Just Because Capcom Fighting Collection 2 Just Came Out Doesn't Mean we Can't Look Ahead to What We'd Want for the Next Collection!
Shout out to Capcom—it’s enjoying a legendary run that rivals its ‘90s arcade/home console dominance. 2017’s Resident Evil 7: Biohazard marked the beginning of the Japanese publisher/developer gaining more fan goodwill after years of boneheaded decisions and lackluster releases harmed their public image.
Now in 2025, Capcom fanboys (including the guy writing this right now!) are eating real good thanks to quality releases such as Street Fighter 6, Monster Hunter: World, Devil May Cry 5, and the remakes for Resident Evil 2 and 4. Another reason for Capcom’s current success is how they’ve embraced their past fighting games and made them available via feature-rich compilations. The first Capcom Fighting Collection and Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics have marked the welcome returns of beloved 2D fighters. Thanks to the addition of rollback netcode for the titles included in both collections, fans of retro fighting games are now able to enjoy smoother connections while they battle the opposition in an online setting.
Capcom Fighting Collection 2 just dropped yesterday and continues that trend by compiling the following games: Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 Pro, Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001, Capcom Fighting Evolution (ugh…they can’t all be winners), Street Fighter Alpha 3 Upper, Power Stone, Power Stone 2, Project Justice, and Plasma Sword: Nightmare of Bilstein.
I’m confident that Capcom won’t stop putting out these fighting game collections anytime soon. It still has a vault full of playable gems that deserve another chance in the spotlight with the added benefit of rollback netcode. The announcement of a third Capcom Fighting Collection is inevitable. With that being said, there are 11 throwback arcade fighters I’ve selected that would be perfect for another Capcom anthology.
Before Capcom began cooking up its own fighting game compilations, it tasked developer Digital Eclipse with putting out the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection. To be quite honest with you, that release leaves much to be desired—the shoddy implementation of a lobby system, and only being able to play four out of the 12 (13 on the Nintendo Switch version) games online irked me. I prefer Street Fighter Alpha 2 over 3, and was miffed that it was excluded from the titles I could compete in online. Capcom must remedy that issue by making Street Fighter Alpha 2 Gold one of the marquee picks for another Capcom Fighting Collection. That version surpasses the original thanks to new moves for the game’s existing roster, major battle balance adjustments, and EX versions of certain characters that give them their Street Fighter II, Super Street Fighter II, or “evil” renditions. The X-Men vs. Street Fighter version of Cammy is only playable in the home console conversion of this game, but I’m sure Capcom could find a way to drop her onto the arcade ROM for this standout 2D brawler.
One of the playable online titles from the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection is Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, and it played fine. But one of the biggest omissions from that version of one of the greatest 2D fighters ever made was everything that was featured in the Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online Edition—additional visual filters, a remixed soundtrack, and more character color options are chief among them. I’d love to see Capcom use the arcade ROM of 3rd Strike as a base and find a way to include all of those aforementioned features. 3rd Strike’s been rereleased, God knows how many times, but for good reason—it’s recognized by many FGC devotees as the pinnacle of 2D fighting games and the Street Fighter franchise as a whole. A third Capcom Fighting Collection with two of the best 2D Street Fighter games included gives it one of those back-of-the-box bullet points that’ll get casuals and hardcores to give it their undivided attention.
Now, this selection on my list is tricky to handle from an IP rights holder perspective. Capcom birthed the first version of this 2D JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure fighter in 1998 and released the updated Heritage for the Future update a year later. Nowadays, Bandai Namco Entertainment is the main publisher responsible for releasing JoJo’s games, such as JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven. The last time anyone got to play Capcom’s JoJo’s fighter on consoles was in 2012, thanks to the HD rerelease that graced PS3 and Xbox 360. I want to terrorize players online with my clutch Shadow Dio and secondary Joseph Joestar again, which is why I want Capcom to revive JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future for a future Capcom Fighting Collection. I figure Capcom would have to come to some sort of agreement with the IP rights holders for JoJo’s (which are Shueisha, the Japanese publisher of the manga, and Lucky Land Communications, the manga creator Araki's holding company) to get the OK for this game’s inclusion on the next Capcom fighting game compilation.
