Back in the day, when Capcom’s fighting videogame opus Street Fighter II ruled the arcades, titles by SNK, Capcom’s main rival, always played the role of second banana.

For that reason, SNK Arcade Classics: Volume 1 is the best collection of old-school arcade games you’ve probably never heard of.  Also, it didn’t help that all of the games were previously released on the Neo-Geo AES, an elite home system that debuted at a whopping $649.99 well over a decade before people were getting pepper-sprayed over PlayStation 3.

These days, arcade compilations are a dime a dozen, but there is a variety of sixteen games included so it never gets boring.  Fighting games such as Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury, King of the Fighters ’94, Samurai Shodown and World Heroes were always strong alternatives to the Street Fighter titles, and they’re still good way past their expiration dates. 

Sports fans can enjoy one of the best arcade baseball games ever - Baseball Stars 2, kick it with Super Sidekicks 3 or tee off with Neo Turf Masters.  SNK even dug past the lint in its back pocket to retrieve some exciting shoot-‘em-ups such as Last Resort, Metal Slug and Shock Troopers.

Best of all, the disc returns players to an era when captivating games didn’t require twelve fingers to play.  SNK Arcade Classics: Volume 1 is currently available for the PlayStation 2 and the PSP, and it’ll hit the Wii

WEB | http://www.snkplaymoreusa.com
in October. 

Hey Costa,

Thanks for reading.  The first Samurai Shodown title is playable on SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1, but if you want more, SNK Playmore USA is supposed to release Samurai Shodown Anthology here in the U.S. for the PlayStation 2 on 9/23/08 with dates to follow for the PSP and Wii versions.

The complete collection of the Samurai Shodown series will contain seven games - Samurai Shodown I, II, III, IV, V, V Special and VI.  If that doesn’t sate your thirst for weapon-based 2D martial arts action, nothing will. 

Or if you’ve got a Japanese PlayStation 2 or modded U.S. system, the Japanese version entitled Samurai Spirits: Tenkaichi Kenkakuten is already available from your favorite online importer.

Hope that helps, and here’s a teaser about the Samurai Shodown Anthology on SNK Playmore’s U.S. site:

http://www.snkplaymoreusa.com/in-development.php

Sup. I fell in love with the King of Fighters series when I was still in my early teens. I still have 3 on my pc. But my best is the samurai shodown.how can I get my hands on it ?

Costa/ Zimbabwe