NAMCO MUSEUM ARCHIVES Vol 2
NAMCO MUSEUM ARCHIVES Vol 2
Game
Game2019
Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection
Developer KONAMI
8 KONAMI arcade classics of the 80s, from Nemesis to TwinBee. Including bonus eBook packed with new information never before revealed to the public. From the Steam store page
178 reactions from 2 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky) · newest Sep 23, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
59
Mixed
99 positive · 69 negative
95% range 51–66%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 99 | 69 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 10 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mixed
103 of 174 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
59% recommend · 99 yes, 70 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 169 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mixed (258 of 402 positive).
Players praise the collection for its solid emulation and inclusion of Japanese versions after an update. [1][2][3] Some reviewers criticize the lack of control customization and poor regional pricing. [4][5][6] Several players note that Haunted Castle is a weak entry and the games can be very difficult. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [5]
Here I was, when seeing the package, instantly buying it without even having to think about it. I mean, it's Konami after all! While I have great memories of Konami and their games, this 'release' is utter crap. I do not mean the games, but the way they are brought. It comes with a clumsy set of keybindings that cannot be changed to other keys of preference (e.g. shoot with spacebar or X). There's constantly a big …
- [9]
Some games are so hard you can't even pass sections by save-scumming, only because Konami decided only Japan should get the playable version of those games, which are just insanely hard in their US version. the fact there's a difficulty selection means nothing, since apparently even setting the game on Easy with more lives don't make this collection playable. Gradius 1 and 2 are just awful, you can go around Haunted …
- [1]
This collection features various Konami arcade games from the 80s including one their earliest Shoot'em-ups 'Scramble'. The recent update adds in the JP versions of the games that have noticable differences than their International release. For example, Haunted Castle's JP ver. is easier while Thunder Cross lets you stack more Options and use different types of weapon power ups, to name a few. This collection was …
- [7]
Anniversary Collection Arcade Classics, despite its questionable marketing name, is a mostly excellent compilation of games released by Konami during the 1980's with only a single dud in the mix. I won't be wearing any nostalgia glasses as I never played any of these games as Arcade releases. I did play Gradius and Lifeforce on NES, but those versions are not part of this collection. All games are side-scrolling or …
- [3]
EDIT 6/18/19: The Japanese versions have now been added via update today (except for Scramble and Twinbee), although it seems like you can't save data for both versions at the same time-saving Japanese games overwrites English version save files. Hopefully this can be fixed going forward, but this is a good enough update to change my rating from Not Recommended to Recommended. Seems they did this for the other …
Summarised from 34 of the 179 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
59% of the 169 Steam reviewers we collected recommend Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection. The complaint that keeps coming up: no way to customize controls or use arcade sticks. Deal-breaker or nitpick?
Reactions
60 of 178 · most liked firstIf you don't care about owning these titles legally, it's very hard to recommend this collection. While these are arcade perfect ports from what I've played of the games, that's not necessarily a good thing when it comes to Salamander/Life Force or the Gradius games. Those games suffer from lots of slowdown if you actually manage to get fully powered up. When Gradius 3 and 4 were released as a two pack for PS2, they had an option to turn off the slowdown, something I am sorely missing from…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Okay, i haven't played much of this yet, but i already know i can't honestly say this is the greatest pack ever, first of all, you can only play the US versions of these games, why does that matter you ask? Well, a few games have different music, order of levels or are harder and less balanced than their japanese versions, but the problem comes from Haunted Castle and Thunder Cross, mainly, Haunted Castle is absurdly hard and it's pratically trial and error the game, it makes a lot of hard…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Here I was, when seeing the package, instantly buying it without even having to think about it. I mean, it's Konami after all! While I have great memories of Konami and their games, this 'release' is utter crap. I do not mean the games, but the way they are brought. It comes with a clumsy set of keybindings that cannot be changed to other keys of preference (e.g. shoot with spacebar or X). There's constantly a big ass white border with menu options on the bottom of the screen. The game timing…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This collection features various Konami arcade games from the 80s including one their earliest Shoot'em-ups 'Scramble'. The recent update adds in the JP versions of the games that have noticable differences than their International release. For example, Haunted Castle's JP ver. is easier while Thunder Cross lets you stack more Options and use different types of weapon power ups, to name a few. This collection was handled by Hamster and is a solid porting process with good music and visual…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Cant recommend. One of my all time arcade classic games Thunder Cross is totally missing essential details , Ie missing weapons and also the ability to move your little addon bots. Played maybe 20 mins of Nemesis and switched it off. Really bad slow down on the games. Requested a refund shortly after purchase as it simply just didnt deliver.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Have you forgotten how ♥♥♥♥ video gaming used to be? Miss all that frustration at slow response controls and rubbish graphics? Don't like anyone putting a single hour of effort in updating the look or sound of a game? Well this is the product for you! I am revising my spending habits (and Steam's advertising) after this pointless purchase. $29 for this crap? Seriously?
