World Heroes Anthology is the full collection of World Heroes games with original release dates that span from 1992 to 1995. It may not be the most famous fighting series, but it certainly has a unique theme.

The look of the series doesn't change too dramatically throughout the years. You've got pretty standard, limited color palette characters against similar backdrops. There isn't a push for realism here, so prepare for some rather cartoonish looks. Special moves don't get too flashy, but they can fill the screen at times. If SNK wanted to show anything off with the NEO GEO system at the time, it was the sheer size of the action that they could put on the screen.

Background music and sound effects remain primitive, but get the job done. Some characters make the silliest, most out of place sounds. Of course, this is just ripe for giving your opponent grief by repeating something particularly annoying over and over. In both graphics and sound, World Heroes shows its age, and not particularly well at that.

World Heroes Anthology sends you throughout the world and throughout history to fight the world's greatest fighters, hence the title. Of course, this is a fighting game, so don't expect too much more from the story. The theme does provide a good bit of variety in the characters though. A Joan of Arc-style female knight, a Japanese ninja, a Pirate, and a Viking are just a few of the characters in the lineup. Unfortunately, the lineup doesn't change very much between games, so it may start to get a bit stale as you play through the series.

One of the game's prominent features is the Death Match mode, which lets you play in an arena full of hazards like spiked walls and saw blade covered floors. It's not just the background that is different, but the health meters. Instead of individual health meters, there is one big "tug o' war" style bar that gets pulled back and forth based on who is winning. What this often means is that Death Match games are long and drawn out, as either side gets close to victory, then has it stolen back again. The time can seem unlimited here because of that. You don't have to play in Death Match mode, but in the event of a dispute between players, there will be a coin toss. This mode is scrapped in the last game in the series.

The series starts to feel a bit more refined and mainstream by the time you get to the final game in the series, World Heroes Perfect. The controls are more modern, and there is even an aerial guard. But overall, no one seems to stand out in this series, and it doesn't feel like a big innovator, even for its time. It's a lot of fun for the cheese value, but if you're looking for a serious fighter, you probably won't find it here.

World Heroes Anthology is a pretty simple fighter. There are some standard moves to learn. One thing that stands as particularly simple is the way you perform strong attacks vs. light attacks: it's just a light button press vs. a firm press on the controller. Later in the series, it picks up the standard 2 kicks and 2 punches control scheme that many will recognize from the King of Fighters series. Fighting against a human opponent will probably be the most fun you will have with this series, as the CPU can be a bit tough to handle at times.

What makes this game frustrating is probably the same thing that makes it fun. The Death Match levels can be fun, but they can pretty much randomly decide a winner at times. It just feels a bit unfair to be juggled against a wall of spikes when you can't do anything about it. But then on the other end, it's ever so satisfying.

The earlier games in World Heroes Perfect feature the simple control scheme mentioned earlier. For the most part, this is a slow-paced fighter. Characters seem to hang in the air a bit too long, and the pace is just a little behind for those used to modern fighters. Understandable, as these games are over 10 years old. Still there are some interesting elements, and you can see that there was some experiementation in the series. Just have your first "Body Toss Reverse" bout (countering a throw, and then having the opponent counter your counter) in World Heroes 2 and you can see that this would have been a crowd-pleaser in the arcades. Just don't go in expecting a complex fighter and you may have a good time with this game.

But overall, it was hard to take this trip back in time for too long. For 2D fighters, it feels like the golden age was just beginning around the time that this series was on its way out. This is definitely a try before you buy, and luckily the game seems to be selling at a bargain price for new. If you need the trip down memory lane, you'll find this is a great arcade port. If you don't, then you might want to invest your time in some more recent fighters.