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Best Videogame Compilations
The Press the Buttons blog has a rundown on some of the finest game compliations currently on offer. From the post: "After more than two decades of cranking out hit titles, the game industry has come to love compilation cartridges and discs. Publishers can crank out collections for relatively nothing in terms of cost, and fans can pick up a slew of their old favorites in a single box for a low price. However, as compilations have matured over the years some companies have become lazy about the process."
Since the cost of these games to the game industry is very low, wouldn't it be nice if gamers can pick the games they want from one source (i.e. all available games are sold via a middleman), instead of buying a 101-collection with only 2 desired games?
If iTunes can do that for songs, can a similar company do that for games?
Virtual Betting on Facebook for non-geeks.
TFA was nice. Old games can be hard to find. Compilations (or reissues) make it a lot easier. Even not-so-old games (2-6 years old) can be difficult to find at times.
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Speaking of compilations, I've got a few of my own. I'm an old-school RPG fan. My personal favorites are:
The Ultima Collection: http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/ultimacollection/
(Ultima I-VIII)
The Ultimate RPG Archives: http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/ultimaterpgarchive
The Ultimate Wizardry Archives: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00
(Wizardry I-VII)
Forgotten Realms Archives: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00
(Pool of Radiance, Curse of the Azure Bonds, Secret of the Silver Blades, Pools of Darkness, Gateway to the Savage Frontier, Treasures of the Savage Frontier, Hillsfar, Eye of the Beholder, Eye of the Beholder II, Eye of the Beholder III, Dungeon Hack, Menzoberranzan, Blood and Magic, and the Baldur's Gate interactive demo.)
The Ultimate Might & Magic Archives: http://www.mobygames.com/game/ultimate-might-and-
(Might & Magic I-V)
Nothing beats old-school gameplay. These collections aren't for you if you're looking for eye-candy though. The games are at least 10 years old, maybe more.
I love it when classic (and sometimes the best) games, movies, books and music are re-released, often as packages. Animal House was just re-released on DVD (and in a great edition). Maus was just republished, and Best-Of music CDs are often great bargains.
Maybe you don't remember arcades, but at 25 cents per 3-minute game, it'd be VERY easy to spend $20 at the arcade at a time. So Pac-Man, Galaga, Pole Position and Dig Dug in a $20 cart ($5 each), with PERFECT graphics and sound, often portable, and sometimes with enhanced features is an awesome deal and to someone who was a kid in the 80's - a marvel.
Yes but do you still get the Horming Missile in Megaman ?
I don't think games from "way back in the 90's" should now be free because you think we should only buy games released in the last 6 months. I don't think The Matrix dvds, Harry Potter books or Pearl Jam cds should now be lisenced and released on public domain.
those games shouldn't be a full $60-$80... charging $60 for something like Final Fantasy 4 is attrocious IMO
Compilations are usually released at $20-$30, with very rare exceptions. The "$60 Final Fantasy IV" you are referring to is likely a rare copy of the SNES cart. Like anything rare (books, dvds, art), rare = expensive.
The best one is Capcom Classics Collection not mentioned in the article. Those Street Fighter games still rock. Commando and Ghosts and Goblins still rock. I buy all these compilations. They don't make simple games for consoles like in the old days.
Some compilations are better than others. Midway totally needs to do a better job as they were clearly designed for an X-box controller and there is no way to change the controls. Taito's collection was just sad.
I don't want to sit in front of a PC when I get home after staring at a PC all day. The PS2 controller is better on my thumbs then my Nintendo when playing Mega Man all day. Messing with a emulator and shifty websites to download the ROMS isn't worth the $10 for a disc that just plays. A clear conscience is just bonus.
I collect games, so console and computer compilations tend not to interest me - I'd much rather have the original version (or, in the case of arcade games, a port from the timeframe of the original game) than a re-release.
My favourite compilations tend to be portable versions. I like being able to take several different games along with me without having to carry multiple cartridges.
By far, the best portable compilation I've ever seen is Konami Collector's Series: Arcade Advanced for GBA. It contains six arcade games that aren't emulated, but reprogrammed specifically for GBA. You'd be hard-pressed to find the difference. Also, each game is of a different genre (unlike compilations such as Pac-Man Museum). And finally, you can use the 'Konami Code' to unlock hidden features and updated graphics in each game.
Another fine compilation for GBA is Atari Anniversary Advance. It contains, like the Konami one, six arcade games. Unlike the Konami compilation, the games are emulated. There are some problems like slowdown and sound issues, but it really feels like you're playing MAME on the go. Another issue is that nearly all of the games used nonstandard controls (like a spinner for Tempest, trackball for Missile Command, dual sticks for Battlezone, etc) so that the GBA controls don't quite match the arcade ones. Still, it is an excellent compilation with several true classics.
Bridging the gap between handhelds and consoles, the recent trend of dedicated direct-to-tv devices is interesting, and has resulted in several that definitely count as compilations.
In particular, the Commodore 64 DTV stands above all others. It has 30 C64 games ranging from merely tolerable filler to true classics. But what makes it absolutely incredible is the dedication and love poured into it. It has lots of hidden secrets, and can be hacked to add real C64 hardware like disk drives so that you can play (or code) original games on it!
The Atari Flashback 2.0 is also great for similar reasons. It has a larger and better library than the C64 DTV, but also less hacking potential. You can add a cartridge port from an original Atari 2600, allowing it to play real 2600 games, but it has no major secrets and the homebrew possibilities are limited by the cartridge medium of the original system. It is as much a labour of love as the C64 stick, though, as is made obvious by the newly manufactured 2600 joysticks that have the proper connectors, allowing them to be used on the original system!
The Namco II 5-in-1 joystick is also worth a look. It has less games and no additional potential, but the games themselves are great. The joystick feels a little loose, making the controls a tad difficult on some of the games. This is (almost) made up for by an innovation that results in the best home version of Pole Position ever: the knob on the joystick twists and acts as a steering wheel, which gives the game absolutely FLAWLESS control. This is a must-buy if you love Pole Position, and well worth looking into if you like any of the other games on the stick.
Despite what I said at the beginning, there are some compilations available for PC and consoles that are worth investigating.
On PC, the Ultima Collection
Then again, maybe the author of the article got the GameCube or XBox version, and saving isn't so much of a headache in either one of those. Also, don't know about the other consoles, but the PS2 version should only be around $20... that's how much I paid for mine.
I do agree with the #1 pick, though-- even after all this time, Super Mario All-Stars is still a wonderfully put-together compilation.