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RETROspective: Video Game Compilations


On 07/22/2017 at 07:49 AM by The Last Ninja

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Let's take a look back at games with more games 

Video games have been around for a long time. Given this fact, it makes sense that companies would try to "make a quick buck" by releasing compilations of specific game series or a mix of games into a single game cart. Developers and gamers can both win here. Developers make some more money from their successful games and gamers get to enjoy multiple games in a single package. Everyone is happy! 

Obviously, game compilations have been happening for a long time, and there are tons of them out there. It would take forever to look at all of them, so I've chosen 10 which I personally think are some of the best. Please feel free to add your favorites as well, and let's talk about these great compilations of great game franchises. Try to keep up, there's a LOT of games to talk about. 

Super Mario All-Stars (1993)

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System: SNES

# of Games: 4 

This is possibly the very first video game compilation game, if not one of the first. While the NES had multiple games in one cart (such as Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt), this game included four Mario games! To make it even better, they had been redone to fit right in with the rest of the SNES games. Instead of being lazy ports, All-Stars was a love letter to Mario fans. Nintendo would later release Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World, which included the epic SNES platformer in the already great bunch. 

Namco Museum series (1995-2017)

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Systems: PS1, N64, DC, GBA, PS2, Xbox, GCN, Win, DS, Xbox 360, PS3

# of Games: 30 +

As you can see, this series has appeared on almost every console since Playstation. Namco struck gold with the first game, which featured such hits as Pac-man, Rally X, and Galaga. While these games are primitive today, they struck the nostalgia chord of many older gamers. The Playstation received the best treatment, getting five games total. Most other systems only got one game, so everyone was able to get some of that Namco nostaliga. And this series is still going as Namco Museum will release next week for the Nintendo Switch. 

Midway Arcade Treasures 2 (2004)

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Systems: PS2, Xbox, GCN

# of Games: 20

Midway has some of the best arcade games to date, so it only makes sense that they would put together a compilation of these games. The first Midway Arcade Treasures is great, but this one gets the spotlight for including Mortal Kombat II and 3. But if those aren't your thing, there's plenty of other great games such as Rampage World Tour and Total Carnage. In addition to the games, you also have access to game histories, developer interviews, and other documents from these arcade classics. The total package is pretty great. 

Mega Man Anniversary Collection/X Collection (2004-2006)

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Systems: PS2, GCN, Xbox

# of Games: 8 (Anniversary Collection), 7 (X Collection)

So I'm cheating a bit here by including both of these compilation games, but they're both so great! Anniversary Collection includes the first eight MM games, most of which are excellent. Mega Man 2 and 3 are the stand-outs, but all of the games deserve a little attention. It's also a treat to watch Mega Man 8's cutscenes, which are laughable most the time. The X Collection gives you the first six X games plus Mega Man Battle & Chase, a strange go-kart game for PS1. MMX1-4 are the best, so having these games together on one disc is incredible. Of course, I should also mention that recently we've had the Mega Man Legacy Collection games, which are also great. 

Street Fighter Alpha Anthology (2006) 

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System: PS2

# of Games: 5

This PS2-exclusive compilation contains the games of the beloved SF spin-off series. The Alpha games, while different from the original series, are still great. In addition to the three games of the series, this collection also includes Street Fighter Alpha 2 Gold and Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix, a chibi-style fighting game which also includes a few Darkstalkers characters. Different versions of Alpha 3 can also be unlocked, although the variations are slight (but any completionist would want to get it anyways). 

SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 (2008) 

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Systems: PS2, PSP, Wii

# of Games: 16

SNK is known for its arcade games. In fact, SNK's console, the Neo Geo, played nothing but arcade ports! So it's great to have a collection of several of these *expensive* games. The immediate stand-outs would be Fatal Fury, Metal Slug, and The King of Fighters '94. However, the variety is pretty good, including several different genres such as sports, fighting, platformer, beat 'em up, and shooters. This is a solid collection that any arcade enthusiast would want. 

Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection (2009)

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Systems: PS3, PSP, Xbox 360

# of Games: 40

This really is the ULTIMATE collection, housing 40 games, plus 9 unlockable games. This single compilation is a dream come true for any Sega Genesis fan. Over the years, Sega has made Genesis compilation games, which makes sense because Genesis was when they were at the height of popularity. But this compilation blows all the others out of the water. It includes 4 sonic games, 3 Golden Axe games, 3 Phantasy Star games, 3 Streets of Rage games, and classics such as Beyond Oasis, Columns, Ristar, and Shinobi III. This is truly a magnificent package, easily one of the largest compilations you'll ever find. Nintendo should do the same. 

Kirby's Dream Collection (2012) 

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System: Wii

# of Games: 6

This 20th anniversary Kirby collection is a great package. It contains six great games (one of which is Kirby Super Star, which has nine games in it), which alone is awesome, but that's not all! The disc also has challenge stages, a museum (a history of all the Kirby games up to 2012), and three episodes from the excellent Kirby anime, Kirby: Right Back at 'Ya! This is a wonderful tribute to Kirby, as it seems he does not get the love and attention he deserves, so I'm thankful that Nintendo gave him some love. 

