SNK 40th Anniversary Collection

Genre: Compilation / Arcade

Players: 1-4 Co-Op / Competitive / Team Competitive (Local, Local Alternating) – Mostly 1-2 Co-Op (Local) and 1-2 (Local Alternating)

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Review:

SNK 40th Anniversary Collection is a compilation game that includes 32 games (if you count free DLC), all from the 8-Bit and 16-Bit eras (7 of which are console ports to the Nintendo Entertainment System). These games are from a wide variety of genres, though most are either a 2-Stick Shooter, a Top-Down Action game, or a Shmup. Here’s how these games hold up by today’s standards:

Game	Genre	# of Players	Grade
Alpha Mission (Arcade)	Shmup	1-2 (Local Alternating)	C+
tl;dr Alpha Mission is a solid old-school Shmup where players must manage both attacks from the ground and the air, with weapons you must use exclusively against each. It’s a decent but challenging take on the genre, although it definitely feels a bit too hectic at times, especially with a slow ground-based weapon you can only fire one of at a time.
Alpha Mission (Console)	Shmup	1	C-
tl;dr The console version of Alpha Mission is clearly a graphical downgrade from the Arcade version, and on top of the lower-quality graphics the game has tons of sprite flickering and slowdown. There are also fewer enemies onscreen, and the action overall is slower and simply not as fun.
Athena (Arcade)	Action-Platformer	1-2 (Local Alternating)	C-
tl;dr Athena is an Action-Platformer where players will be fighting through hordes of enemies, collecting pickups and upgrading their weapons and armor. It’s extremely hectic, and the controls are stiff and inconsistent. The game’s issues are especially frustrating, because the variety of weapons and upgrades is otherwise promising.
Athena (Console)	Action-Platformer	1	C-
tl;dr The console version of Athena plays like a simplified version of the arcade game. The controls are a bit better here and more consistent, although they’re still a bit stiff. Unfortunately, the hit detection is possibly even worse.
Beast Busters	Shooting Gallery	1-3 Co-Op (Local)	D+
tl;dr Beast Busters is a Shooting Gallery game where players shoot zombies onscreen before they can attack. This game was clearly intended for use with a light gun, and while the analog controls work, they’re clearly not up to the task of the fast-paced gunplay this game calls for. This is a game that really could have benefited from gyroscopic aiming.
Bermuda Triangle	Shmup	1-2 Co-Op (Local)	B-
tl;dr Bermuda Triangle is a hectic Shmup where your ship gradually transforms as it gets stronger. This is a cool way of showing your power-up progression, but the ships in this game are so big relative to everything else that it makes it hard to dodge. It’s even worse in 2-player, since the two ships can bump into each other. Decent, but there are definitely areas that could be better.
Chopper	Shmup	1-2 (Local Alternating)	C-
tl;dr Chopper is a Shmup where players fight enemies using a helicopter, and where the terrain can block your gunfire. The presentation here is pretty good, but unfortunately this game is far too difficult, and often for frustrating reasons, like enemies that surprise you from the bottom of the screen, and slow movement for your aircraft.
Crystalis	Top-Down Action-RPG	1	B
tl;dr Crystalis is a Top-Down Action-RPG that feels similar to classic Zelda games and especially Secret of Mana, being more linear and having RPG-style stats and leveling. It’s a solid entry in the genre, though the lack of a map, the restrictive view of the small screen, the forgettable music and the shoddy localization all work to make it feel somewhat dated and less of a classic than its contemporaries.
Fantasy	Arcade / Arcade	1-2 (Alternating Local)	F
tl;dr Fantasy is a game that jumps between different modes, but in each you’re moving around and generally avoiding enemies and hazards. Unfortunately, pretty much every part of this game is loaded with problems. Slow movement, poor hit detection, enemies that assault you the moment you’re able to move. It feels like this game goes out of its way to make itself devoid of fun.
Guerilla War (Arcade)	2-Stick Shooter	1-2 Co-Op (Local)	C
tl;dr Guerilla War is a 2-Stick Shooter that plays much like Ikari Warriors, with players taking the roles of Che Guevara and Fidel Castro (no, seriously – the original version of the game is called Guevara). The gameplay here is solid when it works, but the hit detection is spotty and it’s far too easy to get caught on scenery.
Guerilla War (Console)	Top-Down Action	1-2 Co-Op (Local)	B
tl;dr The console version of Guerilla War loses the ability to use a second stick to aim independently, and gets a significant graphical downgrade, but it’s also a much more enjoyable game, without the issues of the arcade counterpart, faster movement, and apparently unlimited grenades. While this results in the game becoming much, much easier, it’s still a lot of fun to play, and despite the cutbacks to the arcade version of the game, I much prefer this version.
Ikari Warriors (Arcade)	2-Stick Shooter	1-2 Co-Op (Local)	B
tl;dr Ikari Warriors is a 2-Stick Shooter that is an arcade classic that’s aged pretty well, and still plenty of fun today, although it’s a bit on the hard side, especially if you get stuck in the thick of enemies without a tank.
Ikari Warriors (Console)	Top-Down Action	1-2 Co-Op (Local)	D+
tl;dr Sadly, this port of Ikari Warriors to console doesn’t fare nearly as well as Guerilla War. Like in that game, this game lost the ability to independently aim and got a graphical downgrade, but the downgrade is far more severe here, with a frustratingly low framerate. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the characters now control like you’re steering a car, having to be turned around. The result is a game that’s far inferior to its arcade counterpart, and not very fun to play.
Ikari Warriors II: Victory Road (Arcade)	2-Stick Shooter	1-2 Co-Op (Local)	C-
tl;dr Victory Road is a bizarre follow-up to the somewhat grounded in military conflict original game, bringing the two-stick gameplay into the realm of fantasy. However, this time around the game has all sorts of problems, from slowdown when too many enemies are on-screen to slow character movement, this game just isn’t as fun as the original.
Ikari Warriors II: Victory Road (Console)	Top-Down Action	1-2 Co-Op (Local)	C-
tl;dr The console port of Victory Road retains some of the problems of both the first console game and the second arcade game – the removal of two-stick aiming, the slow movement, the odd “character drives like a car” controls. This game is a mess… yet somehow still more playable than the first console game.
