Let’s Talk About Capcom Arcade Stadium
Editor's note: the following review contains gameplay footage of each game in the collection. The footage is not my own and all credit goes to the original creators.
Capcom are one of the most important developers in gaming history. Nowadays there mostly remembered for Resident Evil, Monster Hunter and running Street Fighter into the ground, but back in the day they were known for a whole host of great games. While a lot of these were on home consoles their true home was in the arcade. Capcom ruled the arcade scene in the late 80’s and early 90’s, pumping out hit after hit after hit. And not being ones to let the past go unexploited, Capcom have released several classic arcade compilations over the years, the most recent of which we’re looking at today, Capcom Arcade Stadium.
I will admit that it is tiring seeing another retro arcade collection filled with games you’ve likely already bought in the past. It’s kind of a rip-off when you think about it, but I guess that’s the price we pay for sticking to iterative console release cycle for as long as we have. Then again, I'd rather have this than nothing at all, at least for the sake of game preservation, and you do get a lot of games included with this collection.
Capcom Arcade Stadium has 32 games to play and a unique distribution method. You can download Capcom Arcade Stadium for free on the E-Shop, but you only get one game included, 1943 to be exact, the rest have to be purchased separately. You can get Ghosts ’n Goblins as a free download but the other 30 have to be downloaded by purchasing add-on packs, or you can just buy the lot of them for £29.99. Why not just sell it all for that price, you’re basically paying £1 per game, that’s not bad value.
There is, however, on small caveat to this. Some of these games are already in other arcade compilations that are still available on Nintendo Switch. There are three versions of Street Fighter 2 that are already on the Street Fighter 30th anniversary collection and 4 of the beat-em-ups are on the Capcom Beat-Em-Up Bundle. Some of these inclusions are somewhat forgivable, games like Street Fighter 2 and Final Fight are too important not to include here, and Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo is far too popular to ignore.
The problem is that a lot of the other games feel unnecessary and diminish the value of those other collections. I’m glad Armored Core and Battle Chasers are here because both are underrated classics that need more attention, but now that they’re here there’s no reason to buy the Capcom Beat-Em-Up Bundle. So that entire collection is now worthless, unless you want to play Knights of the Round.
I also can’t help but feel like some of these games could have been replaced with other, more obscure and interesting games and we would have gotten a better overall package. Captain Commando and Street Fighter 2 Hyper Fighting are fine enough games but why not include games like Magic Sword, 3 Wonders or Red Earth instead. You add Red Earth to this and it shoots up in value. I will give Arcade Stadium this, there are a number of obscure gems here that haven’t been on other collections.
But what of the games themselves. With their being 32 games chances are they’re going to vary in quality. So let’s go through all 32 games and see how they individually hold up. This won’t be an in-depth analysis, just my quick-fire thoughts on every game. I could go in depth but that would take forever, and this review is going to be long enough as is. Before we get to the games though, let’s talk about the emulation.
It's, fine for the most part. There's some minor hiccups here and there but the games are still very playable. Like with most other arcade compilations you can adjust the games settings to make things easier or harder, though why you would want to make things harder for some of these is beyond me.
You also have a variety of display options with different filters and screen resolutions. You can even turn the display upside down if you want to. Arcade Stadium also includes a display option that emulates playing in an actual arcade. It's not something I personally use, but it is a nice effect and it’s a perfectly playable option.
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get to the games. I’ll be going in the order the collection displays them which is oldest to newest. The three packs are even structured based on the era’s they represent. This is going to be a long one folks, so I recommend you get a drink and some snacks.
Vulgus (1984)
This is the first game that Capcom ever developed. I always find it interesting going back to a developer's origin and seeing where everything started. Vulgus is a space shooter, and a very basic one at that. There's no power-ups to speak of but you do have bombs you can fire at enemies. It doesn’t have levels, instead it just continues indefinitely until you run out of lives.
It's purely a score attack game and not a particularly great one. It lacks that addicting nature most other score attack games have, and the presentation is pretty meh. I guess it was ok for its time, but considering Xevious came out a year before and is way better than it in almost every way, it leaves something to be desired. An interesting part of Capcom's history, but not that great a game.
Pirate Ship Higemaru (1984)
This game is sort of like Capcom's answer to an old Sega game called Pengo. Only, instead of a penguin kicking ice blocks at people, you’re a sailor chucking barrels at Pirates. It's actually not that bad of a game. My only complaint is that the controls are a little stiff, something you kind of expect with early arcade games to be fair.
