Capcom Beat ‘em Up Bundle - Return To The Glory Days of the Arcade By Sitting On Your Couch

Written by Chris Woodside  on September 23, 2018

Reviews: An action-packed collection that brings retro gameplay to a modern audience.

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My gaming journey began at the tail end of the 20th century. By that point, the classic beat ‘em up games and light gun rail shooters that lined every arcade were starting to fade out of style in favor of local couch co-op play on consoles. As a result, while this latest entry in the “retro” phase of modern gaming does not elicit the same nostalgia for me as it will for others, it's clear to see how important these games were for the audiences who first played them, and the undeniable impact that these arcade fighters had both on the fighting genre, and modern gaming in general.

For a budget price of $20, you are getting quite a large amount of content. The game includes Final Fight, The King of Dragons, Captain Commando, Knights of the Round, Warriors of Fate, Battle Circuit, and Armored Warriors. The final two games on this list are not only making their console debut, but also are appearing for the first time to Western audiences. These proved to be the most interesting to me, as I did not feel handicapped by lacking nostalgia on these two titles. For a large segment of people playing this game, this will also be their first time playing through these titles.



One of the most important updates to these titles that will be new to everyone is the online gameplay. While my review copy held up fine in this regard on the PS4 Pro, my online experience on the Nintendo Switch was an entirely different experience. While the offline gameplay worked well, the moment I jumped into an online game the framerate cratered and the sound would cut in and out. It will be interesting to see if the sound issue can be patched in the future with some sort of update, or if there is a bigger issue with the hardware and emulating these retro sounds, as I discovered the same issue appears in several of the NES titles that are available as part of the paid online service. These online issues notwithstanding, it never hurt the gameplay experience enough on the Switch that it was unplayable, but as one of the “launch” titles for their paid Nintendo Switch Online service, the lack of polish on the online functionality will not be a strong advertisement to new subscribers on how 3rd party developers take advantage of these servers.

While I only sampled the local multiplayer on the PS4 version, it was clear that this was indeed the best way to experience all seven of these classic games. Being able to sit on the couch with someone else truly completed the retro feel of this collection. It served as a stark reminder of how unique and distinct it is to play a game with someone in the same room as opposed to over an internet connection. It recreated the sense of being in an arcade decades ago that would not have been possible without such strong support for local co-operative gameplay.



One of the most important features that makes this title such a great product are the accessibility options that make these classic arcade fighters palatable to a modern gaming audience, some of whom may be diving into this style of fighting and beat ‘em up genre for the first time. Some of these games I was a bit intimidated to jump into, knowing that this genre hosts some notoriously difficult gameplay. The developers at Capcom however did a fantastic job of making sure that there are options to keep the gameplay challenging for experienced arcade beat ‘em up veterans, but also options that ensure I never felt frustrated enough that I did not want to keep going.

In addition to choosing relatively short titles, each of the seven games I was able to beat in a little over an hour, you are also able to choose from the beginning how many lives you start with, and how much the difficulty will increase and scale across various levels. The option to choose how many lives you have did seem relatively redundant to me, as the default option of the games features unlimited continues, so even if you do run out of lives there is no real penalty assessed to the player. Despite the games being relatively short, I was pleasantly surprised to see a save feature, in the event you weren’t able to finish a game in a single setting and wanted to return to it later. As I began to master the controls and the levels of this game over time, I realized how much of a glaring oversight it was not to include a level or stage select option. While it does not take an incredibly long amount of time to get to a certain stage within each game, it would have been a perfect opportunity to practice some of the more difficult stages, slowly raising the difficulty level, until I could clear each stage with ease before attempting to finish the game from start to finish on the higher difficulties.



Another surprise was how bland and uninspired the trophy and achievement list was. For a concept that started as an offshoot of the high score culture of early arcade games, it seems to be the perfect title to feature an extensive and challenging list of achievements. Not only is there no platinum trophy, but the few trophies that are in the game simply require you to play through the games on and offline. There are no achievements for beating each of the games on the highest difficulty. This seems like such a missed opportunity to build off of the high score feature present in the game and allow friends to see who could earn the trophies the fastest. This would breathe a ton of life into the game long after you cleared each of the seven games for the first time.

Apart from all of these features present in the game, there are also plenty of cosmetic options available to players. While they do not change the overall value or quality of the game, they are worth tinkering around a bit with. Changing the game between the English and Japanese versions will reveal some slight visual differences and could prove to be extra fuel for completionists who want to claim they beat both localizations of the games. Other customizable options include being able to change the wallpaper surrounding the screen between a variety of options, which also added to the immersion. Seeing the border change oftentimes made it feel as though I was playing this on an actual arcade cabinet with slick and stylized borders and artwork on the case. While none of these vastly influenced my opinions of the games, it was good to see the option was there to customize it for those interested.




For a publisher that has struggled to find their footing with new titles with this generation of consoles, it was surprisingly refreshing to see Capcom change course and look to their past for inspiration. While there certainly are games missing from this collection that would certainly belong on the Mount Rushmore of arcade beat ‘em ups, the seven games included here are still masterpieces of the genre. Whether you are a novice to the world of arcade gaming, or a seasoned veteran eager to return to these titles after decades, there is going to be something to love in this collection for everyone as they journey through the height of one of the most important eras in gaming history.