For only the die hard.
The fighting games: Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury, King of Fighters '94, Samurai Showdown and World Heroes. These are games I like to call "quarter crunchers". The reason is simple: graphically speaking these were nice games for the time but playing them was abominable with a PS2 controller. A heavy majority of the special moves are way too difficult to be pulled off consistently to link up the combinations you could do with an arcade joystick and even then, they were extremely exacting. Just the normal "fireball" motion is almost a chore at times. These games were by no means meant for beginners nor could just anyone pick them up. All but World Heroes gets an "O.K" from me, which is a complete joke. Uninspired characters, useless attack moves and an unfair AI even at easy? Looks more like a bad SNES title to me. It's also an "unlockable" title with 10 achievements...I could have done without it, but hey...its a free game.
Next we come to the sports simulations: Baseball Stars 2, Neo Turf Masters, and Super Sidekicks 3.
I enjoyed these titles and I'm not even into sports games. You can pick these up quickly, learn how to play and do quite nicely playing them. Though they are arcade games and quite short they can be a blast to play. My only gripe with these games is that Neo Turf Master's "reporter" voice almost made my ears bleed.
Now for the Action games: Burning Fight, King of the Monsters, Magician Lord, Sengoku and Top Hunter.
Burning Fight is an attempt at a side scrolling beat-em-up and it FAILS at that. Animations in this game are very poor and you get the daylight pounded out of you with ease before you can execute any decent moves. The music and sounds are un-inspired and can get on one's nerves.
King of the Monsters...I was STOKED to see this title on the disk because I played this game to death as a kid. You play as a gigantic monster of your choice in one on one wrestling against your opponent. The twist is that your ring is inside of a city and the ropes are electrical wires! It's a blast to play.
Magician Lord is a very unique adventure game, however for those of us who played games like this very often It can be a tad too easy. It's a cross between an action game and a fantasy adventure game which lets you assume multiple forms throughout. (Shades of Alex Kidd by Sega).
Sengoku is also a favorite of mine despite the really bad translations ("Hey guys, this is what the boss said" or something like that). It's another side scrolling beat-em-up that's set somewhat in a mix of feudal japan and modern (at the time) themes. You could free spirits and change over to them you freed to help you which added a unique quality to the game.
Finally we come to Top Hunter: My daughter loves this game and I find myself playing it sometimes as well. It's a fun little action game that even lets you jump into the fore and back grounds to progress. It may not be for everyone, but I kind of get a kick out of stomping an enemy with the armored suit and squashing enemies flat, which float to the ground like a piece of paper.
Last Resort, Metal Slug, and Shock Troopers were, In my opinion the main selling point to me out of the whole compilation. being a big fan of shoot-em-ups, it was a little nostalgic to play Metal Slug once again. Combine Contra with cartoon graphics and you have Metal Slug. It's alot of fun to play, a challenge, nice graphics for the time and the music fits the game just right. This title was definitely well worked on.
Last Resort is a exceptional title in and of itself, but to be honest it's a Rip off of R-Type. Same game play style, different weapons.
Shock Troopers is also a well thought out game. It gives you the option to solo or play as a 3-person team. An over-head shooter where you play as one of 8 soliders, you must choose one of three routes to make your way into the fortress where the last boss resides. Generic yes, but once you sit down and play it, you'll find it a tad hard to put down.
The user interface for selecting the games is non-remarkable, but with all the nice little unlockables and the achievement system it gives you reason to play the game. HOWEVER, unlocking move lists? Come on. Its nice to unlock the in game music and the artwork but putting movelists in as an unlockable reward is a bit asinine especially when you can just look online for them.
The bottom line is: Its not for everyone, but SNK Arcade Classics 1 has its gems...and it's pieces of coal.