FEATURE
Retro Games – worth buying again?

With the recent announcement that Sega games will be available on the Revolution’s Virtual Console and the applauded success of Xbox Live’s Arcade platform and more notably, the excellent Geometry Wars selling rather well, we figured we’d take Capcom’s recently released ‘Classic Collection Remixed’ on PSP for a spin in the good spirit of retro gaming.

Capcom Classics Collection: Remixed
On: PSP
Developed and Published by: Capcom

Firstly, here's a one-line review of each game included in the rather meaty collection:

Block Block = great Arkanoid clone. One of the best and a lot of fun.

3 Wonders = excellent value for money on its own. Ghouls N Ghosts fans will enjoy it as will straight up platform and shooter fans. It’s a 3 game compilation WITHIN a compilation. One shooter, one platformer and one puzzle game.

Street Fighter = the very first one. NOT Street Fighter 2. Rubbish.

The Speed Rumbler = rock-hard game that reminds me of the 2D GTA in a far more linear manner. Get in and out of your car and take on cars that are blitzing toward you. It’s top-down and quite fast paced. I’m still undecided about it.

Side Arms = okay, but plays like a mobile phone shooter. Just a bit too one-dimensional for my liking.

Section Z = awesome gameplay hides in the crusty old graphics that cloth this scrolling two-way shooter. A bit like Jetpac, but more action orientated.

Quiz and Dragons = weird quiz game with beardy weirdy characters that are based on Dungeons and Dragons staples. Would be better in a pub than on a handheld. Utterly pointless filler.

Mega Twins = you can stop fire and bullets with your sword and you kill cute things. If you like Wonderboy, you’ll probably love this. Another game on the compilation befitting of the term ‘classic’.

Magic Sword = Pretty decent hack ‘n slash, nothing special. A bit like Rastan meets Rolling Thunder (without guns obviously). I liked it and you’ll probably play it through once if you like that sort of thing.

Legendary Wings = top down scrolling shooter with platform bits. Decent, but hard. Pussies will cry. Not as good as the NES version and one of the more mediocre titles.

Last Duel = A shooting game with a car. A bit unwieldy to control and fun enough, but nowt special.

Forgotten Worlds = A solid conversion, but feels somewhat ‘wrong’ without a joystick and the three button layout. Still a class act.

Final Fight = A solid version of the arcade original complete with all three fighters. Problem is, it feels so very dated. They should’ve put Final Fight 2 or 3 (one of them was really good) in there. At least they brought the old gameplay a little more up to date than the badly ageing original.

Captain Commando = Same as Final Fight, but better, less well-known and with a fairly likeable comic book visual style.

Black Tiger = semi-open platform hack and slash with slight RPG elements. I enjoyed it very much and wonder why there’s no current gen reworking of it, as all the basics exist for one.

1941 = Classic shooter. Utterly awesome even today. You can even play it with the screen turned sideways so you get the full screen involved. Great fun.

Bionic Commando = a bit of a let down. The NES one was far superior to this fairly one-dimensional arcade platform shooter. It’s likely you won’t play this very much.

Avenger = B-movie top-down beat em up. More ‘funny’ than fun and does have entertainment value, much like crappy straight-to-DVD horror movie does.

Varth = A basic but very hectic scrolling shooter that’s deeply enjoyable. It’s fun as hell seeing how long you can go for without having to use a smart bomb and one of those games you may find yourself trying to beat without dying.

Strider = Classic hack and slash that still feels fun even today.

Quite a lot of games there to get through and it took a fair bit of time. Unlike most compilations, the games have been given unlockables you can play with once you reach targets specific to each game, giving even the crappy ones an added value.

On top of this, the scrolling vertical shooters can make full use of the PSP’s widescreen. If you go into the Video settings, you can change the mode to ‘vertical’ and play the game with the PSP on its side. The default ‘vertical’ controls aren’t perfect, but you can set them exactly how you like in the standard game options screen, which can be conveniently accessed from the pause menu.

Overall, this is a great compilation for fans of classic gaming genres and styles, as well as those with fan favourites. Some of the games are a bit “why bother”, with the likes of Quiz and Dragons, Last Duel and Final Fight seeming redundant when games like Super Ghouls N Ghosts, the SNES Final Fight sequels and Street Fighter 2 exist in Capcom’s mighty stable.

Thing is, Street Fighter 2 and Ghouls and Ghosts were in the PS2 version, which is a tad annoying as I don’t really want to buy two compilations. Maybe if I could get ‘add-on’ packs over the net to make up those games from each compilation I don’t have, fair enough, but otherwise, I don’t get the point of the exclusions. Maybe it’s just SCEA being jackasses again and then again, maybe it isn’t.

Of course, the super hardcore will ask why Capcom’s versions of Willow (yes, the one about the film with midgets), Punisher or Alien Vs Predator games weren't included – easily three of the best arcade games of all time. Two words answer all your questions; expired licenses. EA had Alien Vs Predator last we checked, and THQ was the last place with the Punisher license. Willow probably just cost too much to renew. A shame, but a sad reality of the retro business.

Regardless, this is a solid and worthy title to add to your likely dusty PSP games collection, with the likes of Block Block, 3 Wonders, Section Z, Mega Twins, Black Tiger, 1941 and Varth making the purchase worthy in its entirety. The rest of the games are either good filler, or justified by nostalgia alone, but if you don’t have the PS2 collection or want to break your guarantee with illegal MAME Roms, then this is by far one of the most solid retro collections out there. It’s cheap too, so don’t let this one slip by.

8.5 out of 10