Usually when I review an arcade game collection, it’s from a company that most everyone knows.  Like Namco, Capcom, Taito, etc.  But who the heck is Visco?  Well, they mostly made a lot of obscure arcade titles for SNK’s NEO GEO arcade system.  And now there’s a collection of some of those games.  It’s available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.  So let’s take a look at the games!

Andro Dunos

This is a pretty typical side scrolling space shooter.  You can press a button to change your shot formation, but that’s about as unique as it gets.  You can collect power-ups that’ll improve those formations.  Luckily even though it’s one of those ‘one hit and you die’ kinds of games, you can always continue right where you left off, and two can play at the same time.

Battle FlipShot

I think this game was made in response to the popularity of WindJammers.  It’s like Pong in that you rebound a ball between two players.  You can choose a character and each can dash, shield, and do a special move.  If the stars behind you are all destroyed by the ball, you lose, and you want to do the same thing to the opponent.  And that’s about it.  It’s really hard, and nowhere near as fun as WindJammers.

Bang Bead

This is supposed to be the sequel to the previous game, but I didn’t notice any difference or improvements.  It’s just the same game really.  Maybe it has some new characters.  My favorite player in both these games is a blue haired muscular female named Bloody Wolf.  Rather unfitting name for her, but I think she’s still cool.

Captain Tomaday

Probably the flagship game on this collection.  This one takes direct inspiration from TwinBee and just makes it hyper weird.  You play as a superhero tomato in a vertically scrolling shooter as you battle robotic veggies, fruits, and other strange objects.  One button shoots your left hand and the other your right.  But if you punch the same fist four times, the other fist gets charged up for a super attack.  You can also bounce power-ups like you could in TwinBee.  Some of the powers make you big or small, or turn into a lizard or baby!  Just weird!  The game is also super hard, but luckily you can continue right where you left off.

Ganryu

This is a 2D side scrolling hack and slash platformer that is kind of a cross between Kung Fu Master and The Legend of Kage.  You are Musashi and must save your girlfriend from ninjas.  The annoying thing about this one is that if you die or fall in a pit, you must start the stage over from the very beginning.

Goal! Goal! Goal!

It’s an arcade soccer game.  I think that’s all I have to say.

Neo Drift Out

One of Visco’s most popular series was Drift Out, a collection of top down viewed racing games.  They had a few in arcades and on home consoles, too.  The SNES version even used Mode 7 graphics.  This is the NEO GEO version.  It has really good visuals but is very unforgiving and the controls are too slippery.

And those are all the games!  You can play them online and toggle options like screen filters.  But I wish you could’ve adjusted the difficulty, too.  The biggest offender in this collection is that there are not enough games.  Visco made a wider variety of titles, like other vertical shooters, one on one fighters like the Breakers series, block and paddle games, puzzlers, and more.  But the worst thing is that this collection doesn’t have Neo Mr. Do!  Argh!  If it had that game, I might’ve rated this collection a bit higher!

Kid Factor:

Visco Collection is rated E-10 with ESRB descriptors of Fantasy Violence and Mild Blood.  You can blow up spaceships and hit ninjas with swords.  The ninjas explode into green goo, so maybe that’s where the “Mild Blood” descriptor comes from.  Reading skill is helpful for some of the text, but not needed just to play.  I grew up playing arcade games like this as a kid and I turned out OK.

Tags: Game Reviews