Kombo's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.

What the Game's About
SNK is responsible for some of the most memorable and interesting arcade franchises to emerge in the post-classic era. The games were available for both the Neo Geo arcade (MVS) platform and the home console (AES). The idea SNK had behind creating the two platforms was that gamers would get hooked on certain titles in the arcades and then feel motivated to buy the AES console and their arcade-perfect counterparts to play in the home. The high cost of both the AES hardware and software caused most people to enjoy the games solely in arcades, however. In recent years, SNK has been porting their classics to modern consoles, and longtime SNK fans have been more than pleased. SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 for the PSP brings 16 of SNK's finest titles together in one package.

What's Hot
For $30, you get 16 solid arcade classic titles all wrapped up in the elegance of a UMD disc or the PSP. If you were to hunt down these titles for either an MVS or AES system, prices will range from $20 to over $100 for single cartridges. For experienced Neo Geo fans, they'll immediately see the value in the package.

The games included in the collection include Art of Fighting, Baseball Stars 2, Burning Fight, Fatal Fury, King of the Monsters, Last Resort, Magician Lord, Metal Slug, Neo Turf Masters, Samurai Showdown, Sengoku, Shock Troopers, Super Sidekicks 3, The King of Fighters '94, Top Hunter, and World Heroes. Many of these are immediately recognizable as some of the best arcade titles from the 90s, while others are nice hidden gems for casual SNK fans.

With 16 titles, unlockable bonus content, and goal-orientated play modes, the collection really does give you plenty of reason to keep playing. Also, the game supports ad hoc multiplayer mode for two players on most of the titles, so you and a buddy can relieve the experience of both cooperative and competitive arcade play.

The 16 titles provide a good sampling of genres. You have fighting games, side scrollers, sports titles, shooters, and brawlers. If you weren't around for the arcade's final surge in popularity during the 90s, this collection will provide you with a good sampling of the types of games that were common in America's arcades.

What's Not
Back in the 90s, slowdown was pretty common in many titles, and that same experience is carried over into this collection. It would have been very nice to have seen some of the PSP's extra horsepower (the PSP blows away the MVS and AES systems) to provide a smoother and more fluid experience. While you aren't going to see tons of slowdown for single player games, when you jump into multiplayer games, the slowdown is exaggerated quite noticeably and it does become an issue.

Another nagging issue that really could have been (and should have been) cleaned up is the load times present in the collection. If you spend a good amount of time on each title, rather than jumping around like they're TV channels, you should be able to overlook the greater part of the loading issue, however.

It doesn't effect the enjoyment you can receive from the collection, but it's worth noting that the game is also available on the PS2 for $10 less. While $30 isn't much, especially considering that you're getting 16 titles, it would have been nice to have seen the same $20 price point on both versions of the game.

Final Word
It's nice seeing these SNK classics being preserved through these compilations, and it's encouraging that they decided to drop a whopping 16 titles into the first volume without resorting to cheap filler titles. The SNK games have a certain charm to them that will stir up nostalgic feelings from longtime SNK fans and make newcomers to the brand wonder what else they might have missed out on over the years. For fans of classic gaming, there's no reason not to give SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 a chance.