Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection
Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection
Game
Game2019
SNK 40th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION
Developer Digital Eclipse
SNK 40th Anniversary Collection is a video game compilation developed by Digital Eclipse consisting of arcade and console games published by SNK between 1979 and 1990. The collection was released for the Nintendo Switch in 2018, and later in 2019 for PlayStation 4 on March 19, Xbox One on May 3, and Steam on July 7. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
204 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon) · newest Oct 31, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
80
LovedLoved
125 positive · 31 negative
95% range 73–86%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 125 | 31 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 8 | 1 | 34 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 2 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
135 of 166 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
80% recommend · 125 yes, 31 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 156 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (266 of 328 positive).
Players praise the collection for its solid emulation and wealth of bonus content. [1][2][3] Many note that the games are difficult and have aged poorly. [1][4][5] Some reviewers report controller drift bugs that ruin the experience. [6][7][8]
Liked
Representative posts
- [15]
Only 25 out of the 74 games shown in the museum are playable, most of which are generic shoot 'em ups. You don't even get to play sequels of included games like Vanguard II or Atom Smasher (sequel to Ozma Wars). Achievements don't work, there is only one slot for saving, there is no online multiplayer, no fast forward and the game sometimes crashes while rewinding. They include a lot of japanese artwork and game …
- [1]
A quality compilation of SNK's games prior to their NEO-GEO days. Each game will offer the arcade and NES versions of each game (when applicable) and the US and Japanese versions when available. Emulation seems smooth and there is a surprising amount of bonus content in the form of concept art, strategy guide manga (untranslated though), various promotional material, and trivia. Do note that these games are old and …
- [3]
SNK 40th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION This is how to do a collection. Well emulated games Arcade and Console versions where applicable. Histories for each title. Region select at the press of a button, persistent saves, configurable controls and watch modes for every game. Many of these titles I'm seeing for the first time and enjoying them as if I'm popping quarters or just plugging them into my console for the first …
- [11]
I bought this to officially own both the English and Japanese versions of Psycho Soldier, for that reason alone it's already a 10/10 for me Anyway, for $30 as you're getting one great game (Crystalis), several good games, and a whole lot mediocre to downright terrible ones. Emulation is solid, with several nice additional features, such as rewind, turbo, various filters, and suspend functionality. English and …
- [2]
I have been on retro kick for quite some time. This SNK collection turned out to be so much BETTER than I thought it would be! As others have commented, this does NOT contain NeoGeo games. However, you do get: 1) Original arcade ROMs, with solid emulation 2) Control customization, joystick and/or keyboard 3) Screen filters and size options 4) Save game state for each game 5) NES / Nintedoo versions of several of the …
Summarised from 34 of the 202 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 10, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked SNK 40th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION talk about includes both arcade and NES versions of many games; those who didn't talk about controller drift bug makes many games unplayable. Which matters more to you?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Electronic Gaming Monthly reviewer said that it was "one of the most impressive retro compilations I’ve encountered in recent memory". GameRevolution were impressed with "how much care and thought went into every corner of it". Jeuxvideo.com were not as impressed, saying "the good emulation, interface and functionalities don't balance the cruel absence of many great SNK games".
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 204 · most liked firstOnly 25 out of the 74 games shown in the museum are playable, most of which are generic shoot 'em ups. You don't even get to play sequels of included games like Vanguard II or Atom Smasher (sequel to Ozma Wars). Achievements don't work, there is only one slot for saving, there is no online multiplayer, no fast forward and the game sometimes crashes while rewinding. They include a lot of japanese artwork and game manuals but didn't bother to translate any of them. It would have been nice to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A quality compilation of SNK's games prior to their NEO-GEO days. Each game will offer the arcade and NES versions of each game (when applicable) and the US and Japanese versions when available. Emulation seems smooth and there is a surprising amount of bonus content in the form of concept art, strategy guide manga (untranslated though), various promotional material, and trivia. Do note that these games are old and havent aged as gracefully as their later games, but are still worth checking…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have been on retro kick for quite some time. This SNK collection turned out to be so much BETTER than I thought it would be! As others have commented, this does NOT contain NeoGeo games. However, you do get: 1) Original arcade ROMs, with solid emulation 2) Control customization, joystick and/or keyboard 3) Screen filters and size options 4) Save game state for each game 5) NES / Nintedoo versions of several of the titles as well as their arcade versions 6) USA/Japanese version can be…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Godddd I worked my butt off finding supporting material for this stuff to use in SNK 40th Anniversary Collection and it didn't even cross my mind to look at patents! And for Fantasy too, probably my favorite "I got away with it" game to be included in the lineup.
