Capcom Classics Collection Reloaded for PSP Reviews & Ratings by IGN

A solid compilation based on last year's PS2 anthology, Capcom's most recent PSP effort, Capcom Classics Collection Reloaded, is a downsized port with 19 games that revisits some of the company's best arcade titles from 1984-1992. For Portable owners this is particularly good news as Reloaded is certainly better than Capcom's last omnibus for the system, Classics Remixed.



Now it was widely accepted that the original PlayStation 2 version of this collection was a nod to renowned videogame designer, Yoshiki Okamoto (after all, he was involved with the creation or development of almost half the games in the assortment). Best known to recent players for his contributions to Devil May Cry, Resident Evil and Genji, Okamoto had an equally important role in titles such as Street Fighter, Final Fight, and 1942. Sure, his namesake in America isn't as recognizable as that of Kojima or Miyamoto's, but his games are... and that's pretty impressive.



But what about those games anyway? To Okamoto's credit, most of the ones he was involved with are also the best of this collection. 1942, 1943, and 1943 Kai are all considered legends in the arcade shooter market and the heavily-Japanese Pirate Ship Higemaru is an addictive homage to the SEGA puzzler Pengo. Let's also not forget that the world-renowned Street Fighter II series speaks for itself, and Ryu and Ken fans should be happy to note that both SFII Champion Edition and the always-killer Hyper Fighting join the original Street Fighter II for triple the Hadoken fun.



The rest of the collection is no pushover either. Ghosts 'N Goblins, Ghouls 'N Ghosts, and Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts are great, while Gun Smoke, Commando and Mercs kick all kinds of double-barreled ass. Oh, and whatever you do, don't overlook the surprise of the bunch in Exed Exes (you know it better as Attack of the Savage Bees) -- it's a terrific little Gaplus rip-off with better graphics and some neat variations on the typical wave shooter. Unfortunately, Volgus and Son Son are only moderately exciting additions to the anthology.



Another thing to take note of is that if you enjoyed the original PS2 version and want to pick this up to relive Final Fight, Forgotten Worlds, Bionic Commando, Trojan or Section Z, then you should look backwards -- four of those games were dropped since they appeared in "Remixed," while Trojan has disappeared entirely. Luckily there are three PSP-Exclusive games that take those missing titles' places: Knights of the Round, the King of Dragons, and Eco Fighters.



Of the three new additions, Knights of the Round still holds up best. Similar to King of Dragons in that it's a side-scrolling hack 'n slasher, Knights was one of the earliest arcade actioners we can remember that used experience points to upgrade your characters. It's definitely uncomplicated and somewhat cheesy compared to today's crop of sword-wielders, but for a quick fix "on the go" it does its job well.





Unexpectedly, Eco Fighters is still a lot of fun too. The result of a "Design your own game" contest in Japan from way back when, Eco Fighters is a horizontal shooter with a twist -- players take control of powered roller-ball circling their ship in addition to their traditional gunfire. It's mildly challenging and has a couple of neat enemies and stages that make it worth a look. Disappointingly, King of Dragons is essentially an earlier version of Knights of the Round with more character classes and an easier go of things... but it's a pretty mediocre experience (it just doesn't do anything special). There's also a little more bad news in that several high-profile titles we've been wanting to see have still been left behind. Saturday Night Slam Masters, Duck Tales, Gargoyle's Quest, Demon's Crest and a few others have all been omitted.



But regardless of which games were left in and which were left out, one of the most important things to consider in a compilation like this is how well the games have been translated. You could have 20 of the coolest games ever made, but if they were rushed onto disc with poor emulation, then that shows up in the final product. Fortunately, Capcom didn't hurry the production of the PS2 version when it was released last year, nor did it hurry the PSP port. However, the game does run into the same noticeable flicker and aliasing issues present in the PS2 disc (in all the shooters), while the transparency effects are hindered by some obvious interlacing troubles (thank you frame skip!). It's not the end of the world, but it's there (albeit it is less noticeable thanks to the smaller PSP screen).



On the presentation side, Capcom has made sure to include a lot of really cool supplements. As such, every title in the collection boasts an assortment of little goodies that players can unlock. In fact, there are almost 900 different collectibles that can be uncovered over the course of your play-through, and an interesting slot machine mechanic is used to find them (you're awarded tokens for playing through individual games which can then be gambled with to unlock secrets. Uncovered bonuses include everything from official artwork and remixed music to helpful cheats and other niceties.



As an added bonus for PSP users, several of the titles support game sharing for multiplayer hook-ups (1943, Ghosts 'N Goblins, King of Dragons, Mercs, Pirate Ship Higemaru, and Son Son), while several more boast straight-up WiFi competition (Knights of the Round included!). The development team has even thrown in a cool little stat tracker that tells you how many button presses you've performed, what your scores were, if you've beaten a game or not, and other little trivial info. It's just sad to see that the load times are so awful -- as it takes what seems like an eternity to access most of the software in the set.





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