Earlier this week Disposable Media learned that Capcom will be releasing a new compilation of their classic scrolling fighters. The Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle will be released later this month and will bring back seven of Capcom’s most beloved scrolling fighters. You’ll be able to take on the Mad Gear gang in Final Fight, protect the galaxy from crime in Captain Commando, partake in a totally authentic retelling of the legend of King Arthur via Knights of the Round, follow a group of bounty hunters in their mission to find Dr. Saturn in Battle Circuit, defend your people against a dark lord in Warriors of Fate (according to the attract mode at least), enjoy the weird levelling and class systems of The King of Dragons, or enjoy modifying your powerful mech as you stomp through the levels of Armored Warriors. The Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle certainly offers a second chance for players to enjoy some of the unsung heroes of the back catalogue – everyone’s familiar with the frequent Mega Man and Street Fighter updates, but it’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed games like this on an official collection – I probably played one or two of them on the old Capcom Classics compilations that were released on PSP, but it’s interesting to see a compilation that focuses on these scrolling fighters.
The Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle – added features
The Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle will feature local and online multiplayer – great news for anyone who enjoyed playing these with others in the arcades. We’d hope that online play would be fairly trouble-free for a bunch of old arcade games, but then the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection launched with problematic lobbies that were only improved with an update after release. Happily, there’s a difference between mastering a combo in Alpha 3 and mashing out an attack in Final Fight – since the scrolling fighters were often a little more accessible, Disposable Media would assume that network issues won’t affect a player’s execution quite so much. The announcement trailer also revealed that the Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle would allow players to select a game’s difficulty, change the extra life bonus threshold, toggle between English and Japanese versions of games, view art and documentation in a gallery, and more. For fans who just want to start a game and have fun, these features won’t mean a lot… however, they’re thoughtful inclusions that prevent the collection from looking like a lazy pack of ROMs.
The Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle – release and pricing
The announcement trailer for the Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle only emerged on Capcom USA’s YouTube channel yesterday, but the trailer reveals that the bundle will be available on September 18th for $19.99. Owners of all major home consoles – Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch – will be able to get hold of the bundle, and it will also be available on Steam for PC owners. In an industry where we’re used to being teased new things that are two or three years away from release, seeing such a short period between announcement and launch is refreshing. On the one hand, I’m not sure if I’m going to re-purchase a load of old Capcom arcade games all over again (especially with September and October already looking so busy in terms of releases)… on the other hand, I did buy the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection this year, so there’s no telling. As always, scroll your way down there and leave a comment letting us know about your thoughts on the announcement and whether or not you’ll be picking up the Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle.
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