Retro gaming collections are always hit or miss. There is no way to pull a collection of more than one game and please 100% of the fans. Maybe with a series but even then there are detractors. Take the Super Mario All-Stars collection, there are many fans of the franchise that cannot stand the second game (USA), or dislike the true sequel, or cannot go back to the original. I am sure you get the point. Well, couple that complexity among the fans with pulling games from a company’s history. That is what is happening with the Rare Collection 1 for the Evercade – 12 titles from their 40+ year history. If you find one or two you enjoy then it is probably worth the price of admission.
A Few Surprises
Right off the bat, I want to point out this collection will not feature titles Rare created for other companies. Such as Wizards and Warriors for Acclaim. The newest home game in this collection is probably Battletoads on the Nintendo Entertainment System so no Perfect Dark (Rare) or 007 GoldenEye (for Nintendo).
They did include the arcade version of Battletoads, something I was not expecting as I figured it was too much for the Evercade platform.
For me, if they are asking $20 or so for this collection I would have no problem dropping it for the arcade Battletoads (I wish they could have included the Sega Genesis and SNES versions though). Maybe later we will see a Battletoads collection released.
Cherry Picking at Its Finest
The list of 12 games includes some from before the company was known as Rare. Anyone know what they were called prior?
Atic Atac
Battletoads
Battletoads Arcade
Cobra Triangle
Conker’s Pocket Tales
Gunfright
Jetpac
Knight Lore
Lunar Jetman
R.C. Pro-Am
Sabreman
Underwurlde
As I said, the collection will be hit or miss for many fans. Check out the Evercade website for a screenshot and short description of each game. See if a few interest you, if so, this might be a collection worth purchasing.
As far as I know, this is the only way to play Battletoads Arcade legally so for some, that may be worth the price of admission.