Recently I snagged a copy of Capcom Digital Collection for Xbox 360. It’s a compilation of a majority of Xbox LIVE games that Capcom has published over the years, all on one disc. So I thought I’d go over them all briefly here.

Of course, I imagine a lot of people would say that this is another way for Capcom to get money. And I guess they’d be right. You might save a little bit of money with this collection, but not much, especially if you don’t want ALL the games on here. But I got it anyway because while I like downloadable titles, I also like to have hard disc copies of my games also. Plus disc-based games help free up hard drive space. But enough of that, here’s the games you get on the Capcom Digital Collection!

Super Puzzle Fighter 2 HD Remix

This is the main reason why I got this collection. I loved playing this game in the arcade. I was super excited when it arrived on the PSOne, but I couldn’t get it right away because I was still a poor college student at the time. Luckily I found it a little later for only 20 bucks, which is good because I hear the game got a little hard to find there for a while. I played the HECK out of this game on the PSOne. I got really good at it, too, and unlocked everything you could. There’s a swashbuckling game on Puzzle Pirates that is very similar to this, and a friend had me play Puzzle Fighter with him one afternoon so he could practice and get good enough to play it on Puzzle Pirates! I’d have to say that Puzzle Fighter is one of my top three favorite puzzle games, right on up there with Tetris and Puzzle Bobble (Bust-A-Move). I usually play as Hsien-Ko. Anyway, it’s a wonder why I didn’t already download this game on Xbox LIVE, seeing how I like it so much. I wouldn’t mind a sequel to this game, even if they just added more characters (like Cammy). I’m not as good at Puzzle Fighter as I once was, but if you’d like to play me online anyway, just give me a shout.

Super Street Fighter 2 HD Remix

It’s pretty much the arcade game with redrawn sprites and backgrounds. Which is good I guess since redrawing sprites is something Capcom doesn’t ever want to do apparently (which is why they got Backbone to do it here). I was worried that the new sprites would look weird and have choppy animations, but it’s not as bad as what I thought it would be. Still not BlazBlue caliber, though. I’m not very good at fighting games, but I’m especially bad at the old ones, like this game. I may complain that the last boss in SF4 is cheap, but at least I can make it to him. In SF2, I don’t think I can get to the last boss at all! That’s how bad I am!

Final Fight Double Impact

Here’s another good one. While most people have fond beat em up memories of Double Dragon, I actually have better ones associated with Final Fight. I loved playing it in the arcade, and I think it has aged very well. This port does a great job of bringing the arcade experience home, as people can join you mid-game to play along with you online. And it works pretty seamlessly, too. I always play as Haggar, and Poison is still scary, despite the fact she has a cool hat and pink hair. The reason why this is called Double Impact is it also includes another arcade classic: Magic Sword. I also enjoyed playing this one in arcades, even if it is pretty mindless and hasn’t aged quite as well. It’s just a simple 2-D hack and slash with lots of cheap deaths, as it was designed to be a quarter muncher. I do love the bad “Engrish” in the game, though. I read somewhere that Magic Sword was meant to be a sequel to Black Tiger. I didn’t know that! I played that tons in arcades, too!

1942: Joint Strike

Capcom’s 1943 in the arcade and on the NES is one of my favorite shooters. Unfortunately, this revisit to the predecessor, 1942, didn’t catch my attention much. Maybe it’s because since it’s a wide screen game, the field looks so crowded since usually shooter screens are tilted vertically. Plus the game is more fun with two players, since you can do special team attacks in this one.

Commando 3: Wolf of the Battlefield

This feels less like a Commando sequel and more like a response to the success of Geometry Wars. For a while, it seemed that everyone was making Xbox LIVE shooters where you move with the left stick and aim and shoot with the right, just like Geometry Wars. That’s kind of what this feels like. It’s hard to explain, but Mercs (Commando 2), felt like a better game than this.

Bionic Commando: Rearmed 2

I’m not sure why the sequel to the remake of NES Bionic Commando is on here, and the first one is not. Maybe the first one still makes enough money on its own that they didn’t want to put it on this collection, even though they really should have. In the sequel, your guy can jump. He has a moustache now, and when I went to PAX, they were giving out fake moustaches to promote the game. I think the moustache thing is a joke alluding to Mario games. Since Mario has a moustache and his main skill is jumping, I think that’s why they did that with the Bionic Commando guy. The game still seems pretty fun, especially if you enjoyed NES Bionic Commando or the remake. I bet it gets a lot more difficult later on, though! I remember beating the NES Bionic Commando with a friend when we rented it once as kids. We took turns beating levels and were totally blown away by Hitler’s exploding head and curse word (unusual for a NES game). I don’t know how we beat the game, though, because recently when I went back and replayed it, the game kicked my butt!

Flock!

Back when I was writing for the newspaper, one of my favorite game companies was a British one called Empire Interactive. They published the Pro Pinball games and a little sheepherding game I enjoyed on the PC called Sheep. Capcom published a version of Sheep on the GBA a few years ago, but I never played it. Flock is a lot like Sheep except you herd sheep and other animals using a flying UFO. The controls are a little touchy so it’s tougher to get the critters to do what you want them to do. I do like the fabric styled graphics and the fact that you can design your own levels and share them with other players online. It’s a fun game, but it lacks the addictive quality that would keep me playing otherwise.

Rocketmen: Axis of Evil

Of all the games on here, Rocketmen feels the least “Capcom-y.” (Flock only does since Capcom published Sheep on the GBA). Rocketmen also feels like a response to the popularity of Geometry Wars, but it also makes me think of Smash TV, what with its waves of enemies and loot littered about for you to collect. I did like the cel-shaded graphics, bad attempts at humor, and the fact that you can design your own character. I made a warrior woman with green hair. But like Flock, the game is fun, but lacks the addictive qualities of a truly great game. The collection says it also comes with the Rocketmen expansion pack: It Came from Uranus. But you have to download that from the disc. I think it should’ve been on the disc, too. But oh well. I probably won’t download it anyway.

Capcom Conclusions

And that’s all the games on this collection. In the comments section, let me know what Xbox LIVE (or PSN or WiiWare games) you’d like to see collected on a disc. Me, I’d like to see a Twisted Pixel collection, which would have The Maw, Comic Jumper, ‘Splosion Man, and Ms. ‘Splosion Man all together. Microsoft owns Twisted Pixel now, so they should make that happen!

Tags: Game Reviews