Capcom Classics Collection Remixed

A healthy serving of retro classics for PSP.

	Version PSP	Developer Capcom / Digital Eclipse	Publisher Capcom	Genre Compilation

By Joseph Jackson

Retro gaming is alive and well in our beloved industry, as evidenced by the number of developers cracking open their vaults and digging up buried gems that have long since vanished from the gaming scene after the golden age of arcade gaming came to an end.

While gone, fortunately these timeless classics haven't been forgotten as evidenced by the frequency at which classics compilations have been popping up throughout the course of the current console generation. Capcom, one of the most prolific video game developers on the planet, and one with a very rich back-catalog of arcade classics dating all the way back to the early 80s, finally got in on all the retro action going on this generation with the original "Capcom Classics Collection", released for the Xbox and PS2 late last year.

Fortunately, when it comes to Capcom, once is never enough, and with the console version out of the way they've turned a loving eye over to the Sony PSP with a classics collection of its own. But rather than simply port over the code from the first game, Capcom ventured back into their gaming vault and dug up another round of classics, effectively putting together an antique collection of 20 classic Capcom game titles that made the rounds in arcades during the mid-80s to early 90s.

Utilizing the advanced specs of the Sony PSP, Capcom has been able to deliver seemingly perfect emulations of most, if not all of the games included in Capcom Classics Collection Remixed, effectively providing players with a great collection of arcade classics that'll have players looking for a coin slot on their PSPs while enjoying these coin-op classics on the go.

Compared to the first Capcom Classics Collection, REMIXED offers up a pretty sweet collection of games that are more varied, and personally, more enjoyable than what was found in the previous collection. One of the things I particularly liked about this collection is the fact that all of the included games are independent of each other. You won't get 3 versions of the Street Fighter II, 19xx, and the Ghost 'n Goblins series here like you did in the first Classics Collection.

While it's nice to have such comprehensive coverage for posterity's sake, I really enjoy the fact that Capcom Classics Collection Remixed offers a single version of each game and moves on. As a result players are provided with a more varied selection of games to choose from. Additionally, the ratio of enjoyable games is also greater in Capcom Classics Collection Remixed. When Capcom reentered that vault, they apparently dug deep and managed to dig up a few of my old favorites in the process.

Stuff like Three Wonders, which is a collection of 3 games in 1 comprised of a side scrolling shooter, an action-platformer, and a puzzler, all of which are quite enjoyable. Another game I was quite pleased to see included is the original Street Fighter which has great appeal being the first in the series and all, and has been perfectly emulated in its frustratingly hard to control glory. Yeah!

While it's great getting reacquainted with games like Three Wonders, Street Fighter, Magic Sword, Forgotten Worlds, Final Fight, Varth, 1941, Bionic Commando, Section Z, Side Arms, and Strider, it was also loads of fun experiencing stuff like Mega Twins and Quiz & Dragons for the first time. Games like Black Tiger, The Speed Rumbler, and Block Block, while not as enjoyable as the aforementioned titles, still provided a modicum of fun, while stuff like Legendary Wings, Captain Commando, Avengers, and Last Duel, I could do without and would have gladly traded those games in for either Warriors of Fate, Cadillacs & Dinosaurs, UN Squadron, or maybe even Carrier 88.

In addition to featuring a rich selection of well emulated classics, Capcom Classics Collection Remixed also contains a solid set of options that allow players to adjust the general game settings, configure the controls of each game to their liking, as well as adjust the video display of the games by scaling their images up from their original aspect ratio to various other scale sizes to better accommodate the PSP's widescreen display. Additionally, certain games like Varth and 1941, both of which are vertically scrolling shooters, allow you to change the rotation of the screen so that you can hold the PSP unit vertically.

While the aforementioned options are pretty nice, one of the best parts about Remixed is its well implemented multiplayer feature. By simply switching the WLAN switch on while playing Remixed, your PSP will serve as a host machine for some multiplayer action, allowing local players running the same game to hop in and out your game without a problem.

It kinda goes without saying that I really, really dig Capcom Classics Collection Remixed. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that it's probably my favorite classics compilation yet. The interface is simple and easily navigable, and the graphics and sounds are carbon copies of the originals, meaning that some games still look kinda hot and some do not.

Additionally, players can unlock bonus materials for each of the games by satisfying their respective requirements. In doing so, players will be able to unlock bonus items such as gameplaying tips, artwork, as well as an audio player for each game. And lastly, in addition to the unlockable content mentioned above, players will also be treated to a video sneak peak of Capcom's upcoming 'Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins' for the PSP.