This week saw the reveal of the Capcom Home Arcade. If you like consoles you can plug directly into your TV and have £200 sat around that you’re not using then you’re probably rather excited. Following on from the high-profile successes of other retro consoles, such as the SNES and NES mini, it seems like more and more such systems are getting released. The Capcom Home Arcade is a very different creature to other, cheaper devices. With more demanding hardware and two full sets of arcade controls its clearly aiming for a more niche audience.
Let’s take a look at what games are included on the Capcom Home Arcade. At 16 games its not the most exhaustive list of classics one might expect, especially with that price tag. But these are arcade games, not the home console ports, with the system promising to deliver ‘a true arcade experience’. There are the games you’d expect to see on a Capcom system; Street Fighter II, Final Fight, Strider and Ghouls N’ Ghosts. If you’re a fan of scrolling shooters then 1944: The Loop Master is a welcome inclusion. The fact that a game from 2000 made the cut rather than older and more famous entries in the 19XX series shows some thought went into these picks. Gigawing, Eco Fighters and Progear round out all your shooting needs.
There are some games its very nice to see on the list. Megaman: The Power Battle is a great fighting game, especially if you love Megaman, but it might get overshadowed by some of its better love fighting cousins here. There’s Cyberbots: Full Metal Madness if you want more robot-on-robot action. Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors is potentially the coolest fighting game present. Its horror movie inspired characters really make it stand out here. Capcom Sports Club and Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo add some nice variety for when you don’t want to shoot or punch things, and adds a little but of family appeal to an otherwise pretty intense set of games.
One of the reasons the Capcom Home Arcade is a difficult purchasing decision is that only last September Capcom gave us their Beat ‘Em Up Bundle. At just £16 it came with 7 arcade beat ’em ups, including Final Fight, Armored Warriors and Captain Commando which all feature here, too. It also came with some beloved games not on the Capcom Home Arcade, so if you’re drawn to arcade beat ’em ups that’s probably a smart place to spend your money. Its interesting to note that the Beat ‘Em Up Bundle didn’t receive a physical release but they do think there’ll be a market for this. The last game is Aliens Versus Predator. Aliens Versus Predator is in some ways the biggest surprise on the list, being a licensed title and not present in the Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle.
Its hard to fault the quality of titles on the system. Capcom made some truly great and wacky arcade titles and its nice to see them getting another airing. Many of these titles have already been made available in other cheaper formats, though. Most consumers aren’t interested in paying a premium for a ‘true arcade experience’ – this just seems like £200 for 16 games. This, presumably, isn’t going to be lining store shelves. This is Capcom taking aim at the small part of the market paying money for arcade cabinets, Neo Geos, or anyone still willing to blow through a stack of coins in a real arcade. It might end up being be very successful on its own terms. I would have rather seen an affordable collection aimed at a much wider audience, even if it meant sacrificing some of that ‘arcade’ perfection.