Ikari III: The Rescue (Arcade)	Top-Down Action	1-2 Co-Op (Local)	D+
tl;dr The third game in the Ikari series makes the odd choice of replacing the series’ gun-toting gameplay with primarily melee combat, and the result is not great. Slow character movement paired with large size compared to the small screen means it’s easy to get ambushed and hard to avoid attacks even from enemies you can see. Add to that really clunky combat, and enemies that attack you immediately when you get up from being knocked down, giving you no chance to recover. The result is that this game just isn’t fun to play.
Ikari III: The Rescue (Console)	Top-Down Action	1-2 Co-Op (Local)	C-
tl;dr This version of Ikari III is only loosely based on the arcade game, and it’s all the better for it. It’s still suffering from poor hit detection and clunky combat, but it can still serve as an interesting distraction for a bit.
Iron Tank: The Invasion of Normandy	Top-Down Action	1	C-
tl;dr Iron Tank is a Top-Down Action game that’s something between a port and sequel of TNK III, keeping the same idea of you moving your tank and its turret separately. It’s a decent action game, but it suffers from tragically clumsy controls. Holding down one of the attack buttons to move the turret is a pain, and it simply doesn’t work well at all without two-stick controls.
Munch Mobile	Arcade	1-2 (Local Alternating)	F
tl;dr Munch Mobile is an odd Arcade-style game where you’re steering a car while simultaneously extending an arm to the left or right to grab objects. The grabbing controls are awkward and take some getting used to, and the roads are far too narrow, making it really easy to crash. Completely devoid of fun.
Ozma Wars	Shmup	1-2 (Local Alternating)	D
tl;dr Ozma Wars is a Shmup that plays a lot like Space Invaders, except with enemies that advance directly towards you. Unfortunately, it is missing a lot of the charm and nuance of Space Invaders, yet with many of the same problems, like the slowdown that clears up when you take out some of the enemy ships.
Paddle Mania	Sports (Tennis / Ping Pong)	1-4 Team Cooperative, Competitive (Local)	D
tl;dr Paddle Mania is an odd mix of Tennis and Pong that has players moving with one stick and swinging left or right with the other. Unfortunately, the physics in this game are extremely random and the ball doesn’t seem to react to the direction the paddle/racket is being swung. The result is a game that feels like you have far too little control over the gameplay.
P.O.W. (Arcade)	Brawler	1-2 Co-Op (Local)	C-
tl;dr P.O.W. Is an Arcade-style Brawler where players take the role of an escaping prisoner of war fighting through hordes of enemy combatants. Players have a good variety of moves at their disposal, but movement is far too slow and hit detection is spotty, with some of your punches whiffing against enemies who land punches back to you. The result is a game that’s okay, but has serious issues keeping it from being one you’ll want to play very much.
P.O.W. (Console)	Brawler	1	B-
tl;dr The console version of P.O.W. Is graphically far inferior to the arcade version, and stripped of its co-op mode, but the gameplay is much better here. This is a solid Brawler-style game, though it can be somewhat repetitive.
Prehistoric Isle	Shmup	1-2 Co-Op (Local)	B
tl;dr Prehistoric Isle is a Shmup that has you shooting it up on an island full of dinosaur-like monsters like you might see in a Ray Harryhausen film (to give you an idea, the brachiosaur that serves as the first-level boss spits fire and chomps on your plane if you get too close). It’s a ridiculous take on the genre that actually brings a unique gameplay element in the form of its “option” sub-weapon that can be maneuvered into different positions around your plane. While it’s a bit too hectic, overall this is a fun Shmup well worth playing for fans of the genre.
Psycho Soldier	Action-Platformer	1-2 Co-Op (Local)	F
tl;dr Psycho Soldier is an Action-Platformer that’s technically a sequel to Athena, even though it doesn’t play much like its predecessor. Your attacks in this game feel far too weak, and your enemies far too numerous. This feels like a game designed to suck quarters more than be an actual good game.
SAR: Search and Rescue	2-Stick Shooter	1-2 Co-Op (Local)	B-
tl;dr SAR is a 2-Stick Shooter that has you blasting alien zombies on a crashed space ship. It’s a delightful take on the genre that has you shooting endless streams of bullets and wading through tons of exploded alien guts. It’s a bit repetitive at times, and the dodge move is garbage compared to more modern games that use it, but this is still a fun take on the genre.
Sasuke Vs Commander	Shmup	1-2 (Local Alternating)	D
tl;dr Sasuke Vs Commander is a Shmup that’s vaguely like Space Invaders, but with flying ninjas instead of aliens. This game is fairly simple, but slow movement and the need to dodge falling enemies after you shoot them makes this far more difficult than fun.
Street Smart	Brawler / Fighting Game	1-2 Co-Op (Local)	D+
tl;dr Street Smart is an odd combination of Brawler and Fighting game, with gameplay like a Brawler, but set up as a one-on-one fight. Unfortunately, you have no choice of character, and the character you play has an odd move set where your own moves shift you around the area. On top of this, the hit detection is spotty and the gameplay is overall sluggish. You’ll likely get exasperated with this one quickly.
Time Soldiers	2-Stick Shooter	1-2 Co-Op (Local)	C
tl;dr Time Soldiers is a decent 2-Stick Shooter that has you fighting through hordes of enemies in different time periods. It’s a decent entry in the genre, but repetitive, and doesn’t do anything particularly noteworthy or exceptional.
TNK III	2-Stick Shooter	1-2 (Local Alternating)	C
tl;dr TNK III is a Top-Down Action game that feels like it was made after some executive asked, “what if we do Ikari Warriors again, but this time you’re always in the tank?” (though technically this game predates Ikari Warriors). The result is a decent 2-Stick Shooter, although the controls are a bit clunky.
Vanguard	2-Stick Shooter	1-2 (Local Alternating)	D
tl;dr Vanguard is a 2-Stick Shooter that has you piloting a fighter that can shoot in one of four directions. Unfortunately, the enemy AI is dumb as rocks and the levels are mindlessly repetitive. You’ll quickly get bored with this one.
World Wars	Shmup	1-2 Co-Op (Local)	C-
tl;dr World Wars is a Shmup that has you aiming at targets both in the air and on the ground with different weapons. It’s a fairly average entry in the genre, except that when you die you’re booted back to the beginning of the level.

