Just last month, we shared the news that Konami plans to launch a series of Anniversary Collection releases on Nintendo Switch. The first of these collections arrives today, so let's remind ourselves what we can expect to find, shall we?
This first bundle comes to the eShop under the title 'Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection' and will feature the following games:
- Haunted Castle
- Typhoon (A-JAX)
- NEMESIS (Gradius)
- Vulcan Venture (Gradius II)
- Life Force (Salamander)
- THUNDER CROSS
- Scramble
- TwinBee
You can pick up this collection from the Switch eShop today for £15.99. As well as the games themselves, the collection comes with an in-game 'Bonus Book' which is packed with concept sketches and designs from the production of the titles. You'll also find behind-the-scenes insights and interviews with the development staff.
As a reminder, the other two collections on the way are Castlevania Anniversary Collection and Contra Anniversary Collection. Both of these are expected to arrive this summer; you can read more about both of these right here.
Will you be grabbing this Anniversary Collection today? Which titles in that list are you most excited to play? Tell us below.
Comments 68
Konami, where is your Dance Dance Revolution and other BEMANI games for Nintendo Switch ?
Thought this would have been £40, great price.
OH BOY! SCRAMBLE!
When I read about this collection I didn't realize at first, but then I thought: will it overlap with the upcoming Arcade Archives Konami releases?
The answer is it won't, because none of these is one of the 3 announced, and it's "powered by Arcade Archives", which would make an overlap stupid and speaks volumes about the quality of emulation we can expect.
The downside is we can now be sure it won't get released physically (in fact, they say "digital only" in the official website), so it'll go to the eShop wishlist until it gets discounted. No rush.
Castlevania and Contra should get physical treatments, though. They appeal to so many people that it would be wise.
Still eager to know what they will include in the Castlevania collection. This looks lovely as well though.
Hope these are the arcade versions I will wait for a review don’t want inferior console versions being sneaked in
I'm hearing that if you want to play the Japanese versions of these games, you'll have to buy the Japanese version of the collection. Western collection has the US versions, which even differ from some European versions apparently.
That makes it a bit less appealing to me, but if it at least has tate mode where applicable I'll consider it.
Lol people acting like $20 is a lot for 8 good games.I get paid Tommrow ill be downloading before work.haunted castle is arcade version of castlevania
Gs69 they are the arcade versions, hence the name of the collection. The title screen shots confirm this.
Personally, I can’t wait. Gradius II is one of my favourite games, and it will be great to have a portable version to go with the PC Engine CD download on Wii, and the AA version on PS4. Have the Gradius collection on PSP, but my PSP is resting these days.
It's a bit like of a joke since you can already have 2 of these games on the Nintendo Online Services.
It's a shame they couldn't add the excellent TMNT, Simpsons and X-Men licenses, those were incredibly popular arcade titles
Strange to have "Haunted castle" in here with all the shmups when a Castlevania collection is coming.
No Tate mode and US versions only. I assume that Hamster will release these games individually like they have for PS4.
Where is Konami Wai Wai World?
Hmm, seems a fair price but doesn't sound like much care went in to this collection. GameCentral gave a pretty meh review
@DrJiggle
aka Gradius 0
I'll probably pass on this. I'm just waiting for the Castlevania and Contra ones.
@ShaiHulud Three NES titles, rebirth, chronicles and one GBA title.
This is really pretty lame in respect of their incredible arcade portfolio. Hard pass.
@Ooccoo_Jr
Poor emulation?
@SetupDisk No if anything it sounds like the emulation was too good as any flaws present in the originals (slowdown) is still present here. The main negatives were the choice and quality of the games and the lacklustre presentation and extras.
@SetupDisk All of the review complaints I have seen are about the game selection. If you like the chosen games it looks like they run well.
I'll definitely get this today! Finally, I'll have arcade Nemesis (Gradius), Gradius II, and Life Force on the go. With A-Jax and arcade TwinBee thrown in as well, $20 is a really decent price. Oh, Haunted Castle is here, too. I guess they can't all be winners...
@Gs69 These are definitely the arcade versions.
@Marshmallow These arcade versions are what the NES versions are based on, changes were made when they were ported so they're not exactly the same. Also, these arcade games are 16-bit, except Scramble, so the graphics are better (more colors, bigger sprites, no annoying flicker when a lot of things are on the screen but slowdown instead, etc.).
Downloading like a nervous twitch!
@Anti-Matter Waiting for them to release their beat-em up games like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade games, Simpsons.
or heck Sunset Riders which they own the rights to, so it should be easy to sell
@ClassSonicSatAm
I only have interest with Dance Dance Revolution, Para Para Paradise, DrumMania, Dance Rush, other Rhythm games from Konami.
I may buy this just to play Life Force on my Switch! Have a ton of memories with that game.
It's really sad that most rereleased Arcade Games these days are from the 80s.
I would love to see more 90s Titles.
I'm really hoping Frogger is on the next arcade collection.