Other than that, this is a nice little game. The gameplay is fun and addicting, trying to get the most points requires a little bit of strategy which keeps things engaging. I also like the art style, the little pirate guys are kind of adorable. It's not one of the all-time great early arcade games, but it is a good time.
1942 (1984)
This was arguably the first breakout hit that Capcom ever made. 1942 is the first game in the 194X series, we’ll be talking about the other games in the series as we go through the collection. 1942 is another shooter, only this time you’re a plane, a Lockheed P-38 Lightning to be exact, shooting down Japanese fighter planes in World War 2.
Unlike Vulgus this game has actual levels, 32 in total, though it’s still a score attack game at its core, and a vastly superior game. There's actual power-ups like two mini planes that fly next to you that add some variety. They only last for a short while which is a little unfortunate, but you have this sweet loop-de-loop that can avoid enemy fire.
This is a much more enjoyable game than Vulgus and a good start for the 194X series. Its biggest issue is that it is way too long. I know this isn’t a game you’re supposed to beat in the traditional sense, but 32 levels is overkill for an arcade game. It is fun for a few minutes, but the series would only get better from here.
Commando (1985)
No it’s not an adaption of the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, though both came out in the same year strangely enough. This is a top-down run and gun game where you play as a soldier named Super Joe mowing down enemy soldier in the jungle. What's so super about him? He has a machine gun with infinite ammo that’s what.
This game is fun though very hard. It's easier to run through things than trying to fight because you can easily get overwhelmed. Sure you won’t get many points but at least you’ll live to see the next level. All four them. This isn’t a long game, again it’s more of a score attack game than one you beat, and most players would likely run out of money before they reach the last level anyway.
Super Joe can use his machine gun to mow down enemies or he can chuck grenades to kill more of them at once. My only issue is that you can only fire the grenades forward, you can’t shoot them in eight directions like the gun. Other than that, this is a decent, though very short, game.
Ghosts ‘n Goblins (1985)
Oh boy. You want to talk about hard games, Ghosts ‘n Goblins is one of the hardest games there is. What does it say about a game when it expects you to do an insanely specific run on the penultimate stage to get to the final boss, only for it to then make you play the entire game over again just to get the ending? That's not a fair challenge, that’s a troll move. I gave up on the game after that because it just felt like a giant screw you.
It's a shame too because the game before that point is great. It's good old-fashioned side-scrolling action with a medieval horror theme. Come to think of it, based on the horror theme for and the difficulty, this is like the Dark Souls of arcade game and I'm only half joking with that.
You play as Arthur, a knight who has to travel the demon world to rescue a princess. Arthur has a selection of weapons he can pick up though the only one you want is the knife. Fuck every other weapon, you only need the knife. Arthurs armour sucks too, it falls off with one hit and leaves him in his undies and if he takes another hit, he dies. This game is brutal, but it can be a fun time. At least until you get to the end game.
Section Z (1985)
This is another shooter but this time it’s a side scroller. You play as a guy with a jet pack trying to take down an alien base. The gameplay is typical for most shooter but with added ability to change directions and fire behind you. It's an interesting gimmick but the game itself is far too hard for its own good.
There are way too many things to dodge here to the point where to do insanely specific moves to avoid getting hit, it feels a little cheap. You also get stuck on the walls far too often. I will admit that I'm not particularly good at shooters like this, so me struggling with it is likely due to me sucking at the game. Though I struggled with the other shooters on here and I still enjoyed them a lot more than this one.
There are some cool things about it though. The entire game is a continuous scrolling level that changes directions, makes it feel like you’re exploring one entire base rather than a series of smaller levels. I also like the games art style, reminds me of the original Metroid, and the music isn’t half bad either. It's just a shame I didn’t have that much fun with this one.
Trojan (1986) no English version available
I can’t stand this fucking game. Trojan is a side scrolling action game set in the post-apocalypse where you fight demonically possessed warlords. That sounds awesome, so why is it so bad? Well for starters, your character moves unbearably slow. This wouldn’t be so bad, but the game bombards you constantly with enemies. Yeah, this one of those games where you have to stop progression because an enemy spawned behind you. Yeah, no thank you.
Then there’s the control. Everything is so sluggish; you can block things with your shield which is an interesting mechanic, but you stop in your tracks when you do. Everything is so awkward in this game that it sucks out any enjoyment you might have. Oh and did I mention that you jump by pressing up? That alone should tell you how much this game sucks.