positive · AI labelView post →A nice little compilation of SNK's works before the Neo Geo. Both the Japanese and overseas versions are included as well as the Arcade and NES ones. Chronologically, it begins with Ozma Wars which was released in 1979 and ends with Crystalis which was released in 1990. Alogside the games you get a Museum, which basically shows a bunch of artwork, posters and screnshots of all SNK games of that time and a bunch of other stuff like the soundtrack and achievements. Most of the games haven't…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →SNK 40th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION This is how to do a collection. Well emulated games Arcade and Console versions where applicable. Histories for each title. Region select at the press of a button, persistent saves, configurable controls and watch modes for every game. Many of these titles I'm seeing for the first time and enjoying them as if I'm popping quarters or just plugging them into my console for the first time. Most notably Prisoner of War, Prehistoric Isle and Psycho Soldier.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Im not sure why this game still gets positive reviews with the bug im about to describe. Basically, several games in this package such as Ikari have been converted from their original arcade controls, to modern twin stick. This is great in theory, but there is a bug where the stick inputs get 'stuck' in some direction, making you lose control of the gameplay until you wiggle the sticks all the way around and then rewind the game because you obviously just died because of that. This happens all…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a collection of over 20 SNK arcade and console (NES) titles from the early 1980s up until roughly 1990 (before the Neo-Geo), with an emphasis on shooters that were controlled with a rotating 8-way joystick and also action platformers. There are a couple of notable franchises here, namely Ikari Warrios and Athena, who would become something of SNK's mascot. Also included is the awesome NES action-RPG Crystalis, still as great today as it was in 1990. The game may seem overpriced but it…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Some Wine games go blank when I leave the window. Currently using an X11 system, on an AMD GPU; the window manager is FVWM because I'm a nostalgic old git. I use two screens, and most games tend to full-screen on one. Had decent enough results with Proton via Steam on many titles. A few of them needed to be explicitly tagged "don't draw a frame around the full screen window" in the FVWM config, and I had a few where movies did that "show a test card instead of video" but no biggie. I've…
neutral · AI labelView post →This week's Arcade Archives game is Street Smart, SNK's 1989 fighter. Karate Man and Wrestler battle the toughest guys across the USA! Remember, this is on SNK 40th Anniversary Collection, available physical / second-hand on PS4 & Switch Dreamwidth post! tepidsnake.dreamwidth.org/41036.html
neutral · AI labelView post →Unfortunately, if you use a controller you'll run into drifting issues. I tried out all the games and I didn't experience it in a couple of the games, but most of them the drifting happening and sometimes it was worse than others. It will range from happening once in a while and only for a few seconds to it happening constantly. I tried using two of the newest Xbox controllers, and it happened with both of them. It's happening enough to make playing this not enjoyable, so I can't recommend the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really can't recommend this set. I'd like to, I love old collections. I am completely in favor of preserving games, any games, so they can be seen by anyone who wants to. I don't even mind the fact that a lot of games in this are bad. Bad games deserve preservation too. But I do wish more games on here were good. But worse than that, the collection as a whole suffers some major issues that really set me off. The controls being the biggest problem. A lot of the games in this set used…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Avoid this if you're planning on playing with a controller, it has a nasty bug where the direction will randomly get stuck in one direction until you pause into the menu and back. Considering this has been out a full year, and hasn't been fixed it's pretty obvious SNK or Digital Eclipse doesn't give a damn about this release at all.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Save your money go out and get a free emulator and the Roms. I bought this expecting polish and instead got control and audio bugs which they won't acknowledge or fix. Don't say you were not warned...stay away from this disappointing software will not waste my money on this company again.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The advertising on Steam is crazy. They don't show some of the main reasons people will buy this, Crystalis, Athena, Psycho Soldier. Classics all, but not shown in screenshots. At full price, it's worth it, but I got this on sale for 600 and it's an absolute steal!!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Only bought and played for the Crystalis RPG. It's a cool game. It does feel dated, but if you compare to the games at the time, Zelda, FF, DW NES titles, this is such a hidden gem. If you expect some commentary on religion and war, because the cutscene at the beginning touches on this, unfortunately there won't be anything deep. Good emulation. The emulator offers rewind on the spot, which is basically cheating. I didn't use it until the final boss, for pacing reasons. The game ramps up…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I bought this to officially own both the English and Japanese versions of Psycho Soldier, for that reason alone it's already a 10/10 for me Anyway, for $30 as you're getting one great game (Crystalis), several good games, and a whole lot mediocre to downright terrible ones. Emulation is solid, with several nice additional features, such as rewind, turbo, various filters, and suspend functionality. English and Japanese versions of most titles, and NES/Famicom conversions where available. The…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Looking for a holiday deal? It's hard to find a better discount than 80% the SNK 40th Anniversary Collection at GOG. The set features 24 games and an interactive museum for context. For $6 USD, why not? www.gog.com/en/game/snk_...
