Arcade perfect? Seems pretty darn close to me.
Being a veteran of the "arcade wars" and having played almost every game on this DVD in the arcade (unlike many of the critics) I think Capcom did an amazing job of adapting all of these games, INCLUDING Street Fighter II.
GRAPHICS: 9 out of 10. I think Capcom did an excellent job on the graphics, as Ghost & Goblins, Ghouls & Ghosts, Final Fight and Street Fighter II along with every other game on the DVD look very close to perfect. I can't recall all the hours I spent at my local arcade trying to master Dhalsim and Vega, and I see nothing wrong with the graphics in this compilation.
The only complaint I have is that it would have been nice to have some original arcade cabinet artwork on the screen, similar to the Atari arcade collection.
As for the sound effects, I'm no expert but I can't tell the difference between this version and the arcade. The start-up music, the theme music, the haunted melodies of Ghosts & Ghouls, they all seem 100 per cent authentic to me.
PLAYABILITY: 9 out of 10. I've spent several hours playing all the games on this DVD, and their similarity to arcade originals is strong. In fact, some of the games (Ghosts & Goblins) are just as frustrating and cheap as they were in the arcade, except now I'm not paying 25 cents for every cheap shot from the CPU.
It would have been nice if, in the options menu, you could customize the game a bit more but I cannot slam this game. The adaption was very well done.
By the way, I don't remember Final Fight being this hard. But man, is that game addictive.
STORY: 7 out of 10. The only part of the DVD I feel is weak. Some other compilations, notably Atari and Midway, had excellent bonus sections including interviews with developers, stories about how the games were made, photographs of original cabinets and many other juicy tidbits. I really enjoy that stuff because when I was playing those games in the 80's, I was too young to appreciate stuff like that. Maybe CAC 2 will have more bonus material.
REPLAY VALUE: 10 out of 10. I rate this very highly because a) I am biased, as a huge 80's arcade fan and b) some of the games on this compilation were extremely addictive or very frustrating, and you will come back time and again to wrap that game. Capcom had some of the most creative and artistic game designers around. You have to beat Ghosts & Goblins just to see the ending, which should keep you busy for the next two to three years.
OVERALL: 9 out of 10. I thought this was an excellent adaption of 80's arcade classics, and they put a lot of really enjoyable, frustrating and entertaining games on this DVD for a very low price. Turn on your Duran Duran, put in this game and enjoy.