SNK Playmore has released the  second set of downloadable games for the Neo Geo Station: The King Of Fighters ’95 and Baseball Stars 2.  The classic fighting and sports games can be found in the “New Releases” and “SNK Features” section within the Neo Geo game hub.

Neo Geo Station lets players enjoy many retro fighting, action, sports and other titles exclusively on the PlayStation 3 and PSP platforms. SNK Playmore released the first Neo Geobundle, which included Metal Slug,  Samurai Showdown and The King Of Fighters ’94 over the holiday season. There are now 12 total games available for download.

Players and fans can keep up to date with additional  Neo Geo happenings by visiting the SNK North American Official Website and by becoming a fan on the frequently updated Neo Geo Station Facebook page.

Baseball Stars 2 and King Of Fighters ’95  carry the same price tags: $6.99 for the PSP version, and $8.99 for the Playstation 3 version.

For the hardcore, the SEGA Dreamcast’s premature demise was one of video gaming’s biggest tragedies for two reasons: 1) SEGA had finally redeemed itself after the 32X , SEGA CD, and SEGA Saturn let downs only to be snuffed out, and 2) One of the most creative and well-balanced video game libraries didn’t have the opportunity to blossom into a beautiful flower. Thankfully, select Dreamcast games will be rereleased on modern platforms next month with new touches.

SEGA of America and SEGA Europe announced that a packaged compilation of classic Dreamcast titles will hit retail shelves for the Xbox 360, along with a PC digital download for Windows machines. This appropriately-titled Dreamcast Collection will be available on February 25, 2011, in Europe and February 22 in North America.

The Dreamcast Collection includes Sonic Adventure, Crazy Taxi, SEGA Bass Fishing, and Space Channel 5 Part 2–certainly a representative sample of the Dreamcast’s quirky lineup. Sonic Adventure certainly belongs, as does Crazy Taxi, but why SEGA Bass Fishing instead of Jet Grind Radio? Why Space Channel 5 Part 2 instead of the original Space Channel 5? Gripes asides, the SEGA Dreamcast Collection will feature enhanced graphics, achievements, and online leader boards (for the Xbox 360 version). A few words from a SEGA bigwig.

“The Dreamcast console is still remembered as a pioneering console for online gaming,” commented Gary Knight, VP of Marketing at SEGA of America and SEGA Europe “We are delighted to be able to offer to our large community of dedicated fans a collection such as Dreamcast Collection for them to enjoy old favorites on this Xbox 360 and Windows PC.”

Noticeably absent is mention of PS3 or Wii versions.

Motion control gaming is all the rage thanks to the efforts of the Nintendo Wii, PlayStation Move, and Kinect, but the futures of controller-less gaming may not lie in a peripheral, but in your junk. You see, the madmen at SEGA are creating a game entitled “Toirettsu,” a title that boasts that “You’re able to game with pee!”

This collection of urinal-friendly titles comes with a load of mini-games that involve erasing graffiti with your pee, and blow wind up a woman’s skirt (also, with pee).  The setup packs a sensor that can measure the speed of your man-stream, so I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these games incorporated pressure play.

SEGA hasn’t given a release date, but keep a few cups of water on hand just in case it makes a surprise appearance.

[Hat tip: Kotaku]

Starting December 12th, American fans can buy a limited edition copy of Super Mario All-Stars for the Wii in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the chubby, red plumber. Retailing for $29.99, the collection includes Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3.

Though the collection lacks Super Mario World and various Mario games released since the 90s (including Mario’s Time Machine, which is a good thing) , this is really more of a special collector’s item for those who want to commemorate the occasion. The games aren’t updated in any way, but they are available for the first time in a set. There’s also a whole bunch of extras, including a soundtrack CD containing familiar Mario tunes all the way up to Super Mario Galaxy 2 and a 32-page Super Mario History booklet with interviews, behind-the-scenes details and rare concept art. For the true Mario fan (and, really, who isn’t one?), it’s worth picking up.

Mmmm... Mario

If you somehow don’t already have physical copies of the Mario games, or didn’t download them on the Wii, this ought to be a cool way to finally get your hands on the best Nintendo games — make that, the best games — of the past 25 years. Check out http://mario25.nintendo.com/ for more info.

