It seems as though a high amount of media are turning to nostalgia to try and grab an audience. From film remakes or sequels to bringing games back again that haven’t seen the light of day in 20 or so years, to even music used in any of these mediums. My question is, are these just trends that are hot right now, or is it a true resurgence of the past, especially when you see the Capcom Fighting Collection. Is this latest release from Capcom, worth your time? Keep reading and make your own opinion.

Similarly to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge review, The Capcom Fighting Collection is definitely tailored to a specific audience. That audience is the child of the 90s, who spent their time and money in Timezones and other arcades, all of which were brimming with other kids playing the hottest games around at the time. You could even call it the golden era for fighting games such as Street Fighter and King of Fighters series, just to name a couple. So when Capcom announced their Fighting Collection, which offered a range of games from that era, including some that we never got here, it was a no brainer to give it a play through and reminisce of the games of that decade and relive the challenges.

Speaking of old times, the Capcom Fighting Collection kept its 8bit visual designs true to the original arcade games. Nothing seemed to have been enhanced or tweaked to a modernized version during gameplay. The only more modern look and feel can be seen in its menus. But apart from that everything seemed to be kept true to its origins.

Now the great thing about the collection is the amount and range of games provided. However, what they could have included is a little more variety and other franchises as they did repeat some of the games. To list them out, they’re as follows:

• Cyberbots

• Puzzle Fighter II

• Gem Fighter (Pocket Fighter - Japanese)

• Hyper Street Fighter II

• Red Earth (Warzard - Japanese)

• Darkstalkers (Vampire: The Night Warriors - Japanese)

• Night Warriors: Darkstalkers’ Revenge (Vampire Hunter: Darkstalkers’ Revenge - Japanese)

• Vampire Savior: The Lord of Vampire

• Vampire Hunter 2: Darkstalkers’ Revenge

• Vampire Savior 2: The Lord of Vampire 

It would have been nice to see a wider range of games to be included in the likes of Street Fighter Alpha or even X-Men vs Street Fighter, as they were released around the same era. But unfortunately this list stuck to repeating games from the same franchise, which seemed like a bit of a wasted opportunity, or maybe a bigger opportunity for Capcom to release a Fighting Collection 2 in the near future. Nonetheless, fans of fighting games and who are wanting that nostalgic hit will be thankful for this collection.

One thing that has been modernised is the ability to battle other players globally. This ‘online play’ has a few options for those looking for a global challenge when local fights are just not possible. The gam lets you choose from having a friendly and easy casual match up, for those who are wanting to have a friendly battle, or you can opt for a more competitive ranked match, in which you can look up to a world leaderboard. If you need some more control, then the game also has custom match, where you’re able to “create your own lobby with your own game rules and battle other players.” For those who live in a household with no other Capcom fighting fans, this is definitely a fantastic opportunity to play others, and not get too bored with NPCs. The other option is ‘local play’, which really is exactly what it means… you’re playing locally on your platform of choice, in a traditional VS mode, which is always fun when you have friends and/or family around.

If you’re a trophy chaser, the Capcom Fighting Collection has a section they named Fighter Awards, which gives you little acknowledgements from playing certain games, through to having particular achievements and accomplishments. To add, a nice little extra feature is the Museum - where you’re able to look at the gallery to view artwork and designs. This is definitely something fun to look through for the fans of these franchise. And lastly, the ‘Music’ feature which lets you listen to… well music from the games’ soundtrack.

Going back to the actual game, the Capcom Fighting collection is exactly how you assumed it would be. Controls haven’t been updated or changed as there’s only so much you can do to fighting games, especially when wanting to stay true to the original. Normally when it comes to any type of fighting games, battling on arcade machines with a joystick and the specific multiple button layouts (of the game) suits best. And unfortunately this goes the same with any of these franchises. Playing fighting games through a controller just isn’t the same and doesn’t hit the spot. Sure it may be close, but there are always awkward combos you can’t execute as easily as when you’re on the arcade machine. Assigning specific attack strengths to trigger buttons may help in terms of coordinating your muscle memory or combos… but it really is never the same.

If you grew up playing these games, especially the Darkstalkers series, you’ll definitely enjoy and have a good time with friends (or online) when battling each other. However, this fighting collection hasn’t dated very well in terms of its visuals and with the simplification of playing them on a game controller, it loses some of the appeal that you would get from playing on a joystick. The positives is that for those who are still wanting to play these games, you’ve got the ability to jump online and challenge other fans. On the flipside, all the added extra bonus content are a ‘nice to have’ but definitely not a need or would push someone over the line. And the fact that it’s lacking one of Capcom’s most popular fighting game franchises, Street Fighter (except for that single one that’s included), the collection feels as though it falls a little short.

At the end of the day, unless you have any direct connect to any of the games that are included within the Capcom Fighting Collection, you might find yourself wondering what else it has to offer, what else is there to it? Newcomers to the genre may not find much to appeal to them, but fans of classic fighting games and series fans will enjoy what is here.