Just like in the console games industry now, the old arcade biz was a pretty brutal place when it came to original ideas and how they’d be copied. The thing is, titles that originate certain ideas or styles of play don’t always take them to the best ends, leaving competitors to sometimes take promising features and refine them further to the point that history gives them the win in the end. For the most part that’s what I walk away from this collection feeling, appreciating how some Irem titles may have shown the way with some styles of play, but they also clearly didn’t get in the final word.

Starting with Gunforce I, you get both the arcade version an SNES version… though I’d argue that the SNES port is simply not very good and loses far too much in the changeover to be worthy of more than simple appreciation. While with the sequel you really begin to see the movement in play towards what would inspire the classic Metal Slug franchise, the original feels simultaneously like a poor imitation of Contra and a testing ground for new ideas that would later become more refined and interesting. Just overall your character feels too chunky, the action is a little too zoomed-in, so sometimes seeing enemies that will be shooting at you from different levels feels a bit unfair, and the action is merely OK.

Gunforce II, by contrast, absolutely starts feeling far more accomplished and fun. The fact that you’re able to dual-wield two different weapons makes for much more consistently satisfying levels of destruction, and the utility of vehicles in this iteration has improved substantially. Weirdly, it feels like some sound samples and elements were pulled directly from this into Metal Slug, so if you’re a fan of that series there can just be some unusual moments as you begin to see the crossovers that would later get refined to a much more impressive degree. Still, among the games in this collection I’d say this is clearly the banger of the bunch.

Finally, there’s Air Duel, which for the most part will feel quite familiar if you’re a fan of vertical shmups from the early 90s era. You’ll try to collect power-ups that will help make you more formidable, and then try to survive multiple stages with many waves of enemies and big bosses that will test your bullet-dodging skills. I really did appreciate the differences between the base fire of the two crafts you have to choose from though, so that’s at least a plus.

All in all if you’re a true arcade fan who loves to either relive the glory days or sample influential titles from over the years it isn’t a bad choice. I’d argue that the fact that their names aren’t as well-known in arcade history makes sense, as they play well but were very much eclipsed by other more iconic titles like Contra or Metal Slug on the run-n-gun side, and a host of series when it comes to vertical shooters. Regardless, they do offer up something a bit different and can give you a fair challenge.