Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle

Genre: Compilation / Arcade Brawler

Players: 1-4 Co-Op (Local, Local Wireless, Online)

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Review:

Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle is a collection of seven Arcade Brawler games released in arcades from 1989 to 1997. Some of these games have been ported to consoles previously, while others are appearing on home console for the first time in this port. Some of these games are obscure titles, while others are considered classics of the genre… but it has been over 20 years since these games first released, so the question is how they hold up.

Here’s how I believe these games fare by today’s standards:

Game	Genre	# of Players	Grade
Final Fight	Arcade Brawler	1-2 Co-Op (Local, Local Wireless, Online)	C+
tl;dr Final Fight is arguably the biggest-name Arcade Brawler in this collection, one of the formative titles in this collection. It has also aged very poorly. While the presentation and character designs here are still as iconic as ever, the gameplay is extremely simple, and the co-op play is seriously hampered by characters that take up so much space on the screen it’s difficult not to keep accidentally hitting your partner. This is still an important, iconic title, but its presence here feels more significant as a historical relic than an actual game.
The King of Dragons	Arcade Brawler	1-3 Co-Op (Local, Local Wireless, Online)	B-
tl;dr While visually less striking and iconic than Final Fight, medieval-themed The King of Dragons nevertheless manages to be more fun to play thanks largely to its variety of playable characters, including a few whose primary attack is a projectile. There’s also some clever boss design going on here. However, it’s still a fairly simple game that can get a bit repetitive.
Captain Commando	Arcade Brawler	1-3 Co-Op (Local, Local Wireless, Online)	C
tl;dr Neither as memorable as Final Fight nor as fun and varied as The King of Dragons. Captain Commando does at the very least have some fun and bizarre character designs and a strange and silly world to fight in, but that only provides some mild amusement for what is otherwise a repetitive and pretty forgettable fighter.
Knights of the Round	Arcade Brawler	1-3 Co-Op (Local, Local Wireless, Online)	C
tl;dr Like The King of Dragons, this is a medieval-themed Arcade Brawler, with players taking the role of Arthur, Lancelot, and Perceval. There are fewer characters with less variety than in The King of Dragons, and while this game does add elements like horse mounts, this is still a pretty repetitive game.
Warriors of Fate	Arcade Brawler	1-3 Co-Op (Local, Local Wireless, Online)	B-
tl;dr Another medieval-themed Arcade Brawler, but this one set in China and based on a manga inspired by the classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms tale. This game draws ideas from The King of Dragons and Knights of the Round, and the result is a game with a good variety of characters, mounts with their own move sets, and a combat system that actually has a bit more nuance to it, although it does feel a bit stiff. Still, the result is a game that’s pretty good by today’s standards.
Armored Warriors	Arcade Brawler	1-3 Co-Op (Local, Local Wireless, Online)	A-
tl;dr This Arcade Brawler does some really inventive stuff, with players piloting one of four mechs, each of them unique enough in their own right and with a pretty varied move set, but things get even more interesting when enemies can bust up your parts, and you can swap parts with some of the enemies you take down, essentially custom-building your fighter as you go. There are tons of clever little details here as well, like puny humans you can simply walk through. This is a fantastic game well worth playing.
Battle Circuit	Arcade Brawler	1-4 Co-Op (Local, Local Wireless, Online)	B+
tl;dr This Arcade Brawler out-crazies Captain Commando with its silly style and bizarre cast of characters, but it also has a nicely-nuanced battle system, and the ability to selectively upgrade abilities as you progress. It’s also the sole game in this collection that supports four players, which is just as well because it’s one of the best games in the set.

So, out of seven games, four of them are at least pretty good even by today’s standards, with the rest still at least being okay. The surprising thing is that the three games that fare the poorest here are arguably the three most well-known games. Meanwhile, the two best games in this collection, Battle Circuit and Armored Warriors, are both games that have never previously been playable on console before.

These games are presented with multiple display options, the ability to play their Western or Japanese versions, create save states, and customize button inputs. This game also includes a gallery of promotional and production art, including concept drawings.

Also, I have to note the value of this package. At twenty bucks, that means each game is costing you under three bucks apiece, which is a steal in and of itself, but with all of the included extras here, this is an absolute bargain. Shockingly so, considering how Capcom infamously price-gouges Nintendo Switch owners with their other games on the console.

Having said that, there is a bit of a catch here – I should also mention that some of the games included in this Compilation can also be found in Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium, specifically Knights of the Round and The King of Dragons. This is just a few of the included games in this Compilation, and it bears mention that Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium doesn’t support online play and local wireless play, while Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle does.

In the end, Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle is an absolute must-have for fans of Arcade Brawlers, and a pretty good buy even for those who aren’t diehard fans of the genre. The selection of games here range from average to very good, with some of the best titles being made available for the first time in this collection. Also, the value is phenomenal. This game is well worth a purchase.

tl;dr – Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle is a collection of seven Arcade Brawler games originally released in arcades from 1989 to 1997. These games range from average to very good, with some of the best games in this collection never previously released on consoles. This collection has some good extras, and a good price. If you’re a fan of the genre, or just looking for a decent action game to play in co-op, this game is well worth getting.

Grade: B+

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