Legendary Wings (1986)
Legendary Wings is another shooter and a very unique one. Rather than stick to a vertical scrolling style, it changes up its gameplay style with side scrolling sections and even a bit of platforming run and gun. It's an ambitious game but it isn’t as good as it could be. The shooter sections are fine, but the platforming sections leave a lot to be desired. They're slow, clunky and drag the pace of the game down.
It's really hard too. There are power ups to make things easier but they’re hard to get and you lose one when you die, which happens a lot. Still, it isn’t a bad game. I had some fun with it, and it has a very cool art style. Sort of a science fiction meets Greek mythology feel to it. Legendary Wings may not succeed with everything it tries but I will give it credit for its ambition.
Bionic Commando (1986) no Japanese version available
When people talk about Bionic Commando, they’re usually talking about the awesome NES game, or the reboot where the bionic arm was your dead wife. Very few people talk about the original arcade game, probably because it isn’t very good. The idea for Bionic Commando is it’s a platformer without a jump button. Instead, you have a bionic arm that acts like a grappling hook. It can be fun swinging around with it but more often than not I don’t feel like I have full control.
Everything feels so sluggish and not fun. Dealing with enemies is a pain, some take way too many hits to kill forcing to use your bionic arm to send them back. Except missing with it leaves you wide open and leads to death. There are power ups to help you but good luck getting hold of them because they’re super awkward to grab. Just stick to the NES game, or rearmed.
1943: The Battle of Midway (1987)
1943 is the game you get for free, and they picked a good one to include. 1943 is the sequel to 1942 and focuses on the Battle of Midway, which took place in 1942, oops. Historical inaccuracies aside, this is a fantastic sequel that improves on everything from the original. More power ups, bigger levels, more bosses. This is a great game. It's hard, very hard, but I still had a great time with it.
It’s a great looking game too. There's a lot of cool visual effects here, especially when you set off one of your super attacks. And while the game is hard, it is the most accessible shooter so far. You don’t die in one hit as you have an energy meter, power ups are plentiful, your super attacks clear the screen of hazards and you pick up from when you left off when you use a continue. So even if you suck at these games, like me, you should be ok. My only complaint with 1943 is that it lacks variety and can get a little repetitive. Other than that, great game.
Forgotten Worlds (1988)
This game is nuts. It's another shooter that’s kind of like a spiritual sequel to Sector Z, only here you can rotate your character and fire in multiple directions. This games story is absolutely bonkers. You play as two nameless space marines trying to take down an evil god king who rendered the earth an inhibitable wasteland. The bosses you fight in this game are insane, there’s a dragon who uses its own ribs as a weapon, an Egyptian sarcophagus with some weird alien inside it and a giant fuck-off demon lord.
This game is absolute insanity, and I love it. It gets super hard near the end but I still had a great time with it. You don’t die in one hit here; you have an energy meter similar to 1943 to make things a little easier. One interesting aspect of the game is that there are no power-ups, instead you pick up money that can be used in shops to buy permanent upgrades.
This is a fantastic game but it’s definitely best played in co-op. One interesting thing is that both players start with different types of weapons. That's cool though I wish Arcade Stadium would let me choose between them. I should also mention this is the first game to use Capcom's CPS arcade board which would be used for most of their arcade games going forward. It’s also the first Capcom game to have voice acting. It's horrible but did you expect anything else from the studio behind Resident Evil.
Ghouls ‘n Ghosts (1988)
If you thought Ghosts ‘n Goblins was hard, it’s sequel Ghouls ‘n Ghosts is even harder. It's better than the original, it looks better, sounds better and the gameplay is more refined, but fuck me is it hard. It's also a lot darker than the first game. The story is set 3 years after Ghosts ‘n Goblins and the demons return and kill Princess Prin Prin and all the villagers, so Arthur has travel to hell to rescue their souls. That's pretty messed up for an arcade game.
Ghouls ‘n Ghosts adds a bunch of new elements to the series. You now have the ability to shoot up or down, there’s some new weapons and there’s golden armour which gives you powerful magic attacks. Levels are also a lot more varied this time around with a bit more emphasis on platforming. This is harder than then the first game, but also much more enjoyable.
It does have one major flaw; it once again forces you to play the game again to get to the final boss. Only this time you need to do so with a specific weapon, which also kind of sucks. It isn’t as bad as the original, but it’s still annoying as hell. I still enjoyed it though, I was actually able to beat this one. If you're going to play one of the GnG games, make it this one.
Strider (1989)
Strider is an absolute classic. Its gameplay is fast paced and exiting, it’s visually stunning, the music is excellent, the main character is fun to control, it’s a masterpiece. But it is not perfect. Strider to me is most fun when you’re fully powered up and just slashing your way through hordes of enemies like a badass. The problem is, this is an arcade game, and it wants your money. It gets extremely hard so later stages make it next to impossible to keep yourself powered up.
