Just when you’ve thought that it can’t get any better for the PlayStation Portable, a port-over game delivers the mother load of all games – an anthology of classic hits. It’s no surprise that SNK would come up with a bundle pack for the PSP, since the latter is the best platform for games which can still offer unlimited playtime despite their age; the console’s portability ensures that even the most obscure titles will have at least an hour’s worth of playtime during boring road trips.
SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 is a no-brainer for any company which would want to squeeze out more profits from ancient hits, resurrecting them back to life in all their two-dimensional glory. And since bootleg emulators have invaded even the PSP these days, the move was probably done in anticipation of outside attempts to simulate the games with unlicensed “franchises.” There are over sixteen games all-in-all in this pack, Neo-Geo titles which are either eerily familiar or unmistakable hits; it’s the most comprehensive compilation so far, with titles coming from the early nineties to more recent releases. This ensures that there is something to sate both veteran and newbie gamers’ itchy fingers.
The most notable inclusions are Art of Fighting, the King of Fighters ’94, and Fatal Fury, games which have gained a following since their first release as rivals to CapCom’s Street Fighter installments. The first Samurai Showdown and the forgettable but nostalgic World Heroes are also included in the mix for more bang for the buck. Sports games like Neo Turf Masters, Super Sidekicks 3, and Baseball Stars 2, and beat-‘em-up/shooter hits like Metal Slug and Shock Troopers, complete a solid lineup.
To ensure that you’ll spare some time for playing even the most negligible games (like King of the Monsters), each separate game comes with a set of goals, and fulfilling each can affect the gameplay in the others. For example, obtaining a quota score in Burning Fight will unlock a list of moves for a character in Samurai Showdown, and beating the first stage of the Jungle Route in less than 200 seconds in Shock Troopers will unlock concept art for Metal Slug. Since most of the games can be played indefinitely with infinite continues anyway, unlockables ensure that there are enough challenges to keep the gamer tuned in.
The gameplay from the original arcade versions stays very much intact, especially for single player games, but the multiplayer option (via ad hoc mode) is rather disappointing when you consider that these games don’t really require that much muscle power to run. The screen lags when two players interact with too many on-screen objects at once, and the loading times and interface make you think that this is a last-minute attempt to outdo the competition – a satisfactory port-over requirement. You can’t complain though when you think of the price you have to pay for such a privilege; at $29.99 for sixteen games, that’s practically a dollar ninety per game – a good deal for massive hours of gameplay. And since the ‘Vol. 1’ hints of future installments, here’s hoping that the next volumes will remedy the shortcomings of this one, and that rival company CapCom gets the heads up and follow suit.