neutral · AI labelView post →A lot of these games I remember profusely renting at the local video store for the NES. That being said this game is the best of both worlds with both arcade and NES roms where possible. There are other games as well that I previously never played so it was a bonus. Crystalis - It's fun and will have you playing all day. Same with POW (NES version) I think these two games stand out for me. Its just a great way to spend your Sunday when you got nothing to do :)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I already own this on Switch but got it here because the overall experience more stable, and this was the first time I realized that Digital Eclipse was a force to be reckoned with in the compilation arena. While others churn out basic (if competently emulated) games for the Western market, Digital Eclipse made this experience into not only a who's who of pre-Neo Geo SNK games, but also included a nice history of the company, along with information on games released during this period. It's a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Weekend PC Game Deals: Fallout for cheap, BAFTA winners and nominees, and more. Big Deals - Psychonauts 2 – $29.99 on Steam - Old World – $27.99 on Steam - Darkest Dungeon II – $26.79 on Steam - Hogwarts Legacy – $26.39 on Fanatical - RimWorld – $25.54 on Fanatical - Warhammer 40,000: Darktide – $23.99 on Steam - Pacific Drive – $23.99 on Steam - Thirsty Suitors – $22.49 on Steam - Sifu – $19.99 on Steam - Stray – $19.79 on Steam - HighFleet – $19.49 on Steam - The Callisto Protocol – $17.99…
neutral · AI labelView post →Apparently a 21st century graphics card and be utterly defeated by game roms from the early 80's. That's. . .kind of amazing.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →SNK never fails with imports this is a wonderful collection. I am a happy buyer of these amazing classics thank you SNK.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This week's Arcade Archives game is Chopper I, a 1988 vertical shmup by SNK. Take out the mega-weapons of the enemy army with your lone chopper and three different special weapons! This game is also on SNK 40th Anniversary Collection. Dreamwidth post! tepidsnake.dreamwidth.org/24655.html
neutral · AI labelView post →Stutters, breaks, and has control issues. This has not been addressed in two years. Ridiculous.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter, The Surge, Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap, THE KING OF FIGHTERS XIV STEAM EDITION, SNK 40th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION and Atari Vault all for $3.99 on Fanatical. Honestly I would have paid $3.99 for a steam version of Crystalis alone. Little did I know there was a SNK 40th Anniversary Collection. The collection has a obscene amount of extra features including artbook, soundtracks, rewind gameplay feature, save anywhere, watch full playthrough feature…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Crystalis is the most formative video game of my childhood. It introduced me to the world of JRPGs, and I could not stop playing them after that. This game contains irreplaceable memories that made me who I am today. Crystalis, in my opinion, stands the test of time. It's an action RPG set in a science fantasy world that has magic swords and monsters right alongside technological wonders and killer robots. Each character has a unique personality and character arc. Its gameplay, consisting of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Once again thinking about Che Guevara on the box art for SNK 40th Anniversary Collection
neutral · AI labelView post →I'm a huge fan of packs featuring retro games, but this one didn't click with me. Out of the 24 games included in the SNK 40th Anniversary Collection, only a few were relatively fun to play. The rest, unfortunately, didn't seem enjoyable even after giving them a fair try. One possible reason could be that I don't have many fond memories of these games. Still, I love trying out various games, no matter how old they are. Maybe these are just average and best played with a nostalgia high?2 The…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Excellently presented collection of early S.N.K. arcade titles spanning from 1979 to 1990. The museum is packed with historical information, art and documents. Games that were ported to the NES include those versions. Save states, a rewind feature, unlimited continues and adjustable settings soften the blow of some of the more unforgiving titles. Digital Eclipse does it again!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →[Stove] *SNK 40th Anniversary Collection*, classic arcade compilation. > SNK 40th Anniversary Collection is the ultimate collection of classic arcade games from SNK's golden age with 24 different nostalgic titles back from the 1980s (Alpha Mission, Athena, Crystalis, Ikari Warriors, Ikari Warriors II: Victory Road, Ikari Warriors III: The Rescue, Guerrilla War, P.O.W.: Prisoners of War, Prehistoric Isle, Psycho Soldier, Street Smart, TNK III, Vanguard, Chopper I, Fantasy, Munch Mobile, SASUKE…