@Tsurii I dunno, a reviewer isn't just rating the quality of emulation, they're rating the whole package. I can see why they might knock a point off for a lack of any extra 'museum' content in a so called 'Anniversary Collection', even though that doesn't really bother me personally. I can also see why they wouldn't be happy with a crappy game like Haunted Castle being included but lots of actual classic Konami arcade games being skipped. It does seem an odd selection to me - it probably would have made more sense as a pure shmup collection.
I am waiting on the Castlevania and Contra series
@Anti-Matter I think most of the Switch's success is down to its portability, which doesn't really lend itself so well to dancing games. You'd get some funny looks playing Dance Dance Revolution on the train in rush hour!
@masterLEON good to hear I will get this after work can’t wait for the Castlevania collection as well
Is it really available today?
It seems the only place it's available right now is Japan
Not much love went into this, pass for me
More Konami more!! Don’t hold back with just 3 Collections! You got sunset riders, Frogger, Gyruss, Super Cobra, Pooyan, Devastators, missing in action, Tutankhamen, Antarctic Adventure and many many more missing!
@Moroboshi876 time Pilot just got last week for example
@joey302 It was, and it's not included here, so it all adds up.
I'm slightly annoyed at this bundle. All shooters, except for Haunted Castle. Why isn't Haunted Castle on the Castlevania collection? Ugh.
@Moroboshi876 yep makes sense however I still insist that if Konami doesn’t go beyond these 3 Collections they’re making a mistake (unless the sales are really bad which I doubt) i expect the Castlevania one to do well but At Least do an arcade vol 2 as they left sooo many arcade classics behind on the table! Smh 🤦♂️ 😊
@ROBLOGNICK Because then they'd all be shooters, and people might complain...
Even though i'm a bit disappointed with the titles on Castlevania collection if it ends up being as cheap as this one i'll probably pick it up, but I imagine they are going to be more likely to milk it and Contra ones compared to this.
This is a really disappointing offering, some of these heave been released on other platforms already and they didn't give any attention to their classic licensed beat-em-ups.
@masterLEON Thanks for the clarifications!
Omg. Lifeforce! I spent hours at the arcades playing this. One of my favourite shmups along with Raiden and battle of midway
This coming to North America today?
@NinChocolate FOR SOME reason you can only buy it off the browser based eShop right now. https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/arcade-classics-anniversary-collection-switch/
Wow, $20?
No thanks...maybe $10 eventually.
@Dang69 Oh, thanks! I was wondering what was going on because I couldn't find it.
They should include one shooter on the Castlevania compilation, just to keep that weird thing going. How about Parodius?! And yeah, I really hope they release the Gradius, Salamander, and Parodius PSP games on Switch, with excellent emulation or redone to accommodate the Switch!
It would be great if Konami packs these first 3 collections together into a physical release at some point.
Will be buying this for Scramble and Gradius II/Vulcan Venture (I'm determined to finally get past the Fire Eagle boss after thirty years of playing).
Apparently only American versions here. Not very Hamster-y.
@60frames-please Parodius unlock if you beat all the games. Actually that should have been Haunted Castle. Total troll move.
@Moroboshi876 Does it have the console version of Lifeforce or just the arcade? Watched some video of the arcade version and while graphically it has some tricks not in the NES, the actual aesthetic looks less interesting in some of the designs.
@Dang69 Theoretically they're arcade versions, but what you say may be due to the fact that they're 80s arcade games, so...
@Anti-Matter I would do immoral things to get a port of Keyboardmania on modern systems
@Moroboshi876 Not really what I'm saying. Konami arcade versions vs NES ports is significant. Like TECHNICALLY the graphics are better in a power sense but the art direction is lacking and some of the level design is flatter (which makes sense given the time you're meant to spend with an arcade cabinet). Lifeforce as an arcade game looks more empty or lacking in personality or something. Juuuuust found this page (linked below). I loved Lifeforce on the NES as a kid and a MAN a few years ago. Really only wanted the option for the NES version for this to be a buy. http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2015/06/nes-versions-that-are-better-than.html
@Moroboshi876
The western version of the collection only has the western versions of the games, the version on the JP eShop has the JP versions... it would really be better if all versions of the collection came with all versions of the games.
Anyway, the real problem i have with this collection so far is that it seems to be missing tate mode.
@Dang69 would be useless for me without a code to unlock! These games are tough and I won't be beating some of them ever. As a side note it's amazing how fun Gradius, Gradius 2, Lifeforce, and Thunder Cross are!
The good news is that in the interview at the back of the "Bonus Book"(which is pretty awesome by the way) they mention Parodius, along with Sunset Riders, Thunder Cross 2, Salamander 2, Xexex, and others. There could be an awesome Anniversary Collection 2, and they even mention the possibility of a Collection 3. I hope it keeps going!
@EmirParkreiner Amen! I looked high and low and cant for the life of me find it. Hmm...maybe they used the Konami cheat code...
No way to choose the Japanese versions? No tate mode? Another homerun.
No, no, no ... wait ... Scramble ... immediate purchase!
Of course I bought it right away. Just disappointed there are no leaderboards
No physical planned for this, right?
Gradius, Gradius II, Salamander, Haunted Castle. I would have paid $20 just for those.
Any of the Parodius games would be an instant buy for me.
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