early nineties fighting game and it has early nineties fighting game AI, which is to say it’s an input reading, cheating bastard that wants all your fucking money. It’s not quite as bad as some other games from the period, but it still pisses me off.
There’s also something about the presentation that feels like it’s trying a bit too hard to ape Street Fighter. The character select screen world map is indicative of that. Even the victory screens with the visage of the beaten opponent are very reminiscent of Street Fighter 2. Minor things admittedly, but it does show they were still struggling to move away from Street Fighters influence.
Darkstalkers is not a bad game. The gameplay and presentation are both still excellent, it’s just that that many of its ideas would be refined in later games. This games importance cannot be understated, but it isn’t the Darkstalkers I recommend starting with. Speaking of which…
Night Warriors: Darkstalkers Revenge
With the first Darkstalkers being a big hit in arcades, Capcom almost immediately got to work on a sequel. Given that it would come out only a year later, Night Warriors reuses many elements from the previous games.
In fact, Night Warriors is both a sequel and a remake. Retelling the story from the first game, including reusing the same endings, while featuring various graphical and mechanical improvements one would expect for a sequel. A pseudo-sequel if you will, but what a pseudo-sequel it turned out to be.
Tighter more responsive controls, an enhanced chain combo system, a much-improved presentation with more dynamic art and impressive use of parallax scrolling. This game was a monumental leap forward for the series in every possible way.
The roster was boosted from 10 to 14, an impressive number for its time. Not only did all the characters return, including the 2 previously unplayable bosses Huitzuil and Pyron, but it would introduce 2 newcomers in the form of monster hunters Donovan Baine and Hsien-Ko.
But it wasn’t just the number of playable characters that improved, the character move-sets were also tuned up and greatly refined. They are far more fun to play this time around.
Night Warriors is just as fast paced and aggressive as its predecessor, if not more so. While the first allowed you to set the speed, Night Warriors only gives you 2 options, slow or fuck me this is fast. This game is way faster than the first game, not to mention crazier.
How crazy you ask? Well, you know how the first game only gave you one bar of super? This game gives you nine. On top of that, with the addition of specific input commands for enhanced specials, now you have greater freedom in when you use meter. Just like the Marvel and anime fighters it would inspire, Night Warriors gives you tons of resources and just lets you go ham with it.
Combine that with more outlandish supers like turning your opponent into a basketball and a pursuit attack that lets you hit foes on the ground, and Night Warriors is one of the most unga bunga fighting games from the decade.
But for as aggressive as it is, Night Warriors is also one of the more accessible fighting games from the 90’s. The chain combos are supers easy to pull off and motions for supers aren’t too difficult. If that isn’t enough, there’s also an auto function that will automatically block the first 10 attacks in a fight at the cost of less extensive chain combos.
Night Warriors is as perfect a sequel as you can get. It improves on everything in the original to the point where it makes the original almost obsolete. I would argue this is a far better introduction to the series than the first game.
This game is simply a masterpiece. It brought the Darkstalkers series to new heights, and it would only reach higher in the next game.
Vampire Saviour: The Lord of Vampires
I should explain the name for this one. In Japan the Darkstalkers series is known as Vampire. The first game is called Vampire and the sequel is Vampire Hunter. Vampire Saviour is the third game in the series and the first to keep its name outside of Japan. It was originally going to be renamed Darkstalkers: Jedah’s Damnation but they didn’t have time to do that. At least the home ports named it Darkstalkers 3 to avoid confusion.
Confusing nomenclature aside, Vampire Saviour is the best game in the series. Taking everything that worked in the last two and only further expanding on it. The fast-paced gameplay was somehow made even faster and even more aggressive in this game thanks to the new life bar system.
Rather than the traditional rounds system of its predecessor, Vampire Saviour instead took a page from Killer Instinct and gave every character 2 life bars. Not only does this make the game faster, since there are no breaks in between rounds, it also makes it far more in your face.
Got the health advantage? Get in and widen the gap. Don’t have a health advantage? Go and get one? Got white health that will slowly heal up over time? You get in there and fuck shit up until you heal.
But it wasn’t just the games aggression that was upped. Vampire Saviour also quadrupled down on the batshit. This game is insane from its story of a demonic messiah trying to create a god foetus to destroy the world, to the backgrounds which are amongst the most outlandish and creative in any fighting game, to the fact that one of the newcomers is a psychotic little red riding hood, this game cranks the crazy to 11 and rips the dial off.
None of this is more apparent than in the Dark Force system. A universal install that completely changes how a character plays. And it isn’t the same for everyone either, every character’s Dark Force is different. And while some are as mundane as getting extra hits and range, others are completely insane, like getting a goddamn chainsaw. This not only makes every character more unique, it’s also insanely fun.