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great that classic Castlevania and Contra are coming to PC. This collection though is not so great.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →buy this only if u're a shmup fan -The only keys you can play with(not counting arrow keys) are HJKLUIOP -8 games in total(7 are shoot em up games while haunted castle is the only platformer) -the game doesnt ask you if you want to load your save, only if you want to overwrite your save -Haunted castle in the bonus book has only 3 concept arts and thats it -Typhoon has no concept arts at all -achievements cant be unlocked if you play JP versions of the game -achievements are just: unlock at…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →When Konami announced their three anniversary collections I was most excited about the Contra Anniversary Collection and the Arcade Collection. Classic shmups handled by Arcade Archives/Hamster at a reasonable price? Sign me up! Unfortunately when more information came out about the collection I was less enthusiastic. It turned out Konami had decided to only offer “region appropriate” games. In other words, if you were outside of Japan you were stuck with the international versions of the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Awful. Everything from inability to change default controls to the inability to use third party controllers like joysticks. Shame, really.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Some games are so hard you can't even pass sections by save-scumming, only because Konami decided only Japan should get the playable version of those games, which are just insanely hard in their US version. the fact there's a difficulty selection means nothing, since apparently even setting the game on Easy with more lives don't make this collection playable. Gradius 1 and 2 are just awful, you can go around Haunted Castle but some of those titles are just walls.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →No way to customize controls, doesn't even show you any controls, very poorly crafted game at the moment. If they make some changes to the control system and tweak important settings then it might be worth a look.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Can you believe that Konami has been around for over 50 years now? 50 years of gaming, that's just half a century, a historic road full of evolving achievements where everything has come to the point in today's video games capabilities & quality. 1 way to celebrate these milestones in the evolution of gaming history is a collection of classic titles that have been instrumental in progressing. Check out gameplay of the complete collection here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrgcPuZB8wo 7…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The set doesn't support arcade sticks nor joysticks which makes it playable only with tools which konami approves. Basically no way to adjust the gameplay to your needs.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Now that the collection was updated and received all the original Japanese versions that were locked behind regions, it's time for a quick review. Given Konami's recent trends and output, the collection is pretty good but not without some issues. First is the horrendous regional pricing for South America. You'll be stuck getting this outside of Steam through Humble or other stores because what they did with the price is a crime. The review would be negative based solely on that but I'm…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The actual games are pretty close to their arcade originals, if you are an ultra-fanatic you'll notice that lag frames happen 1 frame off (but rendering the game without the even frames would be hella annoying on the eyes... so it's a fair compromise) The REAL reason I cannot recommend this is the same reason I can't recommend many of the arcade and classic ports on Steam... lack of proper controller deadzoning. This is particularly egregious in Gradius 1 where you move extremely fast and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is my childhood, this is how I started gaming. I know the Gradius games by heart. Hence why I am able to notice things that distinguish this from the original source. This is not the same as the original games. They have introduced fake difficulty, enemies are not where they should be, levels are shorter. Honestly ♥♥♥♥ KONAMI #♥♥♥♥ONAMI I guess it's nice to have all games in one package. This is just an excuse for Konami to take your money and it's overpriced. GET THE ORIGINAL ROMS AND…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →All the negative comments I see are mostly related to control issues. I use a gamepad and it works flawlessly. It's a great little niche jump down memory lane of the golden age of gaming.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Letter to the Devs, Please allow users to assign their own keys for game controls! I will change my review to positive if this change is implemented. Best regards, Annoyed Gamer
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you are like me, and have been playing these games through unsanctioned means, then like me, you have owed Konami some money. Now that they have come to my preferred platform, how can I say no? I'm betting that they will fix the small problems that for other people are worth writing extended complaints about. All good.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Anniversary Collection Arcade Classics, despite its questionable marketing name, is a mostly excellent compilation of games released by Konami during the 1980's with only a single dud in the mix. I won't be wearing any nostalgia glasses as I never played any of these games as Arcade releases. I did play Gradius and Lifeforce on NES, but those versions are not part of this collection. All games are side-scrolling or over-head shoot-'em-ups except Haunted Castle being a side-scrolling action…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Do not buy. This game does not run at all, it crashes as soon as you launch it. A large amount of users on the Steam forums are having the same issue as me on several different operating systems (Win 7, 8 and 10) and hardware. I spent the last hour trying to look up a way to get it to run but there are no solutions on the forums or anywhere else on the internet. Messing around with