Another decent compilation of Capcom games, more filler this time around but still a good value
1941: The third game in this fine vertical shooting series, the visuals received a big overhaul due to the more advanced arcade boards of the time-period. The game-play engine is also a bit smoother than on previous installments, and the game-content is superior. A solid shooter overall: 8.5/10
Avengers: Ugh, this action/brawling game is just too simplistic and uninteresting, and the game-play is just a bit off, not too mention the difficulty being ramped way up more than necessary. I usually do not score games this low, perhaps because I generally avoid playing games that I know are of poor quality, but this game just has absolutely no redeeming qualities. I’m not sure why Capcom ever released this sub-par game: 2/10
Black Tiger: Side scrolling action/adventure game that is cool in many ways but is a little lacking in the play-control department, particularly when jumping. Has some minor RPG aspects as you can upgrade weapons and armor, and the levels are pretty generous in size for an arcade game: 6.5/10
Block Block: Basically this is Capcom’s take on the Pong/Arkanoid genre, as it is a pretty good effort with the expected power-ups and varied level designs that get more elaborate as things go along. A fun game in short bursts but any game in this genre will get tiresome for even moderate sessions: 6/10
Captain Commando: This beat-em-up came out during the saturation period of the genre, and does come across as being a me-too title to a degree, but it does have some innovative character designs and unlike many of the watered-down games of this nature, there is some fun-factor here; just don’t expect Final Fight quality, because it’s not: 8/10
Eco Fighters: This sparsely distributed side-scrolling shooter borrows similar concepts from Forgotten Worlds with its’ 360 degree aiming game-play, and is also one of the most visually impressive games on the disc, and well as a solid shooter all-around; it is nice to see games like this be included on the compilation: 8.5/10
King of Dragons: The game-play here can be best described as a hybrid of Golden Axe and a more traditional fantasy game like Magic Sword, since this is not a pure hack and slash with fully realized move-sets and combos like most associated with the genre. Even though the game-play is very basic, the game does have a strange addictive quality about it, and there is a basic leveling premise and weapons that will be upgraded, as well as five characters to occasionally switch between. The visuals and character designs are also attractive, and the game boasts some very good music. It could have been better, but King of Dragons is still pretty fun: 8/10
Knights of the Round: Another hack and slash game, this one based upon King Arthur and his allies. It has some nice sequences and a little bit of hidden depth within the game-play but still the levels are a little too long at times and the action here can sometimes wear thin. Decent but not great, definitely not in Golden Axe’s league: 7/10
Last Duel: Kind of a cool concept with both shooter game-play while driving and flying at alternating junctures; the game-play is a little difficult and could have been fine-tuned a little better, and the difficulty is higher than it really needs to be. The game-content is just pedestrian shooter fare also and nothing too interesting: 6/10
Magic Sword: Very fast and furious straight action game here with a traditional fantasy theme. Some upgradeable weapons and various helper characters are distinctive features, as are the onslaught of cool looking enemies, the straightforward game-play can become a little tiresome after a while but this is still a pretty solid game. After the first level all of the environments take place in a tower, and more outdoor areas would have spiced things up a bit: 7.5/10
Mega Twins: This fantasy platform game is a mix in game-play of a traditional mascot game and a more serious adventure/platformer. It can best be compared to the Wonder Boy games and it features some very active visuals as well as a solid game-progression: 7.5/10
Quiz and Dragons: Well this is a strange one, a fantasy themed trivia game where the player journeys through themed areas on an overhead map and must defeat adversaries by correctly answering trivia questions. There are four characters to choose from, each with a unique skill to assist the player. It isn’t bad, but you will need to know some very obscure facts about many useless things (And some more essential things also) to make good progress, otherwise it will be the infinite continues route: 6.5/10
Side Arms: The transition shooter between Section Z and Forgotten Worlds, (Both available on volume 1) a passable (barely) side-scroller where you can shoot forwards to backwards at a moments notice, it is monotonous shooter action and doesn’t stand out as anything special: 6.5/10
Street Fighter: So this fighting game serves as the starting point of the series and multi-button 2D fighting games in general, really the concept could obviously not be fully realized with the technology of the time because the play-control is something that really needs to be adjusted to and it is difficult to accomplish much; a good reference point and nothing more. Forget about ever getting good at this game, it is next to impossible and the timing for Ryu’s special moves is much too difficult: 3/10
Strider: Here we have the finest game that this collection has to offer, one of the best action/platform games ever released in the arcades, with constantly changing environments and game-play ideas, as well as frequent boss battles, and just an awesome atmosphere all-around, and the intermissions are simply video-game cool: 9.5/10
Super Street Fighter Turbo: The final evolution of the original Street Fighter 2 series, it features the four additional characters, super-moves, the introduction of Akuma, and the turbo speed settings. The game also provides quite a challenge and is best for expert players, an average Street Fighter player will get smoked even on the easiest setting: 8.5/10
The Speed Rumbler: Here is a game that draws from the Commando/Bionic Commando world; unfortunately the game is hard to really get into as it involves driving a car around, kind of like a non-linear Spy Hunter, and the enemy attacks are very difficult to avoid; the player can also get out of the vehicle and travel on foot, this game tries to do too much for the hardware limitations of its' era: 4/10
Three Wonders: Just a visually beautiful three-in-one game, you get to choose from three separate genres, it is hard to believe that this one never was ported to SNES, the games are:
Midnight Wanderers: A action/platform/shooting game-a good comparison would be Metal Slug-that has incredibly vibrant worlds and tried but true game-play, a fun game to play through: 8.5/10
Chariot: It is a direct continuation of the story found in the first game, but now the player is put into a side-scrolling shooter, equally as visually stunning as the first game, as a shooter it could use a bit more depth with weapon selection however the option tail is a neat game-play element: 8/10
Don’t Pull: A puzzle game unrelated in story to the other two games, it is a good overhead action/puzzler which entails pushing blocks to defeat enemies on the play-field: 7.5/10
Tiger Road: By-the-numbers side-scrolling platform/action game, the control is passable but could be more fluid, and the game is pretty average overall, I’m not to fond of the time-limit either.: 6.5/10
Varth: Another very good and very intensive vertical shooter, maybe feels a little too similar to 1941 but that is not a major problem, I will always be satisfied with a good shooter, especially since they are such an extreme rarity in the modern era. There are a generous amount of varied levels to blast through in the game also: 9/10
So overall there is plenty of good gaming to be had on this collection and the value is above and beyond expectations, even though there is more filler material than on the first Capcom collection disc; as was the case with volume one, there are museum features for all of the games, and the settings can be individually adjusted, although the games are very hard even when set to easy settings, the truth being that this is intentional as arcade games were always made to get the player to put as many quarters into the machine as possible; fortunately players of this compilation get infinite credits instead, and you will need them.