Capcom Beat' Em Up Bundle

[Grazza]

I thought this deserved its own thread:

 

 

Final Fight

Captain Commando

King of Dragons

Knights of the Round

Warriors of Fate

Armored Warriors

Battle Circuit

 

The proper coin-op versions of each, at last!  The Switch is becoming an absolute beast of a retro arcade simulator.  Out 18 September.

Edited September 14, 2018 by Grazza

[Hero-of-Time]

For me, this was the best announcement to come out of the Direct.

I will never get tired of playing Final Fight ( so much better than SoR ) and I look forward to playing it again.

I've always wanted to play Knights of the Round and Captain Commando is a fantastic arcade game that I can't wait to get my hands on again.

 

[Strange Cookie]

Deserve it it does.

I love scrolling beat'em ups (weren't they used to call beat'em alls?), so I'm lapping this up like there is no tomorrow. Which us ironic, since it's arriving next tuesday. But you catch my drift.

So when is Disney Afternoon coming to Switch, Capcom? Because as a Nintendo-fan, I'm inclined never to be satisfied.

Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-J530F met Tapatalk

[Hero-of-Time]

I ended up picking this up on the Switch. The PS4 version had a shoddy trophy list ( no platinum! ) and my mate I was gonna play it with is too busy on God of War.

I fired up Captain Commando first and after around 25 years of waiting I finally beat the game!

Looking back it seems I got pretty far into the game back in the arcades. Playing it took me right back to my childhood, playing the game in the arcade that was underneath the Central Beach at Blackpool.

I tried playing it online but not a single player was playing it.  

 

[S.C.G]

I will be picking this up but... it seems that it's getting a physical release later on in the year on December 6th so, I'll be holding out for that.

[Hero-of-Time]

8 minutes ago, S.C.G said:

I will be picking this up but... it seems that it's getting a physical release later on in the year on December 6th so, I'll be holding out for that.

Yeah, Japan only though at the moment. Standard Capcom.

Edited September 18, 2018 by Hero-of-Time

[S.C.G]

41 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Yeah, Japan only though at the moment. Standard Capcom.

Ah, I thought that was for UK as well being that the release date is December 6th... that sucks then.

[Hero-of-Time]

I just clocked Final Fight for like the 100th time. I love this game so much.

Its crazy just how many enemies are on screen at the same time in this version. I'm so used to playing the console ports that I kept getting overwhelmed by the sheer number of fists flying at me. Despite this, I still think the GBA version of the game is my favourite. It's such an impressive port and I love the unlockables, especially the Street Fighter Alpha sprites of Guy and Cody.

[Grazza]

7 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Its crazy just how many enemies are on screen at the same time in this version. I'm so used to playing the console ports that I kept getting overwhelmed by the sheer number of fists flying at me. Despite this, I still think the GBA version of the game is my favourite. It's such an impressive port and I love the unlockables, especially the Street Fighter Alpha sprites of Guy and Cody.

 

Yeah, I think the Japanese version of the GBA port is my favourite, for the reasons you mentioned.  Lower-pixel graphics, but it plays so well, especially with Alpha Cody.

 

Anyway, I've downloaded Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle and am looking forward to playing it tonight.  Just looking through the art gallery reminds me of why I loved Capcom in this era so much.  The visual design is so on-point, and evokes a feeling it's hard to explain.  Like you are seeing the peak of 2D, certainly in terms of design and character.

[Nintendo Fan]

I've always loved beat 'em ups, as kids we spent countless hours on Streets of Rage but I really don't know how we missed these.

Man I didn't even know that a bunch of Street Fighter characters came from Final Fight. I know Captain Commando and Haggar from playing Marvel vs Capcom 2 and 3 that's about it.

Yeah I'm gonna have to pick this up and start with Final Fight.

 

[Hero-of-Time]

10 hours ago, Grazza said:

The visual design is so on-point, and evokes a feeling it's hard to explain.  

I wonder why you feel like that? 

 

I was looking through the gallery for Battle Circuit and here's the design of one of the main characters.

This is such a ripoff of Nate Grey (X-Man) from the X-Men characters.

 

[Nintendo Fan]

The online on this is pretty good, someone joined my session of Final Fight and stayed until the end.The game is fun and plays great, I just wish I played this back in the day. 

I was playing as Cody while the other guy was Haggar and destroyed everything with piledriver what a BEAST . Even as 2 players there were times we got over run by thugs, chaotic fun! Captain Commando next on my list.

This has got me hyped for Streets of Rage 4!

[Grazza]

2 hours ago, Nintendo Fan said:

I was playing as Cody while the other guy was Haggar and destroyed everything with piledriver what a BEAST . Even as 2 players there were times we got over run by thugs, chaotic fun! Captain Commando next on my list.

 

I always wanted to play as Haggar, but was never very good using him.

 

But yes, Final Fight is the beat 'em up, only truly rivalled by Streets of Rage 2.  Actually, there are some Sega ones I like as much, such as Golden Axe and Spider-Man, but that's just me.  If you want another tip for a game of this genre, try Arcade Archives Double Dragon.  You might find it slightly unimpressive compared to FF, but it's a true classic and I think it holds up well.

 

15 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I wonder why you feel like that?

 

When I saw that first image I thought "Cody's slimmed down!"

[Nintendo Fan]

10 hours ago, Grazza said:

But yes, Final Fight is the beat 'em up, only truly rivalled by Streets of Rage 2.  Actually, there are some Sega ones I like as much, such as Golden Axe and Spider-Man, but that's just me.  If you want another tip for a game of this genre, try Arcade Archives Double Dragon.  You might find it slightly unimpressive compared to FF, but it's a true classic and I think it holds up well.

Double Dragon 2 is what started it all for me, true classic indeed. Kinda sucks that the one on NES Online doesn't have co op.

