Capcom Arcade Stadium (Switch)

Capcom, everyone knows them from different eras and for different reasons, some of us grew with them from the NES, others came in later with the 32-bit era and some even from the infamous PS3/360 era. Fortunately, Capcom is cool again and displaying some of the games that helped make their quarter munching mark.

Capcom Arcade Stadium is here offering players the chance to somewhat handpick their own portable/dockable arcade set between 3 packs as referenced in the list below (the top two titles being individual downloads)

1943: The Battle of Midway (1987)

Ghosts ‘n Goblins (1985)

Dawn of the Arcade (1984–1988)

Vulgus (1984)

Pirate Ship Higemaru (1984)

1942 (1984)

Commando (1985)

Section Z (1985)

Trojan (1986)

Legendary Wings (1986)

Bionic Commando (1987)

Forgotten Worlds (1988)

Ghouls ‘n Ghosts (1988)

Arcade Revolution (1989–1992)

Strider (1989)

Dynasty Wars (1989)

Final Fight (1989)

1941: Counter Attack (1990)

Mercs (1990)

Mega Twins (1990)

Carrier Air Wing (1990)

Street Fighter II (1991)

Captain Commando (1991)

Varth: Operation Thunderstorm (1992)

Arcade Evolution (1992–2001)

Warriors of Fate (1992)

Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting (1992)

Super Street Fighter II Turbo (1994)

Armored Warriors (1994)

Cyberbots: Full Metal Madness (1995)

19XX: The War Against Destiny (1995)

Battle Circuit (1997)

Giga Wing (1999)

1944: The Loop Master (2000)

Progear (2001)

So as you can see while the packs are all quite varied and in some cases replicates titles from other recent Capcom compilations (Beat em Up and Street Fighter Anniversary). The general quality of the games ranges from average to outstanding which means there isn’t actually a bad title in the whole lot, some just feel a little more basic or “primitive” than others.

The collection of games available is purely subjective to the Gamer but all-in-all Capcom Arcade Stadium offers a fairly healthy mix of games if not occasionally stepping over compilations, Though it would have been nice to maybe mix the titles up a bit free versions of Street Fighter 2 seems slightly excessive especially when the Alpha and Street Fighter 3 series isn’t represented within the same title, nor is Darkstalkers but at this point that’s a given!.

Looking at how the emulations are handled these are all arcade part of games and feature the American releases alongside the Japanese releases, in the case of some titles there isn’t an American release in which case you can only play the Japanese one, being these arcade titles this is an issue as there is little text and usually what little text is there aside from the title tends to be in English.

The ports are all handed handled well and have a plethora of options for gamers ranging from display options to the way the games are played. The only issue I came across with some of the Shmup titles such as Progear there was a bit of Input Lag which will drive hardcore players mad when trying to topple that leaderboard.

The display options are quite expensive and allow you to play the games on a digitally recreated arcade cabinet or even fullscreen with scanlines there are various unlockable banners which you get through playing the games and accumulating high scores allowing you to really create your own individual arcade experience.

In terms of game options, you have the usual dips which options in which you can change lives difficulty, and bonuses for scores. Because this is a more modern release they have also Incorporated Save States as well as the handy rewind feature which has been in many compilations alongside a speed option to meeting you can play the game slower or as fast as you like a masochist option for anyone into Ghost And Goblins.

As mentioned before there is a scoring system within the main menus the better you do it games or accept some of the score or speed challenges you can build up a profile that can be further unlocked. Capcom is putting out special challenges for the games often which sees you playing them in special ways, for example, upside down or at a certain speed. It is a fantastic way of getting you to revisit classics again and again or playing one of the titles you may have overlooked just for Leaderboard cred.

Now I understand the pricing is a bit of a strange situation and some may not one all of the games despite their not being a bad game on the compilation the £40 price tag for what you get and how it is presented is more than justified. It is a shame there isn’t currently a way to buy individual titles but if I was Capcom I would look not only into this but adding further titles as DLC, give me another reason to own Street Fighter 3 I’m begging ya!.

Finally and I feel like this is happening a little too much lately, the compilation is lacking bonus extras such as art, interviews and the like. Take the SNK titles such as the Anniversary Collection or the Samurai Shodown Collection for how to bulk up your product with some delicious goodies for retro heads like myself to drool over!.

While there is a lack of online play the online leaderboards and special challenges will see players continuing to go back to the games and even play games they weren’t familiar with the first time around or didn’t give enough time when flicking through this compilation.

While the game collection is not perfect especially considering its overabundance of Street Fighter II titles and some of the titles had stronger console ports, Capcom Arcade Stadium is one of the finest examples of how a compilation title can be done and yet managed to recreate the addictive arcade feel of high score chasing.