Any person who values this kind of thing from a historical or archival standpoint may find the collection worth picking up for this content alone. However, SNK has included hundreds of hi-res artwork and advertising stills from not just the games on the compilation, but from their entire catalog, along with a text narration accompaniment. The devs also went the extra mile in the museum mode, which is usually a fairly throwaway feature in most collections. It’s a super cool addition, and should be standard practice for any retro compilation from this point forward. At any point during the video, one can pause and then actually start playing from that point on. The NES version of Athena is also quite possibly one of the five worst games ever released.ĭigital Eclipse has also included what is perhaps the coolest feature I have ever seen in a release of this kind - each game has a video playthrough. If a game got a home console version, it’s available here as well, which is a double-edged sword considering how bad the NES port of Ikari Warriors actually is. They’ve also included multiple ways to play each game, including different regional versions and the original Japanese releases. The offerings here are emulated perfectly, and there are also the standard stretching & filtering options seen in similar compilations in case players want to make the games look worse. I will give SNK and developer Digital Eclipse credit for presenting this lackluster collection in a rather outstanding way, though. Fun fact - SNK made many games in this same style, and maybe a quarter of the collection are a variety of Ikari Warriors knockoffs or sequels to Ikari Warriors I didn’t even know existed. While it’s still solid to play and many have fond memories of the inferior NES release, it’s not really something one would want to spend a lot of time on in 2019. No, this is a compilation made mostly of SNK’s arcade output from the ’80s, and while some of these titles laid the groundwork for the company’s future success, very few can be considered ‘classics’, and even fewer hold up today.Īpart from Crystalis, the most notable release in the group is Ikari Warriors. The SNK games most will know and and have fond memories of - Metal Slug, King Of Fighters, the entire Neo-Geo Library, etc.
III, World Wars, and Vanguard.Īs someone quite confident in saying that they know a hell of a lot about the history of videogames, I had heard of maybe five of them. Commander, Street Smart, Time Soldiers, T.N.K. There are 24 titles in this compilation, including Alpha Mission, Athena, Beast Busters, Bermuda Triangle, Chopper I, Crystalis, Fantasy, Ikari Warriors I, Ikari Warriors II: Victory Road, Ikari Warriors III: The Rescue, Guerilla War, Munch Mobile, Ozma Wars, Paddle Mania, P.O.W., Prehistoric Isle in 1930, Psycho Soldier, SAR: Search and Rescue, Sasuke vs. It’s also the only game in the collection I’d recommend playing. It tells a great (and well-translated for the time) story, it’s one of the better-looking NES games available, and I am absolutely stoked that people who missed out on it before now have an opportunity to play a wonderfully-emulated version of it as a part of the SNK 40 th Anniversary Collection. The mechanics of Crystalis are more akin to something one would see in Secret Of Mana or an early Ys title than the average NES game.
Released in the latter years of the NES’ run and renamed (because God Slayer: Sonata Of The Far Away Sky is too cool for Americans to handle) this fantastic title has never gotten the recognition it deserves for being a highly enjoyable, surprisingly complex Action-RPG given the hardware it’s running on. OK, before I go into detail as to why this latest retro compilation is a tough sell, we need to discuss one important thing - Crystalis is an incredible videogame. WTF The lyrics from the song in Psycho Soldier. HIGH Crystalis is an underappreciated gem preserved elegantly. Celebrating 40 Years…With The Ten Dull Ones!