'Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium' Review

If you've already played the first Capcom Arcade Stadium, then this follow-up's structure should instantly be familiar to you. 30 games make up the full selection that's contained within this second offering of throwback hits. And just like its predecessor, Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium lets you access each English and Japanese ROM through 3D arcade cabinets that are meant to reflect the real-world way of playing them. The added attract mode noises that play out while you finalize your game selection plays so well into setting up the mood of going to an arcade back during its 90s heydey. From a visual standpoint, everything looks and sounds as close to the real-life version of the arcades as possible.

The main attraction here is the included games that harken back to Capcom's rise to prominence during the 80s and 90s. And for the most part, the lineup on offer here is equally as strong as the one featured in the first Capcom Arcade Stadium. The good certainly outweighs the so-so here - while there are some duds, the quality of those games is owed more to the time in which they were introduced over their actual level of playability. I have all the respect in the world for lesser-known Capcom coin-ops such as SonSon, Hissatsu Buraiken, and Street Fighter for setting the foundation for improved genre installments later down the line. But in all honesty, I can't get that much enjoyment out of such games due to their outdated design. You'll most likely feel the same once you play those types of 80s games just one time and decide to never boot them up ever again.

As I mentioned beforehand, my main complaint for Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium is targeted at it featuring a bunch of fighting games I'm already enjoying in a better state via the Capcom Fighting Collection. I would have much preferred being able to enjoy titles such as Ring of Destruction: Slammasters II, Mars Matrix: Hyper Solid Shooting, and Giga Wing 2 in place of those overlapping titles. Fingers crossed that we get a DLC pack in the future that offloads those forgotten Capcom titles onto this compilation. If you loved the first Capcom Arcade Stadium, then you'll find a lot to appreciate here as well. The 30 games that are featured here are largely entertaining, plus the rewind, quick save, and infinite retries mechanics all make their welcome return. And even though there's no online play to speak of, there's still some fun to be had just by completing special challenges in order to get your name on the online leaderboards. Old heads that still remember using leftover laundry change to play a few games of Street Fighter Alpha 2 will get the most bang for their buck here.