Capcom 8 in 1 Collection Review

Having a pack of games on a disc which are usually available on the Arcade Marketplace seems to be a strange choice of product to sell, yet here we are with an 8 in 1 collection from Capcom. Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, Flock, Bionic Commando Rearmed 2, Final Fight: Double Impact, Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, 1942 Joint Strike, Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 and Rocketmen: Axis of Evil comprise the selection for this compilation.

So to begin with we’ll briefly cover what the games actually are before moving onto whether this compilation is worthwhile or if you should just grab the ones you want from the market place.

First off, we’ll start with probably the most desirable title and the most well known game of the collection. Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. This is your HD artwork upgrade edition of what some regard as the most perfect edition of Street Fighter that has ever been created, the perfect 2D fighter. Bringing our favourite fighters into high definition breathes new life into the timeless classic.
With a challenging single player mode, and multiplayer support, this title alone carries the most justification to grab the compilation.

Moving onto Flock and the pace change is as dramatic as day is to night. Going from 2D fighter to isometric puzzle game, Flock sees you controlling a UFO in order to herd sheep to your mothership. Flock is one of those games that just sucks you in and swallows time itself. You just lose so many hours in this colourful and attractive title, it’s unhealthy.
Some risque naming policies are in this title too due to your home base being called a ‘motherflocker’, so pureile humour is rampant in the sheepy challenges. Again both single and multiplayer modes are available so plenty to do for the motherflocker.

Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 has us take the reigns of ginger bionic supremo, Spencer once again as a new threat rises against the FSA.
Expanding slightly on the classic formula by adding the ability to jump, BCR2 keeps the charming visuals from the original reboot and throws heaps of exciting gameplay at us.
However it does not seem to capture the same feel as the predecessor as the level design does not feel as inspired as BCR, nor do the boss fights feel like you’re discovering something new in order to defeat them.
That being said, BCR2 is still a bloody lot of fun and a hell of a lot of content to discover and secrets to be found so there is plenty for you to do.

Switching to Final Fight: Double Impact, this attempts to pull out the rose tinted glasses of yester-year, with the faux arcade cabinet look, Final Fight is essentially the arcade cabinet emulation of the classic beat ‘em up.
Having upgraded graphics you take control of the troublesome trio, Cody, Guy and Haggar as you attempt to rescue the fair maiden from the rampaging gangs of Metro City.
This is old school gaming at one of its finest forms, a true classic.

Now onto Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. Another mouthful of a title and again brought into shiny HD goodness for our tv screens. Taking the Match 3 concept and putting a Street Fighter spin on things you have to create these matches with coloured gems in order for your chosen character to perform moves on your opponent.
Featuring multiple Match 3 variations and a comprehensive competitive mode, this will keep you puzzling for hours on end.

1942 Joint Strike, another reboot of a timeless arcade classic. This is considered to be the granddaddy of vertical scrolling shooters. Enhanced visuals and a choice of aircraft make this shooter very enjoyable indeed. This title has quite the reputation, being one of the first big hits Capcom created, it’s a nostalgic reminder of what made this genre great.
fast paced action, exemplary controls and a thumping soundtrack, just what any classic game should comprise of.

Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 brings us a twin stick shooter to our screens, sequel of the classic Commando arcade game, Commando 3 gives us a load of cheese, explosions and big guns.
For a top down twin stick shooter, Commando 3 is one of the better examples of the genre, plenty of colourful scenery, vehicles for variation and plenty to collect means the pacing is fairly spot on. Throw a pad to a friend and get some co-op action going for a hell of a fun time.

Finally we have Rocketmen: Axis of Evil. another top down twin stick shooter and my god it’s a bloody horrible one at that. While you can customise your protagonist, there are very little options to be had so you may as well stick with the default the game gives you and laugh at the god awful voice acting, fairly poor graphics and uninspired gameplay, you’ll probably get tired of this after around 10 mins and turn the Xbox off.

So eight titles on one disc, is it worth it? Well yes and no. The majority of the titles are worth the twenty quid you’re likely to throw down on the counter for this, but in reality you’ll probably give each game 10 mins of your time then concentrate on a couple of titles until they’re complete. On this premise you could save a tenner and just throw a few MS points at the games you really want. Also if you have some of the titles already then there really is no point in grabbing this collection as the disc does literally contain the Xbox Live Arcade versions of the games.