Capcom Fighting Collection Switch XCI Free Download Romslab

Capcom Fighting Collection Switch XCI Free Download Romslab Capcom was a king of the nascent arcade industry back in the 1980s. An innovator, a standout release, its invention within the fighting game genre remains unsurpassed. The company isn’t new to releasing retro collections, with close to thirty compilations across various platforms. With newer hardware, however, there’s a more reliable chance that arcade games will be accurately preserved, and in a more streamlined format. Essentially, this is exactly what Capcom Fighting Collection offers. Be aware, though, that the featured titles are strictly arcade-only, meaning Donovan’s corrupt alter-ego from Vampire Savior (PlayStation and PSP compilations), three rather excellent console-exclusive characters from Cyberbots. ROMSLAB.COM BEST SWITCH GAMES

Capcom Fighting Collection Switch XCI Free Download Romslab

(Sega Saturn/PlayStation) and three appearances unique to console releases of Super Puzzle Fighter II X aren’t present. Despite this, Capcom Fighting Collection is an excellent purist package for fighting game fans. Unlike the console releases, there are no missing animation frames and everything is 1:1 to its arcade counterpart. When it comes to 2D gaming, lag is a death knell. Thankfully it’s relatively undetectable here – or at least too minute to notice in local modes. Playing online may introduce a touch of lag, but Capcom’s bespoke netcode works well to eliminate it. In our online testing, we barely noticed any issues unless we were having a seriously bad internet moment – and even then, these instances were rare.

Fully-featured online modes

Presentation is excellent across the board, with a simple but smart interface, direct and to the point. The menus are clean, with a nice jazzy jam playing over colourfully cute wallpaper that wouldn’t look amiss on your desktop. Every game defaults to graphics filter Type-D on initial launch. Of the seven superb screen filters to choose from, this is probably the best, closely echoing the default MAME CRT filter in quality. There are no options for screen-edge curvature or corner distortion, but a variety of screen sizes are available, including correct 4:3 aspect ratios. Various wallpapers imbue the flavour of ’90s arcades, but can be turned off entirely if preferred. Beach Bounce Remastered Switch

Capcom Fighting Collection Switch XCI Free Download Romslab

Unfortunately, an in-game soft reset option is absent, forcing you to quit out if you want to get back to the title screen. For some, this will be the Darkstalkers collection with bonuses. For others, it will be the Red Earth port they’ve waited for forever with other stuff thrown in. The Darkstalkers line-up spans all five arcade releases, although it should be noted that Vampire Hunter 2 and Vampire Savior 2 are actually modified versions of the third game, Vampire Savior/Darkstalkers 3, that add and remove certain characters, and introduce speed and gameplay adjustments. A horror-themed fighting series, Darkstalkers was head-turning when it debuted in 1994, putting Capcom’s CPS-II arcade system to task with incredible animation and moody, artistic backgrounds.

Additional content: The Museum

Although based on the Street Fighter II engine, it follows a new set of rules, introducing crouching forward crawls, air-blocking, and the ability to chain combos together for dazzling offensive stings. Super attacks and the way they’re stocked evolved with each iteration, and Vampire Savior 2 tactically removed air-chaining altogether. Although the series didn’t perform up to expectations in the West, characters like Morrigan, Felicia, and the machine gun-toting B.B. Hood have become firm fan favourites, cameoing in scores of titles since the Darkstalkers series wrapped in 1997. Which is the best of the Darkstalkers games is subjective. Bear’s Restaurant Switch NSP

Capcom Fighting Collection Switch XCI Free Download Romslab

Some may prefer the simpler, more deliberate nature of Night Warriors, others the more furious nature of the sequels and their options to switch between turbo and auto-blocking play styles. For reference, Vampire Savior/Darkstalkers 3 and Vampire Savior 2 still see the most action in tournament settings, so if you’re a fighting game aficionado it might make sense to hone your skills there. Regardless, this Universal Monster-inspired, Japanese ghost-laden series is a thing to behold. Bursting with visual personality, strategy and atmosphere, it’s a testament to Capcom’s ingenuity in the evolution of the genre. If there’s any downside, it’s that Vampire Savior 1 & 2 are Japan-only and certain sections of text remain disappointingly untranslated.

Breaking Down the Collection

Elsewhere, Red Earth (War-Zard in Japan), Capcom’s first CPS-III Arcade System title, makes its console debut, and for some will be the collection’s highlight. Red Earth did poorly enough in 1997 to never see a sequel, and much of this is down to it being misunderstood. It is, essentially, Capcom’s “Dungeons & Dragons: the fighting game”, featuring a glorious fantasy setting and multiple endings. Quirks such as treasure, coins, super orbs and food being spilled and collected mid-fight might not lend themselves well to serious competitive play, but they do make for an incredibly unique game. You can even earn experience points, bestowing new abilities on a character, and, using the password system, continue to play using their levelled-up state (made simpler here with the new quick save option). Beastie Bay DX Switch NSP

Capcom Fighting Collection Switch XCI Free Download Romslab

With only four characters to choose from, you fight eight bosses in the campaign. These range from the enormous horned Tyrannosaurus Rex, Hauzer, to Kraken-esque monsters, dark wizards, Sphinxes and flying Harpies. It’s graphically sumptuous in sprite-work, backgrounds, and overall presentation, your progress marked on interim map movements and occasionally interspersed with bonus rounds. It blends fantasy with technology, mythology with lore, each of its bosses – and their enormous health bars – a spectacular encounter. It’s true that, once you have a handle on your preferred character, the battles don’t hold as much strategic nuance as they could, and it’s generally not too challenging overall – but the potential for online match-ups is an interesting one.

Add-ons (DLC): Capcom Fighting Collection Switch XCI