Classic Game Compilations for the Home...which are the best?

[TVs Hasselhoff]

Here is my question, and maybe it has been answered already...

What classic game collections (compilations) that have been done over the years are considered good enough to be used as a reference for someone that may not have played the original game, or does not have access to the original game. These can be collections for the next gen consoles, for past consoles, or on computer. The only limitation is that you can not use MAME or other home-brew emulators (Nestor) that are running roms. These must be store bought collections, licensed by the publisher.

My reason for the stipulation is because of use of these compilations on school campuses for student reference. I am currently enrolled in a game design course, and when students are asked to play older games for a project or paper, students usually turn to MAME or some flash program to play the game. Flash can be inaccurate if not done properly, and MAME requires the use of roms that students can lead to legal issues if used on a school computer. Schools can not allow the use of MAME-like emulators because of the legal issues of ROMS. I don't want to debate this, it is what schools do, so I am not looking to create an argument for or against this issue. As more schools start developing game design courses of study, they need reference material for these older games, and who better than the DP cast and crew to put the question to. A list of what is considered "kosher" by the people that have played and know the original game and its emulations would be invaluable to schools with this kind of curriculum, and would prevent future generations from buy the Activision Intellivision Classics for the PSX. :-)

So fire away with your recommendations. They will be put to good use.

[Dire 51]

That PS2 Activision Anthology is pretty sweet. A lot of the import arcade deluxe packs are good too, like Konami's Salamander Deluxe Pack Plus.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

For the PS1: the Namco Museum and Arcade's Greatest Hit Series, Konami Arcade Hits, Atari Anniversary Edition Redux, Activision Classics (2600), Intellivision Classics, and several imports: 3-In-1 Arcade Classics (old Taito games), Irem Arcade Classics, Space Invaders Collection, Namco Museum Encore, Nichibutsu Arcade Classics...the list goes on. :)

[nesuser2]

i think this counts.........sonic mega collection for GC. i highly recommend it actually. i skipped the whole Sonic lifespan as i was young and hung on mario and luigi. but i must say, i'm hooked.......i can't get enough of it :-D

[Flack]

These are all for the PS1 as well (I think I probably repeated a few of Phosphor's suggestions.

Activision Classic Games
30 classic Atari 2600 Activision games.

Arcade Party Pak
Rampage, Toobin, Smash TV, Klax, 720º, and Super Sprint

Arcades Greatest Hits: The Midway Collection
Spy Hunter, Robotron 2084, Joust, Defender, Sinistar, and Rootbeer Tapper.

Arcades Greatest Hits: The Midway Collection 2
Burger Time, Blaster, Joust 2, Moon Patrol, Root Beer Tapper, Splat, and Spy Hunter

Konami Arcade Classics
10 video game ports.

Namco Museum Volume 3
Galaxian, Dig Dug, The Tower of Druaga, Ms Pac-Man, Phozon, Pole Position II.

There are many others for the PS2, Dreamcast, N64, and other systems. However, a PSX can be picked up for usually less than $20 in most pawn shops, and most of these games can be picked up very inexpensively in bargain bins and flea markets everywhere. Depending on what your students are wanting to play, I would say there are tons of options available for the gool ol' Playstation.

Flack

[NE146]

Definitely seek out a copy of Williams Arcade Classics for the Playstation. Not only for the great games and excellent emulation, but also for the interviews :)

[GrandAmChandler]

The PS One collection with Paperboy, Gauntlet, Marble Madness, and Crystal castles. I forgot the name of this!! Please help!

[Gamemaster_ca_2003]

The PS One collection with Paperboy, Gauntlet, Marble Madness, and Crystal castles. I forgot the name of this!! Please help!

Midway Presents Arcade gratest hits:The Atari collection 2 I think.

[Cafeman]

Do not waste time on the older Activision Classics compilations for PC and PSX -- the emulation ruins it. Not in the same league as the newer Activision ANthology.

Konami Classics on PSX -- a must-have, for Time Pilot, Gyruss, PooYan, Circus Charlie, Road Fighters, and others.

Namco CLassics discs: a little bit fuzzy on PSX but very playable. Also on Dreamcast and N64 which I don't have. I like PSX discs #1 and #3. There are 5 in all and #2 , 4, and 5 are hard to get.

[Neil Koch]

The Namco Museum disc on PS2 is quite good.

Also, some of the old-school comps for PS1 won't work on a PS2... I know for sure most of the games on Arcade Party Pak don't.

Anyone hear anything about the new Midway one that is coming out for PS2? Supposedly there's gonna be like 20 games on it, hopefully NARC will be one of them...

[Lady Jaye]

Definitely NOT Midway Arcade Greatest Hits for the GBA. That's a textbook case of how not to do emulation. On the other hand, Pac-Man Collection and Konami Arcade Advanced on the GBA are great (if you like Pac-Man, you should play Pac-Man Arrangement on the Game Boy Player!).

