Just as we’ve seen with Capcom Digital Collection or Qubed - compilations of several XBLA offerings
on one disc - it can be an effective way to get products that you’ve already developed
on the shelves to get more attention. So Konami jammed together three of their own offerings
in an appeal to the days of physical media: Frogger, Super Contra, and Castlevania: Symphony
of the Night. All three received remakes from their original versions, courtesy of Digital
Eclipse - who you may remember from the Capcom Classics series I recently churned my way
through. Visual upgrades abound - though by “upgrades,” they usually mean “smoothing
effects and maybe some more impressive explosions.” Frogger, the oldest of the three games, offers
only the new-style visuals and audio instead of having an option for the original.
Yep, it’s still Frogger. Super Contra at least gives you the option, but - as I mentioned
in my review of the game proper - is based on the original arcade version rather than
the more familiar Super C for the NES. As was typical of the era, there are lots of
differences, and it can be tough to approach, even if you were fairly adept at the home
version. Granted, “Adept at the home version” as it applies to Contra games usually means
“Capable of punching in Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A” at intervals,
a capacity which - to my research - isn’t available in this arcade version. Some sites
have this cheat listed, but I was unable to get it to work. So you go through with limited
lives and limited continues, and unless you’ve memorized enemy locations, you’re gonna
have significant difficulty getting anywhere. But hey, at least there’s weird blurry effects
any time you blow up a hostile. That’s gotta count for something!
Rather lackluster versions of Super Contra and Frogger aside, Castlevania: Symphony of
the Night is the real star of this show. Being the most recent of the offerings, it didn’t
need as much in the way of a tune-up, though the vocal performance is just as laughable
as it’s always been. (I haven’t heard the PSP version, though, so I’ll leave that
out of my judgment.) Castlevania’s usually 10 bucks, and you can get this compilation
disc for at most fifteen or maybe cheaper, meaning you’re basically getting Super Contra
and Frogger at a discount. And, hey, achievements are achievements. And you’ll have Symphony
of the Night on physical media, as opposed to potentially losing your hard drive to sunspots
or roving bands of maladjusted IT staff wielding panel-beating mallets. You can never be too
careful, after all.