Hot new Japanese release: Neo-Geo Online Collection Complete Box (PS2)

Today is the Emperor’s birthday, which means that us Japan residents have an extra National Holiday to spend glugging Yebisu and – SNK suggests – beating each other up via our PS2s’ BB connections. Yep, today marks the release of two chunky multi-disc sets that together comprise the Neo-Geo Online Collection Complete Box. This is the simplest (and maybe the cheapest) way to obtain the entire back catalogue of online battle-enabled PS2 fighting games SNK has put out in recent years. Each half of this Complete Box has an RRP of 9,980 yen (£68/$109), though you can get them for just over 8,000 yen (£55/$90) each via Amazon.co.jp here. Of course half of a Complete Box is nothing more than an Incomplete Box, so you’ll need to snap up both volumes if you want the whole thing.

As for what you get for your yen, the answer is a load of versions of ostensibly similar but critically different 2D fighting games. Here’s the full list of ingredients for you to salivate over:

Volume One (19 games)

Garou: Mark of the Wolves
Art of Fighting, Art of Fighting 2, Art of Fighting 3
Fatal Fury, Fatal Fury 2, Fatal Fury Special, Fatal Fury 3
Real Bout Fatal Fury, Real Bout Fatal Fury Special, Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers
Galaxy Fight, Waku Waku 7
Samurai Shodown, Samurai Shodown II, Samurai Shodown III, Samurai Shodown IV, Samurai Shodown V, Samurai Shodown VI

Volume Two (15 games)

The Last Blade, The Last Blade 2
The King of Fighters ’95, The King of Fighters ’96, The King of Fighters ’97
The King of Fighters ’99: Millennium Battle, The King of Fighters 2000, The King of Fighters 2001
Savage Reign, Kizuna Encounter: Super Tag Battle
World Heroes, World Heroes 2, World Heroes 2 Jet, World Heroes Perfect
The King of Fighters ’98: Ultimate Match