Update: on June 28, 2022
I got every achievement in Capcom Fighting Collection. Also I did in fact preordered this on Steam. I'm very happy with the game Capcom.
Hello everyone I'm XboxClown89, I been waiting to play Capcom Fighting Collection for months. Ten solid Arcade fighting games in one package. This is a must have if you are a fighting game fan. Honestly, I made a short video why I'm aiming to get this over Sonic Origins. I always been a huge Capcom supporter for a long time.
This is an anniversary game compilation for Street Fighter but more directly for all of their fighting games in general. I know that sounds ambitious because it is. At the same time, I felt Capcom clearly cares about their fans. I also wanna say I waited very patiently to play this for months. I knew right away I wanted this on the spot.
1. Hyper Street Fighter II: The Anniversary Edition
Of course Street Fighter II needs no introduction. The first major fighting game hit that changed gaming forever. Capcom made several versions of Street Fighter II. For some one, it's debatable which version is the definitive SFII experience. I would argue it should be Hyper Street Fighter II. Mostly it is very similar to Super Street Fighter II Turbo.
The one big notable difference is this version lets you play as every version of all the characters. To clarify from the original Street Fighter II up to Super Street Fighter II Turbo is sixty five character combinations. You no longer have the bonus stages in previous versions. Single player wise, it is Super Street Fighter II Turbo. Multiplayer with all the versions of characters is where this version shines.
I should point out Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection has most versions of SFII. Parts of each Arcade version title animations are present here. In other words, imagine having the first five Arcade SFII versions rolled into one anniversary game that's this game. This was virtually an all-stars SF game that was done amazingly well.
I should point out some stuff that applies to most versions of SFII here. There's actually four boss characters in a row. However if you play on a hard enough difficulty without losing. When you reach M. Bison, Akuma will quickly defeat him to become the final boss. I would say in most categories they done an amazing job.
Personally I always considered SFII a little too repetitive for it's own good. I'm actually more into SFIII myself. Hyper Street Fighter II doesn't have many rereleases making this a must own if you are a SF fan. This is fan service at it's core. This was released to directly tie in for the 15th anniversary for the franchise. Funny enough with Capcom Fighting Collection it's doing that again with 35th anniversary.
2. Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
This is technically labeled the first entry in Pocket Fighter series. Although it also has characters from other Capcom fighting game franchise. This was the first entry in a short spin off series. Capcom was inspired by Compile now Sega's Puyo Puyo 2. This is a competitive puzzle game that has some cool character animations.
This might not be a fighting game in the usual sense, it still somehow feels like one in it's own way. There's three hidden characters to play as. I should point out I also recently gotten earlier Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix on Xbox One. Which has more modes of play in comparison.
You can stack up gems to possibly form bigger gems. You'll get different colored orbs that can break em up. The bigger the gems as well as the amount of them, the bigger your combo will be. You or your opponent will get these counting down squares. If it runs out of time, they fully become gems.
It is possible to break them prior for combos. I do like there's some interesting background artwork while you play in matches. It's a little tricky to get started but so satisfying to come back late into a match to win. There is more humor than normal here as well.
In single player, it's one round matches. The roster is decent enough with slight differences in game play among the characters. Honestly, it is a straight forward game that does have a notable learning curve.
I should point a few more things out. Sometimes the AI can be cheap or very unforgiving depending on difficulty. The more recent entry Puzzle Fighter was short lived on mobile devices. It so happens to be the only Capcom game Capcom Vancouver released.
Capcom wouldn't allowed them to do anything other than Dead Rising series. Which led to being shut down sometime after Dead Rising 4 kinda sad. Back to this, Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo is a fun puzzle game. The characters are represented in this chibi style which I'm not used to.
Sadly this is the only game included in Capcom Fighting Collection not to have practice mode. But considering Puyo Puyo series has that why? It's one of the more interesting, unexpected games included. Overall, I do recommend people give this one a try.
3. Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix
This is a lighter parody of several Capcom fighting franchises. This felt like a good mixture of their styles. Unlike Capcom Fighting Evolution, seriously don't play it. There's some rememberable animations including cameos of other franchises.
I do like everyone has their own final opponents. There is some story that's not meant to be taken seriously. Like in Akuma's ending, he begins training by fighting zombies. It's notably simpler than your traditional fighting games.
I felt some characters to me plays better here than in their respective franchises too. The artworks is amazing stuff with all these cameos. There's a lot of characters you'll see in all the stages. I felt this game in particular bridges the entire collection together.
Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix is all about gems. Collecting them will increase the power of your attacks. I also liked performing after a lot of attempts sending your opponent around the world. Yes you actually need to do this for an achievement.
You will feel like you're in their multiverse. This doesn't play like Marvel Super Heroes in Arcades or Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite with the gem system. But in a way it works in a weird way. I also liked Capcom didn't hold back on the humor.
4. Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness
This is a mech fighting game with a lot of story. More than you are actually expecting from an 90s Arcade fighting game. You play as six pilots but a lot of mechs. I do love the artwork it's truly amazing stuff with some stage animations.
