More casual audiences may find less appeal, with little in the way of different game modes or novelty features—these are, after all, emulated ports of decades-old arcade games. But for the historically-curious who want a dive into a slice of Capcom’s more esoteric history, or competitive fighters wanting a more convenient way of playing some games that still hold up, Capcom Fighting Collection hits the mark. And even if nothing else, the first-ever home release of Red Earth makes it worth the price of admission.
The nostalgia operation is definitely successful with this Capcom Fighting Collection. Thanks to a granite netcode rollback, a very functional practical mode, a range of titles between more and less known and a stable frame rate, we are in front of an excellent product.
The perfect package if you want to experience the best classic Fighting games. The online system works impeccably and the variety on offer here will keep you busy year after year.
CAPCOM IS BACK!
Good-
A collection of great classics including some that have never released outside of Japan before. Loads of great extras to see. Some nice concessions to QOL like online play and saves.
Bad-
No English translations for Japanese only games. Far too much of the collection is darkstalkers games. Nothing hear to endear you if you are already a fan.
Thoughts-
But ultimately, that’s all splitting hairs a little. What we got here is pretty good — very accurate and faithful translations of these classic arcade experiences, with loads of extra swag for fans, and some concessions made to modernity. Those who already loved these games, or at least love Capcom’s fighting game heritage, are going to find enough here for this to be a worthwhile purchase. If you aren’t in those categories of being either a fan of these specific games, or Capcom’s history with the genre, or even just curious about the evolution of arcade fighters though, I can’t see there being much here that particularly endears itself to you. Capcom Fighting Collection is a fine way to commemorate an important anniversary, and to make some classics previously lost to time available to modern audiences — but ultimately, it is very much preaching to the choir. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
There are definitely some quality of life improvements to these games. The never-before-released games are super cool. This collection is a little pricey, but with the music, museum, rollback netcode, and internet features, I totally understand why. If you've been playing these games forever like I have, then you may pass this up. But if you want to see where it all started, plus see what other fighting games Capcom dipped their toes into, the collection is for you. Good luck climbing the ranks though- the old school gamers and the FGC are waiting for you at the top.
Capcom Fighting Collection is the best way to play many of these classic arcade titles as there have been enough adjustments to each title and adjustments to the ease of playing each one that it marks this collection as the best one of these re-release packages yet. It's a great step in the right direction for the future of collections of this ilk, and a great first collection for fans who might have never checked out one of these before. There are some repeats, but the new additions make up for it.
The Capcom Fighting Collection is a fun and competitive package that offers some curiosities abroad the genre, although it is far from being the definitive collection. However, this many Darkstalkers games probably left out some other classics.
Capcom Fighting Collection is a no-frills compilation of the pugilistic publisher’s secondary catalog, offering well-aged revisits to Darkstalkers, the gem fighter spin-offs, and some ambitious and intriguing experiments. Outside of its important job as an archival piece, it’s a somewhat barebones collection, hurt by lack of crossplay, and questionable existence given Capcom’s established range of compilations. Regardless, it remains a must-buy for all long-suffering Night Warriors.
Overall, Capcom Fighting Collection is a decent compilation. With its various bonuses, options and new modes, it appears to be an ideal companion for lovers of 2D fighting games. On the other hand, some choices (Cyberbots, Red Earth) can challenge and the Darkstalkers saga represents half of the titles available! A daring bet that will not please everyone, but we must recognize that the Street Fighter trilogy, with the anniversary edition, the Super Gem Fighter and the Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, is worth the detour. Depending on how attached you are to the ten games in this compilation, this one will have a more or less pronounced interest.
There's a trophy to watch every ending in Red Earth / War Zards. That includes losing and continuing 20 times with each character. Unfortunately, one of the characters doesn't properly update using the quick save/load feature so instead of sitting around and waiting to lose 80 matches I had to sit around and lose something like 130 matches. 130. Matches. Not sure what other game makes you lose that many on purpose. At this point I had to use more continues than win in any of the games up to this point.
SummaryFeatures 10 classic titles, including two Darkstalkers games never before released in North America! Take on all challengers in online play with rollback netcode for all ten games, and enjoy additional features including a gallery of official art, a music player with hundreds of tracks, and more:
Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors
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