SEGA missed an opportunity here.

With Sonic the Hedgehog 4 around the corner it makes sense for them to release Sonic Classic Collection, a Nintendo DS compilation of the original Sonic trilogy and its lock-on add-on, Sonic & Knuckles. What doesn’t make sense is the slapdash job SEGA did bringing these games to the system that’s home to the Mario & Sonic Olympic games, Sonic Chronicles, Sonic Rush and its sequel — the Sonic games that today’s kids know.

Kids barely know the original Sonic games, they’re all about werehogs and Shadow and downhill skiing now. They don’t know SEGA and Sonic used to be rivals with Nintendo and Mario! Ideally, this would be the compilation to educate them, so shouldn’t a collection like this have a little more, I dunno, pizazz to it? Maybe some kind of marketing push?

Rather, we get a barebones set of ROMs glued together by a cheap-looking hub menu. You just scroll through JPGs of the games’ box art and select the game you want to play. That’s that. The only other extras are official art, which is nice to see how Sonic used to look back in the day, but one can’t help but wonder “…That’s it?” There is the new option to save in Sonic and Sonic 2, but… that’s it?

DS carts can hold a lot of info, right? What about a sound test mode with music from all the games? Maybe a gallery of all the enemies and bosses from the games? How about Sonic Spinball or Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine to round out the rest of Sonic’s output from the Genesis days? Oh my god, why not give Sonic CD, the best Sonic game no one’s played, another chance in the sun?

I’m just pulling ideas out of the air here, but this is the latest in a long line of Sonic collection ports that have been out on GameCube, PS2 and Xbox for years already. These games are on Virtual Console and XBLA too, so it’s not exactly like these are rare or unavailable. There needs to be some justification for this new DS collection and besides portability there isn’t any. What could have been the definitive portable edition of a classic series of great games looks, feels and sounds like a slapped-together budget title despite the non-budget price its going for. It’s an odd, flimsy way to treat your former mascot.

Actually playing the games makes it apparent this was rushed out the door. The image feels way too cramped, which makes blind hazards like spikes and cruelly-placed enemies an even bigger frustration than they already are. Graphics glitch in and out at points as well.

The most egregious problem occurs in the Special Stages of Sonic 3 (and Sonic 3 & Knuckles), where the player must traverse a checkered globe to run into blue orbs to get rewarded with a Chaos Emerald. Yeah, it makes no sense. These stages are notoriously frustrating already, but Sonic Classic Collection exacerbates them further with bizarre flashing and clipping issues that make them nigh unplayable on such a tiny screen. I gave up on getting Super Sonic after my fourth epileptic aneurysm.

The games themselves are largely unchanged for better or worse.

Sonic 1 has not aged as well as its sequels. Its three act structure for each zone slows the pace down to a crawl, and the years have not been kind to its tricky, uneven level design either. Every level after Green Hill Zone has Sonic plod along through stop-and-go platforming and aggravating water sections. There’s some nice spotty hit detection, too — killing robot caterpillars should not be this hard. The music’s still fantastic, and the art deco look holds up very well, but Sonic 1 doesn’t hold a candle to its successors.

Sonic 2 introduces a new character, better graphics, better music and streamlined, better gameplay. The spin dash move, which gives Sonic an instant burst of speed after a nifty rev-up animation, is a god send. Each zone now consists of only two acts for a brisk and breezy pace, and levels are designed with constant forward momentum in mind, unlike Sonic 1 where you ended up just going stop, go, stop, go, stop, go. Sonic 2 keeps you moving constantly. If you want the perfectly balanced Sonic experience this would be it.

Despite the massive hype Sega churned back in 1994, they gave us an unfinished game in Sonic 3. Around Christmastime that year its conclusion, Sonic & Knuckles came out, with “lock-on” technology that allowed you to plug in your Sonic 3 cart on top of the S&K cart to turn Sonic 3 into the game it was meant to be: Sonic 3 & Knuckles, though for some reason it’s labeled Knuckles in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 in the Classic Collection menu.

