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Capcom’s second expansion of their Arcade Cabinet Platform (original review here) features three classic games from 1986. Trojan, Legendary Wings and Side Arms all show the evolution of the medium, even when compared to games of the previous year. Despite a few technical issues with Legendary Wings, it’s a solid pack, and one that arcade buffs will want in their collection.
Pack 2 starts with Trojan, a side scrolling action game, with the player fighting through hordes of enemies to reach the boss at the end of each level. Rather than just being another brawler, Trojan adds some new elements, like a shield for blocking attacks and jump areas that allow for extra height to take down elevated enemies. The blocking adds another layer of depth to the gameplay, and helps to make the game stand out.
Legendary Wings is both a vertical shooter and a side scroller. In the shooter sections, I experienced some slowdown and a bug when using autofire with the spread weapon that kept the left shot from firing. Continuing the theme of evolution, the game has hidden stages, which make it feel more expansive than previous titles. My only complaint was with the side-scrolling stages, which by modern standards move slowly.
The final game in the package is Side Arms, a side, vertical and horizontal scrolling shooter. Side Arms distinguishes itself by having five different weapons to obtain, power up and switch among. There is also a special suit that will fuse with the one worn by the player, granting additional power. All of the firepower available is necessary, because Side Arms is insanely chaotic on the normal difficulty, and it was another instance where I was glad to have access to DIP switch settings and Casual Mode.
One of the fun things about following the Capcom Arcade Cabinet releases has been watching the games progress and evolve over time. The 1986 pack feels like a leap forward, with titles featuring multiple play styles and weapon switching. For classic arcade fans, this is a worthwhile addition to the collection.
Review copy of game provided by publisher. Primary play on Xbox 360.
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