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World Heroes. When I was a teenager, one of my favorite games was World Heroes 2 for the Super Nintendo. I remember it distinctly because it was one of the last games I bought brand new for the SNES. I played the game for hours, then days and even into many assorted weeks trying to exploit all the characters from my favorites like Rasputin, Muscle Power, & Kim Dragon to even lesser characters like Johnny Maximum or Erick the Viking. With the exception of Mudman, (I never played Mudman and I’m still annoyed when fighting him to this very day) I beat the game with each and every character. This is one of my prouder achievements when it comes to fighting games, and with the exception of the Tekken series or compilations, the last fighting game I’ve really played for such a long stretch.

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The Neo-Geo console was one of my favorite consoles growing up. My parents never had the money for the home machine or the outrageously priced carts. However, that did not keep me from spending many quarters on the standups day in and day out. Most of my Neo Geo quarters were thrown into games such as Ninja Combat, Sengoku and Magician Lord. The rich graphics, the ahead of its time gameplay were all amazing beyond belief. Almost twenty years later, SNK decides to make a happy man. Sixteen classics on a single dvd for my Playstation 2 console. Furthermore, they went and released it in the $20 price range. Very very happy.

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When Space Ace showed up on my doorstep, I kicked me heels in a fit of joy. OK, maybe I’m not athletic enough to actually do that anymore, but you get the point. I had seen the previous Dragon’s Lair Blu-ray/HD DVD release and was very curious about the quality, but never took the plunge myself. This was probably due to all of the mediocre PC and console releases I’ve seen and played over the years which had left *mostly* a bad taste in my gaming mouth. But I had high hopes for Space Ace and I am more than pleased with the results.

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Bomberman has long been a friend of mine. I spent most of the early to mid 90’s playing either the original Bomberman or Bomberman ‘93 for the Turbo Graphix 16 System. I played each until their eventual conclusion and then wouldn’t touch them for years. So when there was word that a Bomberman game would come to Xbox Live I was very excited. But at the same time I was very skeptical. So skeptical, it took me about two months to download it and the accompanying first expansion pack. However, what came out of it was quite possibly the best multiplayer Xbox Live Arcade game of all time and one of the best reasons to own an Xbox 360 that doesn’t involve a first person shooter.

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Scene in EB Games/Gamestop: wow, Rampage: Total Destruction for $20; didn’t I play that game when I was a kid at the arcade or on my NES? Yes, yes you did. And for the record it hasn’t changed much. Rampage has made its PS2 return and hundreds (or at least dozens) are anxious for George, Lizzie & Ralph to start punching buildings again. To this game’s credit, they get something pretty decent to fill the bill. In addition, even if the main game doesn’t provide enough umph, the bonus material will certainly take …

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Compilations are so plentiful these days but often what once was, is not meant to be. Too few games, games that don’t hold up with time, and bad porting can make this practice extremely hit or miss. When one is awful, it destroys our relationship with that game of yesteryear so much that we might curse older games, and don’t pick one up for quite sometime. However, when the compilation is well drawn up and executed proficiently, it gives us a sense of our lives before and what made those old games so great. Capcom Cl…

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