First up we have Andro Dunos, an excellent side-scrolling shmup released for the Neo Geo that has gained more popularity in the years since its release than it had at the time. You are able to switch between four different weapon systems and the enemy attacks are never unfair. This collection also includes a rapid-fire option, so you can take out enemies without needing to press buttons repeatedly. The visuals may be a bit dated, but there is a lot of fun to be had here.
Another shmup in the collection is the wonderfully bizarre Captain Tomaday, which sees you playing as a mutant flying tomato. There are two buttons controlling the Captain’s fists and you can hold both for a steady string of punches or hold one hand back and power it up by not firing for a while. There are multiple powerups to find, most of which play right into this game’s off-beat nature and you can also get an amplified shot that can destroy down multiple enemies.
Next up we have Bang Bead and Flipshot which are both part of the same series and play very similar to Pong and Data East’s Windjammers mechanically. The goal in both is to get the object past your opponent and like in the aforementioned Windjammers, you control distinct characters who each have their own attributes. The difference here is that before you can score a goal, you must destroy your enemy’s defences using skills, and power shots and while it is handled slightly differently in both games, both are a lot of fun.
The VISCO Collection offers online functionality for its two-player games, so you can attempt to go online and find an opponent to challenge. Online works decently here and while it is not the best online experience seen in a retro collection, it is also far from the worst and very usable. There is a lot of fun to be had challenging players around the world and the way the collection sets up lobbies really helps you narrow down who to play with.
Next, we have Goal! Goal! Goal! from 1995, three years after Soccer Brawl and Super Sidekicks and provided a somewhat different take on the sport than those titles. What we have here is a more distinct adaptation of football or as close as could be done on the Neo Geo, by combining sprite-based athletes who are large, detailed, and well-animated with a close-up camera that forces you to make use of a superimposed map of player positions so you can pass the ball or move players into the right position. Most moves and plays are handled well here, but there is no sprinting and that leaves us with a game that feels very dated even by the standards of the time.
Another sports game included is the 1996 title Neo Drift Out: New Technology, which was the fourth entry in the Drift Out series. This game goes for an isometric point of view and even has quite a bit of sprite scaling to make the visuals pop more. The gameplay is still as fun as ever and while there are seven tracks including the practice stage, multiplayer mode makes this one a title you can play for a long time.
Lastly, we have Ganryu, which draws a lot of inspiration from games like Shinobi. You will take control of either Miyamoto Musashi or Lady Suzume You’ll play as either master swordsman Miyamoto Musashi or Lady Suzume and try to make it through five stages to defeat defeat Sasaki Kojirō. This is a hack-and-slash game and there is a ceaseless procession of enemies that approach from both sides of the screen giving you a real challenge. But this is not all, as both characters can use a grappling hook in different ways, and this changes up the gameplay immensely by adding strategic agilitySwinging from the chain, ducking under projectiles, and slide-attacking opponents all serve to make this title stand out on its own, even if it does not exactly live up to the sources of inspiration.
While this may not be the biggest collection of games, VISCO Collection offers a very good selection of titles to choose from. If it were not for slow load times, this would be a perfect game collection, but fortunately the online play works great and there is still a lot of fun to be had. If you are a retro game fan and especially a Neo Geo fan, then VISCO Collectio is a game you must check out.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
