If you don't care about owning these titles legally, it's very hard to recommend this collection.

While these are arcade perfect ports from what I've played of the games, that's not necessarily a good thing when it comes to Salamander/Life Force or the Gradius games. Those games suffer from lots of slowdown if you actually manage to get fully powered up. When Gradius 3 and 4 were released as a two pack for PS2, they had an option to turn off the slowdown, something I am sorely missing from the first two games.

Speaking of other games, I think Konami should have left out Haunted Castle, as it feels out of place in this collection. It's an odd choice to include it when several of the already included games have sequels that could have been put in instead (Thunder Cross 2, Salamader 2, the remaining Gradius games, or more Twinbee). Or even include obscure games people may have never played before, like Xexex.

The additional options are lacking as well. You can play in the original aspect or do an ugly stretch to 16:9, you can choose from a couple borders , and you can choose whether the controls display at the bottom of the screen or not. That's...pretty much it besides difficulty and life options.

That's not to say this collection is completely horrible however, just not really a good alternative to emulation. Gradius 2 is still one of the better games in the series, and both Twinbee and Thunder Cross are worth a look if you've never played them before. But I imagine most people interested in those series already have experienced them in other ways, legal or otherwise.

Overall, as a big fan of Konami's work in the arcades, it pains me to say this collection is sub par and not worth full price.

This collection features various Konami arcade games from the 80s including one their earliest Shoot'em-ups 'Scramble'.
The recent update adds in the JP versions of the games that have noticable differences than their International release.

For example, Haunted Castle's JP ver. is easier while Thunder Cross lets you stack more Options and use different types of weapon power ups, to name a few.

This collection was handled by Hamster and is a solid porting process with good music and visual presentation.

If you're a fan of 80s arcade games or shoot'em-ups, this is a must have addition to your collection.

Okay, i haven't played much of this yet, but i already know i can't honestly say this is the greatest pack ever, first of all, you can only play the US versions of these games, why does that matter you ask?

Well, a few games have different music, order of levels or are harder and less balanced than their japanese versions, but the problem comes from Haunted Castle and Thunder Cross, mainly, Haunted Castle is absurdly hard and it's pratically trial and error the game, it makes a lot of hard games look pathetic in comparison, that being said, the japanese version was still tough but was a lot more balanced and thus easier and fun to play, Thunder Cross on the other hand is literally dumbed down, they removed weapons, you can't do as much with some mechanics as you could in the japanese version.

Basically, you are paying for either versions that are harder for no reason(particularly Haunted Castle) or missing content, and no, you genuinely can't choose the japanese versions, you are stuck with the US versions, but don't worry, if you are japanese, you can buy the pack and get all of the best versions, and we can't because that version is region locked.

As for how the games play, well, they are still fun shmups, Haunted Castle is a bit too hard and not fun enough to try mastering, and the US versions aren't THAT BAD for the most part, it's just Thunder Cross and Haunted Castle are easily better in the japanese versions, but if you like arcade games, particularly shumps, then this should still be worth buying.

Oh, and use a controller, because you can't rebind keys in this compilation, yep, it's one of those games, oh, you can choose what each button does, don't you worry about that, you just can't choose which keys on the keyboard you can use.

Also, you have to save state to record your high scores and there doesn't seem to be any online leaderboards because...because Konami.

Honestly, the games aren't entirely bad, but i am leaving a negative review anyways because it lacks some big features and i really hate the fact that they region locked a whole version of the pack with the best versions of two of the games with the others also being generally better than their US counterparts, it's just the difference in quality isn't as drastic.

Here I was, when seeing the package, instantly buying it without even having to think about it. I mean, it's Konami after all! While I have great memories of Konami and their games, this 'release' is utter crap. I do not mean the games, but the way they are brought. It comes with a clumsy set of keybindings that cannot be changed to other keys of preference (e.g. shoot with spacebar or X). There's constantly a big ass white border with menu options on the bottom of the screen. The game timing is completely off, at least for 'Nemesis' and 'Lifeforce', resulting in very different gameplay and even non-smooth transition of things. The only reason I'm not going for a refund is as a reminder to myself on how NOT to release a product...

