REVIEW

SNK 40th Anniversary Collection Review

by Rob Pritchard, May 18th, 2019

The early years of the gaming industry were filled with some of the most fondly remembered developers. Alongside teams such as Namco, Konami, Nintendo and SEGA were a studio named SNK, who have released some of the best arcade titles, as well as their Neo Geo platform which spawned many successful consoles and arcade frameworks. Released earlier this year, SNK 40^th Anniversary Collection brings together twenty-five of the developer’s arcade back catalogue. All that remains is to be asked is if this trip down memory lane is a pleasant journey, or if it is filled with pixelated hinderances that deserve to be forgotten.

Ranging from 1979 to 1990, SNK 40^th Anniversary Collection contains twenty-five games from SNK’s extensive back catalogue. From the Space Invader style antics of Ozma Wars, the girlfriend liberating antics of Fantasy and the top down action shooters such as the Ikari trilogy and Time Soldiers, there is a vast variety of different game genres to be rediscovered. While it is true to say that some of the earlier titles lack the staying power of the more complex games such as Street Smart and Ikari III: The Rescue, the majority of the game are more than playable, giving players the arcade experience that certainly deserved gamer’s small change in the not too distant past.

Each game has been converted to be playable on the PlayStation 4 by the celebrated emulation specialists Digital Eclipse, who have worked on other recent retro themed collections such as the Mega Man Legacy Collection and The Disney Afternoon Collection. As you may expect, the graphics and sound have been faithfully recreated using their bespoke technologies, with only the occasional missing sound effect, or a very brief moment where the graphics don’t match the original arcade version. For the most part, each game feels like a faithful port of its original presentation, with the option to add HD filters, customisable artwork borders and the ability to stretch the game window into a widescreen alternative to its original 4:3 aspect ratio.

One of the best features about SNK Anniversary Collection is that they have opted to include selected home console ports of their games alongside their arcade counterparts, as well as international versions of each piece of software if there are significant differences in their graphics or gameplay. In some cases, these can simply be a name change such as Battle Field being renamed Time Soldiers for western audiences, whereas Street Smart has entirely different victory animations because of cultural acceptance of romantic relationships.

Collectors will be pleased to know that the PlayStation 4 version of the collection has all the games that were included in last year’s Nintendo Switch edition, alongside all the games that were provided as free downloadable content. For reasons unknown, the console version of Baseball Stars is only available on the Xbox One version of the game, but hopefully this will be rectified by the company in the foreseeable future.

Alongside the games that are faithfully emulated in the collection, one of the best features about the compilation is that there is a vast collection of promotional materials from each titles original release. From photographs of the arcade cabinets, to a digital jukebox containing sound tests and concept artwork of the game’s characters and locations, the Museum option in the menu is a treasure trove that any SNK fan will love looking through to recapture the moments that made the company a success.

Overall, SNK 40^th Anniversary Collection is a retro gaming compilation that does everything that you would expect and goes above and beyond with regard to its additional content. While not every game in the catalogue will keep gamers returning for one more try, the high-quality graphic and sound emulation along with the additional visual filters allow you to play the games in whichever way you choose.

If you are looking for a trip into the past of the gaming industry, SNK 40th Anniversary Collection is a solid compilation with a lot of interesting games to explore.