So, out of 32 games, you have 7 that are genuinely good, 14 that are average to mediocre, and 11 that are straight-up terrible, with the stand-out games of the bunch being Crystalis, the console version of Guerilla War, the arcade version of the first Ikari Warriors, and the arcade game Prehistoric Isle.

That’s not the best ratio of winners to losers, but with a price tag of $40, that works out to just under $6 per game if you’re just counting the ones truly worth playing, with the other games tossed in as a bonus, which isn’t terrible.

This package also contains a good assortment of options and bonus content. Firstly, all games have both US and Japanese versions, save for Athena, Ozma Wars, Paddle Mania, Sasuke Vs Commander, Vanguard, and World Wars, which have only an international version. Each game also includes both a quick save, a rewind feature, and multiple display settings.

There are also achievements, as well as a museum of information, publication materials, and behind-the scenes content on the games in this collection as well as a slew of other SNK games release through 1990, prior to the Neo Geo. There are also soundtracks included for 13 of the games in this collection. All told, it’s a pretty good amount of bonus content, although seeing the extras for games not in this collection definitely makes you wonder why those other games weren’t included here.

Before finishing up this review, there’s one other thing I should mention. Multiple times while working on this review, this game crashed on me. This only happened while I was in game menus and never during gameplay, but even so, it’s frustrating that this issue is present, and it deserves mention here even though it didn’t really affect my experience too much.

In the end, SNK 40th Anniversary Collection is a bit of a mixed bag. There are a handful of genuinely good games here in among a lot of stinkers. The package is a bit pricey at $40, but given the number of games included and the good amount of extra features, that price isn’t terrible. Overall, this package is definitely better than average, especially if you’re a fan of classic games, especially 2-Stick Shooters, Shmups, and Top-Down Action games.

tl;dr – SNK 40th Anniversary Collection is a selection of 32 classic SNK games released prior to the Neo Geo, mostly arcade games with a few Nintendo Entertainment System games as well, with the games being mostly 2-Stick Shooters, Shmups, and Top-Down Action games. There’s a lot of trash to wade through in this collection, but there are a handful of real gems too, and a healthy helping of game options and bonus content. If you’re a fan of classic games, specifically the genres I named above, this collection may be worth your while.

Grade: C+

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