Cyberbots is a little sluggish in controls but that's to mimic what piloting a mech should be like. I felt there's a lot of great characters. I loved all six pilots regardless of mechs gets their own stories fully told.
Not only that they aren't the same making each playthrough felt more like their own than in most fighting games of that era. Cyberbots has Jin who some remembers from some Marvel vs. Capcom games.
Devilotte cameos in Marvel vs. Capcom 1 has one of many support characters. She later becomes playable in Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo. To me, Gawaine ended up being my favorite pilot character. He essentially was like the one knight everyone loves up to.
The combos in this game are insane. There's a good variety of mechs to choose from. I still felt story wise it's better than Armored Warriors. Yet that game ends up being more enjoyable in comparison. It's a little tricky to explain if you haven't play both games.
Honestly, this game might not click with some people. But hey it's mechs fighting other mechs. Which wasn't common among fighting games at the time. I would say check this one out before judging it. Cyberbots does some things in a way only those who played it understands.
5. Red Earth
This is likely the least known game in the entire compilation. There's a great reason for that until Capcom Fighting Collection, there's no ports of this game anywhere. Red Earth plays off a similar concept some of their Arcade beat em up games done with RPG elements. This also has a password system to not only continue where you left off but also what level you were on.
Not many fighting games done that concept. Four characters from this appeared as playable characters in Capcom Fighting Evolution sadly I once owned. Two of them were previously unplayable being Hauzer and Hydron respectively. Of course Mugen allows you to play as anyone you want so that's an easy situation to that problem.
The story is about stopping a wizard from destroying the world. One area this game truly shines in how well done all four playable characters are. Not only they have different moves but also feels like they're own experience. Which was some fighting games around the 90s struggled with. Also Red Earth among losing in single player depending how much health any boss had left.
You don't have to fully start over. In most these games depending by default you'll need two wins. Considering all your opponents are the bosses, that's surprisingly more fair. Keep in mind, facing them again they are given a little health back. There's one round matches in single player while the traditional style for multiplayer.
The password system also has additional codes that do affect game play. Not only that by default you only have four playable characters. Which is very small for an Arcade fighting game roster. But they do bring a lot to the table to greatly make up for it. Such as fatalities if performed correctly that works on everyone including the bosses.
Another major difference is there's more bosses than you are expecting. Usually you get one or two sub bosses before the final boss fight. Here in the single player mode, every single opponent is a boss fight. Thus their health bars are notably larger than yours. The final boss has two forms with a health bars making him the toughest opponent by far.
Multiplayer wise, both players can only choose among the four playable characters. Both players can use the password system. Yes it does allow mirror matches as well. Sadly there's only one Red Earth game ever made. Which is kinda sad because this was such an unique fighting game they made. I strongly felt everyone should play the hell out of it.
I felt Red Earth does deserve way more attention than it currently receives. There's some amazing animations as well as the artwork. The audio department knocked it out the park too. Red Earth through a leveling system does help with tougher opponents unless both of them are at max level. Honestly, this is a strong recommendation.
6. Darkstalkers series
There are five Arcade Darkstalkers games. I got to discuss some rather weird things. Considering these games are similar, why not cover them together? Of course, I will make sure to clarify at times which entries I'm talking about. In order to help prevent confusion in the long run.
Darkstalkers aka Vampire: The Night Warriors was the first Darkstalkers game. The next entry is when the confusion started. Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge aka Vampire Hunter: Darkstalkers' Revenge. Night Warriors is strikingly similar to the original Darkstalkers with some notable differences.
Although Night Warriors is labeled as a sequel, it actually a reboot of the franchise. They changed the character's stories from the previous entry including endings. Parts of the game play are unique for it's time with these interesting character animations. I should also mention the original Darkstalkers predates the original Killer Instinct.
I do want to mention a few quick things. The original Darkstalkers has this terrible mechanic. Simply because of it in my own ranking of the games it won't get high up there. You know in most fighting games you fill up meters to hold a certain amount of supers? Yeah the original Darkstalkers thought it was a great idea (sarcasm) as soon as you reach one meter filled to force the player to use it.
What I mean by this is your meter quickly drains. You can't prevent this so either you just focus on fighting or somehow perform your super. Honestly this is so unnecessary Capcom. This alone made it unfortunately the worst out of five Darkstalkers Arcade games.
There is some truth to Night Warriors being virtually an updated version. The same endings plus newer character's endings. Most of the art work are directly pulled from the original Darkstalkers. Most of the songs are also pulled from the original too. There isn't many actual differences between the two games, yes they are that similar.
Officially came out four months prior with some strong similarities. I previously talked about that in another blog entry. Next up is Darkstalkers 3, I felt this was a refreshing entry. Unlike previous Darkstalkers games, you quickly move into rounds. One of my favorite characters Baby Bonnie Hood got introduced her.
