SNK Arcade Classics Vol 1 - Sony PSP

I bought this game for a good friend of mine for her to play on her PSP. And to help get people into what they are buying, this review will be about the collection itself—more specifically, I’m going to review all 16 games!☆Art of Fighting (1992) This game has really huge character sprites to help differentiate itself from other fighting games in that period of time. What is odd is that in Story Mode, you can only play as either Ryo Sakazaki or Robert Garcia. The Super NES version of this game actually has more of a backstory that takes place before the events of Fatal Fury. That caveat aside, it is a pretty good fighting game; only hampered by Screen Crunch.☆Baseball Stars 2 (1992) Arcade-Quality Baseball has never been so much fun! A massive update from the aged Baseball Stars Professional from 1990, this game exudes charm that will make you want to come back to play it time, and time again.☆Burning Fight (1991) SNK’s answer to Capcom’s Final Fight... and a rather poor release for the system—even back then. It’s kind-of baffling how this rip-off made it into this collection. Sure, Duke & Billy made a cameo in King of Fighters 2000; but seriously, any other game (either NAM-1975, or League Bowling) would have been a better choice in this collection.☆Fatal Fury (1991) The one that started it all. Fatal Fury was SNK’s premiere fighting game for the Neo·Geo, made by the same man who worked on the Original Street Fighter. This game shows it’s age, and honestly, the later installments are better; but I’d still recommend it for nostalgia sake.☆King of The Monsters (1991) It’s basically WWE... but with Kaiju! Simple, mindless cathartic fun; but if you are intending to beat this game, expect it to drag through the second loop—just a fair warning: its fun, but not for very long, unfortunately.☆Last Resort (1992) A side-scrolling space shooter akin to R-Type with 2-player cooperative play. It’s BRUTAL, but a fair game. You may get mad offline by the fact that it loops for there to be a true ending; but if Full-Metal Jacket has taught anyone this, it’s “hard but fair; you may not like it but the more you hate it the more you learn!” 90’s games were ALL like that; but nowadays it is a dying art-form with handholding tutorials.☆Magician Lord (1990) Not necessarily an Arcade Classic (back when it first came out, it TANKED in arcades) but it was definitely a strong showcase for the home system (before Samurai Shodown II, it was the best-selling game for the AES home console). Speaking of which, this version doesn’t use the ROM for the MUCH superior home iteration—there, it has an intro story, a checkpoint system, and Memory Card support. This arcade version is more brutal than the home version where if you die, you respawn in the SAME spot where you last perished. What is odd about this particular version is the voice samples for Gal Agiese are more compressed when compared to the initial release. You’re better off playing an emulated version of the Home Console iteration of Magician Lord.☆Metal Slug (1996) anyone who is at all big into arcade gaming should know this title. It not only save the SNK Neo·Geo, but arcades as a whole. Featuring buttery-smooth animation, fun characters, memorable fun, and a pretty sweet soundtrack to boot—even with 2 players.☆Neo Turf Masters (1996) Before Metal Slug (and ultimately being absorbed into SNK itself), Nazca Corp developed an impossibly awesome golf video game since Ninja Golf for The Atari 7800 (and soon Adobe Flash). Neo Turf Masters will wow players it’s the golfer’s fluid real-to-life animation, and chill soundtrack for the ages.☆Samurai Shodown (1993) This game helped truly put SNK on the map. If Fatal Fury helped SNK become relevant in The Arcade Scene of the 1990s, then this helped solidify their footing! This game innovated with characters having swords, and unique weapons! The best way I can describe this title is if Street fighter II & Mortal Kombat had a baby, thus producing this beauty of a title. It got game of the year 1993 for a reason, and I highly recommend it to everybody who wants to get into fighting games!☆Sengoku (1991) a side-scrolling beat-em-up where the Ancient Japan Era of The Sengoku Period invades the streets of New York City. This game is weird, if not primitive mechanics-wise. The only positive I can say about this game is that at least it’s not Burning Fight. It has charm, and it can be fun if you are in the right mindset.☆Shock Troopers (1997) It’s like Metal Slug, but in a top-down, bird’s-eye perspective. It’s just as charming, fun, and energetic as Nazca’s (and soon SNK’s) iteration of the genre. This game is a generation definer, and full of replay value with it’s differing routes. A STRONG recommendation!☆The Next Glory: Super Sidekicks 3 (1996) It’s soccer (or football if you live in Europe). Before Fifa took the reins as that definitive crown for that “One Soccer Video Game” there were games like this, and it is not that bad. If you enjoy 16-bit sports games, or are curious about other Soccer Games besides Fifa, then you might like this one.☆The King of Fighters ‘94 (1994) The first in a series of awesome 3-on-3 fighting games known for it’s Manga-quality story of sagas. This first installment in The Orochi Saga is a real winner, and definite recommendation for fighting game fans... just don’t ragequit on the Final Battle against Rugal.☆Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy (1994) The most underrated title in ALL of SNK’s catalogue. It’s a plane-switching platformer with Beat-Em Up/Fighting Game mechanics... AND SECRETS! With this being the arcade version, you may not necessarily play all the levels like you would in the home version, but this title is just as fun to take in the fun aesthetics. From it’s gorgeous mix of 3D-Rendered & Hand-Drawn visuals, witty soundtrack that suits the planets’ many moods, Top Hunter is my personal favorite game on The Neo·Geo, and if you can come into this with an open mindset, then this will be a fun adventure game with great replay value!☆World Heroes (1992) This is unlockable after 10 medals are earned. World Heroes is like Street Fighter II, only with historical figures from different time periods. It’s a funny fighting game with anecdotal anime-esque humor that Alpha Denshi (The same people who made Magician Lord, mind you) was known for. Just like Art of Fighting, this game can also be found for The Super NES, and it plays just as good as on Neo·Geo. The game is recommended—just skip the Sega Genesis version!Overall, SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 (the sequel to the Japan-Exclusive, and expensive SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 0) is a recommendation to those who missed out on owning a Neo·Geo; whether it’s the arcade, or even the premium-priced home console. Speaking of which, these games are from the MVS arcade, not the AES. 16 arcade quality games—not even including the moveset lists, concept artwork, and medals players can earn for completing tasks in the games. This is a perfect representation of the entire life of The SNK Neo·Geo Family in the 1990s, and it’s a crying shame that SNK Playmore back then didn’t make a second volume—even for The PSP, which lets you play Neo·Geo greatness... ON THE GO!

