Konami Classics Series: Arcade Hits

"While not every game collected is a classic, this collection is a great value for the DS"

Up until now, Konami was one of the few publishers that haven't released a game in America compiling many of its classic hits, opting this past year to go the downloadable content route with games appearing on Wii's Virtual Console and the 360's Live Arcade. If you did hold out on paying $5 for games here and there, then you are in luck with a great value as Konami Classics Series Arcade Hits (which I'll now refer to now as simply Konami Classics) collects 15 Konami arcade games on one DS card.

First off, here is the roster of the 15 games to choose from in Konami Classics: Pooyan, Time Pilot, Basketball, Yie Ar Kung-Fu, Rainbow Bell (also once known as Twinbee), Shao-Lin's Road, Gradius, Rush'n Attack, Contra, Scramble, Horror Maze, Roc'n Rope, Track & Field, Circus Charlie and Road Fighter. Quite the list, however with each classic piece of nostalgia there is also some rather forgettable filler to match it.

Gradius is one of the first premier space shoot-em-ups that is still quite the challenge, and Contra (do I even need to give this game an explanation?) is still a riot, especially in wireless multiplayer. Time Pilot and Rush ‘n Attack are my other two favorites on here. Other titles like Track & Field, Scramble, and Yie Ar Kung-Fu are good in short spurts, but haven't aged that well and are not the classics I once remember. The rest of the games range from ok to passable, and a few I don't even remember seeing in arcades before, but with such a diverse selection, each one is worth checking out for at least a few minutes.

There are a few certain missing Konami standouts that I felt could have made this collection even better, like where the hell is Frogger? Additionally, one of my all-time arcade favorites, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is also absent even though it recently appeared on Xbox Live Arcade. Knowing Konami, they are most likely saving some gems for a second compilation sometime down the road.

Konami Classics added a few extra bells and whistles to the package. Player can access the jukebox to freely listen any game's music, and then there a few screen size and display options to match your personal preference, wireless multiplayer on select games, and the ability to save replays and trade them to a friend's DS. It would have been neat if there were extra options for some of these games to make use of touch screen support; instead the other screen acts as a quick reference for each individual game's controls.

Since all these games are from the 80s, don't be disappointed by the 2D graphics. A lot of them still have a nostalgic feel, and 2D games tend to age better than 3D visuals. Ditto with audio, though for more experienced gamers like me, these classic tunes bring back many fond arcade memories.

Konami Classics is a fairly good collection of games. Though it seems a tad overpriced at $30 compared to some recent Midway and Capcom collections that go for $20, it is still a good deal considering 15 games equals out to $2 a game in this rapidly increasing age of downloadable games costing at least $5 a pop. All around, you can't go wrong with Konami Classics Series: Arcade Hits.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/01/07