There are also instances where it’s almost impossible to avoid taking damage resulting in cheap hits and deaths. This is a money muncher, make no mistake about it. It’s still a great game that had a massive influence on both Capcom and gaming at large. Many hack and slash action games like Devil May Cry and Ninja Gaiden have cited Strider as one of their biggest inspirations. It's an awesome game and one of the companies' best titles.
Dynasty Wars (1989)
Fun fact, Dynasty Wars is a tie-in to a manga series called Tenchi wo Kurau by Hiroshi Motomiya, the same man behind the manga adaptation for Strider. That's the most interesting thing about Dynasty Wars however, because this game sucks. Graphically it’s bland, I like the little manga style portraits at the bottom, but the actual graphics leave a lot to be desired. The characters are tiny and lack detail, I don’t mind this in shooters because there it makes sense. In a beat-em-up like this it doesn’t really work.
The game controls very awkwardly. Instead of having free movement you have three planes you switch between. I have seen this done well before in other games, Guardian Heroes come to mind, but here it feels clunky. They also do a Double Dragon 2 thing where one button attacks left and the other attacks right. Again though, it just doesn’t work here. The whole game doesn’t feel right and I never got used to the controls.
You also don’t have many moves. You have plenty of super moves but in terms of regular attacks you only have two, a regular attack and a charge attack. There’s not much in the way of enemy variety and the difficulty just feels cheap. The only thing I will give this game are the RPG elements and the surprisingly violent boss kill screens. But that’s it.
Final Fight (1989)
Let’s get this out of the way, Final Fight is a money muncher. It is a brutal game that is at times very cheap so it can milk you of your coinage. The entire Industrial Area stage is proof of this. But it is also one of the most important games in Capcom's history. Final Fight took the nascent beat-em-up genre and refined it to near perfection. Gone were the somewhat clunky controls of Double Dragon and Golden Axe and in its place were controls so smooth and natural you wonder how the genre lasted without them.
Almost overnight beat-em-ups went from copying Double Dragon to copying Final Fight. It's no exaggeration that Final Fight would define its entire genre even into the present day. It added a sense of personality and character that other games in the genre lacked somewhat. The three different playable characters had different playstyles and it was one of the first beat-em-ups to do so.
The cast themselves would go on to become some of Capcom's most iconic characters. Many of them would go on to appear in the Street Fighter series. Final Fight itself was going to be a sequel to the original Street fighter called Street Fighter 89 but the name was changed because the gameplay was too different.
Final Fight is, in some ways, a product of its time. It's difficulty and occasional cheapness can put some players off, but I still think it’s held up remarkably well in spite of this. It's one of Capcom’s biggest hits and would have a huge influence on them going forward. Later Capcom beat-em-ups would further refine the gameplay, but the original Final Fight is where it all started and it’s still well worth playing.
1941: Counter Attack (1990)
This is the best of the 194X series, and also the shortest at only 6 stages. Luckily it works in this games favour because things are a lot less repetitive and there's way more variety in the levels. It's not just sea and air levels this time around, there’s a canyon level, a city level and on level 2 you take on a rocket ship. Why is the rocket ship on level 2? You don’t just throw that out there, you save that for the end game.
The gameplay is a more refined version of 1943, but it is a little bit more difficult. You don’t have as much health this time, but you do have a lot more power-ups. There are some new weapons to equip and each one has its own far more powerful charge shot, though personally I found the rapid fire to be more effective.
The power-ups also last a longer, they still have a time limit but it’s bigger and power-ups appear more frequently so you shouldn’t run out. At this point I wonder what’s the point of having a time limit? It just seems unnecessary. This doesn’t ruin the game though, and it’s still one of the better shooters in the collection. Not as good as Forgotten Worlds, but still very good.
Mercs (1990) no English version available
This is the sequel to Commando and, my god, what a sequels it is. The original Commando is a classic but this game blows the original out of the water. It's more accessible too. It's still hard as balls but you don’t die in one hit and there are more weapons and power-ups to make things a little easier, there are 4 different weapons you can pick up but the one you want is the shotgun, it’s basically the spread gun from Contra which automatically makes it the best.
You don’t have grenades this time around, instead you have a screen clear attack that can help give you some breathing room. You can even hijack enemy vehicles at points. And if that still isn’t enough and you still can’t handle it, then you can always call in your buddies for some 3-player co-op.
