Capcom Fighting Collection (Nintendo Switch) Review

By Az Elias 04.07.2022

Review for Capcom Fighting Collection on Nintendo Switch

Street Fighter might be Capcom's baby, but other titles were birthed over 25 years ago that have sadly been left behind, allowing Ryu and Chun Li's franchise to dominate as the Japanese developer's active fighting game series. Whether the Capcom Fighting Collection can lead to revivals of any of the included games, only time will tell, but the classic fighting purist that is eager to reconnect with that beloved coin-op era may have their eye on this ten-piece package.

Comprised of a range of mid-90s and onwards titles, the Capcom Fighting Collection consists of the following:

- Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors
- Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge
- Vampire Savior: The Lord of Vampire
- Vampire Hunter 2: Darkstalkers' Revenge
- Vampire Savior 2: The Lord of Vampire
- Red Earth
- Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness
- Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
- Hyper Street Fighter II: The Anniversary Edition
- Super Gem Fighter Minimix

Darkstalkers fans will be especially pleased to see that half of the entire package consists of the five entries in that series, whereas, perhaps surprisingly to some, Street Fighter has just the one, although Hyper is the definitive Street Fighter II arcade release, so no previous versions were necessary.

Red Earth, known in Japan as Warzard, marks the first time it has been made available on home consoles, and Capcom even saw fit to include the puzzle-based Street Fighter title, Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, to finish off what is otherwise a strictly fighting affair.

Screenshot for Capcom Fighting Collection on Nintendo Switch

This is arcade preservation done right. Capcom has brought the coin-op experience to the living room, including many options to elevate the overall package. With the exception of the Japan only Vampire Hunter 2 and Vampire Savior 2, each title can be played in its English USA variant or its Japanese version. Outside of Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, all games have a Training mode that can be dived into, whilst full button customisation exists, on top of a plethora of unique settings for each game.

Taking Hyper Street Fighter II as an example, whilst difficulty, game speed and max rounds can be freely modified, the ability to choose mirror matches in the game's normal mode and making it easier to unlock Akuma as a playable character also exists. Other titles such as Darkstalkers feature attack power options, plus further move-specific choices, like whether Demitri's Bat Spin can allow extra inputs or if Rikuo's Direct Scissors attack can be crouch blocked. Furthermore, a range of glitches and bugs have been ironed out of the original releases for the Capcom Fighting Collection, making them some of the most definitive versions of these games to date.

Screenshot for Capcom Fighting Collection on Nintendo Switch

That said, these being arcade-specific titles does mean that any previous home console port benefits aren't present here. Cyberbots, for example, doesn't feature secret pilots Shade, Devilotte or Chiyomaru Kagura - characters that were exclusive to the Saturn and PlayStation versions. Setting out to be as faithful as possible to the arcade originals is the goal here, though, and that is achieved admirably.

Screen filters and display ratios offer a broad choice, but a button to hide the menu and preview the selection during this process would have been of great help instead of backing in and out of the settings each time. Move lists are a convenient addition, and a quick save/load feature makes getting through each title's arcade mode a less frustrating experience. For some bizarre reason, though, making a quick save in another game will erase the save made in a previously played title, rendering the feature itself less convenient than intended.

Screenshot for Capcom Fighting Collection on Nintendo Switch

Bonus content in the form of game soundtracks to listen to and art galleries to view, including concept art, design documents, character animation sequences, promotional material and more, are freely available without needing to unlock anything, which is always greatly appreciated. A minor desire would have been to see some written history and trivia for each of the games akin to what was featured in Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection, especially since some of these titles aren't familiar to non-Japanese and younger players.

In-game challenges bring some additional value to the package, but the main draw will be the online mode. All games can be played in casual, ranked or lobby matches, with the latter providing plenty of options for the matches ahead, such as whether cross-region matchmaking or one-button special moves (a most welcome addition) are allowed. Unfortunately, and surprisingly, however, cross-platform online play is not doable, meaning Switch players can only play against other Switch players. The online mode has already presented some difficulty in getting matchups, and no doubt other platform users will feel disappointed at the inability to challenge others across systems, because this is clearly going to be a niche product that could use all the help it can get when it comes to online play.

Screenshot for Capcom Fighting Collection on Nintendo Switch

Cubed3 Rating

7/10
Rated 7 out of 10

Very Good - Bronze Award

Rated 7 out of 10

Capcom Fighting Collection presents a slightly bemusing package, given that half of the content is Darkstalkers and seven of these titles are in the two Capcom Arcade Stadium games. Cyberbots feels oddly out of place with its mecha-style gameplay, as does Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, but that's hardly a complaint; it just feels like the overall product could have been bolstered by more of Capcom's rich fighting game history, of which there is plenty to choose from. This is a great way to dive into the fan favourite Darkstalkers franchise, in particular, though, and seeing games previously exclusive to arcades, like Red Earth, make their way to consoles for the first time is a pleasure. Just beware the hefty price tag and lack of cross-platform online play.

Developer

Capcom

Publisher

Capcom

Genre

Fighting

Players

2

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  7/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  0 (0 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date Out now   Australian release date Out now   

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