In the world of miniature consoles, the Capcom Home Arcade stands head and shoulders above the rest, if only because it's so gigantic. Garish twin Sanwa sticks and buttons bring the arcade into the home in a way that no one else has before. You're paying a premium (just north of £160 at the time of writing) for the controller, but if you're gonna do something you may as well do it right. And The Capcom Home Arcade is as authentic an experience as you can get without building a full-sized arcade machine in your lounge. And the games include some stone cold classics as well as some hidden gems.
But, on the downside, there're only 16 games. And if you compare that to the 21 that come built into the SNES mini and the 40 (count 'em) that come with the NEO GEO Mini you realise that although the Capcom Home Arcade is still a class act, it's also a little tight fisted.
And that's without talking about the elephant in the room, the fact that very similar double sticks are being built and sold in China, and they containthousandsof games. That they're knock offs doesn't matter. You can still get them on eBay with next to no fuss. You could maybe even say that Capcom brought it on themselves by producing a twin stick that's so evocative of the Pandoras's Key/boxes. Except that it's not Capcom, it's Koch Media. They've just built the stick, emulated the games and paid Capcom for the pleasure. And it is a pleasure.
As I mentioned there're some classics and hidden gems on here, and luckily it's as simple to set up as plugging in your HDMI lead and connecting your plug to the mains. After a brief loading screen you're greeted by the first game in the list. Nicely, all of the games have their own music that comes on as you select which one you want to play. There's also the ability to upload your high scores and see how you compare to the rest of the world. But, I can't help thinking that an opportunity has been missed. How cool would it have been to have online play with this? Also, it's irritating that you have to reboot the system every time that you want to change game. It's a minor gripe, but it takes away from the experience.
Looks wise, the games are set to stun with HD 1080P Graphics. As for the games themselves, there're the obvious ones like Street Fighter 2 (Hyper Fighting) and Final Fight, two classics that are as playable now as they were back then. But there's also Alien Versus Predator, a side scrolling beat 'em up with chunky sprites and a strong art direction. Capcom Sports Club (which I'd never even heard of) is a revelation with 2 players. Then there's Strider and Ghouls 'nd Ghosts both of which scratch the classic platforming itch. The same is true for shoot 'em ups with Gigawing, 1944 The Loop Master and ECO Warriors. But the two standouts (for me, anyway) have to be Dark Stalkers The Night Warriors, a street fighter alike with stunning visuals that makes you thankful for the first class sticks which come as standard, and Captain Commando a lush scrolling beat 'em up with a sense of humour. The rest of the games include the Crack like Super Puzzle Fighter 2, two mech games (because one is never enough) Cyberbots Full Metal Madness and Armoured Warriors. There's also Mega Man The Power Battles, which. is basically a collection of boss fights that see you keeping their weapons after you defeat them.
But for every victory that the Capcom Home Arcade has, there's also the nagging sensation that it could be so much more. Street Fighter 2 is just as playable as you remember it being, but why was it not Super Turbo instead of Hyper Fighting. Why not have some of the Street Fighter Alpha games represented, or (swoon) Street Fighter 3? Now, there is the potential that Koch Media can add some more games, but it all depends on how much the Capcom Home Arcade sells. Money talks and bullshit walks remember. But it'd be a crying shame for a double stick of this quality to only be given one chance. Also, it'd be awesome if you could use the stick as a controller for your other console games. Don't get me wrong, there's every chance that Koch Media could upload some more games and extra online functionality, but until that happens The Capcom Home Arcade is an expensive, if fun curiosity instead of a must have.
+
Excellent double stick
Decent Games
-
Needs more games and better online functionality
It'd be nice if you could use the sticks with consoles
Overall: 7/10