neutral · AI labelView post →SNK 40th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION (S) $14.99 via eShop. ow.ly/tPM650UpkW6
neutral · AI labelView post →SNK 40th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION developed by Digital Eclipse (fairly well-known dev) and published by SNK CORPORATION is another great addition to any Arcader or classic console collectors library. the game selection is a wide swath of SNK's greats, games play fairly faithfully to their physical counterparts and the side art is a nice touch in my opinion. Cheers and great gaming!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →SNK 40th Anniversary Collection is a celebration of one of the most iconic names in arcade and console gaming, offering a curated anthology of classic titles that spans the company’s rich history. Developed by Digital Eclipse, known for their meticulous work in preserving retro games, this collection brings together a diverse lineup of 14 arcade and Neo Geo games from the 1980s and 1990s. It serves both as a nostalgic trip for longtime fans and a vital introduction for newcomers curious about…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A nice collection of old school SNK titles, but damn these games are hard even with the rewind & save features. I think I wore down my rewind button with the amount of times I used it. 😁 I love the overall presentation though, with its smooth transitions, background video gameplay, and having the option to choose between the arcade and console version as well as switch regions. I also like the museum section. It's cool looking at all the promotional material / bonus content and the ambient…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fix the drifting controller issue, it's been out for years now. I did like the museum, rewind, and other features tho. Have to give it a thumbs down, as it's the only game I own that has these issues.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ozma Wars Taken in context this was contemporary to Galaxian and only a year after Space Invaders, so not bad at all. 1979 and they're already having bosses. But ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ is this game loud. Early on these guys knew the loud games got more attention. Sasuke vs Commander This one's cute. Again, boss encounters! Fantasy The exact second we could get voices in a video game we used them to be racist, that's wild. Anyway this is trend-chasing Donkey Kong. Vanguard An early…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you grew up in arcades throughout the 80's and 90's, this nostalgia is for you!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →SNK's 40th Anniversary Collection is a fantastic look back at SNK before the Neo Geo era. It brings back some great memories with my favourites including P.O.W, Street Smart, and Ikari Warriors. The collection is well-crafted, with modern features and it's a great way to experience a piece of arcade history.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →SNK compilation of 25 TITLES. Each title may have 2 games (1 arcade port and 1 NES port). TNK and Crysalis are console games only, while some others are arcade games only. So the game count is way over 25. Games range from early arcade from the 70s all the way to 1990s RPG Crystalis. Lots of Ikari Warriors variables, which is what the SNK brand was going for at the time before NeoGeo. It also has platforms, vertical shooters, horizontal shooters, and brawlers. Ikari Warriors trilogy is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Crystalis! Childhood memories! It's been over 30 years since I last played this. I was just a kid. I never did finish the game because I got stuck in a difficult spot and gave up. Now is my chance to finally see this through to the end.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →1.5 / 5.0 Getting the positives out of the way first: Very nice presentation including a Museum section to look at artwork and the like, options to play the arcade or home versions with varying difficulty, number of lives, etc., good opportunity to play pre-NeoGeo SNK material that is relatively unknown. The bad: game is full of bugs such as games not starting (black screens), achievements not working and sporadic control/input issues. All these issues seem somewhat common based in other…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great set of older Arcade games that show the birth of SNK and NEO GEO games. Hope there are more Arcade compilations released on Steam. Wish there were online leaderboards, but other than that great package.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The SNK 40th anniversary collection is a nice little package of SNK titles spanning a good part of their history. This collections features 24 games in total and features an art gallery and soundtrack playlist for some games. There is also options to play the arcade or console version of some games which is really nice. Overall the quality games here is good featuring some classic games and series like Ikari Warriors, Athena and Crystalis. The games play really well overall and the only…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Classic SNK games, some are teeny tiny. Just like when you were a kid! Fantastic! Works on the Deck!