When Konami announced their three anniversary collections I was most excited about the Contra Anniversary Collection and the Arcade Collection. Classic shmups handled by Arcade Archives/Hamster at a reasonable price? Sign me up! Unfortunately when more information came out about the collection I was less enthusiastic. It turned out Konami had decided to only offer “region appropriate” games. In other words, if you were outside of Japan you were stuck with the international versions of the games instead of the Japanese ones. This was a deal breaker for me.

For some of the games in this collection there are major regional differences. One game where this is easy to see is the US version of Haunted Castle. You take much more damage which makes it much harder than the Japanese version. There are also notable differences between the two versions of Thunder Cross. Thankfully, sometime after the game became available Konami released an update that added the Japanese versions of the games.

The update probably could have been done better. Rather than adding region options to the individual games they added a “Bonus JP Version” section. Achievements can only be unlocked by playing the international versions of the game. It would have been nice to see achievements for both versions, and it might have encouraged some people to explore the games a little further. It feels like the JP versions were crammed in as an afterthought rather than an update that was well thought out and planned. The JP versions shouldn’t have been a bonus, they should have been included from the start.

I’m not going to review each individual game, but I’ll say that if you’re a shmup fan the collection is worth getting for Gradius, Salamander, and Gradius II alone. If you’re not into playing shmups, this is probably not the collection for you. I really wonder why they didn’t swap Haunted Castle for Parodius and call it the “Konami Arcade Shooting Game Collection” Each game features the ability to save and load which is quite helpful when practicing for a real credit. You can rebind buttons and toggle autofire for specific buttons. There are a couple generic frames you can choose to display instead of black space. I would have liked to see game specific frames like some other retro game collections, but in the end I don’t think it’s all that important.

The biggest feature this collection is missing is leaderboards. The bonus eBook is pretty cool, but in a collection clearly targeting shmup players I think many of them would like to see leaderboards. At the end of the day though, the games are there and they work properly. If you want to play some classic and historically significant shooting games, you can’t go wrong with this collection. I recently did a 1cc of Salamander and will definitely spend more time trying to clear some of the other games. I hope Konami continues to release arcade game collections, but I’d like to see them implement game regions in a smoother way going forward. They would be wise to use the Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle as an example.

Edit: The "morning" bubble system music being used in the collection's credits is a very nice touch.

Cant recommend. One of my all time arcade classic games Thunder Cross is totally missing essential details , Ie missing weapons and also the ability to move your little addon bots. Played maybe 20 mins of Nemesis and switched it off. Really bad slow down on the games. Requested a refund shortly after purchase as it simply just didnt deliver.

Can you believe that Konami has been around for over 50 years now?
50 years of gaming, that's just half a century, a historic road full of evolving achievements where everything has come to the point in today's video games capabilities & quality.
1 way to celebrate these milestones in the evolution of gaming history is a collection of classic titles that have been instrumental in progressing.

Check out gameplay of the complete collection here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrgcPuZB8wo

7 different known classic shooters + also 'Haunted' Castle, for those unfamiliar with Haunted Castle, this is a game that belongs to the castlevania series. Think of this title as an extra as it doesn't fall under the shooters genre like the rest of the collection.
A slight graphical upgrade has also been added so that it all still remains quite visible in higher resolutions compared to the resolutions that were available in the living room in the time period when these titles were released.
Despite this last detail, the games will not take up the entire screen and this remaining space is compensated with images or filters.
You will also have access to an interesting E-book where you can learn many related facts about the titles present in this collection such as background information and even early drafts.

Anniversary Collection Arcade Classics, despite its questionable marketing name, is a mostly excellent compilation of games released by Konami during the 1980's with only a single dud in the mix. I won't be wearing any nostalgia glasses as I never played any of these games as Arcade releases. I did play Gradius and Lifeforce on NES, but those versions are not part of this collection. All games are side-scrolling or over-head shoot-'em-ups except Haunted Castle being a side-scrolling action game. Respectively, all games are great except for Haunted Castle.

