While fans of shooters are well catered for, the beat ‘em ups here unfortunately don’t fare quite so well. Art of Fighting suffers the most, with stodgy animation, limited characters and a paltry move-set that’s a long way from the depth and polish of the likes of Street Fighter 2. Fatal Fury is similar cursed; while graphically impressive for the time and including some iconic characters, Terry Bogard and co’s debut feels old-fashioned and forgettable in the light of 2D fighting’s finest. Sengoku and Burning Fight are solid, if unattractive Final Fight clones.

If all the fighting and shooting gets too much, respite can be sought in a trio of sports titles. Super Sidekicks 3: The Next Glory shuns Pro Evolution-esque realism for glorious arcade cheesiness. Striking the ball is accompanied by thumping ‘kapows!’, throw-ins with a jaunty swish of air and scoring a goal unleashes the most enthusiastically charged celebration cut-scenes committed to pixels. Happily, it also delivers a fairly satisfying game of football, and is the package’s multiplayer highlight. Golfing at 100mph is the best way to describe Neo Turf Masters, a game that fires you through 18 holes at a dizzying pace. Although lacking the subtleties that true golf fans would be looking for, it has enough OTT charm and energy to make it worthy of your attention.

SNK has done an excellent job in crafting a slick and accessible package. Beyond the clear and concise menus, achievement-like medals can be won for meeting in-game requirements, which in turn unlock extras (including an extra title, World Heroes). The biggest criticism is the save system, which only kicks in upon reaching a game over screen. It’s a strange decision, as purposely losing all your lives in order to save your progress can feel at odds with the competitive inner gamer!

Every title here exudes arcade-authenticity, with the constant flashing of ‘Free Play’ in the corner serving as a reminder of the amount of money you would be pumping into the cabinet to enjoy these games. While some have not all aged well, even the weaker games at least serve to transport you back to the seaside arcades of your youth, while all are worthy of some play-time. In this respect the compilation as a whole is a success, offering very real value for money when compared with the pricing of the Wii’s Virtual Console. SNK Arcade Classics Vol.1 ticks all retro-gaming boxes admirably, offering a satisfying and varied selection of authentically emulated games that deserve to be played, rather than left to gather dust in SNK’s vaults!

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