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Yeah, some of these games are not great or don’t hold up so well, BUT... I bought this collection for one game only: Crystalis! For all the not-so-great games that SNK produced, this one is arguably one of the best action RPGs for the NES, if not one of its best games period. To call it a Zelda clone, although somewhat accurate, would be overly reductive and would do it a huge disservice: it had a lot going for it beyond its top-down adventuring and exploring style. In fact, one might argue…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have no idea what these games are but I have fun coming back and beating a new one. Remember they are retro arcade games, made to eat your quarters. Get it on sale while you can
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You have 1 credit. When you get game over you have to start all over again. Or you can play these same games on MAME and use all the credits you want and actually beat the games. Ignore the positive reviews. Overpriced even on sale.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fun retro titles. Takes you back to the arcade days.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is an absolutely fascinating curated collection of SNK's pre-Neo Geo days. Many of these games were very ambitious with their control schemes and use of clear voice clips, but several of them are relatively mediocre or experimental and do not hold up. Fortunately, the emulation is very good and most titles here are still quite enjoyable, especially in co-op! For SNK fans unfamiliar with their earlier titles, it is pretty exciting to go back and see a lot of the artistry and game concepts…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →SNK 40th Anniversary Collection is FREE via Stove store.onstove.com/en/games/4334 SNK 40th Anniversary Collection is the ultimate collection of classic arcade games from SNK's golden age with 24 different nostalgic titles back from the 1980s, and many bells and whistles for the best game experience!
neutral · AI labelView post →Hey, SNK's back for Arcade Archives (Besides ACA NEOGEO)! I'd like to see more pre-Neo Geo games from them that aren't already in SNK 40th Anniversary Collection. www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPzK...
neutral · AI labelView post →A Mixture of good and bad But Worth the buy just for Athena's Theme. Fire! Fire! Psycho Soldier!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you are trying to get people to not download ROMS this isn't the way to do it. Emulation is terrible and it all runs better in retroarch, what's the point.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a nice compilation. I like it. It includes easy achievements along with classic games. It is a package that every arcade lover should play. Keep accumulating insert coins. (:
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I bought this pack as a bit of risky bet as i know nothing about SNK games. Only titles i knew from before were Ikari Warriors and Athena and those on old western home machines. Not even arcade versions. This is a bit pricy bet even on sales but it seems this is definitely worth it as the plethora of games is large enough that by investing some time into it will yield good times the same way old Atari package did to me (i was too young to experience that one as well, only a few games i…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Buggy program that on many computers displays upside and and then gives a black screen when trying to play games, see discussions here on Steam for more info. There are workarounds if you're willing to play with settings on your computer but on a game that's a glorified emulator, something amateur programmers have done for decades, a problem like that over a year old from a major game company, that's just lazy bug fixing. Nostalgia cash grabs that cost this much for what's often out there for…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →SNK 40th Anniversary Collection is a prime example of the sum being greater than its parts. Before I go on, this is the first time I played any of the arcade versions. Of the NES games back in the day, I only played Ikari Warriors I, II, and about 5 minutes of Ikari III (It was terrible then and it is terrible now). Almost every single game in this collection borders on impossibly difficult to play. Additionally, most of these games did not age well; more than two-thirds of these games are…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →ITS WORTH THE PRICE not really worth 5 bucks thats it love the burrito master
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm a sucker for these old school collections. Really takes me back to a better time.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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