Review for Capcom Beat 'Em-Up Bundle. Game for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 18/09/2018
The glorious '80s and' 90s marked the lives of all of us in many ways, first of all from the gaming point of view. Pearls of rare beauty were born in those days from poor hardware in terms of performance but large in terms of imagination. It was in that context that side scrolling fighting games emerged, or beat 'em up if you prefer, which in fact would have marked an era for their capacity for involvement.
Today Capcom, the undisputed queen of the genre, offers owners of Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC and Nintendo Switch a collection of some titles never played on consoles until now: Capcom Beat 'Em-Up Bundle.
The bundle in question includes incredible and above all incredibly current titles even today: we will find Final Fight, Captain Commando, The King of Dragons, Knights of the Round, Warriors of Fate, Armored Warriors and Battle Circuit. Before going to see specifically the gameplay of each title, it is necessary to say a few words on the customization of the titles and on the porting itself.
The transfer work from the old cabinet to the console was done in an excellent way. The rendering and transposition of games nowadays are flawless, despite the problems that arise in doing such an operation. No decline and no difference from the originals, at least for what the editors of Epic Videogames Guide is able to remember. Even the thrill of taking part in the adventures remains the same despite all the time spent.
Few additional options made available to the user: we find a meager customization of the commands, a minimum of customization of the background in excess (since it will obviously be played in 4: 3) and a minimum of settings for the difficulty level. This is the complete endowment, and honestly that's okay: a series of titles like this does not need anything else.
Let's see what you'll find in the Capcom Beat 'Em-Up Bundle.
Final Fight
Here is the fighting game par excellence, both in terms of gameplay and in terms of history. Three characters, very similar to each other, have to traverse the city and collide with a flood of New York stereotypes - punks, glossy hotties, samurai, wrestlers, etc. - in a background à la "The warriors of the night" to save the beauty on duty from the bad guy at the head of the multinational in a suit and tie. Removed the banality of the plot, which still has its own reason, today the gameplay is reduced to the bone: punches, flying kicks, grabs and the possibility of collecting objects and weapons dropped by enemies.
Captain commando
We move into a dystopian future of 2026 in which the deeds of four characters are narrated, united in the Commando Team, who are nothing more than a kind of technological executioners against the forces of evil led by the mephitic villain on duty. Here, too, the plot does not emphasize anything complicated and the videogame sector does not differ from its predecessor. Nice addition of some schemes in which the commando will move on board of boats giving a little more variety to the game itself. Characterized the characters better, which also have a greater variety in terms of approach to combat.
The King of Dragons
Here we have a variant of the Dungeons & Dragons genre with some very light RPG accents more visual than anything else. The five heroes that we will personify are the classics of the genre: warrior, dwarf, archer, magician, and cleric; everyone will be able to improve weapons and armor as they level up, even if unfortunately this has little impact on the gameplay, which is always the same. In any case, the atmosphere and above all the bosses at the end of the level are masterful.
Knights of the Round
The knights of the round table could not be missing in a bundle that evokes so many memories: here is Lancelot, Parsifal, and Arthur grappling with the villain on duty. Here, too, the title enjoys a plot already seen but which still involves the player masterfully. In terms of gameplay, in addition to the power ups already seen in other titles, we find for the first time two innovative features for the time: the ability to parry and that of using mounts. It is incredible how much two small features manage to give depth to the gameplay in such a convincing way.
Warriors of fate
Feudal Japan reveals itself in all its glory as a handful of heroes must go to save the country from an impending war. In five against all, exactly as the glorious 90s teach: each of the characters has different attacks and the possibility - if you are quick enough to press the keys - to carry out a repeated attack (like that of Chun-Li in Street Fighter), capable of devastating multiple opponents. Therefore, the possibility of using mounts and all the features present in the other titles is maintained. Less thorough is the plot, which in any case - adapted to the context - is adequate as for the other titles.
Armored Warriors
Here we have the first real attempt to give depth to the genre and also vary the approach to combat, but let's go in order and face the context and the plot. In the year 2281, the United Earth government and the Principalities of Raia ended a war that lasted half a century, but due to a kidnapping of the usual defenseless girl Raiana, the United Earth government decided to send an army of mecha. to regain control and save the beautiful. The fulcrum of the news lies in the mecha protagonists who have the possibility of losing components during the fighting and of implementing those lost by enemies in their place. The variety of fighting styles, albeit linked to a limited number of power ups, varies exponentially, effectively giving the player the opportunity to have his own devastating custom mecha. The final result obtained is incredible, especially if contextualized in time.
Battle Circuit
Here, too, we find ourselves in a dystopian future - with a strong comic-demeziale component - in command of a series of unlikely characters with peculiarly different powers. In search of a devastating and omnipotent computer system (which fits into a single floppy disk), a series of bounty hunters will find themselves involved in a series of fights that are unlikely to say the least. Interesting is the possibility of equipping each character with power ups, which can be purchased at the end of the level, which will vary the moves sector available. Overall an excellent title that winks at the classic fighting games of the time.
Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle brings to the console a whole series of scrolling fighting games in a faithful transposition to the original that incredibly, all these years later, is not tired but involves thanks to the strong retro component. The longevity of the titles is low and they can all be completed within a total of five or six hours of play, but we can assure you that they will be pleasant hours, spent in the company of heroes of the videogame past. Perhaps we would have appreciated more titles in the bundle.
► Capcom Beat 'Em-Up Bundle is a scrolling beat' em up game developed and published by Capcom for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 18/09/2018