And that’s what this game is, fun. While I like Street Fighter as much as anyone else, I would much rather play Vampire Saviour over it any day of the week. It’s one of my favourite fighters of all time. And while it is a shame that hardware restrictions prevented Pyron, Donovan and Huizuil from returning, the four new characters and various new mechanics more than make up for this.
Without question the best game in the series, and possibly of the entire collection. If you want to get this collection for just one game, well that would Red Earth, but Vampire Saviour is a close second. Sadly, it would be the last entry in the Darkstalkers series. Or was it?
Vampire Hunter 2 & Vampire Saviour 2
I’m going to look at these two games together because I don’t have much to say on them. Essentially these are updates to Vampire Saviour that feature tweaks to the roster and presentation. The gameplay is largely the same aside from minor tweaks here and there.
The big thing with both games is the return of Donovan, Huitzuil and Pyron. All 3 return for both games but we do lose some characters to get them. Vampire Hunter 2 removes the new characters from Vampire Saviour, so you get the same roster as Night Warriors, while Vampire Saviour 2 removes Jon Talbain, Rikuo and Sasquatch.
Honestly, these games are just ok. They play fine enough but they’re more of a unique oddity than anything else. I don’t see why you would play these over the originals and the differences are only minor at best. I’m glad these are here for completion’s sake, and it is the first time they’ve been released outside of Japan, but you can easily skip these ones.
One last thing I should mention is that these games did get censored somewhat. Both had secret endings with, let’s just say lewder art that ended up getting cut. I don’t think it’s that big a deal since you can just google that shit if you want to, but I do find it curious Capcom would do this. Removing the Rising Sun from Honda’s SF2 stage I understand, but this just seems unnecessary.
Cyberbots: Full Metal Madness
I already reviewed this game when I looked at Capcom Arcade Stadium a year ago. I liked it a lot when I first played it, but after putting some time into it I don’t know if I like it all that much.
Cyberbots is a spin-off to a beat-em-up called Armoured Warriors. That game featured giant mechs that could change out their limbs to get different moves. Cyberbots basically took the different combinations of robots and basically made a fighting game out of it.
You get 12 different mechs to pick from and 6 pilots each with their own story. One thing I will still praise the game for is its bigger emphasis on narrative. This was one of the first Capcom fighters to do this, and while it has some flaws in execution, like Devilotte coming out of nowhere, it’s still pretty well done for its time.
The game also looks great. it’s not as stylised as some of Capcoms other fighters, but it has way more detail in the sprite work. The robot designs are cool, and some of the backgrounds are visually stunning.
It’s the gameplay where it stumbles. The game feels clunkier than Capcom’s other fighters. It’s not quite as smooth as responsive as Street Fighter or Darkstalkers. However, this is likely by design. These are giant robots after all, it makes sense they would feel heavier to control.
But while it makes sense, the game feel just doesn’t seem right. Special moves don’t feel as impactful, and the game just feels weird. I’ll give it credit for being unique, but that doesn’t mean I like it.
There are some cool ideas here though. Each mech is broken into four sub-groups with their own type of weapons system and boost. The way projectiles work is different as you now have a dedicated button for them and can aim in multiple directions. You can also rip off opponents’ arms which would be brutal if they weren’t also giant robots.
And let’s be honest a fighting game about giant robots is always going to have an innate coolness about it. That said, I’m not a fan of the roster. While the designs are cool, a lot of them lack a distinct personality. And because they’re all based on 4 base models with parts being swapped over, a lot of them feel samey. It’s not as diverse a roster as it could be.
Cyberbots isn’t a game I’m particularly fond of. Honestly, I’d say it’s the weakest game in the collection, but that’s not to say it’s bad. It has a great presentation and some interesting mechanics, but it’s clunkier gameplay is not going to appeal to everyone. I know the game has its fans, but I can’t say I’m one of them.
Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo
Let’s switch gears now and talk about a puzzle game. Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo came out in 1996 and was Capcom's answer to popular vs arcade puzzlers like Puyo Puyo. Only this one had the added appeal of cutesy, chibi versions of characters from Street Fighter and Darkstalkers.
And before you ask, yes, the name is an intentional parody. This game doesn’t take itself seriously and takes a very comedic tone throughout. There are some funny intermissions, the backgrounds are exaggerated and it’s all generally cute and humorous.
The gameplay is simple. You get a bunch of coloured gems that you can stack on top of each other, and if you get them together in the right way you can create bigger Super Gems. You then break these gems with special breakers to send counter gems to your opponent with the goal being to fill the opponents screen and win the match.
Like a lot of arcade puzzlers it’s easy to learn but tough to master. Picking up the basics is easy but trying to learn how to set up combos and how to properly deal with counter gems takes time and practice.
But once you do figure it all out, this game is a ton of fun. It can be really addicting trying to set up combos and matches go by fast, making it perfect for short play sessions.