This is a fantastic game; my only complaint is that it should have been a twin stick shooter. Games like this feel like they were designed for that control style. The control here isn’t bad by any means, but it’s hard to keep aim at the enemies while dodging their attacks at the same time.
Mercs is one of the best arcade sequels I've seen. It tops the original in every way. It's a love letter to 80’s action movies and if love a good run and gun this is one you need to check out.
Mega Twins (1990)
Mega Twins is a cutesy cartoon platformer that kind of reminds me of the early Wonder Boy games. It's got the vibe of an old children’s anime that makes it feels like it was designed for younger players. It still has some of that arcade cheapness, but it’s an easier game than most of the other games we’ve looked at. It's a pretty fun little co-op platformer. I feel like these kinds of games don’t fit the arcade, but I liked this one quite a bit.
I should mention that the Japanese version is a little different. For starter it’s named Chiki Chiki Boys, which is an awful name and I'm glad they changed it. Second it has bikini girls you can rescue that will help you. Yeah, the western version is actually a censored version. It's still a fun game though and, to be honest, I can see why they changed. Bikini babes in a cartoon platformer for kids probably would have pissed off some parents.
Carrier Air Wing (1990)
A lot of Capcom fans are probably familiar with UN Squadron, a shooter that’s regarded as one of the best in the genre. Unfortunately, UN Squadron is also a licensed game based on a manga called Area 66, so they’re unable to release the game again due to copyright issues. In its place we have its spiritual successor Carrier Air Wing. I haven’t played UN squadron myself so I can’t compare the two, but on its own terms Carrier Air Wing is great.
What separates this game from the other shooters we’ve looked at is that you have 3 different fighter jets to pick from each with their own strengths and weaknesses. You also gain money that can be used in between stages to purchase weapons and upgrades for the upcoming stages.
Everything about this game truly shines, the graphics are great, it’s got a killer soundtrack, it’s challenging without being cheap, the weapons and power ups are fun to use and your commanding officer looks like Sean Connery. If I had to criticize anything, I guess the power-ups could be a little more varied and I wish you had more options of sub weapons between stages. Other than that, this is a great game and one of the best on the collection.
Street Fighter 2 (1991)
Do I even need to talk about this one? It's Street Fighter 2 for god's sake. This is the game that reinvented and popularized the fighting game genre, created some of gaming's most iconic characters, defined the arcade scene for an entire generation, and it’s aged like milk. I know it’s a classic but that’s the honest truth. There is no reason to go back to this game, not because it’s bad but because the various updated versions it received make the original obsolete.
I will say that there is something about its historical significance of it that does make it worth playing at least once. It is fascinating going back to it and seeing how far we’ve come since then. Even the character portraits are interesting to look at. Ryu looks so baby faced in this, it’s funny If you are going to play Street Fighter 2 then you’re better off playing one of the updates, but the original is still an iconic and important games for arcades and gaming as a whole.
Captain Commando (1991)
Here’s a fun fact, Captain Commando was originally Capcom’s official mascot. He appeared in the manuals and on the box art for some of their NES games though he never appeared in his own game. That is until this game came out. This is another beat-em-up similar to Final Fight, it even acts as a pseudo sequel to that game as it takes place in the same city just in the future.
It isn’t a bad game actually, kind of feels like Capcoms answer to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games that were popular at the time. I mean it has 4 player co-op, well some versions do anyway, and it even has a sewer surfing level. It's not good as the TMNT games but it’s still a fun time, mostly because of how insane it is.
I’m not kidding, this game is one of the most insane beat-em-ups Capcom ever made. Just look at the characters, you’ve got Captain Commando himself, a ninja who’s actually a descendent of Guy from Final Fight, a super intelligent baby who fights in a mech suit it invented and an alien mummy named Mack the Knive who melts people with sub sonic knives. Oh yeah, this game gets violent. You've got people getting burned to ash, getting sliced in half and melting their skin right till they’re nothing but a skeleton.
Even the enemies are weird. You've got short chubby guys who breathe fire, giant kabuki guys who spit acid, guys dressed as the Xenomorph and the main villain is some overly muscular alien dude named Scumocide. Scumocide? His name is fricking Scumocide! At least we know where Rob Liefeld got his inspiration from. This game is batshit insane and I love every minute of it.
Varth: Operation Thunderstorm (1992)
Varth is yet another shoot-em-up and it’s a fairly competent one. This feels a lot like a game in the 194X series, you could argue this is the 194X game that never was. It has very similar gameplay but it does have a few differences to make it stand out
You have three different weapons each with their own firing rate and horizontal range as well as three different types of pods that can block enemy bullets. You can even choose between two different pod formations, between being in front of you or a smart version that will home in on enemy bullets.
