Ports Developed by Digital Eclipse
Published by Konami
Released for Xbox 360 (12/15/2009)
Backwards Compatible on Xbox One
It wasn't very often you'd see games released for Xbox Live Arcade receive a retail-disc release, so Konami Classics Vol. 1 is worth a look for fans of physical media as it packs 3 of Konami's XBLA titles into one package. Released simultaneously with a second volume in mid-December 2019, this disc features Frogger, Super Contra and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. It's definitely an odd grouping, but each are classics in their own respect.
Each of these games have already been reviewed individually on this site, so be sure to check them out here at these links:
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (XBLA, 2007)
Frogger (XBLA, 2006)
Super Contra (XBLA, 2007)
Starting the disc up will take you to a menu where you can select which of the three games you'd like to play. Alternatively, you can just insert the disc in your hard drive and select the individual title you'd like to play from your game library. Inserting the disc into your Xbox One will provide you the option to install the games on your hard drive and all 3 included games are backwards-compatible in Volume 1, which is unfortunately not the case with Volume 2.
While it's nice to see XBLA titles receive disc releases, Konami skimped out a bit on this one by only offering 3 titles. At the bare minimum they should have at least included five games, which would offer a total of 1000 gamerscore like your standard disc-release. Splitting these into 2 volumes felt unnecessary and it would have no doubt sold more copies had they just thrown all 6 titles onto one disc. Konami also had several other titles already on the XBLA store that would have fit in perfectly with these games. Titles like Scramble, Time Pilot, Gyruss, TMNT '89 and Yie Ar Kung Fu would have all fit in perfectly with these games. A TMNT '89 physical release, even if just sold by itself, would have sold a ton of copies and would have naturally become a collector's item! While Contra was included in Konami Classics Vol. 2, it's a bit odd Konami chose to include Super Contra in the first compilation instead of the original.
It's worth noting that Super Contra would receive another port to the Xbox One, contained in the Contra Anniversary Collection. If you're a fan of the series, this is no doubt going to offer you a lot more as it includes several other Contra classics. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was unfortunately not included in the Castlevania Anniversary Collection, which makes the fact that its backwards-compatible that much nicer. All 3 titles featured on Konami Classics Vol. 1 are classics, though it's hard to recommend this over the digital versions, since these discs have been out-of-print for years now and are going up in value, selling for well above the initial MSRP of $20.
Final Verdict: Konami Classics Vol. 1 contains 3 XBLA games, put onto a single disc to be sold at retail stores. If you prefer your games on physical discs you might want this, but all included games can be found for cheaper in digital form.
Purchase Links:
Search Konami Classics Vol. 1 - eBay
Buy Super Contra - Microsoft Store
Buy Frogger - Microsoft Store
Buy Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - Microsoft Store
Related Reviews:
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (XBLA, 2007)
Frogger (XBLA, 2006)
Super Contra (XBLA, 2007)
Related Links:
Konami - Official Site
Konami Arcade Classics Vol. 1 - GameFAQs
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