Konami Anniversary Collection Arcade Classics

Pew Pew Pew!

The Konami Anniversary Collection includes the following games:
Scramble, TwinBee, Nemesis (aka Gradius), Salamander (aka Life Force), Typhoon (aka A-Jax), Haunted Castle, Vulcan Venture (aka Gradius II), and Thunder Cross.

Breaking it down:

Scramble - I loved this game as a kid.  It was so colorful, and it remains one of my favorite shooters.  Yeah, it's pretty dated by today's standards, but playing it reminds me some of the best moments of my childhood.

TwinBee - An overhead shooter.  I never really liked this one, not then or now.

Nemesis (aka Gradius) - The first Gradius is fun, but the power up system annoys me.  You pick up power ups, but you have to manually push a button to activate them.  This gives you some degree of customization, since you can decide whether to use a power up right away or collect them for a better power up.  Except I have to take my eyes off the action to look at the power up bar, and this is not a game that's kind to people who take their eyes off the action.

Salamander (aka Life Force) - This is much improved over Gradius.  I love the "Inner Space" theme, and the power up system works a lot better for me.  I'll probably go back to this one.

Typhoon (aka A-Jax) - Kind of reminds me of a cross between Afterburner and Space Harrier.  A sort of faux 3D jet fighter shooter.  I don't see myself getting into it.

Haunted Castle - This is basically the arcade version of the original Castlevania.  Oddly, it's the only game in this collection that isn't a shooter.  As Castlevania games go, it's not very good, and it's very difficult.

Vulcan Venture (aka Gradus II) - Just more Gradius.  Great if you're a fan, but I still prefer Life Force.

Thunder Cross - I like this one.  It's my second favorite in the package, after Life Force.  It's another one with crazy power ups, but the theme and graphics are totally different than the Gradius/Life Force games.

So, is it worth the $20?  It depends on how much you like spaceship shooters.  It's kind of an odd collection, with 7 shooters and 1 Castlevania wanna-be.  Seriously, it's weird - if they had moved Haunted Castle to the Castlevania Collection, it would actually have improved both collections, IMO.  And if they needed another shooter to fill the slot, I would have loved the chance to play one of the Parodius games.

Still, if you're a Gradius fanboy, this is a pretty good value.  I only see myself returning to a couple of these games, so I might have been better off buying them separately.  Oh well.