You also have clear screen bombs that changes depending on which weapon you have equipped. Unlike in other shooters the bomb stocks recharge over time so you can use them a lot more. Of all the shooters I've looked at so far, this is the most well balanced when it comes to difficulty. It's challenging, but fair and never feels cheap.
This is almost a forgotten classic, but it has some problems that hold it back. It's way too long, there are 30 levels and 6 of those are just previous boss fights repeated. The levels themselves aren’t too long but it still drags on a bit too much. And the bosses are only just ok, decently challenging but not too memorable. Varth is an ok shooter. There are better ones on here, but still worth checking out.
Warriors of Fate (1992)
This is the sequel to Dynasty Wars. Thankfully Warriors of Fate is a much better game, unfortunately it’s still not very good. This one is more of a traditional beat-em-up and it does have some things going for it. It’s got five different character with their own playstyle, 3 player co-op, more special moves to pull off and you can ride on a horse similar to Knights of the Round.
The problem is the game is just boring. It's unbearably long despite only being 9 stages and I think it’s because of two reasons. One, you move painfully slow and with the levels being a lot larger this makes each level a slog.
Two, you do so little damage. Every enemy takes way too many hits to kill, even special moves barely do anything. Each fight takes double or even triple the time it took in Final Fight. And you know how some beat-em-up bosses will send enemies after you as well. Every boss is like that in this. Warriors of Fate isn’t bad, it’s just painfully average.
Street Fighter 2 Hyper Fighting (1992)
If you want to play the best iteration of the original Street Fighter 2, play this version. This is the third iteration of the game after Champion Edition and the last to be done on the CPS arcade board. This version included the previously unplayable bosses from the original Street Fighter 2, gave each character some new moves and cranked the speed up significantly. The name doesn’t lie folks, this really is the most hyperactive version of the game yet and I'm not gonna lie, the speed is a little ludicrous.
Going from the original SF2 to this is like going from Slowpoke Rodriquez to Speedy Gonzales. The speed is a bit too fast in my opinion, it almost feels like I'm playing a rom hack and never feels right. That's kind of how I feel about the game in general, this feels like an official rom hack. You can tell Capcom wanted to do more than the game engine would allow which is why the next update is a little bit more significant.
I do still like this version of the game. I used to play the SNES version on the Wii Virtual Console all the time as a kid. In fact, there are people that still swear by this version of the game and say it’s the best. But...
Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo (1994)
For some it’s the greatest fighting game of all time. While I wouldn’t quite go that far, it’s hard to argue against it. Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo is the fifth and final version of the game, at least for contemporary releases, and is the culmination of all the work done on the series so far
The previous version, Super Street Fighter 2, was the first game to use Capcom’s updated CPS2 arcade board. The presentation was overhauled, new sprites were made, and the backgrounds redrawn along with a much better interface. It added four new playable characters and a bunch of new moves for the returning cast.
Super Turbo keeps all these changes and adds even more. You can play as older versions of characters, new moves were added with some move sets being slightly altered, the speed was increased, but it gave you the choice in how fast you wanted it. Its biggest addition were super moves, powerful attacks that could only be done when your super meter was filled up.
It also had a secret character in the form of Akuma. Akuma himself was based on an old urban legend of a secret boss in the original that came from a mistranslation. He's a secret boss in the game and one tough cookie to beat. Super turbo is easily the best version of Street Fighter 2 and one of the best games Capcom ever made. There's a reason people are still hosting tournaments for it nearly 3 decades later.
I will warn you though, if you’re going to do a simple arcade run, play the Japanese version. The English version has a bug which makes the AI ridiculously hard. The AI was already pretty bad before but here it’s almost unplayable. The Japanese version is still a cheating whore, but it’s a playable cheating whore. I’m just glad we have the option, unlike Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection.
Armored Warriors (1994) no English version available
This is one of the more interesting of Capcom's beat-em-ups. It features giant robots which immediately gives this game a coolness factor other beat-em-ups lack. What's even cooler is you can take parts off fallen enemies and add them to your machine. There are different arms, guns and leg parts that change how each mech controls.
Some of these parts are better than others, but it adds an extra layer of customization you don’t see often in the genre. It's also a bit more story driven than a lot of other beat-em-ups. Unfortunately, Arcade Stadium doesn’t include the English version, so you won’t be able to follow any of it.
