All eyes were on Capcom late last night, as the company finally announced its long-awaited sixth chapter in the Street Fighter series. However, some attention also went to another announcement that the company made, celebrating a long-dormant fighting series — Capcom Fighting Collection.
This ten-game package is set to drop on consoles and PC on June 24th. Along with five (!) games in the Darkstalkers series, the collection will also include long-lost favorites. These include Red Earth (which has never seen a console release), Gem Fighter/Pocket Fighter, and Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo.
The game collection is clearly a slam dunk, but it’s essential for more reasons than you might realize. Let’s take a closer look.
Capcom Fighting Collection? More Like For the Love of Darkstalkers
It’s true, Street Fighter games have always been more popular than the Darkstalkers ones. Both series have begun evolving around the same time, reaching their peak in the 90’s. Whereas Street Fighter continued to grow with the EX series and Street Fighter III, Darkstalkers achieved greatness with its Night Warriors and Vampire Savior sequels.
Yet, over the years, Darkstalkers has been heavily ignored. Although Capcom did revisit the saga briefly with a collection of games for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, that’s…about it. Nothing for Switch, and the games aren’t even available on backward compatibility, save for Darkstalkers Resurrection being available on PlayStation Now.
But with Capcom Fighting Collection, Capcom appears to be making amends to the series. That doesn’t mean it’s in any kind of rush to release Darkstalkers 4 (or is it 6?) anytime soon. However, this certainly beats nothing. Not to mention that this collection has tons of features. Online play with rollback code, concept art and soundtracks; all the games you remember, right down to the individual sprite animations. It’s a dream come true.
This is definitely love to the Darkstalkers series, and as good as it’s likely to go as far as fulfilling the needs of the fans. Luckily, that’s not all we’re getting.
Cult Classics…and Opening a Door For More?
With Capcom Fighting Collection, Capcom isn’t just bowing to fans of the Darkstalkers series. Nope, there’s more.
Red Earth, as we noted above, has never been released on a home console. True, some characters are included in Capcom Fighting Evolution on the PlayStation 2. Outside of that, however, it got very little love. This collection will clearly fix that, introducing fans to a new generation of dino fighters and their human counterparts.
Not to mention Pocket Fighter, or as it’s going as here, Gem Fighter. This game features an adorable cast of super-deformed characters from Capcom franchises, duking it out in comical fashion. It’s good fun, and surprisingly challenging for a fighter of its nature. Not to mention it’s sure to grow quite the fanbase with this new release.
On top of that, Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo will see an introduction to a whole new generation of players. Add the original Hyper Street Fighter II and Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness, and it’s a collection too enjoyable to put down.
This raises an interesting question as well. If successful, could Capcom continue to release these collections in the future? There’s speculation that a collection of 3D brawlers would truly hit the spot on consoles and PC. We’re talking the Rival Schools games, the Power Stone titles, Street Fighter EX, Star Gladiator and a few others. With the right touch, these games can get in the spotlight again as well. One can dream, can’t they? I mean, if Darkstalkers can come back…
Let’s Fight This June!
Look, one step at a time. As great as it would be to see future compilations, the fact that Capcom is giving this Fighting Collection a chance is very cool. We’ll definitely be in for a brawl when the game arrives on June 24th. Enjoy the trailer below, and remember…Felicia or bust!
Need more retro gaming goodness? Check out our review of the cute platformer Grapple Dog!
