Capcom Home Arcade is very exciting. It provides almost everything you might want, but beyond that there are some real surprises. Yes, the department replicated the classic coin-operated gaming experience in a series of really outstanding games, and the performance was admirable, but the biggest gain was how it actually took me into a prolific game of the golden age, But no less than these games history. Although there are only 16 games in the product lineup, in fact, there is still a clear sense of discovery here. I have a deeper impression of Capcom's arcade tradition.
For those most important first impressions, Capcom Home Arcade made a big impact. In the age of retro miniature consoles, publisher Koch Media expanded the scale by constructing arcade-style basic units using high-quality Sanwa arcade parts to provide controls with a real, authentic feel. Sturdy but precise but most importantly feel Just like an arcade controller. Installing it all in the oversized Capcom logo is a bit exaggerated, but the quality of the key interface is not lost at all-it feels great. Crucially, it is also safe. The underside of the device uses soft rubber rubber to secure the device to the ground in some way during the game.
Connections are limited, HDMI output on the back, and micro USB and mysterious EXT input for power-USB ports with undefined functions. Rounded is the power button. If you think that the EXT input is used for firmware update, it is actually performed by the internal WiFi chip, which reminds me of the only real problem with the evaluation unit: it cannot connect to any network, indicating that I cannot update the system software. I was lucky because it turned out that I already had the latest firmware, but it did mean that some other lovely features (such as uploading high scores to the global database) didn't work for me.
John Linneman of DF Retro collaborated with Audi Sorlie to evaluate the hardware, simulation quality and game lineup of Capcom Home Arcade.
Although the shape of the device can be omitted from the basic retro mini game console design, the internal structure is completely different. For the precise simulation of Capcom's CPS1 / CPS2 architecture, there is nothing crazy about FPGAs here. Instead, Koch Media partnered with Barry Harris of the Final Burn Alpha project to provide a simulation powered by an unidentified ARM system-on-a-chip. We know it's a bit fatter than the SoC used in Mega Drive mini, etc., because it actually seems to have a heat sink on top. At the same time, the HDMI output provides a 1080p signal instead of the 720p of other retro mixers. An impressive 4 GB NAND flash is used to house the series.
Capcom Home Arcade game list
The device is rich in CPS1 and 2 games-a total of 16. The perfect combination of classic and little-known games is definitely worth your attention.
- Alien vs. Predator
- Armored warrior
- Commando
- Final battle
- Network robot
- Stalker
- Street Fighter 2: Super Fighting
- Battle of Rockman Power
- 1944: The Loop Master
- Ecological Fighter
- Jiga wing
- gear
- Capcom Sports Club
- Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
- Stepper
- Ghoul
After loading the device itself, we need about 25 seconds to boot before entering the system's main menu-although it is very attractive and well presented (I like to use highlight each game when previewing music), the interface itself is very Low and unstable frame rate operation. Thankfully, the poor performance does not extend to the quality of the simulation itself, and the game works as expected. The trouble I had with the machine for the first time was negatively affected by poor stuttering, but fortunately, this could be resolved by restoring factory settings. If you have the same problem, keep this in mind-although it does eliminate all high scores, it works for me.
Overall, the quality of the simulation is absolutely good, and occasional audio loss can be avoided-it can't be solved by swapping the cables (and, when we talk about cables, the publisher Koch Media should praise the long cable!) Strange glitches occasionally appear in Street Fighter 2 Hyper Fighting, which you can see in embedded videos.
Another small problem is that games of this era of Capcom tend to focus on the 384×224 display resolution on 4: 3 CRT monitors. Essentially, because 384×224 is not a 4: 3 resolution, the artwork is slightly expanded. Capcom Home Arcade offers a 1: 1 pixel matching mode that zooms up to 1080p and has an integer scale, but this doesn't seem to be correct. I found that the 4: 3 mode can provide a more realistic experience, but as the artwork expands, the most obvious in side scrolling games is the slight pixel flicker-there are many in this lineup. This is indeed a problem on retro mini-game consoles, but because Capcom Home Arcade's output is 1080p instead of the usual 720p, it is somewhat alleviated.
Compared to competitors, Capcom Home Arcade's display mode has some weaknesses-filters are kept to a minimum, and no actual attempts have been made to provide scanline simulations. What you get is just a smoothing filter that seems to add a very basic bilinear upscale, which actually reduces the quality of Capcom's gorgeous artwork.
All this leads us into the game itself. Compared to other retro mini consoles, there are not many 16 titles-when only one Street Fighter 2 game is delivered, there will definitely be a sense of restraint here. However, I think the choice itself is great. Ghouls & # 39; n & # 39; Ghosts, Strider, Final Fight, and Street Fighter 2: The classic lineup of golden ages such as Hyper Fight is rich, but for less well-known games, you may have a lot of room for those games you used to May play very little. Armored Warriors is an excellent belt-scrolling fighting game that I have played many times, at the peak of games like Aliens vs Predator. Super fighters can take good care of combat fans, but Dark Stalker also adds Cyberbots, another great game that may be overlooked.
Capcom Sports Club is an excellent two-player gaming experience that fits well with the machine's hardware configuration. When playing tennis, football and basketball games, it has the same intense gameplay as Windjammers, supplemented by some beautiful elven works. In the end, my favorite part of using this machine was digging into less productive products in this product line. In addition to offering some of my favorite games, I also appreciate Capcom's rich heritage-an achievement in "only" 16 games.
Capcom makes about 70 titles through CPS1 / CPS2 hardware, so I hope Koch Media licenses more. Of course, there are many scopes here. Although I am personally happy to bring Super Fighter to this initial decision, I am sure that many people may like Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo, for example, X-Men VS Street Fighter and Street Fighter Alpha The ghost of "is also faintly visible. In addition to CPS1 / CPS2, the SoC here is likely to have the ability to simulate CPS3 games, opening the door to a series of exciting games.
All in all, I think this is a powerful product worth researching. Yes, it's SoC-based emulation, which means extra latency, but it's not too bad in this regard-maybe comparable to the Mega Drive mini. And I also find that the lack of DIP switch access is disappointing because you can't adjust the difficulty-so some games here can be very brutal. But apart from these and peculiar audio losses, this is a series of games with good simulation effects and excellent hardware quality. Although the game lineup may not exactly meet your expectations, the planning here is fully judged, and I stand out from this review and have a better understanding of Capcom's classic arcade work. Capcom Home Arcade is definitely expensive, but overall I was impressed and definitely worth a try.
