When Capcom Arcade Stadium was revealed in late 2020, I thought to myself "That looks neat. I'll probably pick it up." I love retro games and from the reveal trailer, I could see that some of my favorites like Final Fight were among the featured titles. When the game dropped a week ago, I did some digging to find out what other games were available for this collection. Capcom Arcade Stadium went from being a collection I wanted, to a collection I REALLY wanted.
THE GAMES
As of right now, there are a total of 32 games in Capcom Arcade Stadium, divided across three packs. Each pack will set you back $15 and there are 10 games in each pack. I hear you asking "Hey, Reg, where do the other two games come from?" Well, 1943 -The Battle of Midway- is a freebie. The spirit crushing Ghosts 'n Goblins was free until Feb 25th. If you don't want to spring for a whole pack, you can buy stand alone games for $2. You can also buy all three packs together for $40, which also gets you the additional two aforementioned games.
In my opinion, Capcom Arcade Stadium is worth parting with $40 over. All three packs are bound to have at least a few games you're sure to love. Packs are nicely arranged via a set year of games and each one contains a variety of genres. The majority of the games also give you the option to play either the Japanese or English ROM.
Pack 1: Dawn of the Arcade ('84-'88)
The mid to late 1980s collect the first batch of games in Pack 1 of Capcom Arcade Stadium. These are definitely the early years but there are some titles that show what Capcom was shaping up to be.
*VULGUS, PIRATE SHIP HIGEMARU, 1942, COMMANDO, SECTION Z, Tatakai no Banka (TROJAN), LEGENDARY WINGS, BIONIC COMMANDO, FORGOTTEN WORLDS, Ghouls 'n Ghosts.
Fun fact, VULGUS is Capcom's very first shooter, a genre which is plentiful in Capcom Arcade Stadium.
Pack 2: Arcade Revolution ('89-'92)
Pack 2 has a few games from 1989, before biding the the decade farewell and ushering in the early 1990s. This pack is a smorgasbord of beat 'em ups, SHMUPs and action platformers. Capcom really began to hit their stride here.
*STRIDER, DYNASTY WARS, Final Fight, 1941 -Counter Attack-, Senjo no Okami II (MERCS), MEGA TWINS, CARRIER AIR WING, STREET FIGHTER II -The World Warrior- , CAPTAIN COMMANDO, VARTH - Operation Tunderstorm-
No, I didn't get my 1940 shooting games mixed up. 1941 really did release after 1942. I have no idea why Capcom chose to name these games the way they did.
Pack 3: Arcade Evolution ('92-'01)
Hot dog, this pack is so dang awesome! We're talking what is arguably the pinnacle of arcade Capcom games with this one. I honestly didn't expect there to be any games from the early 2000s in Capcom Arcade Stadium, but I'm not complaining. All across this pack are some of the best fighting games ever, robots, SHMUPs, robots, brawlers, and more robots.
*WARRIORS OF FATE, STREET FIGHTER II' -Hyper Fighting-, SUPER STREET FIGHTER II TURBO, Powered Gear -Strategic Variant Armor Equipment (Armored Warriors), CYBERBOTS -FULLMETAL MADNESS-, 19XX -The War Against Destiny-, Battle Circuit, Giga Wing, 1944 -The Loop Master-, Progear.
Progear never got any sort of home release until this collection. It was also developed by Cave in case you needed some kind of incentive to play it.
EXTRAS
Let's get the most glaring omission out of the way. If you're looking for interviews, arcade cabinet artwork, any type of behind the scenes material that Capcom's previous compilation releases are known for, get ready to become a new resident of Disappointment Valley. Unfortunately there is nothing to speak of in the way of bonus stuff, not even a music player. Perhaps Capcom could remedy this in a future update but as of now, Capcom Arcade Stadium is extraless. Some high res arcade flyers sure would have been swell. Profound sadness, but not the end of the world.