Does anyone remember when Capcom dipped its toes into the world of Musou games (the Dynasty Warriors type joints!) with its Devil Kings game on PS2? I got a kick out of hacking and slashing to my heart’s content during the heated wars of the Sengoku period in feudal Japan. Imagine my surprise when I learned that Capcom joined forces with Arc System Works (the fighting game GOATs responsible for the Guilty Gear series) to create a 2D fighter that took place in the Devil Kings universe! Sengoku Basara X is a 1v1 fighter that also lets players call on assist characters who can help out on offense and defense. Some of my faves from the series (Date Masamune, Sanada Yukimura, and Keiji Maeda immediately come to mind!) made a smooth transition from a 3D action game to a 2D anime fighter thanks to this weapons-based brawler. I’m pleading with you, Capcom—make this Japanese-exclusive fighter available to everyone, and don’t forget to add the two PS2 exclusive characters, too!
Not only am I a massive gamer, but I’m also a diehard wrestling fan! When I used to frequent the arcades as a youngster, I’d dump weeks' worth of allowance into the cabinets for WWF Superstars, WWF WrestleFest, and WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game. I also spent some time with Capcom’s foray into the squared circle, Saturday Night Slam Masters. What attracted me to that game was its eccentric roster full of original characters (even Mike Haggar from Final Fight is playable!) and its fast-paced in-ring action. The game’s “Team Battle Royale” mode is the main attraction for players who want to dive into some four-player mayhem, but I’ve always preferred competing in one-on-one matches with my masterful El Stingray at the ready. Saturday Night Slam Masters is available on current- and last-gen hardware through the digital-only collection Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium—sadly, it can only be played by you and your buddies offline. Bringing this game back with the added benefit of rollback netcode online play makes a whole hell of a lot of sense to me!
Here’s a massive understatement—Capcom loves updating its games. Saturday Night Slam Masters got one of its own via the arcade-only release called Muscle Bomber Duo: Team Battle (which was only available in Japan, Europe, and Asia, I might add). This game differs from the last pick due to its omission of singles bouts, a stronger emphasis on the 2-on-2 Team Battle Royale matches, the ability to choose the same characters for a duo, and two new special moves. This tag-team-themed four-player fighter is deserving of becoming playable to a larger audience who may not have known of its existence. Muscle Bomber’s cleverly named tag teams (the “Hyper Cannons” and “Knuckle Busters” have the best monikers, I swear!) are worthy of another go-round as a part of a third Capcom Fighting Collection.
It’s pretty crazy how Saturday Night Slam Masters is the only series entry that was available in the States, while its sequels never made the trip over to American arcades. Ring of Destruction: Slam Masters II is the sequel to that game, yet I and plenty of other fans of the first one never got to play it since it only launched in Japan and never got ported to consoles. Now’s a better time than ever to make sure this forgotten sequel gets to prosper among the modern gaming crowd who’ve never heard of it and the old heads like me that want to take it for a spin. Slam Masters II sets itself apart from its predecessor with a stronger focus on traditional fighting game mechanics, but it still offers players the opportunity to land devastating bodyslams on their rivals. The original game’s roster is all here and accounted for, plus they’re joined by newcomers Black Widow (who has one of the stranger character designs in the game!), Rip Saber, Victor Ortega, and The Wraith. I’m chomping at the bit to finally get my hands on this one, so let me fulfill that wish, Capcom!
I didn’t appreciate this game when I initially played it on PS1. I owe that to my fascination with 3D fighters such as Virtua Fighter 2 and Tekken 2, two games that pushed the genre forward and made shoddy attempts at that formula embarrassing in comparison. When I came across Street Fighter EX Plus a, my mind wasn’t blown by what was being presented, plus Street Fighter was a bit played out to me once the late 90s rolled around. Oh, how wrong I was! Once I hit my 20s and gave it another chance, I came to appreciate the game’s new characters that joined the fray alongside the series’ iconic “World Warriors,” the ability to land super combo moves in quick succession, and its incredible soundtrack. Developer Arika did some amazing work with this game, and I’m forever grateful to them for creating my faves in Allen Snider, Blair Dame, Hokuto, and Skullomania. The arcade ROM of this game is Street Fighter EX Plus, which makes sense for inclusion on a third Capcom Fighting Collection. If Capcom can find a way to bring over Dhalsim and Sakura from the PS1 version to this one, I’ll be eternally grateful!
