IREM Collection VOL.2 – Nintendo Switch Review

Overview – developed by Ratalaika Games in collaboration with TOZAI games and IREM, with publishing by ININ games digitally, Volume 2 of the IREM collection blasts its way into the future with three titles coming to modern consoles. This collection of three titles have been locked on expired hardware for 30 years, with this being the first time two of them have left arcades. This release is available on all console platforms, with a link to each version of the title at the bottom of this review.

Disclaimer: before I get into the review, I would like to thank PR Hound for providing the copy of IREM Collection Vol.2 that was used for this piece. The provision of this software has not influenced the contents of this review, all thoughts and opinions contained within are my own.

Now with the introductions out of the way, let’s get into the review. As this is a compilation release, I will be covering the feel of the individual games in chronological order, then move onto discussing the overall package of this release. I have also previously covered the first volume of the IREM collection, which you can find (HERE).

Air Duel – Arcade 1990 (Japan)

This title is a vertical shooter where the player must blast their way through 7 stages, blowing away the enemy forces that try to blast the player craft. At the start of a stage, the player will be able to select their craft between a jet fighter and helicopter. The jet fighter fires straight ahead, starting with a single shot. The helicopter fires thinner shots that have lower power, but can be aimed by moving the craft left and right.

Both aircraft have the ability to drop bombs, destroying all that they make contact with, as well as the shots by the enemy. These bombs are limited, with the only way to get more is to collect them from destroyed enemies, or by the player getting shot down. Enemies can also drop power-ups, which will provide the player with an increase to their shot power. Which will be lost if the player craft gets taken down by an enemy shot.

Enemies will try to swarm the player, with heavy artillery in the background trying to take the player out of the air. Most enemies can be taken down quite easily, with a single shot doing the job for the majority of foes. However, there will also be enemies that take substantially more shots to be eliminated, especially the end of stage bosses which are pretty resilient. If the player is fulfils special conditions, they will challenge a second run of the game at a higher difficulty.

GunForce – Arcade 1991/SNES 1992/SFC 1992(Japan/World)

This run and gun puts the player in the position of a gun fighter, who has parachuted into hostile territory to take down the alien threat to Mother Earth. This is an eight way directional shooter, similar to the Konami series Contra, with the player being able to run and shoot in all directions. The game takes place over multiple missions, with the player blasting away the army of the invaders that will swarm the player.

As the player makes their way through the stages, they will encounter large enemy vehicles like choppers, tanks and armored vehicles. The large mobile artillery can be destroyed if the player hits them with enough shots. There is also allied vehicles that appear, allowing players to board them and use their mounted weapons for a time. These vehicles are limited in their use, with damage being taken by them and forcing the player to disembark.

The player can find weapons dropped along the battlefield, with different weapon types that can be picked up. These include auto fire heavy weapons, explosives and fire, which last until the ammunition in the weapon pick up expires. Additional weaponry can be collected, but the existing gun will be replaced which makes for an interesting tactical option. Players can also collect more ammo for their guns, extending the use a little longer.

Alongside the running and gunning are platform segments, where the player will climb rocky cliffs, ladders and cross dangerous environments. These are challenging areas, as the player must keep their feet firmly planted on the ground, as there are deadly pitfalls in these areas. At the end of each mission, the player will encounter challenging boss fights. In these battles, the player must not only deal with the boss, but also swarms of enemies that will spawn in.

There are some significant differences between the arcade and home versions of GunForce. This is evident in the length of the game, as the Console version has a severely truncated gameplay experience, with an entire stage of the game being removed. The camera also behaves rather oddly, with the player being able to run into the edge, rather than being in the center which can lead to repeated death. These flaws and differences, makes for a less than enjoyable port.

GunForce II/GeoStorm – 1994 Arcade (Japan/World)

This follow up to the first GunForce is often seen as the predecessor to Metal Slug, the legendary military style shooter series from SNK and Nazca Corporation. In this release the player takes on another invading force, with the players taking the roles of Max and Lei. These soldiers must run and gun their way through 5 missions, where they will battle soliders, aliens and more as they make their way through a post-apocalyptic setting.

