I would highly recommend Capcom Classics Collection Vol.2 to anyone, not just people hungry for some nostalgia.
Unlike the previous Classics Collection however, this versions does not artificially bolster it’s number of games by including 3 versions of Street Fighter II. Instead you get only one, which is fortunately, the best version of Super Street Fighter II Turbo you are ever likely to play with the exception of the original arcade cabinet itself. The emulation is near perfect, and although the difficulty is a little harder than I remember, it is by far the best version of SF2 on a console, I have roughly 12 versions spanning several consoles, and this is by far, the best. That alone warranted the £14.99 ($29) purchase.
As I have already stated, I bought this package primarily for it’s version of SF2, and anything else was a bonus, but boy, what a bonus it was. The full list of games in this package include:
1941
Avengers (Not to be confused with the Marvel comics arcade game, Capt. America and the Avengers)
Black Tiger
Block Block
Captain Commando
Eco Fighters
Knights of the Round
The King of Dragons
Last Duel
Mega Twins
Magic Sword
Quiz & Dragons
Side Arms
The Speed Rumbler
Street Fighter
Super Street Fighter II Turbo
Strider
Three Wonders
Tiger Road
Varth
While I may be too young to remember, or even have played most of these games, you cannot deny the greatness of certain titles on this list. As well as the complete and utter awfulness of one in particular, Street Fighter (Called Fighting Street in certain parts of the world) Presumably included only to bolster Capcoms ego, by proving that they are definitely a company who can learn from there mistakes. (As also evidenced by the success of DMC3 after DMC2.) Even if you’ve never played them before, the majority of titles in this compilation are very fun to play, vibrant and interesting characters populate fantastical levels and worlds as you rack up crazy amounts of points before proceeding.
While the game might forego any sort of prolonged replay ability with the options for infinite continues making certain games incredibly easy to play through, the unlock able bonuses at least emulate the sort of interest and addiction present with Xbox360 achievements. Each game will generally have 3 ‘achievements’, most follow a pattern of “Get X amount of points”, “Beat a boss that is mid way through the game” and “Beat the game”. While these are a little unimaginative, they are functional, and some of the unlockables, such as artwork and music are pretty nice extras, if completely useless.
Also included, is a tutorial on how to perform some of the more advanced techniques found in SSF2T, which is handy for new players, and may put a smile on the face of an old veteran such as myself. It doesn’t give an in depth schooling of newer players sure, but it introduces concepts such as safe jumps, negative edge, ’meaty’ attacks, and recovery techniques.
While the majority of games on the disc are throwaway, and unless your very nostalgic, will probably play once or twice, and then ignore for the rest of your life, but the ones that stand out (in particular, 1941, Captain Commando, Eco Fighters, Knights of the Round, Side Arms, SSF2T, Strider and Varth) will keep you coming back for more time and again, especially with the multiplayer components, arcade action doesn’t get much better for a budget priced title.
Another thing that I feel I should mention, is the ability to save the game, anywhere you are, you can boot up the pause menu, and save the state of your game to your memory card, and then load it later on and continue. While veterans may not care for the function, having it there in the event you want it is nice.
Overall I would highly recommend Capcom Classics Collection Volume 2 to anyone, not just people hungry for some nostalgia, it is a prime collection of top quality games from one of the best arcade developers or all time.