Thankfully, this updated version of the original Street Fighter EX2 was widely available in arcades before it got ported over to PS1. Street Fighter EX2 Plus retains everything that made its predecessor such a zany take on the series’ familiar formula, plus it introduced its form of Street Fighter Alpha’s “Custom Combos,” referred to as “Excel Combos.” Activating that maneuver, watching the background transform into a night sky filled with shooting stars, and proceeding to whittle down my opponent’s life bar with a combo made up on the fly never gets old. The introductions of Blanka, Sagat, Vega, Vulcano Rosso, Sharon, Area, Shadow Geist, and Hayate to this game gave players more fun options to work with (I’m still pretty decent with Sharon, if I do say so myself!). It would be awesome to see the underrated Street Fighter EX games get exposed to a new audience of FGC diehards and give them a chance to see what all the hype is about.
The collective groan everyone released once Capcom Fighting Evolution appeared during the debut trailer for Capcom Fighting Collection 2 could be heard from miles away. Most of the gamers who were unlucky enough to play it weren’t exactly clamoring for it to make a comeback, but here we are. I understand why Capcom is making it available once again—the company is all about preserving its back catalog and making it playable by fans, young and old. The feelings felt toward that black sheep in Capcom’s fighting game catalog are comparable to the same ones felt toward Final Fight Revenge. That little-known oddity made its debut in arcades in 1999 and pitted the heroes and villains of the famous beat ‘em up against each other during 1-on-1 fights. To be quite honest with you all, it’s not a very good game. It’s more of a curious oddity than a wholly enjoyable experience—its moment-to-moment gameplay pales in comparison to the satisfying feel of Capcom’s highly regarded fighters. Even still, Final Fight Revenge should be brought back through an act of video game preservation from Capcom. Plus, I want to land Haggar’s killer suplex that slams his latest victim through the Earth’s core!
If you owned or still own a Sega Dreamcast, you know how much of an arcade-perfect console it is! Capcom, SNK, and Sammy Studios brought most of their fighters over to the console during its short run, and they played just as good as their arcade counterparts. One of those games is Tech Romancer, a 1v1 fighter that wears its mecha anime inspirations on its sleeve and gives players spacious arenas to do battle in. This spiritual successor to Capcom’s Armored Warriors and Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness goes the 3D route and stands out as one of my favorite fighting games that most folks have never heard of. I hope Capcom makes it widely available again by having it join the 3D fighters I’ve selected for this third Capcom Fighting Collection I’m willing into existence. The character designs and playstyles of Armor Knight G (Grand) Kaiser, Strategic Variable Fighter Rafaga, and Phantasm Unit Twinzam V are GOATed! Fingers crossed that Capcom hasn’t forgotten about them and is willing to activate them for battle once again.
Now let’s all hold hands and start a prayer circle started because it’s going to take divine intervention to make this next wish a reality. So here’s the deal with this lost Capcom fighter: the development team behind it started creating it soon after finishing Capcom vs. SNK 2. Due to the cancellation of a third game in that crossover series, the assets from that unfinished project were repurposed for this 3D 1v1 fighter. Between 2002 and 2003, location tests took place at Japanese arcades for the game. Sadly, the players who tried it out didn’t respond all that well to it, and it’s widely believed that Capcom canceled it due to all the negative feedback it received.
Capcom Fighting All-Star: Code Holder shouldn’t remain relegated to an unreleased game, never to be played again. My gut is telling me Capcom still has access to the arcade ROM for this fighter somewhere deep in its vault. The best way to make the third Capcom Fighting Collection more attractive to hardcore FGC heads is to make this long-lost game playable again. I’m sure a modern audience of curious genre fans who’ve only read about its existence would love to give it a go. From the footage I’ve seen, it looks like a solid 3D brawler with a weighty feel to its combat. The game’s original characters include D.D., Death, Luke (Capcom’s original version, not the one who debuted in Street Fighter V), and the highly recognizable Ingrid. Its roster also features a collection of Capcom fighting game icons. Making this pie-in-the-sky request is nuts, I know. But I believe Capcom has it in them to make a formerly lost piece of media available to us all so we can see if it’s truly trash or surprisingly great!