I have a copy of Midway's Arcade Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 1 for the SNES, which is basically what became Atari Anniversary Redux on the PSX (no wonder, since the SNES version was also ported by Digital Eclipse).

Hopefully the upcoming Midway Arcade Treasures (for Xbox, PS2 and GCN) will be a success, not a failure. If it uses the dual shock's dual joystick for Defender, Robotron and Smash TV on the PS2, that'd be a bonus point.

The Namco Museum series: great for the emulation, so-so for the museum part (it's missing a je-ne-sais-quoi, add to this the fact that it obviously focuses on Namco, so the Pac-Man, Galaga, etc. paraphenalia is Japanese only and misses out on the US side of things).

[Lady Jaye]

Unfortunately, Narc is not listed in Midway Arcade Treasures. Here's the list of games officially included on the compilation:

Spy Hunter
Defender II
Gauntlet
Joust
Paperboy
Rampage
Marble Madness
Robotron: 2084
Smash TV
Joust 2
Bubbles
RoadBlasters
Blaster
Rampart
Sinistar
Super Sprint
720°
Toobin
Klax
SPLAT!
Satan's Hollow

And the people at Gamespot played an early version of the compilation and it included Moon Patrol. Maybe it's an unlockable game? However, it was originally created by Irem and Williams, so I suppose Midway now owns the rights to the game. Oh, and it'll be a great affordable package: in Canada, it will sell for approximately $30 CDN.

[Kid Ice]

Schools can not allow the use of MAME-like emulators because of the legal issues of ROMS. I don't want to debate this, it is what schools do, so I am not looking to create an argument for or against this issue.

I know this isn't what you're looking for, but I've heard many times that emulating roms is legal for "educational" purposes.

My pick for best emulations would be the Williams disk for the Playstation. The emulator is very flexible in letting you map the controllers; it allows you to map buttons on controller two for player one. So if you have a dual joystick panel (X-Arcade, Twin Shock) you can play Robotron with the twin sticks. I like to use the player 2 buttons for Defender also.

[kainemaxwell]

Konami Arcade Classics
10 video game ports.
Flack
Put in an ebay bid for it since you guys got me intrested.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Midway Arcade Treasures ROCKED at CGE. Moon Patrol was on the menu, by the way - no unlocking necessary.

[bargora]

Pretty much all of the Playstation compiliations seem good enough to me, with the exception of the Playstation "Activision Classics" compilation, which is a bit buggy. Although to tell the truth, I hadn't noticed the bugs until they were pointed out to me.

I'm not sure how old you mean by "classics", but I would add the "R-Types" disc, which compiles R-Type and R-Type II. These games will give your students fits, and R-Type is an archetypal side-scrolling classic.
:devilish:

Dire 51 pointed the direction to a motherlode of classic game compilations on the Saturn. The Gradius Deluxe Pack has bang-up emulations of Gradius and Gradius II. Gradius and R-Type have basically set the pattern for every side-scrolling shoot-em-up since. Unfortunately, you'll need an ST key or 4-in-1 or region switch to run Gradius Deluxe Pack, as it is only available as a JP import.

For the domestic Saturn, Galactic Attack is an excellent port of the vertically scrolling shoot-em-up arcade classic.

Then there are the Playstation discs that are "updates" that come packaged with an emulation of the original game. Xevious 3D/G+ comes with the original Xevious and three sequels. Q-Bert also contains the original game on the disc. Space Invaders contains an emulation of the original game, but you must unlock it by beating the game first (which is really easy on "normal" mode). Note that Robotron X DOES NOT CONTAIN the original Robotron: 2084; You'll have to buy Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Williams Collection to play that one. Oh, and Strider 2 comes as a two disc set, one of which contains the original Strider game (look out, the disc labels are switch-misprinted).

Is 1997 too recent to be classic? Strikers 1945 for the Playstation is a great version of arcade game "Strikers 1945 II", a vertically scrolling shoot-em-up from Psikyo.

The Dreamcast also has some great shooter ports, like Giga Wing, Giga Wing 2, Gunbird 2, and Mars Matrix. Not compilations, but they let you see where the vertically scrolling shoot-em-up has gone since Xevious started things up.

[The Unknown Gamer]

Seek out and find Williams Arcade 2 for PSX it has the rarely seen JOUST 2
You want a challenge now there is a game

[Neil Koch]

Lady Jaye thanks for the info, I've been trying to hunt down some of the compilation disks but I'll think I'll just wait for that one. BTW, this is the list I got from Midway's site, which has a few more games not on your list:

SpyHunter
Defender
Gauntlet
Joust
Paperboy
Rampage
Marble Madness
Robotron 2084
Smash TV
Joust 2
Bubbles
RoadBlasters
Stargate
Moon Patrol
Blaster
Rampart
Sinistar
Super Sprint
720
Toobin’
KLAX
SPLAT!
Satan’s Hollow
Vindicators
Root Beer Tapper