Haunted Castle is a giant leap backward from the amazing Castlevania for the NES. It's a slow moving, practically impossible experience to enjoy. If the enemies and environment don't make short work of you, the timer will. The game plods along at a tortoise pace, but puts you on a rabbit timer... cheap. In the arcades, "The Count" would have performed his job admirably - sucking out as much of your soul and money as possible. I weep for anyone who played this game during its original run. Almost every step involves an encounter with an enemy appearing out of nowhere with difficult to attack/predict movement patterns or a surprise environmental obstacle removing serious amounts of health from your life meter. Your trusty whip is mostly for show, but you can upgrade to a sword or mace. Bats seem to drop the power-ups, if you're lucky. The secondary weapons are useful, but there won't be enough hearts to keep it powered for long. I advise you to save up the hearts you do manage to obtain for battling stage bosses or an impossible to avoid swarm of enemies. On the plus side, a save-state feature is included. I also advise you to use the save-state after every encounter with an enemy. You will need all of your health to make it through this game. You do receive some health replenishment after a boss battle, but not all of it. Haunted Castle is a terrible game and the epitome of Arcade money grabbing greed. I'm adding it to my list of "Worst Games I have ever Played."

Now we can leave the sour experience of Haunted Castle behind. The rest of the collection is great.

Scramble has tight controls and light twitchy game play. I love the bright colors, also. You should be able to beat this game without using the save-state. Scramble still holds up well today.

Twinbee is an "Xevious"-type game with primary weapons and bombs. The difference is Twinbee is great and Xevious is horrible. Twinbee is fun, interesting, colorful, has interesting levels enemies, and power-ups.

Typhoon is an interesting mix of 3D simulated levels and a cross between "Xevious" and "Raiden"-type gaming. The game is pretty good, but your ship is definitely under-powered. The power-ups are few and far between, also. Similar to the Gradius series, don't get exploded, or you will need the save-state frequently.

Thunder Cross is an excellent, almost perfect shooter. It's easy to get into and the difficulty would be just right... if not for the enemy mine which floats in, explodes when shot, and hurls bullets in all directions including one nasty bullet homing in on your ship. Without proper timing and attention, you will be destroyed every time by this enemy. Make sure you have "Lil Babies" available for quick elimination of this menace. As I understand it, coin operators complained Thunder Cross was too easy and not enough money was stolen... I mean accumulating... from the players. So, Konami released newer ROMs making the game harder. The bosses in this game are pretty easy, so I presume this enemy mine was part of the "improvement."

Nemesis (Gradius), Salamander (Life Force), and Vulcan Venture (Gradius II), are all excellent shooters. Compared to Raiden, the Gradius series with its excellent power-up system always feels like you have a chance to win... it's a small chance in reality, but it's there none-the-less. However, if you die... forget about it. The enemies become too overwhelming against your pea-shooter of a ship. Still, the game maintains its enjoyment since it doesn't rely on cheap deaths. The slowdown really helps out, too.

Finally, Konami's digital museum of history on these games is as good as it gets with interesting facts, designs, and marketing materials. Plus, you get the Japanese versions of all the games. Anniversary Collection Arcade Classics is an excellent deal and even at regular price is a good value. Don't miss out!


Summary Ratings (1 to 10)

Scramble
6

Twinbee
7

Nemesis (Gradius)
8

Salamander (Life Force)
8

Typhoon
6

Haunted Castle
1

Vulcan Venture (Gradius II)
9

Thunder Cross
9

Letter to the Devs,

Please allow users to assign their own keys for game controls! I will change my review to positive if this change is implemented.

Best regards,
Annoyed Gamer

The actual games are pretty close to their arcade originals, if you are an ultra-fanatic you'll notice that lag frames happen 1 frame off (but rendering the game without the even frames would be hella annoying on the eyes... so it's a fair compromise)

The REAL reason I cannot recommend this is the same reason I can't recommend many of the arcade and classic ports on Steam... lack of proper controller deadzoning. This is particularly egregious in Gradius 1 where you move extremely fast and Haunted Castle where pressing any direction stops your motion... which is all the time cuz no dead zone.

Summary: Devs.... c'mon... people use controllers yaknow, these games WERE on the NES, the Arcade games didn't use Keyboards... Deadzones are important.