I have loads of these collections from the Sega Megadrive to Atari to playing EA classic 16-bit games on the PSP. The quality of these collections can vary wildly. Some have the wrong games, some suffer from terrible emulation and some are just packaging together games that are so ubiquitous that you see them everywhere you look.
But what are some of the best? I've picked out some of my favourites from my own collection, and I'm interested to hear what you think are the best.
Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection
I picked this up on Switch a couple of years ago for a tenner, which was ridiculous value for money. The collection consists of pretty much every game up to Street Fighter 3, including all the Alpha games and the various iterations on each title. The emulation in this collection, to me, seems perfect. There are hours and hours of play available here, even in single player, as you gradually increase difficulty to master the games (I have never mastered these games...)
The highlight of the package for me is Street Fighter Alpha 3, a game I have on PS1 and PSP (aside: it's a shame it's not the PSP version on this collection, but they're all arcade games). The roster of fighters is incredible and I love the anime slightly cell-shaded looking style of the artwork in this game. The Street Fighter collection is a must for any fighting game fan, and even for a casual like me it represents what I consider to be the pinnacle of the genre.
Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle
A favourite genre in the arcade for me is the scrolling brawler, and although an argument could be made in favour of other developers, I think Capcom are the kings. This collection features lots of games that are otherwise relatively difficult to get hold of now. There's a real mix from the basic Final Fight to games with a slight RPG mechanic to them, fantasy to futuristic, games with loads of different moves and games with barely two or three. The selection of games here is brilliant, although missing a few 'would have been nice' titles, which I'm assuming may be due to licensing (Aliens Vs Predator, for example) and Cadillacs and Dinosaurs (not sure why this wouldn't be on there) but overall it's excellent. Great emulation again, and heaps of fun in multiplayer.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Cowabunga Collection
This collection is the gold standard. 13 games ranging from NES to SNES, Megadrive and Arcade, and they're mostly all brilliant fun. It's the extra touches that sets this collection apart, though. An absolute treasure trove of additional content; tips and guidebooks, instruction manual scans, concept art, comic book covers, every music track available on a jukebox, plus the ability to save state, rewind, tinker with the settings for additional lives, god mode, stage select etc. They give you everything you need to play the games how you want.
The Turtles aren't necessarily a franchise I've ever really been 'in to'. I bought this collection a while back but since watching the new movie the other night I've been on a real Turtles kick, playing the games again, reading some comics. The Cowabunga Collection really represents quality to me, and as an added bonus the games are still really great to play.
So those are some of my favourites. There are loads of others I could have mentioned. The Konami Castlevania/Contra/Shmup collections are all great. The Mega Man collections, the various Darius and Turrican collections. I think these are great times for retro compilations. Do you have any favourites?
