Lately, Capcom has been on a roll, bringing back their classics from days gone by to the modern day. Whether it be the Beat-em-up collection, the Street Fighter 30th anniversary collection, the Capcom Fighting Collection, with a second fighting collection coming out soon, or the Marvel vs. Capcom fighting collection, the average old-school gamer will certainly find something worthwhile. However, for as many games as the aforementioned collections bring to the modern audience, there are still some left off the table. Let’s talk about some of the games that have yet to be part of the collection frenzy.
Rival Schools
The first one we’ll mention here is Shiritsu Justice Gakuen. For those that are unaware, in the West, this game is known as Rival Schools. The game’s premise focuses on high-school students, mainly in teams of three fighting each other while uncovering who is attacking their schools and the reason why. The weird thing is Project Justice is going to be in the upcoming Capcom Fighting Collection 2. And that collection also has both Capcom vs SNK 1 and 2. So I don’t see any reason to leave Project Justice’s prequel out of the loop. Also, if they do bring it, I hope they add the extras that were on the evolution disc that came with the PS1 port.
Street Fighter: The Movie
Ok, before anyone yells at me or lambasts me, we have to understand for better or worse, the game does exist and does fit the “fighting” game criteria. Yes, Street Fighter: The Movie is a dumpster fire of a game that stunk to the high heavens, much like the movie the game was based on. In a nutshell, the game tried to be a Mortal Kombat rip-off with a cheesy Street Figher-like coating. Despite the reception of the game, it should still be in a collection. Just for the sake of letting modern gamers know this game even existed.
Star Gladiator
This game falls into the same category that Rival Schools does in the sense that the sequel, Plasma Sword, is in a collection bundle. But not the prequel. Star Gladiator isn’t like most of Capcom’s 6-button standard controls like Street Fighter and Darkstalkers. Instead, this game went the Soul Edge/SoulCalibur route with two attack buttons, a kick, and a guard button. This is one of those games that didn’t get the love and attention from the general audience it deserved. Maybe if by chance, this game is put into a new fighting game collection, the audience will give this game some respect.
Street Fighter EX Plus a
This beloved game was Capcom’s first attempt at a 3D Street Fighter game. At the time, Namco’s Tekken and Sega’s Virtua Fighter were paving the way for the new age of 3D fighting games. Capcom teamed up with Arika to create Street Fighter EX Plus a. The game combined the classic Street Fighter roster with Arika’s characters, some of which came from the arcade fighting game, Fighting Layer. The EX part of the Street Fighter franchise has a cult following that people keep wishing for a modern return on. But people need to understand that they not only need to ask Capcom but Arika as well. Until then, if ever, putting this in a new fighting collection would work. But then again, even that may be a license issue for all we know.
Street Fighter EX 2 Plus
This one was basically an upgrade in every tangible way to the original. Faster gameplay, added gameplay mechanics and new characters added to the roster. They even brought in bonus rounds which was oddly left out of the original game. The game does a great job of being everything a sequel is meant to be. But just like the last game, in order for this one to happen, Arika would have to be convinced to allow it. After all, any potential license issue the first game had, this one will have as well.
Street Fighter EX 3
This game had the unfortunate fate of being a PlayStation 2 launch title alongside another 3D fighting game (in this case, Tekken Tag Tournament). Unfortunately, this game did get outshined by Tekken Tag Tournament. But this was a quality game. The tag function for this game worked well and brought a new gameplay dimension to the tried and true mechanics of the franchise. And the new EX characters they put it are what really make this game stand out. I won’t repeat the whole legal and/ or license issue that may keep this from happening. But that doesn’t change the fact this would be great in a third Capcom Fighting Collection package.
Tatsunoko vs Capcom
This is one that I always wanted to get ported over to the PS3/360 home systems, but of course, that never happened. And thus far, it has yet to make a collection appearance. Tatsunoko is a famed anime studio with characters such as Casshan, Tekkaman, and Gatchaman (better known as G-Force to some of the older generation) among others. The game mixes them with some of Capcom’s more familiar characters such as Ryu, Mega Man, and Viewtiful Joe. The game didn’t get enough recognition solely because of the system they chose to release on at the time. If this was in a collection, maybe this could get some love from the masses.
Aliens vs. Predator
Ok, with this one I figured since the Marvel vs Capcom collection has the Punisher in it, this one can have the classic Aliens vs. Predator arcade game. This game was never ported to any home system. So maybe now, Capcom can make amends for that by putting it in a collection. Licensing isn’t an issue anymore since Disney now owns over 90% of Fox. So that’s one hurdle crossed. This one would be a dream for so many old-school gamers. And yes, I’m speaking for myself as well here.