Rare Replay (2015)

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System: Xbox One

# of Games: 30

This is another incredible collection. Upon release, Rare stated, "30 games for 30 dollars," which is a tremendous bargain. Some of these games are not that great, but others are masterpieces. The latter would include Banjo-Kazooie, Jet Force Gemini, Perfect Dark, and Conker's Bad Fur Day, all of which are Nintendo 64 games (how funny that these games can be played now on Xbox One!). But you can also enjoy Rare's older and more obscure games, such as Atic Atac, Gunfright, Slalom, and Cobra Triangle. This is an excellent package of games. Now only if the other consoles could get it. 

The Disney Afternoon Collection (2017) 

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Systems: Win, PS4, Xbox One

# of Games: 6

This may seem like a small compilation, but it's still a great one. Capcom made the best Disney games during the NES era, and that's what this collection is. It includes Duck Tales, Duck Tales 2, Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers, Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers 2, Tale Spin, and Darkwing Duck (all NES ports). These games, especially Duck Tales, are loved and cherished by NES gamers. In addition, you can rewind to correct mistakes and take part in time attack and boss rush modes. You can compete in online leaderboards and also browse concept art and enjoy music from the games. This is a great nostalgic package. 


 

Comments

Cary Woodham

07/22/2017 at 01:12 PM

I love video game collections.

The Namco Museum series on the PSOne is one of my top five favorite games of all time.  Sure eash CD only has 4 to 6 games on it, but they make up for it in presentation.  Remember when you were a kid and would make up your own dream treehouse, fort, mansion, etc.?  Well as a kid I imagined an amusement park with themed rooms where you can play arcade games and see memorabilia from each one.  What they did with the 3-D explorable museum in the PSOne Namco Museum games is almost exactly what I imagined as a child.  Can you see how cool that is?  While it's always better to have more games on a collection, sometimes a good presentation will make your collection just as memorable.

Another great collection that is missing from your list is Activision Anthology.  This had pretty much every one of Activision's games on the Atari 2600 playalbe on the PS2 (there were also versions available for PC and PSP I think).  Not only did you get a bunch of actually fun games for the 2600 (most 2600 games not from Aciivision I didn't find very fun), but you got all sorts of cool extras, too.  You could view game commercials, earn virtual badges like the ones they used to give out if you got a high score and mailed a picture to Activision, and best of all, it al lhad a great 80's song soundtrack playing in the background!   I think this is one of the few collections that rivals the quality of the PSOne Namco Museums.

Not really anything special, but another neat collection was the Data East one for the Wii.  Also, Taito Legends 1 and 2 had tons of great Taito arcades games on them.

I hope Namco sends me a review code for the new Namco Museum game because it costs 30 bucks and while it does have Pac-Man Vs. on it, I don't think it's going to be worth 30 bucks.

The Last Ninja

07/22/2017 at 04:24 PM

Yes, presentation is very important. Some collections have NO presentation, which shows that the developer just threw all the games on the disc in an effort to make money. 

The Activision Collection sounds great, although I'm not into 2600 games (before my time). The Data East collection is great from what I've heard, and Taito has some awesome games out there too, so I'm sure both are good collections. 

KnightDriver

07/22/2017 at 11:13 PM

Funny, I was just looking at the Atari Flashback Vol. 1 for XBO at Walmart today and wishing I hadn't traded it. I usually don't trade my collections games. I wish I could buy a few right now for the permanent collection like the recent Crash collection and get back my copy of ICO/Shadow of Collossus. I have a lot of the older ones in my collection still though. Most of the ones you mentioned except for the Street fighter one. I have the Mega Man one but not the Mega Man X one. I want that. Super Mario All Stars is fantastic too. I wish I had that one. 

The Last Ninja

07/23/2017 at 03:05 PM

Yeah, I don't have a lot of the ones above, so I too would love to get them! Having so many games at your finger tips is great. 

KnightDriver

07/23/2017 at 09:03 PM

That Sonic collection is great. I'll never give that one up. 

Matt Snee Staff Writer

07/23/2017 at 11:04 AM

you write the most in depth blogs. I wish I had the time and concentration to do stuff like this. 

The Last Ninja

07/23/2017 at 03:07 PM

Thanks, Matt! I enjoy doing it, but I don't think this blog is too in-depth. The research can be tedious, but the outcome is enjoyable. 

mothman

07/25/2017 at 07:12 PM

I'd love to play Rare Replay but it would have to be released for PC or for another console. The former is possible but the latter is never going to happen.

The Last Ninja

07/27/2017 at 09:31 AM

I know, it urks me too that it's only on Xbone. It's such a good collection that a lot of people would buy it if it was released on other consoles, but it won't happen. 

Halochief90

08/12/2017 at 07:08 AM

Video game compilations are great. I love the Mega Man ones, Rare Replay, and Sonic's UGC. And I'm super excited for the upcoming UFO50 (even if none of those games were released before). I also recently bought Atari Flashback Classics Vol. 1 and 2 recently which I'm waiting on in the mail.

The Last Ninja

08/12/2017 at 03:27 PM

What's UFO50? Sorry, I must be out of the loop. 

Halochief90

08/13/2017 at 12:49 AM

50 games in one package styled as 8-32bit classics. Check it out here: http://50games.fun/

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