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 | Capcom Classics PS2 Capcom  The concept of playing twenty-something year old arcade games on a modern game console is both appealing and baffling at the same time. The issue of convenience is negated by the existence of such home emulators as Mame, that enable arcade-perfect emulation, with almost every game known to man available on the Internet (if you look hard enough). Initially appearing to be no more than an exercise in nostalgia, this collection is actually well worth the price of admission. Designer Yoshiki Okamoto is a bit of a legend when it comes to classic arcade titles and most of the games in this collection involved his design in some way or another, most notably the '1942' and 'Ghosts'n'Goblins' series. Capcom have included a selection of classic games that will swiftly wear the X from your Playstation controller, and I think this mindless button-mashing is what a lot of children of the eighties miss so much today. What can compare to the complete violent excess and Van Damme/Schwazenegger mindlessness of 'Final Fight', where so many tacky stereotypes of 1980's popular culture are squeezed into one piece of entertainment.? Twenty-two games are included, with the 'Street Fighter', '1942' and 'Ghosts'n'Goblins' series featured in full (which is fitting since these are the titles that really put Capcom on the video game map, catching the imagination with their brash and original themes for the time). Also included are some more vintage games from the Capcom cannon, including 'Volgus', 'Son Son', and 'Trojan'. Graphically these games definitely lose something in translation, with the hard-edged pixels of the originals seemingly softened for modern consumption. The screen aspect of the original machines is not complemented in translation either, with most vertically scrolling shooting games appearing squashed and augmented. There are some handy features though, such as an assortment of screen modes that allow the score-data to be moved from the playfield and unlimited continues. Capcom have also thankfully included a large amount of small tweaks that can be uncovered as you play through each game, adding some longevity to the experience. Ordinarily encountered in an Eighties arcade, with the smell of chlorine wafting from waterslides nearby, these games appear somewhat out of context in a lounge room on a high definition screen, lacking cigarette scarred, oversized red buttons, bulbous malfunctioning joysticks, and greasy fingerprinted play screens; yet somehow the allure still remains.  | |
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