Published by NIS America, the SNK 40th Anniversary Collection for Nintendo Switch is a compilation of retro arcade games from SNK’s back catalogue of IPs. This release contains near-perfect renditions of P.O.W. (Prisoner of War), Ikari Warriors (and its sequels), and the much-coveted Psycho Soldier, to name just a few. The game also provides a good amount of nostalgia via ‘Museum’ mode, where the player can literally tour over 3 decades of promotional material for each game available in the collection. The tour itself is a slideshow that provides factoids, promotional flyers and screenshots for each game, and it’s done in a utilitarian, yet somewhat attractive way.
The emulation used for this release feels robust and polished. Games like Ikari Warriors and POW all run perfectly, even when the on-screen action intensifies. The playfield can be cluttered with artillery, enemies and explosions, and the gameplay never seems to skip a beat. The same can be said about games like Alpha Mission and Prehistoric Island, which are just two of the 9 shmups included in this collection. Even older titles like Street Smart work as intended, right down to the awkward hit detection that made it so challenging in the arcades. But most importantly, the games provided in this collection do not suffer from control latency issues.
Surprisingly, SNK decided to include the NES versions of the arcade games featured in this release. Some of the provided games like Iron Tank, Psycho Soldier and Time Soldiers (to name just a few) don’t have 8-bit console counterparts, but games like P.O.W, the Iron Tank series and the Ikari Warriors trilogy do, for example. In what could be considered an interesting twist, SNK decided to also include its critically-acclaimed action RPG, Crystalis, along with the arcade titles that headline this nostalgic collection of gaming history.
The SNK 40th Anniversary Collection is a fantastic way to experience some of SNK’s earlier arcade titles. It also provides a quick glimpse into the company’s past, shortly before the introduction of the Neo-Geo MVS; a legendary coin-op cabinet that offered arcade operators a solution that was capable of accepting multiple game cartridges without purchasing (or replacing) expensive components. The rest, as they say, became history.
For their next compilation, SNK needs to work with Hamster Corp to release a Neo-Geo MVS game compilation on a single cartridge. And why not? Some of SNK’s best games were released on the Neo-Geo, and they should all be released together instead of individually. Please make it happen, SNK. In the meantime, the SNK 40th Anniversary Collection is still a great compilation of games worth owning. In fact, It comes highly recommended. Fans of retro games should add this release to their Nintendo Switch collection today.
Mike Pittaro
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Developer: SNK
Publisher: NIS America
ESRB: T (Teen)
Price: $39.99
SNK 40th Anniversary Collection Official Website:
https://snk40th.com/
| Review Score | |
|---|---|
| Graphics |   |
| Most of the games have aged well. | |
| Sound | |
| The sound quality varies greatly from title to title. | |
| Gameplay | |
| The emulator that runs this compilation does a great job. | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| The SNK 40th Anniversary Collection is a great compilation of games. | |
