Regardless of everything else, at £30 for 30 games, CAS is the sort of deal where all it really needs to do is be in the same ballpark of quality as MAME to be worth it on the convinience factor alone. And it kind of is, and kind of isn't.
Frankly, it's just weird. A bizzare RE Engine frontend which lets you play blatantly modified ROMs with emulation quality that varies from legitimately great to almost unplayable. And an emphasis on a GAAS-style limited time model for challenge modes.
For instance, Pack 3, which is by far the best pack of games available in the selection, includes almost exclusively CPS2 hardware games. Super Turbo expectedly runs about perfectly and features a lot of nice stuff like move lists, etc. Progear, a game that has never been ported before, works fine and even has a small guide for it's unusual scoring system in the manual. Giga Wing? 10 frames of input lag, frameskipping, and if you choose the wrong scaline filter I hope you're ready for Glaucoma.
The game selection is also odd. Not only is it very rear-heavy with pack 3 having most of the best games, but there's some odd exclusions - The street fighter Alpha series is the most blatant, but the lack of darkstalkers, puzzle fighter, Alien Vs Predator and any CPS3 games in this set feels like a missed oppurtunity, or at least an indication that they're intended for a future pack.
Seriously, half the games in this set are Shmups/STGs. I'm very happy about that, and having an official port of Progear and 19XX at long last is really cool. But there only being 4 fighting games, 3 of which are Street Fighter 2, in the whole set, from a capcom arcade collection, feels like it's going to leave a lot of people dissapointed.
Overall, it's good. Pack 3 in particular is fantastic and contains some of Capcom's absolute best games, and I think it's very likely most of the issues will be patched considering the GAAS model they're going for. But at the same time, some oppurtunities have definetly been missed here.
Frankly, it's just weird. A bizzare RE Engine frontend which lets you play blatantly modified ROMs with emulation quality that varies from legitimately great to almost unplayable. And an emphasis on a GAAS-style limited time model for challenge modes.
For instance, Pack 3, which is by far the best pack of games available in the selection, includes almost exclusively CPS2 hardware games. Super Turbo expectedly runs about perfectly and features a lot of nice stuff like move lists, etc. Progear, a game that has never been ported before, works fine and even has a small guide for it's unusual scoring system in the manual. Giga Wing? 10 frames of input lag, frameskipping, and if you choose the wrong scaline filter I hope you're ready for Glaucoma.
The game selection is also odd. Not only is it very rear-heavy with pack 3 having most of the best games, but there's some odd exclusions - The street fighter Alpha series is the most blatant, but the lack of darkstalkers, puzzle fighter, Alien Vs Predator and any CPS3 games in this set feels like a missed oppurtunity, or at least an indication that they're intended for a future pack.
Seriously, half the games in this set are Shmups/STGs. I'm very happy about that, and having an official port of Progear and 19XX at long last is really cool. But there only being 4 fighting games, 3 of which are Street Fighter 2, in the whole set, from a capcom arcade collection, feels like it's going to leave a lot of people dissapointed.
Overall, it's good. Pack 3 in particular is fantastic and contains some of Capcom's absolute best games, and I think it's very likely most of the issues will be patched considering the GAAS model they're going for. But at the same time, some oppurtunities have definetly been missed here.