[Grazza]

Spoiler

Above: Really great pencilling on this one.  I've always wanted to do that style of having thicker outer lines, and more subtle detail within.

 

Below: This evokes that '80s/'90s arcade feeling so well, with the thick outlines and strong colours:

 

Above: I've always loved Capcom's depictions of showgirls!  These are from Battle Circuit, and I haven't actually seen them in-game yet, but they remind me of the ones on Balrog's stage in SFII.

 

Above: There's something I like about this one, but I can't quite put my finger on it.  I think it's the way the leopard print suits the red trousers.

 

Right, onto the games!

 

 

First up is something that needs no explanation!  I approached Final Fight as a Double Dragon and Golden Axe fan, but I had to grudgingly admit this was something else.  It was one of the first games I bought on SNES (actually before I'd played the coin-op) and have always loved everything about it, especially the huge sprites.  It didn't matter to me that it was single player, or that Stage 4 was cut out.  Actually, Rolento's stage is terrible, so I'm glad they cut it out!

 

But here we have the full arcade game, with Guy, Jessica's bra and Rolento's fire traps.  Final Fight's brilliance is its boldness.  They knew it was important to have big sprites, and so they made that a priority - and in fact, although later CP System games shrunk things down a bit for their 3-player coin-ops, it doesn't actually stop FF having hordes of enemies.  Final Fight is a simple game, and all the better for it.  You soon pick up on how you can switch from punching to a throw, or how jumping in with a knee (rather than a flying kick) makes it easier to grab an opponent - all of which it did better than preceding games.  And when things really do get too much, you can clear the area with a two-button special attack.  It's actually a kind of alchemy, and I don't think Capcom left any room for improvement.

 

@Hero-of-Time is not exactly unfair to imply I like the female figures, but I love everything about Capcom's style.  As a teenager, I used to think I could look like Cody if I lifted enough weights!  And the wrestler-like enemies are, if not scary, certainly intimidating.

 

Final Fight is simply the best - 10/10.

 

Above: Throwing enemies was always my favourite thing.

 

 

Below: Throwing Sodom:

 

Above: Throwing a nice young lady at a bearded chap.

 

Below: Throwing a police officer:

 

Above: Throwing men in the toilets.

[Grazza]

Next up is King of Dragons:

 

 

This is one I actually did play back in the day.  I remember finding it in a seaside arcade and playing as the Cleric.

 

King of Fighters is Capcom's take on Golden Axe, with all the fantasy clichés that implies.  Despite introducing RPG-style levelling-up, it's a much simpler game than Final Fight, or indeed, Golden Axe - there are no throws or dash attacks, for instance.  Magic can be used by pressing jump + attack at the same time or hitting a floating orb if  one happens to be on screen at the time.  The main gameplay focuses more on positioning and evasion and, although very hard, does have that crucial feel that you could become good at it with enough practice.  You can even repel enemy weapons if your timing's good enough (or you set a button to Turbo attack!)  Every now and then you get to upgrade your sword and shield - I managed to get both to level 8, but wonder if they can go higher?

 

Overall, King of Dragons is probably a little bit too simple, but still enjoyable.  I imagine it was great fun if three of you could get together and play it.

 

Above: The Fighter has a curious outfit.

 

 

 

Spoiler

Dude, that's a bit too much like a thong!

 

Edited September 20, 2018 by Grazza

[Grazza]

The next two games are ones I'd never actually played before:

 

 

I remember reading a letter in a magazine (probably CVG) from someone saying they had discovered a brilliant coin-op called Captain Commando.  Ever since I've wanted to play it.  Now I have, I can pretty much see why it had a devoted fanbase.  It's like Capcom tried to make the ultimate beat-'em-up, with throws, dash attacks, weapons and ride-ons.  It really does have everything.

 

The cartoon violence is actually very strong, in an Itchy & Scratchy kind of way, and I can see why the SNES version was censored.  Tonally, Captain Commando is very sci-fi and whacky, and in this regard I do prefer Final Fight, but I really want to become good at this one.

 

 

 

 

Knights of the Round is one my friend told me about, but I never actually saw it myself.  I should have guessed by the name, but it's about King Arthur and his knights!  In fact, it's quite unique in this regard, not like the average fantasy game at all.  Apart from the occasional oversized enemy and some disappearing magic, there is very little fantasy as such.

 

The moves are more complex than the other games in the collection so far, with a strong attack and guard action that I found difficult to pull off.  You can also climb on horses, although doing so is quite hard, and keeping it even harder!  Like King of Dragons, this also has a levelling-up system.  Later on in the game, Arthur and Lancelot become visually quite awesome, whereas Percival has an impressive green pouch!  Of the four games so far, Knights of the Round feels like it would be the most difficult to master, but I'm intrigued to see if I could do so to any extent.

 

 

 

[Grazza]

 

The fifth game is a real gem!  Warriors of Fate is the first game in the collection I had not heard of at all, but I'm glad I have now.  The story is based on Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which I must admit is not something I'm familiar with, but it must be quite important as the love poured into this is clear.

 

Graphics, controls and gameplay are all brilliant, with the five playable warriors all having real character.  This is the first game I've played that perfectly blends sword fighting, horse riding and hand-to-hand combat.  It's actually not even that hard, with the real feel that you can master it.  The only drawback is that, from Stage 2 onwards, it takes ages to reduce enemies' HP, but apart from that I genuinely think this is perfect.

 

 

[Grazza]

The best eShop game just got better!

 

Beat 'Em Up Bundle has been updated with the option for original size (as opposed to full screen) and two main types of filter.  The "A" filter adds horizontal scanlines, and the "B" filter seems to simulate some sort of dot display.  It's great to be able to play these in pixel perfect form.