Well, BlizzCon certainly dropped a surprise this year. The annual event normally pulls gamers from all over the world to a convention center, but due to the pandemic, things went virtual this year. One of the biggest surprises for console and PC gamers though was the Blizzard Arcade Collection! Out of the blue, three of the earliest titles from Blizzard dropped in a remastered collection: Blackthorne, The Lost Vikings, and Rock N’ Roll Racing. On top of that, for an extra $10, you can tack on a massive amount of DLC for both Overwatch and Diablo III in the form of the Blizzard 30-Year Celebration Collection which also includes the Arcade Collection! Now how much would you pay? Let’s take a trip down the rabbit hole!
Jumping right in to the Arcade Collection, you’re immediately given, well, a really incredibly long terms of service contract in true Blizzard form. It takes almost a solid minute to scroll to the bottom and confirm before you can actually play the collection. Why? Well, legal stuff. Irritating, but such is the way of things. But after your inevitable agreement, since you can’t play the games otherwise, you drop into a game selection screen, allowing you to choose from the three games. There are several different versions of each title, allowing for a wide range of options. Let’s take a look at what you can do before we get into the specifics.
Each title in the collection has a shiny new definitive version. These versions are newly remixed editions, adding new content, new graphics, and optimized for HD. The core gameplay is left intact in each, but quality of life improvements definitely add to the playability. The Lost Vikings is cleaned up for HD, combining the SNES version and the extra levels of the Genesis version of the game and adding multiple languages and multiplayer. Rock N’ Roll Racing has new graphics and fonts, new music and even new dialogue and comes with both SNES and Genesis versions as well. Blackthorne is tidied up as well with an automap system that helps you find your way and includes both the SNES and the gorgeous Genesis 32X versions. Additionally, both Blackthorne and The Lost Vikings allow you to save anywhere by clicking the R stick on the Switch, a handy function that makes them significantly more playable.
On top of all the fancy upgrades in the definitive edition, both original editions of each game are also included. If you don’t like the changes, you can play your favorite version with original sounds and visuals, including the option to add filters and change screen sizes, making the games look more authentic like they did on those old CRT TVs we all played on back in the day. Both Lost Vikings and Blackthorne allow you to watch a playthrough of the entire game as well, but only in the original versions, not in the definitive editions. While watching, you can rewind, fast forward, and at the touch of a button, jump in and start playing anywhere you want. Considering how challenging these games are, this is an amazing addition!
Let’s take a quick look at each of the titles included in the collection. First up is The Lost Vikings. If you aren’t familiar, it’s a puzzle game similar to Trine, where you have three Vikings, each with different abilities. They kind of get kidnapped by aliens and have to find their way home. Puzzles require some clever thought and the stages are quite challenging as you progress. There are some fantastic death animations as you inevitably do the wrong thing over and over again. If you’re terrible enough, the Vikings even make fun of how often they’ve been forced to repeat the same levels, playing around with breaking the fourth wall. This is a challenging game and the slightest error leads to death. Finish a level with a dead Viking and you’ll have to start over, even if you made it to the exit, so you may as well give up and start over at the beginning of the area right away. If you’re spectacular at puzzle solving and never die, this is about a two hour game, so expect to spend six to eight on it or cheat and use the video playthrough because that’s what it’s there for!
Blackthorne is similar to Lost Vikings in that it’s a sedately paced game where you have to figure out what to do and where to go, killing enemies and solving puzzles to progress. You might notice the cover art by Jim Lee, famed Marvel and DC artist. Sadly, the graphics aren’t quite as cool as Lee’s art, even in the definitive edition, but they’re still pretty darn good. As Kyle Blackthorne, it’s your job to, well, save your home planet of Tuul from the evil Sarlac (not the pit kind of Sarlacc…extra ‘c’ there). To do so, you need sunglasses, a shotgun, and a whole lot of tough guy attitude. Blackthorne is unique because you can kill all the slaves and helpful bystanders if you want, for no apparent reason other than being vicious. Not many games allow this, but everyone can die in violent ways. Combat is reminiscent of Flashback – Quest for Identity, which came out only a couple years earlier and before that Prince of Persia, and the jumping and climbing mechanics feel similar to both of those titles. Combat in Blackthorne is interesting, allowing you to draw your weapon and then hide in shadows, waiting for an opportune moment to pop out and blast your enemies. You’re looking at another six to eight hours here unless you’ve played before or are a puzzle master who can intuit pathways.
