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PSP Retro Collection Round-Up
Written by Philip Jones on Monday, November 13, 2006
Did you know there are over ten (!!) retro compilations on the PSP? We rundown which ones are worth your dough, and which aren't...
So many retro collections, so little time! The PSP is seeing a quite varied selection of collections, ranging from Genesis games courtesy of Sega and EA to arcade greats from Capcom, Taito and Konami. We've had retro collections on other formats previously but never have we had them so perfectly in a portable form! The PSP's Journey into classicdom began immediately after its Japanese launch with the appearance of Namco Museum. I jumped at this like a hungry animal, desperate for something other than Ridge Racers to feed my tiny black monolith. I yelped as I slammed it (carefully) into the console only to slowly realise that I'd played Pacman, Dig Dug and Galaga to death previously. The games did come with graphically revamped variations but they didn't do that much to further the actual gaming experience. Pacman did look nice, though!
Its release started a flurry of collections, often seen as attempts at milking our nostalgia teats for every last drop of potential cash. Any company with a back catalogue can attempt to serve up a collection but only a few have the guts (by guts... I mean decent games in their back catalogue) to be able to pull it off properly! A problem that I'm sure we're all too aware of is that it seems like all too often the publishers are keeping back the cream of their titles for use in further future releases. Aah well, you can't have everything at once.
So what do I intend to achieve with this little retro roundup? Well, I'd like to give my thoughts on what titles are worthwhile, and which ones went wrong (and why).
Namco Museum Battle Collection
Namco museum Battle collection brought their classics into our hands, you know the ones by now. Pac and his friends, Dig Dug and its little known sequel. Galaga and Galaxians and a whole host of other lesser known titles. The Namco museum titles from Japan were merged into one for this release, giving us considerably better value for money. The star of the package to me though, is the considerably more modern and far more entertaining Rolling Thunder. This collection features the modernised versions that featured in the Japanese releases so there is a fair amount to feast upon. It's just... y'know, Rolling Thunder, in my hands! Yeah! It's worth the entry fee to me for that alone.
Midway Arcade Treasures: Extended Play
In amongst all these arcade classics from Japan, we find some good old fashioned American arcade goodness. A hearty helping of titles from the companies that were, at the time, videogame behemoths. Atari, Williams and Bally/Midway. Midway, as the only survivor of the slimming down of the arcade market, found themselves in control of the assets of their former competitors and they unleashed their potential in the form of a lovely collection of arcade classics. Featuring the likes earlier games like Defender and Joust, Atari Games' Paperboy, 720 and Gauntlet through to more modern titles like the Mortal Kombat franchise. Sweet stuff indeed!
Taito Legends Power Up (Import only)
When I heard about this, I almost imploded with sheer delight. Then I read the list of featured games and fell back to the stony ground with a thud. There are a few decent games on this disc but I think for most of it, the title of "legends" is being overly generous. Space Invaders is a classic, Phoenix, Rastan Saga, Qix and Elevator Action I fondly remember and The New Zealand Story is also a quality title but.... BUT I say.. Most of the other games in the package are games that certainly weren't in MY local video arcade. Space Chaser what? Alpine Ski who? The Fairyland Story? Fairy... Land.. Story!?
But one game I wanted to try, a game that was a precursor to a truly legendary title. Chack'n'pop, which bears an uncanny resemblance to a certain Bubble Bobble, which despite its recent DS flavored regurgitation, remains quite possibly my favourite game of all time. Unfortunately, Chack'n'pop's gameplay is nothing like that of its offspring, so only serves as a novelty throwback, much like most of this collection. Additionally though, just like the namco museum titles we have a few "enhanced" variations of a few of the games, Balloon Bomber, Legend of Kage, Cameltry and Crazy Balloon. Featuring y'know, the usual enhanced graphics, audio and a few new levels. Overall it's a pleasant enough collection, the few goodies that are there are nice but you can't help but feel like you're just waiting for the inevitable "even more powered up" edition.
posted November 15, 2006