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In the early '90s I was obsessed by video games. I was a Gotta Have It for every system that came out. SNES and Sega Genesis were my staples, but I was getting everything from the Game Boy, to TurboGraphx-16, to Sega CD, to even the 3DO! The last of which I consider the nadir of my impulse buying stage ($800 or something to play Madden is something I should have been committed for.) This was before the internet, so I was getting all my gaming information from the magazines, and I was insatiable for all the games I would read getting reviewed for the NeoGeo system. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately for the sake of my wallet, the NeoGeo was only available for import in my neck of the woods in New Hampshire. I even clearly remember the game I so desperately wanted to play the most, King of the Monsters, a game of battling monsters straight out of a Godzilla handbook.

It took over fifteen years, but thanks to SNK Playmore I finally got my opportunity to play King of the Monsters in the newly released SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1. The wide range of games including with this release is noteworthy as you have the fighting games like King of the Monsters, King of Fighters '94, and Fatal Fury, sports games like Baseball Stars 2 and Neo Turf Masters, along with side scrollers and action fare such as Magician Lord and Metal Slug.

I had the time of my life playing King of the Monsters as the game is part wrestling/part Destroy The World. With playable characters clearly based on the Godzilla/Ultraman universes, it has extra appeal to those who grew up obsessed with comic books and sci fi, like myself. The ability to pick up whatever is around you, such as a helicopter, and use it as a weapon was just a blast. Destroying Japan while beating up a deformed monster, what could be better than that?

Now I had never heard of the game Metal Slug, but apparently that was more the case of me living under a rock because it is such a big game for SNK. I was always a big fan of Contra, and Metal Slug is like Contra on steroids. Shoot until you don't have to shoot no mo' is the philosophy. The cartoonish graphics were fun and after playing I think I might have to track down the Metal Slug sequels. I can't imagine many people not enjoying this one.

I went to the sports games next and the disc has several fun games including Baseball Stars 2, Super Sidekicks 3, and Neo Turf Masters, a golf game. Like Slug, the baseball game had me because of the goofy cartoonish characters that I thought helped add to the playability of the game. How can you not enjoy something that has a "Fighting League" in lieu of American or National leagues? Nice close up shots and insane animations make this a great experience with a friend. I've only recently begun getting into soccer, and by that I mean slowly putting my foot in the water, but Sidekicks 3 was easy to pick up and play right away. I was actually overjoyed to find out Neo Turf Masters is nothing like the over-simulation found in the majority of golf games. Many of my friends are avid golfers and go for the games that give the truest feeling of the game, but as someone who doesn't go out on the links, I'll take something that doesn't have an absurd learning curve and Turf Master delivers on that account.

Fans of fighting games are going to be in for a treat as Arcade Classics comes with Art of Fighting,Burning Fight, Fatal Fury, King of Fighters '94, Samurai Showdown, and World Heroes. I remembered Fury from back in the day because of the "wow factor" it had using the two-plane fighting system. At the time it was just revolutionary and had me and my friends spending a lot of money at the arcade. I was most surprised by World Heroes, a fighter with an interesting premise that uses time travel. One of my favorite comic books is Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen because of its creative use of characters from the past, and World Heroes is based on a similar concept. I won't lie, fighting as Rasputin is a pretty cool deal. Again, the cartoony character design makes the game stand out from the standard cookie-cutter fighter. Granted, the fighting itself doesn't hold up compared to the high level fight games, but it certainly is fun for what it is. I've played Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury in the past, enjoying the both, but this was the first time I've played King of Fighters '94, which actually uses players from both games. KOF also uses an interesting Team Concept, so it goes beyond the standard best-of-three match that most fighting games use.

Samurai Showdown is a fighter with each character brandishing a weapon and adds a level of gore that isn't seen in any other games. Much fun. I was surprised by Burning Fight as I had never heard of it before, but it's very reminiscent of Streets of Rage as you are a New York police detective going around kicking the ass of a Japanese crime syndicate, even occasionally being able to use parts of the environment as part of your wonton destruction. I felt Sengoku was the weakest of the bunch, as the battle is brought to the undead arena, but I'm certain many others will find that to be a tremendous strength. There are some neat things you can do with your character, but the game became a little too tough for me.

Last Resort is very similar to R-Type, but R-Type is great, so there's nothing wrong with a fun shooter. Magician Lord is a platform based game I never heard of, but ended up falling in love with it as the main character can take another form, including one that gives you water-based power and all I could think of was Hydroman from the Spider-Man comics, a guilty pleasure of mine. How the hell did I miss Magician Lord growing up? I would have spent weeks playing this baby.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: As far as bang for the buck, not much can compete with SNK Arcade Classics, Vol 1. Sixteen games for less than twenty bucks? That's highway robbery. This isn't one of those compilation discs that promise a ton of games and most of them completely suck, this is a collection of some absolutely incredible games that aged shockingly well. A game I would have killed for 15 years ago, SNK Arcade Classics reminded me how much I loved spending my entire day playing video games. It wasn't about memorizing a million combinations, or buying 10 dollar game guides, or having to spend 45 hours to complete one game… it was about having fun. It was about pushing start and being able to just play.

SNK Arcade Classics is the type of game you can pop in with friends and family around and there will be something for everyone, something that I thought was a great feature. While it may turn some off, I felt the cartoonish nature of many of the games added something missing from many of today's ultra-realistic offerings. I'll take goofiness of Metal Slug and King of the Monsters any day of the week. A wonderful walk down memory lane.

FINAL SCORE: 4 (out of 5)

CLICK HERE to get your copy of SNK Arcade Classics, Vol 1.

Derek Burgan has been reviewing wrestling DVDs, comics, books, video games, and other miscellaneous crap for the Observer/F4Wonline Empire since October 2005. He also writes the wrestling editorial comic strip Drawing Heat and the Gimmick Table for WrestleCrap.com along with being a contributing editor to Number1contender.net. He even has a MySpace page and an archive available at ! He can be reached at: Derek@gumgod.com