Yes, this was announced weeks ago. Yes, I am late to the party (as always). And yes, I am going to talk about even though I'm late.
As far as new game releases go, Konami hasn't been knocking it out of the park. The game didn't set the world on fire but Super Bomberman R was probably one of the best things that Konami has done in the past few years. The game received tons of free DLC in the form of new characters, modes and stages. When you consider the disaster that was Metal Gear Survive *shudder* it really is hard to see the company regain its former glory. The recently released Castlevania Requiem, which contained Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night, was a solid collection and makes some think Konami might be better off re-releasing games from their massive catalog. With the company's 50th anniversary this year, what better way to celebrate than by releasing old Konami favorites? That's where the Konami Anniversary Collections come in.
Releasing on all platforms the Konami Anniversary Collections contain numerous titles from what many would consider Konami's golden age, spanning both arcade and console titles. The first anthology release, Anniversary Collection Arcade Classics is due on April 18th will feature Haunted Castle, Typhoon, Gradius, Gradius II, Life Force, Thunder Cross, Scramble and TwinBee. The next two releases, Castlevania Anniversary Collection and Contra Anniversary Collection are due out sometime during the summer and only the first four games for both of those collection has been revealed, but you can't go wrong with Contra III and Super Castlevania IV. I've never played Thunder Cross so it'll be interesting to see what that game is all about. I am stoked to finally have Contra and Super Contra on the Switch (what else would I be buying these games on?) so I'll be able to get good at those games no matter where I am.
As awesome as it would be to see games like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turltes, The Simpsons, Turtles in Time as well as X-Men, we won't be getting those for very obvious reasons: licensing issues. Still, it would be nice of Konami to remember Sunset Riders was a thing and give us that. Snatcher and Policenauts would also be nice. The "Coming Soon" slots on the Castlevania and Contra Anniversary Collection makes me wonder what games Konami will throw in there. As amazing as Ronod of Blood and Symphony of the Night are, I hope those games don't take up space on Castlevania Anniversary Collection because they've already been re-released on the PS4 not long ago. I'd rather see Castlevania: Bloodlines, Castlevania: Rebirth or Kid Dracula be included. Contra: Hard Corps has never had another re-release so this is the perfect time to give that game more time in the sun and Contra 4 could use some more loving. I could see Operation C or Contra: Shattered Soldier taking a spot and there's also Contra: Rebirth.
There are still some details we don't know about these collections. Will games with vertical screens support TATE mode? Will we get to play the different regions of the games or will we be limited to the version that released on our side of the world? Perhaps the most important question of all, who is doing the emulation of these games? I suppose we'll get some of those answers in a week or so when the first of these anniversary collections get into YouTubers and reviewer's hands.
No comments:
Post a Comment