Capcom Classics Collection

Written by John Scalzo  on August 12, 2005

First Impressions: Eating the turkey lying on the ground will make you healthier...

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Capcom has been no stranger recently to the art of the compilation. Serving up new collections of Mega Man and Street Fighter with more on the way, Capcom seems content not to let the games of the past stay in the past for too long. Now it looks like they plan to mine their early arcade treasures to give gamers the Capcom Classics Collection, a huge portfolio of 22 of their biggest hits and a few unknown (possible) gems.

As far as compilations go, the lineup of the Classics Collection is coming together in a pretty surprising way from a business point of view. Among the games headlining this collection are the Ghosts 'n Goblins trilogy and the first three editions of Street Fighter II. For those of you scoring at home, Ghosts 'n Goblins was part of the NES Classics series in Japan and Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts has been out for the GBA for awhile. This kind of cross-system release scheduling isn't usually done. Just look at Nintendo's Zelda: Collector's Edition. That compilation excluded A Link to the Past because it is one of the GBA's biggest sellers.

But I'm glad that I'll finally get a chance to sit down with Ghouls 'n Ghosts, which previously only made it home on the Genesis. And the only time I got to play the Genesis was at my Madden-obsessed cousin's house. Man, video-Deion Sanders could fly. Now I finally get to finish rescuing the princess from the evil demon in his evil tower. Of course, I never beat Ghosts 'n Goblins either. It was just too hard... But the perfect platformer.

The inclusion is Street Fighter II is even more of a mystery as the Street Fighter Anniversary Collection has been out for less than a year on both the PS2 and Xbox, the systems that will be seeing the Classics Collection as well. The first three revisions of Street Fighter II (The World Warrior, Champion Edition and Turbo) will make an appearance in this collection. Later revisions that include the "New Challengers" of Super Street Fighter II and Super Street Fighter II Turbo won't make the cut. At the very least, if the Street Fighter Collection is any indication, these versions on the Classics Collection will definitely be up to snuff.

If that's enough fighting to keep you happy, Capcom has promised the first arcade perfect translation of Final Fight will appear in the Classics Collection. Giving players the first chance ever to choose Cody, Guy or Haggar from the comfort of their own homes. It also gives those that never played it the chance to play one of the best representatives of the beat 'em up genre there is. Double Dragon may have been there before, but Final Fight did it best (sit down Streets of Rage fans).

Dipping further back in their archives brings up a bevy of shooters. It's hard to believe that at one time Konami and Capcom were the kings of the side scrolling shooter, the platform shooter and the top-down shooter. It's almost a shame that these three distinct genres have been smushed into a new genre known as "old style".

The game starts off with the 194X series consisting of 1942, 1943 and 1943 Kai. This trio of WWII shooters (it's not a new phenomenon kids) places players in the pilot compartment of an Allied P-38 Lightning in the Pacific theater. While it's not the WWII sim most are used to nowadays (the Lightning could call down real lightning to clear the screen), they are fantastic shooters.

Rounding out this section of the disc are lesser known titles Forgotten Worlds, Legendary Wings, Section Z, Vulgus, and Exed Exes. Forgotten Worlds, Legendary Wings and Section Z all received home conversions in the late 80s. I remember playing Section Z on my NES and it was pretty fun. Vulgus however, never left the arcade. And Exed Exes never left Japan. But the moral of the story is that you can never have too much arcade shooter goodness in one package.

More shooter action takes place in the Classics Collection on foot like in Commando, Bionic Commando and Mercs. Commando gives players a lone grunt to save the world in a top down shooter. Bionic Commando gives that grunt a grappling hook (and lots of Nazis to fight and Hitler as the final boss) as the series moves to side scrolling platforming. While Mercs is not connected to either title, many gamers consider it the spiritual sequel to Commando as it returns the series to top down shooting. Of course, before all of these titles came Capcom's first top-down shooter, the western themed Gunsmoke.

The final pieces of the disc are a trio of little known titles that I've sure have their fanbases. SonSon looks like a hybrid of the original Mario Bros. and Mappy to create a weird looking side scroller. Trojan looks like Ninja Gaiden except with a Trojan warrior instead of a super ninja. And Pirate Ship HigeMaru looks like Bomberman before there was Bomberman. Somehow I doubt you'll be dropping bombs on springs, but I don't know anything else about it.

There is talk of including some of the NES renditions of several of these (especially Bionic Commando, which was extensively changed for the little gray box) as hidden easter eggs. However, talk does not mean confirmation and right now it should be noted that this is a big honkin' rumor. What's not a rumor is that like any good compilation, Capcom Classics Collection will include bonus features like original artwork, remixed music and playing tips.