Capcom has been firing on all cylinders recently. Street Fighter 6 fans are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Terry Bogard. The Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics is just over the horizon. But they still won’t let up as, during the most recent Nintendo Direct, Capcom revealed the Capcom Fighting Collection 2, which will include eight fan-favorite classic fighting games, leading to the fighting game community losing their minds with excitement.
Sorry, did I say “eight fan-favorite classic fighting games” earlier? I misspoke. I should’ve said “seven fan-favorite classing fighting games and one pretty meh fighter” instead. That’s because Capcom Fighting Evolution is part of the Capcom Fighting Collection 2. I never played the game but the general consensus is that it’s pretty bad. I guess it’s here because all of these fighting games were released around the same time period so, yeah, one black sheep among a glorious seven golden calves is fine.
But it did get me thinking what if Capcom could break free from whatever reason they included Capcom Fighting Evolution? What if they could pick any fighting game and just jam it right in this collection? Well, I have a whopping five games that I wish would take that game’s place!
Ooh, the exclusion of Rival Schools hurt me a little. That’s because it’s one of my favorite fighting games of all time and I actually wrote about how I hoped Capcom would remaster it or something. So it being left out stings. In a way, I do understand why it was excluded as this was during the early days while Capcom was still trying to create 3D fighting games and the low-poly count looks terrible by today’s standards. However, they did include Project Justice, its sequel. So, it feels doubly odd Capcom wouldn’t include Project Justice’s predecessor.
However, if I were to get a little more specific, I would prefer the lesser known Rival Schools 2, which was only released in Japan on the original PlayStation. While the gameplay is exactly like the first game, it did add the school photographer Ran Hibiki and swimmer Nagare Namikawa to the roster. However, that game was actually released not because of the fighting game element but for the school dating sim game. Still, any version of Rival Schools would have been better than Capcom Fighting Evolution.
Like with Rival Schools before it, I just think it’s weird they left out Star Gladiator, the prequel to Plasma Sword, which is included in the Collection. Once again, there’s probably a reason why the older game isn’t included but, when you do have the sequel, it’s just odd to leave out the game that spawned the sequel. Yeah, I know Plasma Sword looks a whole lot better, but it would be nice to include Star Gladiator to see how much its improved!
In a sense, Star Gladiator is kind of the oddball out there because it eschews Capcom’s traditional fighting control scheme as there’s a dedicated block button. Capcom probably thought their fans couldn’t understand because Plasma Sword changes it back to holding back to block and adds a dedicated sidestep button, which does feel much better. Still, Star Gladiator feels like it should’ve been included just so fans can see how much Plasma Sword changed things up.
I know everyone is super hyped about the Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics. I am, too! I’m also know fans are drooling over the prospect of playing the Capcom vs. SNK games as well because I’m eager to play them as well. But those aren’t the only crossover franchises Capcom has done. There’s still one missing: Tatsunoko vs. Capcom!
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom plays a whole lot like Marvel vs. Capcom, with tagging in partners, piano inputs, assists, super jumps, long air combos and the like. There are also other unique gameplay mechanics, such as the Baroque cancels and the Mega Crash, which works like a very expensive GTFO move. The biggest problem with getting this game is the licensing as Capcom would have to negotiate with the Japanese animation studio who own the IPs to these characters.
#4 Tech Romancer
The first Capcom Fighting Game Collection had Cyberbots, a pretty cool fighting game with mechs. Sadly, it didn’t get a sequel… kinda. Capcom did make a spiritual successor to Cyberbots called Tech Romancer and it took all the giant anime robot concepts, from Super Robots like Mazinger Z, transforming mecha like the Veritechs from Macross and even the Real Robots akin to Gundam, mashed all the tropes up and made a fabulous fighting game!
Tech Romancer makes full use of the different anime mecha genres as the way they fight is wholly dependent on where they come from. G Kaiser fights with rocket punches and a chest beam much like the aforementioned Mazinger Z. Dixen is a mech with drones much like some of the mechs from the Gundam animes. The weirdest one is Wise Duck, a tank of a mech and the only one who cannot jump but makes up for it with high damage. Oh, and to really reinforce Tech Romancer is a spiritual successor to Cyberbots, Jin Saotome and Blodia, the main protagonist from that game, is a hidden character! So, if Cyberbots made it into the first collection, why shouldn’t its sequel Tech Romancer be in the next collection?
#5 Ring of Destruction: Slam Masters II
You may think, since this is a sequel to Saturday Night Slam Masters, I shouldn’t be including Ring of Destruction in this list. After all, the first game was a wrestling game, with pinfalls, climbing the top rope and whatnot. Well, you’d be wrong because Capcom totally retooled the sequel to make Ring of Destruction a straight up fighting game, with lifebars, high and low attacks, rounds, holding back to block and such. Heck, you don’t even pin the opponent anymore. You just beat them up until their lifebar is depleted and then you win!
I will say Ring of Destruction does feel a little janky as the controls really take getting used to as Capcom still tried to leave a lot of the wrestling mechanics in instead of making it a straight up fighting game. There’s a dedicated grapple button, which is important as you do your more damaging moves out of a grapple. Some super moves are done with really icky motions, like Titanic Tim’s Titan Destroyer where you move the joystick from down-back, down to up with the grab button. Ew! Still, it’s a pretty fun game, especially with two players going at it head-to-head.
Bonus #1: Street Fighter: The Move: The Game
This one… yeah. There are a couple of versions of Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game floating around out there. The original arcade version and the “fixed” home port. Both are still terrible and broken but I would prefer “broken” rather than “boring.” The arcade version is definitely “broken.” Capcom Fighting Evolution is “boring.” So, give me the “broken” one instead! At least I can laugh at how bad it is!
However, I don’t think Capcom would ever want to re-release either version of Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game. It’s just too much of a painful reminder of how much they started to screw up the franchise. Also, you just know they would have to pay through the nose to use the likenesses of Jean-Claude Van Damne and Raul Julia.
Bonus #2: Final Fight Revenge
Once again, give me “broken” over “boring!” Final Fight Revenge is not a good fighting game. The hit detection is atrocious. The controls are stiff. But it’s just so, so much fun when you play against another human opponent! If movies can become “so bad, it’s good,” so can fighting games like Final Fight Revenge!
I kinda think the folks at Capcom where just really drunk when they came up with some of the mechanics here. I mean, putting weapons on the field for fighters to pick up? Okay, that’s fine, I guess? Attach minigames when you use supers? Umm, sure. This is just a surreal fighting game and I love it! Too bad Capcom is ashamed of it as well!
Bonus #3: Cannon Spike
Even I will admit Cannon Spike has no business being in the Capcom Fighting Game Collection 2. Mainly because it isn’t a fighting game! It’s a shoot-em-up. But it does feature Capcom characters from fighting games like Cammy and Charlie Nash from the Street Fighter franchise, BB Hood from Darkstalkers and Mega Man! So, it’s fighting game adjacent!
Then again, if they did include Cannon Spike, they couldn’t call it Capcom Fighting Collection 2, could they? Who cares! I just want to play some Cannon Spike!
What other Capcom fighting games do you think should have been included in Capcom Fighting Collection 2? Let me know in the comments section below!
3rd World Geeks 