It’s not perfect. It does suffer from the absurd difficulty a lot of these games have, seriously it can get to the point where it won’t let you play the game, but with a little practice you should be able to get through it.
This is honestly one of the better arcade puzzlers from the 90’s. I love Puyo Puyo, but I would gladly play Puzzle Fighter over it any day. This is a highlight of the collection.
Super Gem Fighter Mini-Mix
What do you do when you have a successful puzzle spin-off of a fighting game? Make a fighting game spin-off of that puzzle spin-off of a fighting game of course. Welcome to Capcom in the 90’s folks, the same people who thought up Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game.
Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix, or Pocket as it’s commonly referred to, was designed as a super beginner friendly fighting game for kids. The game features a simplified control scheme of one punch, one kick, a special button and an item button.
Combos in this game are done by alternating between the punch and kick buttons, with different combinations ending with different finishers. Even specials have been greatly simplified as most characters only having 3 special moves.
Where the game gets interesting is in the gems. These drop whenever you hit an opponent and picking them up with increase the power of your special moves. It creates this interesting back and forth where you try to get the gems before the opponent.
This is not a deep fighting. It’s super simple by design and there aren’t a lot of interesting combo strings to learn. It can be good, nutty fun but it’s not a game for the more competitive crowd.
But here’s the thing, the main draw for this game isn’t the gameplay. What makes this game so enjoyable is how utterly charming it all is.
This game takes the humorous tone and chibi art-style of Puzzle Fighter and cranks it to maximum. The characters were already well animated in Puzzle Fighter, but here they have so much more personality. Everything is animated with a squash and stretch style that just adds to the cartoony nature of the game.
A lot of the attacks are also goofy and over the top. Ken transforms into a cowboy and kicks you with his horse, Chun-li gives you a love letter which somehow hurts you, I guess love does hurt, and Sakura will send out two burly men to take you off screen and… well I’m sure it’s something wholesome.
The whole game is just so cute and fun it’s hard not to love it. And if you’re a Capcom fan, specifically 90’s Capcom, you’re going to be in heaven here. There are so many references to other Capcom characters in this it’ll make your head explode.
Every background is filled to the brim with references to other Capcom fighters. It’s like they took Ken’s stage from Alpha 2 and made it every stage. It’s awesome. These have so many great visual gags and references you’ll want to stop fighting just to find them all.
That’s not all, even the playable characters will transform into other Capcom characters during combos. Chun-li will turn into Jill Valentine, Akuma turns into Leo from Red Earth, Felicia turns into a whole bunch of different characters. It’s insane how many references there are.
Super Gem Fighter is not a deep fighting game, but it has enough charm that makes it easy to recommend. It’s a great game for kids looking to get into fighting games or for fans of classic 90’s Capcom. Not a bad little game at all.
Hyper Street Fighter 2: The Anniversary Edition
I’m going to keep this one short and sweet. I mean it’s Street Fighter 2, do I really need to go over this one? It’s an undisputed classic, one of the best of all time. Not sure why it’s here considering this is a collection dedicated to other Capcom fighters, but I guess they felt they needed to have at least one version of it.
To their credit they did pick one of the more obscure renditions. Hyper Street Fighter came out in 2003 and was meant to celebrate the series 15th anniversary, hence the full name. Some of you may even remember playing this on the PlayStation 2 or Xbox back in the day.
The big gimmick for this release is that it lets you play every version of every character from the previous iterations of Street Fighter 2. Want to play as Ryu from the OG SF2 against a Ken from Super? You can do that. Want to play Super Turbo Sagat against Champion Edition Chun-li? You can do that as well.
It’s a cool feature that works as great celebration of all the main versions of Street Fighter 2. That said, it feels more like a novelty than anything else. It’s neat being able to play old versions of these characters, but why would I want to do that when the most recent version is likely better anyway.
Not to mention how bad the balance must be. I mean Super Turbo alone is already super busted, I can’t imagine what this is like at a high level.
Still, it is Street Fighter 2 at the end of the. It’s still one of the greatest fighting games of all time and this is a very unique version of it. AI is still a nightmare though. There’s no fixing that shit.
Red Earth
Alright, now we get to the big one. if I had to point to one game to get this collection for it would be Red Earth. Why? Well let me give you a history lesson for those unfamiliar with it.
Red Earth was first released in arcades in 1996. It was the first game Capcom developed for their CPS3 arcade board, a huge improvement on the CPS2 unit that allowed for better graphics and animation.
Despite receiving good reviews, Red Earth never managed to gain an audience. For a lot of different reasons. For starters it came out in 1996, right at the cusp of the 3D boon of the mid 90’s. At the time 2D games were seen as old hat when compared to the newer, cooler 3D games like Tekken, Ridge Race and House of the Dead. A silly mentality these days, but that’s what people thought at the time.