the .exe didn't help and turning down the screen resolution, refresh rate or turning off G-Sync didn't do…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Any complaint I read boasted "the controls suck" or "look at this ♥♥♥♥♥♥ UI" and my absolute favorite "arcade machines were huge no way they couldn't run games like this with whatever imaginary accuracy I have in my head." If you buy this game they play how they play. We're playing the coin grabbers right here. They're intentionally unfair and yes it controlled like that back then and NO that isn't emulated stutter; it's just the way the game looks. These are CLASSICS. If PONG at one point was…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I got the patched version. I'm enjoying this collection. Already conquered a few of the games. I hope that the next Anniversary Arcade Collection(s) will comprise of the following. Mega Zone Time Pilot (Original & '84) Gyruss Super Cobra MX5000 The End Parodius Solar Assault Xexex Twinbee (sequel) Top Gunner/Jackal As well, future collections can be classified under various themes (E.G.: Sports, Military, Licensed Movies, Family Fun, Driving, Adventures, Fighting, etc.). Thanks.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Crashes after you choose your game. Cant wait till they fix this through an update. Do NOT get until they fix this. Till then, consider this overglorified abandonware
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Simply unplayable, and not enjoyable for me. There might be nostalgic value for some people, but I was playing in the arcades back in the day and none were as hard as these. As i recall, each arcade owner could set the difficulties on the games, that would be a nice feature here. I tried every game once and a few twice, and they all seemed to be set to kill you fast, which is silly as there are no quarters going into the machine. Cannot recommend.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A new feature has been added in the games latest update, it allows you to not play the game. Very bold KONAMI. EDIT: An even newer update now lets you play the game again - what will then think of next. So, the game itself has some decent titles, however, all you are getting is a bunch of roms and a second rate emulator to play them on - with terrible sound emulation that will make your ears bleed on some games. A quick cash grab is all this game is.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →No turbo shooting. You must press the button for every shot. Why is this not an option? This one thing kills the game for me. Aside from that its fine if you don't mind having a sore thumb.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Windows 10 only... That's bad :( One day later I tried it under Windows 10. Nemesis, Lifeforce and Twin Bee are cashing... Good Idea, good Games but only made quick for fast Money :(
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Argh, recent Insert Coin bug breaks the ability to play the games that require quarter inserts. The other annoying thing is that the controls cannot really be remapped. I am not sure why this is the case.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →At the moment i cannot recommend this, as so far half of the games do not launch or almost immediately ctd, scramble, thunder cross, haunted castle and i think Typhoon do, also the games that don't work makes no difference if you try the English or Japanese versions and the delete game save data insert coin fix doesn't work either it was very cheap in the sale, so not going to break the bank, but i was mainly buying it for the Gradius games, but they don't work so a waste of time and money…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →cant control with mouse.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's broken. Latest update...
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just got an update for this and game will not load. Now unplayable...
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Play the Japanese version of Thunder Cross which is also included but has no achievements. The USA version takes away 7 of the 8 weapon power-ups, takes away control of the options and introduces 6 or so mines per level which I believe are added to steal even more quarters. Completely baffling why they did this.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Please fix this. It keeps cashing and I cannot play it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Decent collection of retro shooters plus Castlevania clone. Simple and reliable gameplay. Hard difficulty and lots of repeating, at least there is quick saving option. Main con is lack of better CRT effects only scanlines are available. Controls are ok, just make sure to set auto fire in the settings for each game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Contra Anniversary Collection and Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection PS4 from Limited Run Games are on sale this weekend at VGP [While Quantities Last] Only $29.99 / 21 USD each 👉 tinyurl.com/5azcsdy9 - Ltd Qty's 1 Per Customer - Enjoy Free Shipping when you spend $80 / 60 USD
neutral · AI labelView post →Bring back memories
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Still doesn't work. I recommend getting MAME or a similar emulator and finding the ROMS. It'll work better than this. :(
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just got this here, and have it on the Switch too. I've played these game in the arcade and elsewhere (ahem). Nice to play them legally. Whats great here is that my wired XBOX controller is already automatically detected, no clunky setting it up. Works perfectly. Enjoyed playing these games in the arcade (the ones I saw there anyway) and some of these that I'm seeing for the first time. Part of the reason I'm buying this is to also hope to see Time Pilot and Time Pilot 1984 etc. in the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →These are not faithful to the originals. Played Nemesis (Gradius) and they have changed things. When you die you get loads of Orange power ups. Wrong. I want the arcade perfect original.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Nice idea but lacks keyboard option (I had to remove my Xbox 360 controller) but Parodious would have been a good addition. 4/5