In any case, Sonic 3 and Knuckles refines what Sonic 2 added to the series by adding another new character, all-new shield power-ups (fire, water, electric) that are actually useful and a ton of new levels that transition seamlessly from one into the next. For the first time in the series it feels like each level is connected. Sonic 1 and 2 hinted at this – Sonic starts off in green hills then gradually makes his way to an industrial complex. Similar to Super Metroid, the transitions and story segments are brief in-game scenes acted out by the character sprites. It’s charming. The soundtrack, rumored (some say confirmed) to have been produced by Michael Jackson, clasps onto the brain like a crawdad and doesn’t let go. It’s great.

I flipflop between Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 & Knuckles as the best of the series. Sonic 2 for its intimate and focused feel, or Sonic 3 & Knuckles for its smörgåsbord of quality content. But wait, if Sonic CD was included in Sonic Classic Collection then we’d have a clear winner for sure…

It was nice to revisit the best Sonic games on the go, even though that’s the only plausible reason for Classic Collection‘s existence. Unless you absolutely need to play these on your DS there are much better ways to play the Sonic series, and you should. Playing them through again for the first time in over a decade I was pleased, and admittedly surprised, to find how well the series remains fun. SEGA just needs to treat it better when it comes to releases like this, especially if they want to garner good faith in time for Sonic 4.

Manomio, the guys who made the Commodore 64 for iPhone app, says games will be released as separate packaged apps. There’s not much information on which Amiga games we’ll see, though Archer MacLean’s classic fighter International Karate should be one of them according to Retro Gamer magazine.

Emulation for scrollers like Xenon II, Turrican, Ghosts ‘n Goblins, and R-Type are also said to be running “perfectly smooth.”

Though there’s no release date yet or more info rest assured we’ll be on top of any developments.

[Hat tip: TouchArcade]

OK, I realize that every game has there preferred platform to play their favorite titles, but seriously, is anyone clamoring to relive their childhood memories on the iPhone/iPod touch? SEGA thinks so, and apparently deemed it a fine time to launch a classic gaming portal that’s set to arrive in the App Store in February.

According to the fine chaps at Gizmodo, SEGA’s Ultimate Genesis Collection app comes bundled with one title (the highly suspect Space Harrier II), but allows gamers on the go to make in-app purchases. The  lineup supposedly consists of:

• Sonic the Hedgehog: $5.99

• Golden Axe: $4.99

• Ecco the Dolphin: $2.99

• Shining Force: $2.99

Not bad, but someone tap me on the shoulder when Outrun and a decent controller accessory appears.

Mega Man 10 wasn’t the only hot retro game that Capcom had on display at CES 2010.  Final Fight: Double Impact, the upcoming downloadable twin pack featuring the arcade version of Final Fight and the massively underrated Magic Sword, was also available for play within the company’s spacious Planet Hollywood suite.

We’ve already discussed some of the game’s finer points in our interview with Robby Zinchak (associate producer, Final Fight: Double Impact), but we’re focusing on the Final Fight experience in this mini-collection, as well as Magic Sword. The early verdict? Retro gamers have much to look forward to this April.

Magic Sword was the first game that Capcom community manager Joveth Gonzlez booted up, and it instantly brought back memories of yesteryear to both myself and Terry Lewis (editor-in-chief, The Other View) as we guided our fighters through waves of fantasy enemies. Magic Sword, for those not in the know, is a beat ‘em up with RPG elements, that could be seen as the forefather of Dungeon Fighter Online.

The main difference, and one of the reasons that the title is so fondly remembered, is the ally system, which allows you to recruit different CPU-controlled characters to assist in the action. We totally marked out when Terry’s warrior obtained a ninja ally that hurled enemy-vanquishing throwing stars. The graphics and sound were just as we remembered from the ’80s, but with the shine of Capcom’s proprietary graphics-enhancing engine (you can also switch back to the original mode). I was impressed that you can have arcade banner art surrounding the “monitor” area, which beautifully replicates the quarter-popping experience.

Final Fight was simply glorious.  As a long-time series fanatic, it was incredibly awesome to finally get my hands on a port that was just as good (if not better) than the arcade. The brawler played just as I remembered, with lots of hard-hitting urban action, and crisp and colorful visuals.

Both games feature multiplayer options powered by “GGPO” network technology, which creates a frame-accurate arcade experience across the internet (with voice chat and the ability to join games in progress), and an open invite system that lets other fighters jump right in and begin cracking skulls. Leader boards and unlockables look to extend gameplay.