This also led to the failure of the CPS3 board itself. Let me put it to you this way, the big game that was made to sell the CPS3, was Street Fighter 3. A fantastic game and one looked back on fondly today, but at the time was a massive flop that not a lot of people liked.
Then there was just the simple fact that arcades were dying as home consoles were more becoming more popular. People were moving away from the quick pick up and play experience of arcades, they wanted longer more involved experiences with lots of content.
Now, most of Capcom’s fighters did see a port to a home console with decent success. Red Earth, however, was in an awkward position a lot of arcade games found themselves in, they were too advanced for home consoles, and by the time one came around that could handle it the game was old enough that nobody cared about it.
The game, as a result, has never been ported to a home console. Capcom have made reference to the series several times with cameos and alternate costumes in other games, as well as Capcom Fighting Evolution for all that’s worth, but never ported it to any system.
So Red Earth being here is a big deal. This is the first time it’s being re-released on anything, and the first time many gamers, myself included, will be able to play it. Was it worth the wait? Hell yes it was. Red Earth is one of the most unique and interesting fighters Capcom ever made and is an absolute blast to play.
Red Earth is a weird fusion of fighting game and an RPG. It’s a boss rush styled game and every enemy has different strategies to take them down. it’s a bit of a throwback to how fighting games were pre-Street Fighter 2.
The difficulty is just right. It’s still tough, it is an arcade game after all, but it never feels cheap or unfair. The game is more about learning the enemies’ attacks and how each character can respond to them.
Red Earth could almost be viewed as a fighting game tutorial as it teaches you concepts like punishes simply through its gameplay. It’s also very forgiving for an arcade game as the bosses keep their health at the same level if you use a continue.
Because the game is focused on single player there are only 4 playable characters. To their credit they all have vastly different play styles and stories which lends some replay value. That’s something the game does very well. Every character story has multiple endings, and they gain levels as you get points, with a password given at the end of each session that lets you carry progress over.
As you gain levels you unlock new moves for each character. It’s cool playing through the game trying to unlock new moves and using them on subsequent playthroughs. These days there’s no stopping you from just finding max level passwords online, but that sucks a lot of the fun out of it.
And don’t think that makes it easier. The game is smart enough to keep enemies balanced to your levels to keep a consistent level of challenge. They don’t necessarily get harder, but they do get larger health bars and take a little longer to beat.
The RPG sensibilities also extends to the world and characters. It takes place in an alternate version of Earth where science and technology are replaced with magic and mysticism. A lot of places are even named after places on Earth just with slightly altered names. It’s a classic fantasy setting with evil wizards, big evil monsters and ancient tombs.
The four main characters are also based on classic fantasy archetypes. Leo is the warrior, Tessa is the mage, Kenji is the ninja/rogue and Mei-ling is the monk. I like all four of them. The character designs are awesome, I especially love Tessa’s design, she’s one of the coolest looking witches.
Visually it looks stunning. The CPS3 board was a 2D powerhouse and Red Earth shows that off in full display. Everything is so detailed from the huge character sprites to the backgrounds, and the animation is super smooth. It looks as good today as it did back then. There’s also an impressive use of sprite scaling to give the stages seem grander and epic.
This game is just a lot of fun. It’s one of the best single player fighting games I’ve played. It does have 2-player vs, but I don’t think the game is really built for that. It’s clearly designed as a single player boss-rush and in that context, it knocks it out of the park.
I’m glad I finally got to play this. Honestly my only complaint is that it feels hampered being an arcade game. Like imagine if this game was on console with more bosses, bigger stories and a save system. It would have been great. This is a concept I’d like to see be revisited in the future because there’s potential here left untapped, but what’s here is still excellent.
And that’s all the games in Capcom Fighting Collection. As you can tell it’s a very solid set of games and even the weakest ones I would still recommend trying out. That said, if you’re not a fan of 90’s arcade fighting games this collection won’t change your mind. Even if you lower the difficulty the games can be hard as hell, and outside of the online and arcade runs there’s not a whole lot of content to sink into.
If you are a fan of 90’s fighting games, then it’s absolutely worth a buy. I enjoyed it more than the Street Fighter 30th anniversary collection, and I really liked that one too.
The only thing missing here are the 3D games like Rival Schools or Power Stone. It would be great to see a collection of those games in the future. Still this collection is already solid enough and worth picking up whether you’re a long-time fan or someone looking to play these for the first time.
At the very least it’s nice to have all the Darkstalkers games on one collection. Hopefully this will do well enough to get the 4th Darkstalkers game we were teased with a few years ago. I doubt it, but here’s hoping.
All the videos used in this review were taken from the World of Longplays YouTube Channel.
Channel Link: World of Longplays - YouTube