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Shmup heaven. Except for Haunted Castle, which isn't exactly brilliant.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →EDIT 6/18/19: The Japanese versions have now been added via update today (except for Scramble and Twinbee), although it seems like you can't save data for both versions at the same time-saving Japanese games overwrites English version save files. Hopefully this can be fixed going forward, but this is a good enough update to change my rating from Not Recommended to Recommended. Seems they did this for the other Anniversary Collections as well. Great step forward! Since I'm outside Japan this…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Konami Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection is good but sadly there are better compendiums out there. The biggest issue with this collection is the similarity between the games – aside from Haunted Castle all the others are variations of scrolling shoot ‘em ups. Anyone who isn't into white knuckle bullet avoidance won't find a lot to enjoy here. Still, if that does fit the bill, or if you're just a gamer who wants to try out every arcade game ever made, this collection will satisfy. Yes, all…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is undoubtedly the ultimate collection of Konami Arcade Games. Especially Haunted Castle which will leave you pulling your hair out due to the difficulty. Sure you can add credits to your stash to purchase extra life in game but the game caps the amount of credit redemptions you can use per session until you go onto the next level. Other games are awesome too. I've played SNES and NES versions of these games but never the arcade ones. I hope they follow up with a volume 2 as Capcom…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Konamis Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection is a steam videogame featuring cofounding purveyor outlet games from the konami 1980 past timeline!!!\ It includes these games im about to mention in a displaying correctly manner! And these games are going to be a top rank of which ones i prefer'd the most in regards to terrible absolutely not worth your time away spent in this disastrous home running field place!!! First off Scramble!!!I did not like this game one bit!For the time being it was…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Contra Anniversary Collection (PS4) $21.16 via VGP. ow.ly/s4mT50V4t0A Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection (PS4) $21.16
neutral · AI labelView post →Bought this on super sale for $3.99. That's the only time it's worth it as I would have refunded it if I had paid full price for thing. On first impression, the UI is terrible. The UI is so poor that it leaves you wondering what cheap program they used to develop it. Starting up the games, you'll find that there's no free play and that there's only one game that gives you the option to continue. There's an option to increase the amount of lives, but that's it. To top it off, the games have a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →it's trash with a capital T. i am facepalming right now and thinking about quitting gaming thanks to this turd. The worst collection of games i have ever played. the controls suck. the games suck etc. avoid at all costs.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's bad. Audio quality is abysmal. Thunder Cross is a cool game though.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This collection has way too many thumbs down for way too many unnecessary reasons. I totally enjoyed it so far. Theres nothing i can blame it for. Fair price for 8 games. You can change the controls of every game, as well as the difficulty. There's basically a short manual for every game too. I also like the bonus content, like the artworks, history and japanese versions. Totally worth it. Everyone else that gave this a thumbs down is seriously spoiled.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Scramble: I like that you win by bombing the Konami offices. Twinbee: Mostly just makes me wish Parodius was in this. Gradius: Listen. If you put more Gradius games on Steam I'll buy them. They're gorgeous and I love them. It's the dying breath of a genre I wish would come back. Damn you Elon Musk for making space uncool. Life Force: You guys need to make up your mind whether big brains are the starting boss or the end boss. Typhoon: If you're wondering which of these games is the biggest…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The audio quality in all these titles is so poor i don't recommend buying this. Thunder Cross has an amazing soundtrack but it's so muffled and low quality i can't hear it and turning the volume up doesn't help because it's like the sounds are coming behind 2 walls and from a 1930's radio and other sound effects are loud and tinny and also poor quality.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Unlike the other two anniversary collections this one is somewhat optimized for PC and at the very least lets you use WASD controls. But the same stuttering emulation problems are still there. This one also comes with a digital artbook filled with goodies and concept sketches. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2422491661 Still not worth the $20 asking price though. Wait until it's on sale.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →For $20? Hell no. For $5? Eh...could be worse... I kinda knew i was going to regret buying this...I really only wanted to play Life Force and get my butt kicked in Gradius again but the rest of the "collection" isnt really all that great (or large). However the bonus book within the game is pretty cool though so that was a nice treat to read through. The biggest problems I have with this is that aside from the bonus book and JP versions it just feels very barebones and quickly slapped…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Nostalgia rules!!!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Metal Gear Solid Collection when on PC?
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm running a 64 bit version of Windows 10, but the game doesn't work for me. I get to the main selection menu. I can select a game. When I get to the game, I can't do anything. The demo keeps running. I keep getting prompted to insert a coin. But, I can't start the game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
Posts are quoted from public profiles with links to the original. Want yours removed? Contact us.
