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Capcom Classics Collection Volume 2
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Feast on a second helping of old-school Capcom favorites.

With all the cinema-like hi-def graphics, live orchestrated music and deep gameplay that most of today’s video games possess, it’s amazing how some dreamers still yearn for the oldies. From the makers of Capcom Classics Collection comes Capcom Classics Collection Volume 2 for Xbox. Is it a treat for hardcore Capcom fans? You betcha. Is it something for all gamers to enjoy? Not really.

1941

Once upon a time, arcades were the shiznit. Hundreds of pre-pubescent boys lined up at the local Chuck E. Cheese to pump quarters into their favorite brawlers, fighters and sidescrolling shooters. Capcom Classics Collection Volume 2 pays homage to that wonderful era in which you could get beat up for revealing you were a gamer, with a compilation of 20 classic Capcom arcade games from the late 80s to early 90s. In an effort to please purists, each title looks and plays almost exactly like its arcade counterpart. Of course, playing on a hi-definition television will sharpen the games' graphics by default. The Xbox controller will also obviously make manipulating the game feel slightly different from an arcade joystick.

Black Tiger

Now before you get all giddy over scoring 20 games for less than the price of one, bear in mind that practically all of the games in Classics 2 are either button-mashing brawlers or sidescrolling shooters. Not only this, but keep in mind these are 12-20 year-old games we’re talking about here, and they show their age... a lot. Sure, Capcom junkies will froth at the mouth at the sight of gems like the legendary Super Street Fighter II Turbo and the infamously difficult Strider, but most of the 18 other games in this anthology saw little or limited releases in the U.S. For a collection whose sole purpose is to ignite nostalgia amongst its base, this fact may give Classics 2 a little less of an incentive to be bought.

Side Arms

To be fair, there are a number of fun little titles in this smorgasbord for gamers of all creeds. Some of you may recall 1941, the fast-paced top-down World War II shooter which had you in control of an allied plane. If blowing up Nazi motherships isn’t fun enough for you, you might want to lose yourself in Block Block, a surprisingly addictive Arkanoid look-alike with an upgradeable ball and paddle. Final Fight aficionados will want to take a stab at King of Dragons and Knights of the Round, which both combine medieval brawling with some light RPG elements. All 20 Classics 2 games contain the usual bell-and-whistle unlockables including tips, original artwork and soundtracks among other things.

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