Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2 (Xbox) review "Playing through Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 1 made me remember something about Capcom: they used to make some really tough games. I was surprised at the amount of beat downs I would get in just one stage in Final Fight, and with Gun.Smoke, my fingers would nearly go numb by the time I'd reach the second stage. Don't even get me started on the Ghost 'n Goblins series... But most of them were still fun to play, even when you were seeing the continue screen for the 500th time. "

Playing through Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 1 made me remember something about Capcom: they used to make some really tough games. I was surprised at the amount of beat downs I would get in just one stage in Final Fight, and with Gun.Smoke, my fingers would nearly go numb by the time I'd reach the second stage. Don't even get me started on the Ghost 'n Goblins series... But most of them were still fun to play, even when you were seeing the continue screen for the 500th time.

Well, Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2 continues that tradition, giving you another tough batch of games to deal with, like 1941. A huge improvement over the previous 194X titles, the gameplay is much more solid here, giving you a much better chance of surviving attacks. Though, it's still pretty hard if you're not careful, since the screen scrolls at a faster pace during certain moments, making avoiding objects difficult. If you're not in the mood to shoot down airplanes, you can move on to a different genre in the collection. Magic Sword, an action game where you'll have to fight through 50 floors of a tower, surprisingly, never gets repetitive due to its enemies and obstacles. Beasts in armor, bears, floating jelly fish (?!), and other dastardly bastards await, but you're not alone in your struggle, as you can free prisoners, like ninjas and giants, to aid you in this battle.

Along the way as you play through these titles, you'll get the chance to unlock bonuses, but only if specific conditions are met. If you're gonna see the neat image gallery for Captain Commando (which includes what seems to be a promotional comic), then you're gonna have to fight your way through the various goons, thugs, and ninjas, until you defeat a boss at a certain stage. Though, you'll probably play through the game anyway just to fight the various goons, thugs, and ninjas. Obtaining the music gallery for Mega Twins will be a much more lengthier goal, as you'll have to complete the whole game to listen to its whimsical tunes. But, as is with the other titles, you'll have no problem playing this Monster Land clone, as venturing through its various locations and slashing away at the baddies is quite enjoyable.

While these titles may be hard, yet still enjoyable, they may be just too overwhelming for some people at first. Like in Last Duel, a shoot 'em up where you can control a vehicle that can transform into a car and a ship. The car segments can get pretty intense at times, what with you having to dodge and shoot various foes on a narrow path, and even jump over a few holes. Fortunately, if you get too stressed out at this (even with the title, as well as every game in the collection, having infinite continues), you can enable the invulnerability cheat before starting. However, you won't have the ability to unlock the bonuses for the game or save your high scores as long as it's turned on. So, even though you won't get frustrated at first, you'll eventually gonna have to turn it off if you desire those extras.

Unfortunately, all is not well with this collection, as there are some stinkers (sounds familiar...) featured on the disc. Avengers, a beat 'em up with an overhead view, gets really irritating. With the hit detection being a bit off, you'll end up missing the bad guys completely, even though it clearly showed that you hit them. In a title where a bunch of guys rush you at once, that can be deadly. And the final boss is next to impossible to defeat without the cheat; getting this game's music gallery is a pipe dream. Also, the most absurd addition to the collection has to be Quiz & Dragons, a simple title where you have to pick the right answer to a question. The problem with this is that the game came out in 1992, and the questions are mostly from pop culture. The rest of the questions are something I highly doubt the majority of gamers will even know. No offense. And, of course, I have to mention Street Fighter. This game's almost-broken controls and hit detection make it insanely hard to play without its cheat turned on. The only reason to play is to see just how the series started out... and to laugh at the voices.

Thankfully, the rest of the collection is still fun to experience. With games like Side Arms (it's like a Forgotten Worlds/Gradius mix), Three Wonders (three enjoyable games in one, can't lose there), Super Street Fighter II Turbo (I still think Champion Edition is the best in the "II" series, but this is still nice), and Capcom Quiz (it's Quiz & Dragons, except the questions are Capcom-related), among much more, there's always something to play. It's a shame that a Vol. 3 will likely never surface, what with no announcements or news of any kind ever since this one came out. Still, with Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2, along with Vol. 1, you'll have a lot of Capcom goodness to shuffle through.

Community review by dementedhut (January 31, 2008) Now if only I had the foresight to submit this OutRun review a day earlier...