Finally there’s Rock N’ Roll Racing, probably the gem of the collection. A significant departure from the other two, Rock N’ Roll Racing is an isometric sci-fi racing game with a rock soundtrack. Upgrading is a key component and you slowly build a more powerful race car as you trek from planet to planet. There’s not a lot of plot here, just a lot of furious weapons-hot racing with a variety of environments and tracks including dirt, acid, ice, and more. Blowing other cars off the track while boosting around corners is a pure and utter joy, and this is a game that has aged extremely well. The definitive edition changes up the soundtrack and adds significantly more music and fancier background graphics, but is otherwise functionally identical. If you’re a streamer, especially on Twitch, beware, as this is licensed music, so you might want to switch to the chiptunes soundtrack in the menu options before streaming this one! Oh, and don’t forget 4 player local split-screen play! Unfortunately, Blizzard did not add any sort of save system to Rock N’ Roll Racing for any of the versions, so you’re forced to either put your Switch in standby while playing or use the archaic 12 digit password system by going into the game’s settings menu and retrieving a password. Considering that a single playthrough of Rock N’ Roll Racing can take 3-5 hours or more depending on your skill level, this is irritating and unforgivable when contrasted with the other games in the collection.
Regardless of which version of which game you choose, the controls are conveniently mappable. And you’ll definitely need that function because whoever mapped the default control scheme for the Switch was high on something. The layout for all the games is pretty terrible, though Rock N’ Roll Racing stands out for having the worst default control scheme. For a game that’s laid out so well overall, there are a few odd choices like this. Blackthorne is also badly laid out with gun drawing and back shooting particularly confusing. Additionally, other key functions are confusing or subtle. Quitting a game requires clicking the right stick button on the Switch, but it’s never explicitly stated. When you first start up a game, it definitely seems like there’s no way to access the system menu for the collection, and most people rarely click their analog sticks. This certainly would have been nice to show somewhere on a menu screen, but trial and error eventually prevails. The same goes for the playback function. While advertised, it’s not clear that it’s only on the original versions of the game and it’s only shown as a tiny option called “Watch” on the bottom of the screen when looking directly at those versions of each game.
Regardless of the few little design issues, there are also a bevy of extras included with the Blizzard Arcade Collection. A huge Blizzard behind the scenes retrospective is also included in addition to all the actual games! Concept art, soundtracks, and even video interviews are all tucked away inside this excellent package. Considering the whole thing is only $20, it’s an absolute steal. Seeing behind the curtain of several of the coolest games of the 16 bit generation is a real treat and one a lot of fans will truly enjoy. Plus the tunes are killer!
If you sprung for the fancier Blizzard 30-Year Celebration Collection, you get a bit more too. These bonuses require ownership of Diablo III and Overwatch ( respectively, but if you play those titles, this is some sweet swag. For Diablo III, you’ll get the Terror Unleashed Wings, The Dark Murglrrr Pet, The Dark Wanderer Portrait, and The Wanderer’s Transmog Set. They’re all pretty cool looking, especially the Terror Unleashed Wings and the Transmog Set. For Overwatch, you get a Starcraft-based skin for Reinhardt based on Marshall Jim Raynor, as well as a portrait, a spray, five Classic Loot Boxes, and three Golden Loot Boxes, which means three guaranteed Legendary items. That alone adds enough value to justify the extra $10 for Overwatch players and the skin is cool as heck too.
Ultimately, this is a sweet collection of three of Blizzard’s earliest titles that will net you a ton of replay value for a fairly low cost. Honestly, it’s worth it for Rock N’ Roll Racing alone, and if you were to buy the three SNES games used on eBay, you’d be paying anywhere from $60 plus shipping for bad bootlegs to literally hundreds of dollars or more for all of the original games. The Sega 32X version of Blackthorne alone can run well over $300, and copies of Rock N’ Roll Racing and Lost Vikings are both into the multiple hundreds of dollars as well, especially for complete copies. This is an excellent collection, it looks great on the Switch, plays smooth as silk both portably and docked, and is incredibly reasonably priced for what you get. Honestly, if you’re even remotely interested in these games, this is a collection that is absolutely worth buying and you won’t regret it!
This review is based on a digital copy of The Blizzard 30-Year Celebration Collection provided by the publisher. It was played on a Nintendo Switch in both docked and undocked modes. The Blizzard 30-Year Celebration Collection is also available for PS4 and Xbox One as well as on PC directly from Blizzard. If you’re interested in retro games like the Blizzard Arcade Collection, check out Retro Gamers Hub on Facebook for a variety of retro gaming groups!