After my time with the game, I can safely state that Final Fight: Double Impact is coming together nicely and may be one of the more interesting 2010 releases for retro gaming fans, or youn’uns lookin to take a dip into one of the defining beat ‘em ups.

Final Fight is considered by many, myself included, to be the face of beat’ em ups along with Double Dragon and River City Ransom. What’s allowed this game, and franchise, to be continually beloved after all of these years?

I think Final Fight has endured through the years because it features simple gameplay that’s a lot of fun. You can put a quarter in the arcade and immediately know how to play, no instructions required. Playing through the game with a buddy is a great co-op experience. Final Fight’s nostalgic gameplay still holds up, even today.

Final Fight: Double Impact oddly pairs the original game with the relatively less popular, but fun, Magic Sword. Why did you decide to go that route instead of releasing Final Fight with its sequels?

I’m hoping that users will discover some more of our classic Capcom games. Magic Sword is a completely different genre, but features the same core of beat-em-up gameplay. In fact, Magic Sword offers some more advanced features for its era, like Captives, who you can rescue and will fight by your side. It’s even got a character leveling system. So, this is a really good opportunity for fans to play one of their old arcade favorites alongside a great one they might have missed.

Tell us a little more about the package. Will Final Fight: Double Impact be a straight port of the original Final Fight or can we expect few new features or additions?

The core games themselves are the same – we’ve not tampered with them. However, we have added a lot to keep you playing: we’ve built out a system called the Vault, which basically challenges you to perform various feats, and then rewards you with all sorts of goodies: original concept art, professional Udon artwork, a Final Fight animation, and even artwork created by fans.

We’ve also added HD filters so you can optionally play the game in beautiful high definition. There’s some really cool optional effects as well: the game can be embedded inside an arcade monitor bezel, complete with CRT-style scanlines and phosphor burn. Multiple options for the HD Filters are provided and it can all be toggled to your preference (even to disable everything and play ‘pure’).

Finally, we didn’t just add extra gameplay and visuals, we also worked with the creators of the highly acclaimed Bionic Commando: Rearmed soundtrack to create remixed music for both Final Fight and Magic Sword. These can also be toggled back to the original mixes, but after you listen to how great the remixes sound, I think you’ll want to keep them enabled.

You can take the game online as well. We’re using a technology called GGPO to provide a smooth online experience that’s as good as playing in the arcades (frame-accurate netcode). Plus we’ve got Achievements/Trophies and Leaderboards. So there’s plenty available here that extends the original games.

Cody and Guy have frequently made appearances in Street Fighter games, and are returning for Super Street Fighter IV. Why have those characters made appearances in Street Fighter while the arguably most iconic FF character, Mayor Mike Haggar, continually sits on the sidelines? If it’s due his similarity to Zangief?  His fighting style could be tweaked to so that he could be the “Ken” to the Big Russian’s “Ryu”, yes?

Haggar is a pretty busy guy – being the mayor of Metro City is tough! How bad is a city’s crime problem when you walk down the street and dozens upon dozens of criminals attack you? No, Haggar has already got his work cut out for him.

Final Fight: Streetwise was a let down to many longtime Final Fight players. Is that why we haven’t seen a Final Fight game since? And what are the prospects of a new original Final Fight title?

Yes, I definitely think that was related. While I respect the hard work of the Streetwise team, I also don’t think that we came out with the best game that we could have. Now I think it’s time for us to go back to basics, and focus on what makes the original shine, learn from that, and make it even better. Where we take it from there in the future… it’s all up to what the fans want.

Okay, people, you need to go to thesmartass.info#, click on Games on the left hand side, and enjoy the old school nerdiness that will be unleashed in front of you. I’m talking about hundreds, upon hundreds of games from your childhood days. It’s been forever since I was able to play X-Men 2: Clone Wars. Now, I can spend forever trying to get past the first level on my Mac.

Seriously, you need to go here now. You’ll enjoy almost any game you want from Atari, Nintendo, Genesis, DOS and more. It may very well be the ultimate TimeWaster.

[Hat Tip: Gorillamask.net]