This is one of my favourite Capcom beat-em-ups. I’m fortunate enough to have played this in an actual arcade. I played it at Disney Quest a few years ago in Florida before it was shut down. It's an underrated gem and it’s even better in co-op since you can combine the machines into different formations. I haven’t been able to try that out yet, but I will, one of these days.
Cyberbots: Full Metal Madness (1995)
This game is the main reason I wanted to pick up this collection. It’s a spin-off of Armored Warriors, taking a lot of the same robots seen in that game but puts them in a one-on-one fighting game. It's one of the most unique fighting games Capcom ever made. You have four buttons as opposed to 6 with two attack buttons, a dash button and a weapon fire button. It’s a bit slower and clunkier than Street Fighter, by design. These are giant robots after all.
There're 12 different robots to play as along with some secret hidden ones, including a giant robot Akuma from Street Fighter and that’s awesome. This game is a lot more story driven than most fighting games at the time. You also have a selection of different characters each with their own story and there are cutscenes between fights that help flesh each of them out.
After finally playing it, I can safely say this is a great little fighting game. It's one of Capcom's most obscure games and I’m glad more people have the chance to play it. It does take some getting used to, but once you do it’s a lot of fun. I’m going to need to spend some more time with it to fully appreciate it, but I like what I've played so far.
19XX: The War Against Destiny (1996)
This is sort of the black sheep of the 194X series. While the other games are based around WW2, this one is set in an alternate timeline and features more futuristic style technology. It's the best looking game in the series so far, there’s some great visual effects here that almost look 3D. You can tell we’re in the late 90’s now because this was when Capcom really started to push the limits of what they were capable of.
This entry in the series introduces 3 different planes each with their own stats. There are also 3 types of shots and each plane specializes in one of them. The power-ups also no longer have a time limit, hooray. This is a good entry, but I prefer 1941. 194XX is the hardest game in the series so far, it ditches the energy bar and returns to a one hit death system which is a massive step backwards.
This was around the time where shoot-em-ups were transitioning into the bullet hell era. 19XX is stuck in an awkward middle area between a classic shooter and a bullet hell. There are more things to avoid but it lacks the clear patterns that make bullet hells fun to play. The challenge can often come across as unfair. It isn’t a bad game but it definitely feels like a game caught between eras.
Battle Circuit (1997)
This is the culmination of all the developments Capcom made in the beat-em-up genre. It also has a unique art style taking inspiration from American and Japanese comic books. It almost feels like a successor to Captain Commando.
It’s got 5 different playable characters each with a plethora of special moves, 4 player co-op and you can buy upgrades between stages. Each of the five characters has a sort of super mode they can enter which increases one of their attributes like attack strength, speed and defence. The difficulty is tough but also fair and while it is a tad short that also means it doesn’t get repetitive.
Battle Circuit is in the running for the best beat-em-up Capcom ever made. Sadly, the game came out at a time where this kind of game wasn’t as popular as it used to be, not to mention the fact it never got a console release until 2017, so it went unnoticed by the general public. Which is a shame because it’s a real gem. Give this one a look, it’s seriously under-appreciated.
Giga Wing (1999)
This is one of two games on this collection that weren’t developed by Capcom themselves. Capcom published Giga Wing, but development was handled by a company called Takumi. This game is an alright little bullet hell shooter. I’m not too big on them but I kind of like this one.
You can choose between one of 4 different planes each with their own firing style. This does mean there are no unique power-ups, the only ones you get just upgrade the shot your plane has, but I'm ok with that here because each plane plays differently from the others. One cool mechanic in this game is the ability to deflect bullets back at enemies. You can erect a reflective barrier by holding down the shot button which also makes you invincible for a short time.
This is a fun game if you like bullet hells. It also has a bit more story and character than a lot of the other shooters on the collection. I like this one a lot.
1944: The Loop Master (2000)
This is the last of the 194X games to be released in the arcades. I’m torn on this one. On the one hand, I think this has the best presentation of any of the 194X games, not just graphically but musically too. This is a rocking soundtrack that really adds to the intensity of the gameplay.
On the other hand, I think the gameplay takes a few too many steps back. The different planes are gone, the powerups have been watered down and the difficulty never feels like it strikes a good balance between being hard and being fair. It did add in some unique elements of its own. The new charge shot that makes you invincible is pretty fun even if it takes a bit too long to charge up for my liking,
I don’t want to say the game is bad, it isn’t, but it feels like a massive step down for the series. Of the 194X games I would recommend 1941 and 1943 the most. It doesn’t exactly end the series with a bang, but it also doesn’t end it with a whimper either.