A lot of people would recognize her from her appearance in Marvel vs. Capcom 2. Now here comes the most confusion part. It starts with the Japanese title, Vampire Savior. There also exists a few months later in Japan two updated versions of Darkstalkers 3. Vampire Savior 2 and Vampire Hunter 2 respectively.
Wait what's going on here? The titles in Japanese releases is very confusing. There are some select changes from these. Both of them removed most endings. There's a new intro cut scene with a handful of characters removed. In their place is three previous characters.
Regardless which version of Darkstalkers 3 you're playing. You have ES as well as EX special moves you can trigger. I strongly felt Darkstalkers 3 has some interesting stage designs that really sticks with you like the train stage. Another notable change is the boss line up.
This will get a little confusing but surprisingly straight forward. For Darkstalkers 3, most characters faced Jedah. For Vampire Hunter 2, the sub boss is Huitzil. The final boss is Pyron virtually the same boss set up as the first two Darkstalkers games. For Vampire Savior 2, the sub boss is Pyron with Jedah being the final boss.
Darkstalkers 3 has the most hidden characters. I'll start with Darkstalkers 3, we have Dark Talbain & Oboro Bishamon being alternative versions of characters. The updated versions adds Shadow with Marionette. Marionette is virtually mirror matches for the entire run.
Shadow is a weird concept even for fighting games. He is meant to force the player to play as the opponent you just beaten for matches. Which does prevent mirror matches but also why? Shadow will appear on the screen before versus picture shows up, he's in all three versions of Darkstalkers 3. The weirdest part is his name doesn't show up where character names shows up at all.
Keep in mind, Vampire Savior 2 removes Jon Talbain, Rikuo and Sasquatch. Vampire Hunter 2 removes Jedah, Baby Bonnie Hood, Q-Bee and Morrigan's sister Lilith. This means only Vampire Hunter 2 has all the hidden characters within the Arcade game. Up til this compilation, both updated versions never got released outside Japan before.
I can say I always loved the artwork of this series. I absolutely love most songs within Darkstalkers series as well. I know some might not like this series took up half the compilation. I am glad we're getting all of them. Although, I do prefer an exclusive game selection option just for Darkstalkers 3.
Which would've allowed more games on the main game selection screen. But you also can choose which version of Darkstalkers 3 including region you wanna play. Capcom loves bringing back Darkstalkers characters in a lot of their games over the years. The fans still wants a new Darkstalkers game.
Sadly a producer for this compilation strongly felt even with success. Capcom won't be interested in enough to make a new entry. Which is a real shame because Darkstalkers series was their second biggest fighting game franchise in the Arcades. Just behind Street Fighter, personally I never was crazy for SF myself.
Now I will directly talk about the actual compilation itself. Honestly I'm very impressed in every category. The artwork is truly amazing stuff with all the songs you can listen to. Also if you own this on Steam, make sure you check your dlc for this game because it may not install with it. I loved how they done Fighter Awards which does include every achievement.
I do have some minor complaints but nothing to flat out ruin the experience. Although some of these may annoy you from time to time. For starters, playing either Vampire Savior 2 or Vampire Hunter 2. It automatically switches to Japanese which I'm fine with. But the problem here is it doesn't automatically switch back to US versions in the other games among game selection screen.
Speaking of that screen, considering we got three versions of Darkstalkers 3. They could've been put in one slot with an extra option before stating any of them up. Instead of including all three versions separately. Unlike Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle, saving process is more limited this time around. Yeah instead of a separate one for every game included.
You only get to hold on your save. Which means in another game you select that option, it replaces your save there. Thankfully this process does work very fast. The controls are very solid, I used my controller. The achievements I felt are very well selected indeed. Honestly I'm very glad I went for this compilation, easily from Capcom alone one of their finest I ever played period.
I should mention from Marvel vs. Capcom 1 to up has some Darkstalkers characters. They also appeared in several video game crossovers as well over the years. Stuff like that further bags the question if Capcom would eventually reconsidered making a new Darkstalkers game. Regardless of it's fate, Darkstalkers series was unique in several ways from many fighting games.
Here's an idea that I felt more than enough people would quickly get on board with. Considering Capcom refuses to do Mortal Kombat vs Street Fighter game. Although they did make Street Fighter x Tekken. Why not make Darkstalkers vs Killer Instinct? Two similar concept fighting game franchises.
Even one particular team worked on both franchises in recent years. Which further bags the question when is that going to happen? I will confirm my favorite hero character is Jon Talbain. My favorite villain character is Demitri. He is sorta like M. Bison but more interesting.
Honestly I'm glad Capcom is giving more attention to Darkstalkers series. These games have withstand the test of time. I strongly felt without them, I easily could refuse to buy this. Along with Red Earth, this series was the main one I wanna play. I have previous experience with Night Warriors & Darkstalkers through Darkstalkers: Resurrection.
Considering two other games includes Darkstalkers characters. I couldn't be any happier to own this. Darkstalkers is a great franchise that's becoming loss to time. Capcom Fighting Collection is very worth every penny. There's so much depth across majority of these characters. I highly recommend it especially to fighting game fans, it's very good.
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