To make this game stand out from the previous title, the player dual wields weapons being able to cover two of the eight directions that players can fire in. As the player moves, they will encounter endless streams of enemies, which will need the player to stay on their toes or they will die in seconds. Thankfully, the player can run, jump and climb across the different missions, with the player being able to use parts of the stages to their advantage.

At the end of each stage, the player will encounter large dangerous enemies, which will be able to easily destroy the player during the encounters with them. These battles will put the player in a dangerous position, where the player must destroy a weak point to take them down. There will also be sections that function like mid stage bosses, with the player needing to destroy large enemies in order to progress onto the next section.

Like the previous game, this title also includes weapon upgrades and vehicles that the player can find. The weapon upgrades will improve the main weapon that the player holds for a limited time, lasting until the ammo runs out or the player dies. Then there are the vehicles, which the player will be able to ride until they break down or reach a set point. The vehicles will change between stages, but all of them will have mounted weapons.

New to this game are female POWs that can be rescued by the player and medals to collect. For all of the medals and rescues that are successful, the player will gain bonuses at the end of a stage. When the player clears a stage, they will receive bonus points and at different medal milestones, the player will rank up, with 7 different rankings. Unlike the other games in this collection, this title will also loop indefinitely, allowing for massive scores to be achieved.

Now with the gameplay for each title covered, it is time to move onto the other aspects of this package, starting with the additional features of the package.

New Features – for this collection, there are two game modes for each game, with a casual and classic mode. In casual mode, players will be able to rewind gameplay, use cheats, make save states and modify the game settings. The classic mode however, gives players a single credit to get the best possible score they can, adding it to the rankings when it is over. This allows all players to have an experience that fits their own style of play.

Controls – the controls for all of the games in this collection are carried over very well, with no issues when it comes to lag or delay. It will be possible for players to adjust all of their inputs, allowing for a variety of controllers to be used when playing the game. It is also possible for players to play the game with a single Joy-Con, letting players enjoy the game with another player at home or on the go. I do recommend using an arcade stick for these games, for an authentic experience.

Difficulty – all of the games are pretty tough, as they were designed for players to pump coins into the machines when they were originally released. All of the games are super tough, pushing the players to the limits of their skills as they try to make it through the hail of bullets. Thankfully the arcade titles have the ability to implement unlimited credits, with multiple difficulty settings that can be set. For those who struggle, the cheats can help them make it to the end.

Presentation – all of the visuals and sound have been brought over well, with the feel being as close to original hardware as possible. This means that any slowdown or stutter present in the original will be there, which is especially evident in GeoStorm/GunForce II where the slowdown occurs early on. These games still look and sound good in motion, sadly the console version of GunForce falls flat. For those who want it, there are also filters and settings to change how the games look.

Final Thoughts – I enjoyed the first volume of the IREM collection, so I was pretty excited to get my hands on this as I was aware of the links to GunForce and Metal Slug. I jumped into this expecting a pretty basic set of games, but they were enjoyable and the action was pretty fast paced. However, I was a little disappointed with the SNES/SFC version of GunForce, as it felt incomplete and a rather low quality port. But the overall package was satisfying.

The additional features for casual/challenge game modes, filters and cheats was a nice choice, which makes it easy for players to get to the end of the games and make the most of the experiences. If you are a fan of run and gun titles, then this will be for you and makes it easy to recommend this game. It is a nice collection of classic titles, which are just as they were when originally released, just be aware that the slowdown is how they were made and not the emulation.

In the end, I give IREM Collection VOL. 2 a final score of 4/5. This is a good collection of action shooter titles, offering a nice selection of games, offering two good platform shooters and a vertical SHMUP, which will satisfy the needs of those who are looking for action packed shooters. If you want to check this release out for yourself, a link to each version of the title is below.

Link to Nintendo Switch version (HERE)

Link to PlayStation version (HERE)

Link to Xbox version (HERE)