Progear (2001)
The final game in the collection and the second not to be developed by Capcom. This was developed by CAVE who are very well known for their bullet hell shooters, and if this game is any indication their reputation is well earned. This is one of the best shooters I’ve played, not just on the collection but just in general.
The art style in this game is so damn cool. It goes for a steampunk theme with a manga/anime aesthetic for the characters and cutscenes. It looks great and it has some superb music. This game is a bullet hell but it’s a little more forgiving than most bullet hells I've played, which admittedly isn’t a lot.
At the beginning of the game you pick from one of two planes and one of three gunners each with their own types of shots. You have two types of shots, if you rapid fire your main plane will fire but if you hold the fire button down your gunner takes over for a more accurate shot at the cost of your speed. Though I find the speed decrease more of a benefit than a detriment since it makes it easier to precisely move between enemy bullets.
The various combinations of planes and gunners gives this some decent replay value. On top of that there are multiple endings you can get depending on the combination and how well you did. Progear is an absolute gem, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
And that is that. That's all the games on the collection. There were some games on here I didn’t care for, but the majority of them I enjoyed and there are a couple I outright love. I even got to discover some new favourites along the way. One thing I will credit Arcade Stadium for is having complete series. Both arcade Ghosts ’n Goblins are here, all the 194X games, they don’t leave any games out. If there’s a game on here and it had a sequel, or multiple sequels, all of them will be on here. Well, the ones released for arcades anyway.
It's nice being able to see how each series evolved along with the company. I wish more arcade collections would do this. There are some exceptions to this rule. Carrier Air Wing is on here but not UN Squadron for copyright reasons, not all versions of Street Fighter 2 are here because that would be overkill and Giga Wing 2 is absent because that was made for the Naomi arcade board.
Which leads me to my biggest gripe with Arcade Stadium. Why does it only go up to the CPS2 board. Where are the CPS3 games? That board may not have had many games but had some true gems and none of them are on here. Now, to be fair, the lack of games from that board could be an emulation issue. Maybe they couldn’t include them on. But Street Fighter 30th anniversary collection has the Street Fighter 3 games, and those were CPS3 games. So, I don’t see why Arcade Stadium couldn’t have at least 1.
And then there’s the game selection itself. Don't get me wrong, it is a good selection of games, but I do have one complaint, the sheer number of shooters. I counted them, of the 32 games on the collection, 13 of them are shooters. That's a third of the collection. Now five of those are the 194X games and since I already praised the collection for having entire series I'll give them some leeway on that. And I did enjoy most of them, but they could have trimmed them down a little and added some other genres to help with variety. Get rid of Varth and Section Z and add in the Saturday Night Slam Master games, those could use more love.
Then there’s the weird part of having some of these games locked to a specific regional variant. Why? It's not like any of these games were exclusive to a specific region. They all came out in both so, why not have both versions for all of them? Did they lose some of the original ROM’s or something?
Capcom Arcade Stadium is a decent collection of arcade games. Yeah, there are some games I wish were on here and it could have a little more variety, but it is a solid collection. Despite the ridiculous difficulty of some of these games, Arcade Stadium does include additional features to make them a little more accessible. There are save states so you don’t have to play them in one sitting and a rewind function to help undo a mistake, the latter is especially helpful for the shooters.
You can also adjust the speed of the games, either making them faster or slower, but I'm not huge on this feature. I would often activate this by accident, and it would throw me off my game. I wish this feature wasn’t mapped to the left trigger and instead was mapped to the right analogue stick since it would make a lot more sense, at least then I could choose whether to slow down or speed up without having to cycle through them.
There are also achievements to go for. They aren’t for specific games, but they add a little extra replay value. Every game also includes score attack and time attack modes for online leaderboards. There are even rotating challenges added to the game daily.
So is Capcom Arcade Stadium worth picking up? That depends. If you’re a fan of classic arcade games and you don’t already own these then, yes, it is worth picking up. But if you do already own a lot of these games on other systems, I don’t know if I can recommend it. I will give it credit for having some obscure games on here like Cyberbots and Battle Circuit and if you’re into shooters this is well worth a look, but a lot of these games you’ve likely purchased before and that makes this tricky to recommend.
I do think this is worth a look at if you are a Switch owner since having these games on the go is nice. Even if you already own these games on other systems, having them be portable does have its own appeal. I’m sure this won’t be the last arcade compilation Capcom makes, but I hope we find a better way to distribute these classic games so future generations can play and past generations don’t have to keep paying for them. Or you could always just use MAME. Until next time.