Capcom are arguably the pioneers of 2D fighting games. While the genre was already born, Street Fighter II and its many iterations dominated the arcade and home console markets for years. Capcom also spread their innovative talents, created numerous memorial 2D fighters and have now rereleased ten of their best titles in one collection. While there are amazing games here, is this collection battered down with too much of the same thing?
Much like the Capcom Beat’em Bundle, this 2D fighting collection consists of ten 1:1 arcade perfect titles. The collection brings back the whole Darkstalkers’ arcade collection, an anniversary edition of Street Fighter, and some other enjoyable but niche or unreleased on console titles such as Red Earth. And here, you can read about them all.
Hyper Street Fighter 2: Anniversary Edition, originally released in 2003 is an adjusted version of the last game in the SF2 series, Super Street Fighter II Turbo. Players can select from any of the games 16 characters from any of the previous versions of the Street Fighter II games. For example, players can choose Ryu from the original World Warrior’s edition, Champion’s edition, Turbo (Hyper in Australia) edition, Super or Super Turbo editions, and mix and match characters in battle. This creates countless different types of match ups, such as a few of this reviewers’ favourites in Champion’s edition Guile vs Super Turbo edition Cammy or World Warrior Chun Li vs Super edition Ken. I do give newcomers to the series a word of warning. The western version of Hyper Street Fighter 2: Anniversary Edition is brutal. This edition is hands down the hardest version in the long running series and will have veteran players frustrated. Even on the lower levels, newcomers will have a steep learning curve. The new quick save comes in handy here for players trying to complete the game when not wanting to use a continue for achievements or do one credit playthroughs.
The Darkstalkers’ games are the meat and potatoes of the collection, making up five of the ten titles. This horror/monster themed fighter uses the Street Fighter engine and includes:-
- Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors (1994)
- Night Warriors: Darkstalker’s Revenge (1995)
- Vampire Savior: the Lord of Vampire (1997)
- Vampire Hunter 2: Darkstalkers’ Revenge (1997)
- Vampire Savior 2: The Lord of Vampire (1997)
The Darkstalkers’ games introduced mechanics like chaining combos together and air-blocks into Capcom fighters that we know as staples today. The unique roster of monsters are all a treat to play as, with fan favourites such as Morrigan and Felicity being in Capcom Vs spinoffs. I have never sunk as much time into Darkstalkers as I have in this collection, and now I understand why this combo-based fighter has such a large following.
We need to note that the Saviour games, also known as Darkstalkers 3 are Japanese based titles and the cut scenes have not been translated with no western option to change that. Unfortunately, the main difference between the titles is just the character roster, with some games only adding 2 new characters and others taking some away. I feel that having five games out of ten from the same franchise while other fighters missed out is overkill. It would be great if Capcom could do a Darkstalkers game like they did for Hyper Street Fighter 2: Anniversary Edition.
Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix is surprisingly a guilty pleasure. It mixes characters from across Street Fighter, Darkstalkers and Red Earth and moulds them into small, big headed, cute characters. The gameplay mixes it up, with mid match dropped gems that level up players’ special moves, as well as items to use for attack or healing. Combos are easy to pull off and I love how characters transform into other Capcom characters during the combo, such as Chun Li into Resident Evil’s Jill Valentine. There is a lot of fan service in the backgrounds, having I was always on the lookout for who I could find from a large variety of Capcom games.
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo is a puzzle game, where the on-screen characters fight by the players matching coloured gems, creating larger blocks, and using a special gem that clears its matching colours. Doing this drops gems into the opponent’s grid. Fill up the opponent’s grid and the player wins the game. While not a fighting title, it is a fun addition to the collection.
Cyberbots: Full Metal Madness and Red Earth are the last two titles and are very welcomed as both have been released for the first time to home console and both change up the fighting formula. In Cyberbots, players pick from 6 pilots of large mechs, battle other mechs and buzz around the screen by using the included Dash button. Players can also permanently smash and damage opponents which lowers their attack level. The manga style art is a standout and I enjoyed this previously unknown title more than expected.
Red Earth is a fantasy themed RPG fighter. It has RPG elements including earning experience when playing as one of the four characters, allowing the character to gain new abilities and level up. Using the game’s password or quick save system allows the player to continue to use each enhanced character. The game also adds to its variety by providing players with treasure, orbs, and food mid-fight to assist. Red Earth also features multiple endings and playthroughs as each character has the player facing off with different enemies. Like Cyberbots: Full Metal Madness, Red Earth was unknown to me and took this reviewer by surprise and became my favourite game of the collection.
The look of each title is iconic to the arcade version, down to scanlines and the option to change them, the screen size and its borders. The music and sound bites are also spot on and arcade perfect, as players would expect on today’s hardware. What is most impressive is the loading time. On a Series X, it takes only seconds for the player to quit and be back in battle in another game, just as quick as it took to read this sentence.
Capcom have done a fantastic job with the online netcode, as my online games played brought with them very minimal to no delay at all. It was easy to forget that I was playing a smooth fighter while online with Australia’s internet speeds. While at times it did take a little while to find opponents, the option to search for match ups across any, or all titles made finding a game so much quicker.
The title also brought with it the Capcom Fight Collection Museum ,which offers players a look back into core development and promotional art, a lot of this has never been seen by the public eye. All the music tracks from all the titles are also there and while writing this now I cannot get Guile’s theme out of my head, what a classic. If players are into this, they will surely appreciate it.
While fighting games, especially the older ones, are not pick up and play, the learning curve for new players can be a bit of a task. Capcom Fight Collection has introduced a training mode for each title to combat this, allowing players to practise their special moves, combos and work out what attack patterns deal the most damage. Each game is child friendly, and I assume many readers were introduced to these titles as children.
I do feel that some big names are missing from the collection. The Street Fighter Alpha and Street Fighter 3 games immediately come to mind, and while there was a Street Fighter collection, making them into a bundle like the Hyper Street Fighter 2: Anniversary Edition would be amazing. Also, 3D titles like Rival Schools, Street Fighter EX and Final Fight Revenge could have made a showing, but hopefully we see those and more in the Capcom Fighting Collection 2.
Adam Potts