Capcom Arcade Cabinet – 1986 Game Pack Review

Capcom Arcade Cabinet has once again been updated with the latest pack of games from Capcom’s glory days of the arcade (see our previous reviews here). This pack, from 1986, contains 3 of the more obscure releases from Capcom’s library, Trojan, Legendary Wings and Side Arms. While all three games are presented in the same way as the others in the Arcade Cabinet app, they are 3 games that, for the first time since beginning to collect the releases, really do not shine as worthy titles. The best one out of this pack is Legendary Wings, with Trojan following a close second, and Side Arms trailing behind. Let’s take a look at what all three games have to offer, and you can decide whether you want to grab them, or wait for the next pack.

First up, we’ll start with the second best of the back in Trojan. Here you navigate through a post apocalyptic world, armed only with a sword and shield. You fight your way through hoards of enemies coming at you from the left, right and sometimes above to reach a checkpoint. There, you will fight a boss that blocks your path to the next area. It’s not going to be an easy task though, as the enemies won’t stop until you are dead. If you are like me and had limited experience with Trojan in the past, you will see your character die numerous times before you can even understand what killed you. Just making it to the next checkpoint, you will feel so accomplished that you will be hard pressed to continue on to the horrors of the later levels. It’s one of those games that you lose at so much, you move on and barely return to it later. Usually with games like these, you want to try again to do better, but with Trojan, you will want to stop before you break your controller.

Next, we have the least remarkable of the pack, Side Arms. If you’ve played through Section Z in the previous pack, then you basically know what to expect here. Side Arms is a shoot-em-up that feels like a sequel to Section Z, but in reality the two games have nothing to do with each other, except the game play. What makes Side Arms lackluster is the fact that it’s a functional shooter, but at the same time manages to be incredibly boring. It seems fun for the first 3 minutes or so, but as you continue to move slowly through the enemy waves you begin to realize that there is little in the way of challenge. I played until I could no longer stand the mundane pace even at the higher difficulty levels. The power ups you collect basically make you unstoppable, so you progress through each level just holding down the fire button and barely moving your ship. Side Arms does feature Online play, but I was hard pressed to find anyone playing, so I stuck to it alone.

Last up we have Legendary Wings, or what I call the savior of this pack. LW is a vertical shooter where you fly through waves of enemies and shoot quickly to stay alive. You have two main attacks, your gun which you can power up once with the somewhat scarce power ups, and bombs for the enemies below you. Sometimes, you can enter an underground tunnel that will change the game to a side scrolling shooter, where speed and timing are key. Making a wrong move in these areas can get you killed or make you run out of time before you know it. These areas are avoidable if you steer away from the vacuum that draws you in to them. Legendary wings is really fun, especially with 2 players give it a go, and with online play you can find a partner quickly. I managed to get some good games going since more people were playing this one than the others in the pack.

This pack contains games that may not appeal to a lot of gamers, but with every classic collection, there are bound to be a few unappealing titles. I would recommend this pack if you are collecting them all in order to get the bonus games that will be revealed when you do. If you aren’t, then this pack does contain 2 games that are worth skipping, and it is the first pack of games that left me somewhat disappointed. I highly suggest trying these games out before buying the pack. With Legendary Wings being the only one worth time and money, you may want to wait for the next pack.