Capcom Classics Collection Reloaded review

As a gamer you just have to love Capcom, it continues to produce quality titles nearly 26 years after its inception and have been responsible for birthing some of the most profitable and well loved franchises in gaming history. It's with that knowledge that I welcomed the release of the Capcom Classics Collection Reloaded on the PSP with open arms. The chance to play some more of the arcade gems from yesteryear on my handheld proved irresistible and I was eager to jam that shiny new UMD into the slot as soon as possible.

More, More, More…

Anyone who played last years Capcom Classics Collection Remixed will be in familiar territory here. Reloaded boasts an impressive further 19 titles from the Capcom back catalogue some of which have been pillaged from the collections PS2 incarnation but are none the less welcome additions to the PSP library.

Take a deep breath for the full list: Mercs, Ghosts 'n Goblins, Ghouls 'n Ghosts, Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts, 1942, 1943, 1943 kai, Commando, Son Son, Vulgus, Pirate Ship Higemaru, Street Fighter II, Street Fighter II Championship Edition, Street Fighter II' Hyper Fighting, Exed Exes, Gun Smoke, Eco Fighters, Knights of the Round, and The King of Dragons. It all equates to one of the meatiest retro feasts on the PSP and should hold enough content to keep you happy long into the winter nights.

Wrinkled but still beautiful

While it can be argued that the PSP shouldn’t struggle with titles of this age its nice to see no slowdown in the emulation. The PSP’s screen makes a great job of the old 2D side scrollers as expected but it really does allow you to pay attention to some of the background animation in the newer titles, particularly Eco Fighters and the parallax scrolling of the SNES converted Super Ghouls ‘n’ Ghosts.

Menu layout is tight, easy to use and offers a quick route to your arcade favorite of choice through the simple Play option. When playing you are given a few choices on how you view your game, including the original screen size, stretched to fit or even in the case of some games the option to spin the screen in its entirety on it side. Combined with fully customizable controls it gives the player total freedom over their preferred play style.

Hadouken

Street Fighter II enthusiasts will no doubt have registered their interest in this collection due to the inclusion of three incarnations of Capcom's landmark fighter. While they all look and run superbly on the PSP its notoriously poor d-pad unfortunately makes them all but unplayable. The precision required for some of the more adventurous specials will have you pulling out your hair in frustration at the Sony design department’s apparent hatred of the fighting genre.

It puts a real dampener on what should have been the jewel in this compilations crown. Shooting fans will be much happier though with the analogue nub adding a fantastic sense of fluidity to movement in the absence of a joystick. Ego Fighters in particular benefits from this employing a superb control system which makes it as much fun to play as the original cabinet.

Insert Coin

Capcom has helped cater for replayability via the inclusion of a healthy extras package. Every time you play one of the titles in the collection you are attributed a number of coins corresponding to how you performed. Multipliers include the number of credits used, total points scored, total progress and so on. These coins can then be used on the street fighter themed slot machine which awards the player un-lockables as and when they hit each paying combination.

Extras include additional sound mixes, character art and also various secret cheat codes. One of the most gratifying new features is the wireless download play added to six of the titles, four of which are multiplayer compatible. After enjoying a lengthy session with two friends on the excellent and lag free The King of Dragons it made me a little sorry that not all of the titles had the added functionality and is the reason this new collection has the edge over the last remixed edition.

RSI

There’s no doubt that at the price this is an attractive collection for any retro fan but unfortunately the dangerous amount of thumb pain prescribed by the Street fighter titles do this collection more harm than good. Also any players familiar with the PS2 and Xbox incarnations of these collections will only find three previously unseen titles in Eco Fighters, Knights of the Round, and The King of Dragons.

If all this is new to you however it’s tough not to recommend Capcom Classics Collection Reloaded. The quick play arcade nature of its core selection of titles is perfectly suited to a handheld. As it currently stands it’s the best of this type of compilation on the market for the PSP and should provide many hours of classic gaming enjoyment.