PRESENTATION
What Capcom Arcade Stadium lacks in extras it more than makes up for in presentation. Games are presented in a slick Japanese arcade hall with cabinets lined up next to each other. Each cabinet can be customized to your liking, including the size and color. These are some nice touches that go much further than I initially thought they would. I'm surprised at how much time I've spent fiddling around to give each game I play a unique look. Even more cabinet options can be unlocked as you play.
You'll be hard pressed to find an arcade compilation with a sicker user interface. Picking from the EN and JP ROMs, manuals and controls are just a simple button press away. A myriad of screen sizes and screen filters are yours to use. Want 4:3 or an arcade sized screen, curved edges, scan lines, or some weird mix; whatever you desire, you can make it happen.
Being a big SHMUP fan, I'm happy to report that the screen can be rotated properly to support TATE mode, which I'm sure all you Switch owners are gonna love. I never knew how much I wanted to emulate the feel of being in an arcade and looking over at other arcade games while I play until I could make it happen.
Even the joy (or agony) of plunking a quarter into the slot to add a credit for play is replicated along with each arcade game's coin jingle. As much as I love the free play setting of Capcom Beat 'em Up Bundle, I didn't realize what I was missing by having the ability to add credits be turned off.
REWIND
Rewinding has been a standard feature of these retro releases but I don't think anything has done it better than Capcom Arcade Stadium. Perhaps it is the difficulty nature of arcade games but being able to undo do a mistake or completely ignore some cheap garbage is simply the best. Dodging bullet patterns in games like Progear or 19XX is a tad less stressful when I known where the fire is coming from and just where it is gonna go. And for games like Ghosts 'n Goblins? Man, I feel like I am getting sweet, sweet revenge for all the crap that game put me through years ago. No longer do I have to be stuck with that sucky Torch until I can get the dagger. I think Rewinds may be the only way for me to play the G'nG games.
The rewind feature will be great for helping players that truly do wish to improve or perform perfect runs on some of these old games.
COMPETITION
We have be encouraged to keep our distance from others during this ongoing pandemic but that certainly isn't gonna deter the competitive spirit. There's no online co-op play but you can compete players around the world for high scores and game completion times. The game is only a little over week old and already people have some pretty insane scores and times. I don't plan on cracking the top 30 anytime soon but this is a very welcome feature, nonetheless.
There are also limited time challenges such as competing for a high score in a set amount of time or seeing how fast you can finish a game. Bear in mind that when taking on these particular challenges some features like Rewind are disabled. Level playing field and all that.
ARTWORK
The game doesn't have a physical release but I gotta gush a bit about the absolutely adorable artwork on Capcom Arcade Stadium. Tons of Capcom characters, both heroes and villains having a good time. Well, mostly everyone. There's lots of little details sprinkled throughout the above image. I didn't know until I was working post that Arthur was about to face off against a dragon that stole his burger. Poor guy can't even relax for a second. Perhaps that Red Armer on the left stole someone's pizza? Next to Arthur is the protagonist of COMMANDO, who either doesn't know how to play the game he's in front of, or he's had enough and decided to deal with the game how he deals with enemy soldiers. Cammy is a tad concerned.
THEME SONGS
I gotta say, I'm impressed with the amount of effort Capcom has thrown into Capcom Arcade Stadium. The collection itself is super swanky and Cacpom had two theme songs ready to promote the game's launch. No doubt you've heard Brand New Day, the auto tune song that plays at the title screen. The jam everyone is talking about, however, has gotta be Teenage Blues, the track that plays during the Capcom Arcade Stadium's credits roll. This song sounds like it came right out of the '80s and for a brief time, I thought it did. I thought it was an old song Capcom used to go along with the game's YouTube video for launch day but it turns out the song is present day music, intentionally made to evoke rock from the decades gone by. The track is even up on Spotify, which is great since YouTube is taking forever to Auto-Generate the thing. Capcom could have just released the game with little to no fanfair but you can tell some serious TLC went into this. Teenage Blues is a bop.
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