I have to admit, I'm a retro-arcade whore-junkie of the worst kind, and SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 serves up 'old school' gaming in spades! If you've read any of my other reviews you must know I'm a Sega fan boy, ( also of the worst kind ) and I simply adore the Sega Genesis, Saturn and Dreamcast. ( I still have the Saturn & Dreamcast ) Back in the day ( 1990-1997 ) and during the gaming console wars the Neo-Geo by SNK stood out as the most powerful arcade machine in the known universe, and the most expensive. They cost a whopping $650.00, and the games were $300.00 each! ( ouch! ) Needless to say I never did own one, but it was ( and is ) on my bucket list of things to get. Sega did such a great job of porting arcade to home console games, that it just wasn't worth it to me in the day to buy one. That being said, I played a lot of arcade games, and the SNK games were the bomb. But lets get down to brass tacks shall we! I've owned my Sony PSP for quite some time now, and it's a great little system, it has lots of great games and a good size screen. ( for a hand held ) When I found SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 I snagged it up as fast as I could, and It's one of my favorite compilation games on the PSP. ( The Capcom Greatest Arcade Hits is also a great compilation disc! ) I got it new on Amazon for $25.00, ( the SNK one, pay attention! ) so that averages down to about $1.57 a game, and that my friends is what I call, " getting your moneys worth." SNK:AC1 has 16 of the best arcade games you can shake a stick at. Normally in Compilations you might get 2-3 good games and the rest is filler crap, but not here, they're all gems in my books. You have Metal Slug ( one of my all time faves ) Baseball Stars ( I normally hate sports games, but it's way fun. ) Burning Fight, Fatel Fury: King of Fighters, King of the Monsters, ( I love that game! ) Last Resort, Magician Lord, Neo Turf Masters, ( I'm not a golfer, but this game is addictive as hell! ) Samurai Shodown, ( Great game! ) Segoku, Shock Troopers, ( an other fun one! ) Super sidekicks 3: The Next Glory, The King of Fighters, ( One of the best fighting games of all times! ) Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy, ( Don't let the name fool ya, it's way fun! ) and The unlockable game, World Heroes. I haven't obtained the 10 medals yet needed to unlock it, but someday! For people more worried about 3-D graphics and eye candy in a game, you should look elsewhere. But to us retro gaming whores ( and you know who you are! ) that want playability above anything else, great memories, and the thrill of the 'high score' SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 is the best game your PSP can ever have in it. I can't wait for Vol 2 to come out! ( If it ever will? ) " Happy Arcading! "

nice selection of games ad good graphics

During the mid to late 2000's, game companies released a lot of these retro collections for various platforms and these were a great deal since you could have anywhere from 10 to over 30 games per collection and these retro sets usually went for about thirty bucks new and later dropped down to under twenty bucks. Later on some of these games began appearing individually for download on the various virtual shops such as Xbox live or Wii shop channel for around ten bucks a pop(or sometimes less but overall this collection is a much better deal).SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 has 16 games in the collection. For each game there are several different settings that you can change to customize to your liking such as display or audio options as well as difficulty and button layout variations. In addition to the games, you can also unlock such things as game art, music, and video as well as a moves list(for fighting games). And there are also goals you can reach in each game in order to earn various medals.In the selection of games, you can see a big difference between the older Neo Geo games(from the early 90's) and the later ones(mid to late 90's); the older games had stiffer animation and the graphics looked flatter whereas for the later games the programmers knew how to take advantage of the capabilities of the Neo Geo and produced more fluid looking games with graphical depth and better shading. And the games look great on the PSP with sharp visuals and bright colors. The controls feel pretty accurate too. It would've been nice had they included Pulstar or even a horizontal shooter such as Aero Fighters 3 since I am a big 'Shmups' fan. And unfortunately there was no volume 2.