‘SNK Arcade Classics Volume 1′ Review (Wii)

Old Skool games always go down a treat, and this ‘SNK Arcade Classics Volume 1‘ title is no exception. All these games were released on the NEO GEO which is a console I never had the pleasure of owning, which is a shame as some of these games are really good.

What I found appealing was how they’ve not just put these games onto a disc and said, here you are, they’ve added little extras into the games to make you play them longer and have a reason for completing them.

Each game awards you with medals for completing certain things in the games. For example, complete a game on easy, medium or hard and you’ll get a medal. Each medal in every game unlocks something new. These extras include things like art work, music to the games, videos of secrets and move lists for the characters in the fighting games.

One of the games (World of Heroes) is only available to play after you’ve been awarded 10 medals overall. You can see how many medals you’ve unlocked in each game on the main menu screen.

You can also use all the controllers available on the Wii, which for those who don’t know, are the Wii Remote and Nunchuck (obviously), Gamecube Controller or the Wii Classic Pro Controller. So far I’ve found the fighting games such as ‘Samurai Showdown’ to be better by using something with an analog stick so you can pull of the special moves better. Other games such as Metal Slug I’ve found to be better with just the Wii Remote and using that as on Old Skool controller.

Metal Slug Screenshot

To change which controller you use, simply go to the options screen during the game and either change the control settings for the game you’re playing, or if you’d prefer to use the same controller for every game, you can change the options in the system settings in the same menu screen. It’ll ask you if you want to change the control settings for all games, and hey presto, it’s done.

All the games have the option of 2 player which is cool as long as you’ve got friends that is. Also, you don’t have to keep starting the games over and over as they all have checkpoints, so if you fancy stopping at the beginning of the level, then do, and just select the continue from checkpoint option when starting up again.

Also another great feature is that you have infinite continues! So you can just die again and again and again and…..well, you get the picture. But I suppose some might see this as taking the fun out of the games and not really that challenging.

World of Heroes Screenshot

Below is the list of games on the collection each with a little description of what each game is like.

Game List:

• Art of Fighting (1992) – One on One fighter. Not bad, but got bored quite quickly.
• Baseball Stars 2 (1992) – Baseball game which is good fun. Very simple controls and easy to jump into.
• Burning Fight (1991) – A side scrolling beat ‘em up similar to Streets of Rage. Quite good.
• Fatal Fury (1991) – One on One fighter. Pretty average.
• King of the Monsters (1991) – Imagine Street Fighter mixed up with Rampage, and you’re close. But got bored very quickly with this one.
• Last Resort (1992) – Side scroll shooter in a space ship. Again, not that great.
• Magician Lord (1990) – Kind of like Kid Chameleon in that you can change what character you are during certain points in the game. Average, but nothing to write home about.
• Metal Slug (1996) – An absolute classic and the best game in the collection. Side scrolling shoot ‘em up with blood galore.
• Neo Turf Masters (1996) – For all you golf fans out there. Putting seems very easy, which I suppose is a good thing. Gives the collection a little variation.
• Samurai Showdown (1993) – Yet another One on One figher, but I really liked this one. Samurai version of Street Fighter.
• Sengoku (1991) – A poor Streets of Rage style game. Wasn’t that impressed with this one.
• Shock Troopers (1997) – Another side scrolling shoot ‘em up. Quite enjoyed this one. You can either play ‘Lone Wolf’ (one character) or ‘Team’ which allows you to choose 3 characters and swap between them as they have different secondary weapons. But once your dead, your dead. Bit of a weird option.
• Super Sidekicks 3 (1992) – The token football game. No pro evolution but good for a change of scenery.
• King of the Fighters ’94 (1994) – The first of the King of Fighters series. One of the better ones out of the collection, with a difference. Instead of choosing one character, you choose 1 of 8 countries, each with their own set of three fighters. More like a 3 man tag team elimination match.
• Top Hunter (1994) – Similar to Metal Slug and enjoy playing this one. Very short though.
• World Heroes (1992) – This can only be unlocked after collection 10 medals throughout the games available. Another fighting game that has bonus stages similar to those seen in Street Fighter II.

The graphics as you can imagine are back from when times we’re simpler, but graphics aren’t everything. Some of these are classics with great cheesy, yet great, soundtracks.

Baseball Stars 2 Screenshot

There are a few of the games that could be left off completely and maybe too much of one genre, but the good ones do make up for it. Although this is good fun, it does really make you appreciate the classics such as Street Fighter 2 and Streets of Rage etc, but that said, if you like to dabble in the past, then I definitely recommend ‘SNK Arcade Classics Volume 1‘.

3 out of 5

Ender

Related Pages:

1. Samurai Shodown Anthology Review (Wii)
2. The King of Fighters Collection – The Orochi Saga Review (Wii)
3. Street Fighter 4 Review (PS3)
4. Play Street Fighter 2 Online For Free!
5. King of Fighters XII Review (PS3)

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