Side Arms is a scrolling shooter (not always left-to-right as a typical side-scroller would be) that puts you in a mech that has the ability to transform into an upgraded mech when it combines with the other player. The two suits are called the Alpha and Beta suits, if that little trivia tidbit is something you’re interested in. You can get a variety of upgrades and types of weapons to help suit your gameplay style as you shoot your way through legions of enemy ships. For an arcade game, Side Arms gives you a surprisingly forgiving power-up system. You can cycle through your different weapon options such as a shotgun or 3-way spread at any time (you don't have to wait for a power-up to drop to change weapons as is typical for shooters). And although it doesn't break any ground in the graphics department, it is rather colorful and the backgrounds hold a surprising amount of detail compared to other games of the time, including multicolored twinkling stars and occasional distant mountains. I found the music rather unique in how upbeat it sounded, and how long each track was. It just didn't feel like you were listening to the same track over and over.

The fusion technique to form one upgraded unit from the first and second player is pretty darn unique. Unfortunately, it sounds a lot more awesome than it actually is. One player can fire a little secondary spread shot, and the other player controls movement and the forward guns. So effectively, the other player is just limited to mashing one button when you’re combined. This combination does kind of give you extra health: you don’t lose health/lives when you’re hit in this form, but you’ll simply separate at that point and resume your normal ship form. Though it could have been a cool feature of the game, it doesn’t feel like it’s really worth it, in the end.

Another unfortunate fact about this game is that its bosses repeat very quickly. For those accustomed to bosses that become increasingly unique and different as the game progresses, Side Arms is going to be a disappointment. The bosses are recycled very soon, and very often, which makes the game more repetitive feeling than it needs to be.

Though it does feature a guy in a tiny pair of underwear, there’s no scantily clad female character as you might expect from the game selection screen art. I'm just throwing that out there first as a public service announcement. Ok, maybe, just maybe, the red character is a girl. But if she is, she’s pretty stocky compared to the art.

This is a shooter that puts you in an overhead view during the main portions of the game, and then a side-scrolling view in the "dungeon" parts of the game. Your character usually walks during the side-scrolling parts, though with so many things crawling around on the ground, you might question the wisdom of this. Aside from this, it is refreshing to be flying around as an angel type of being, rather than your standard spaceship. But aside from those unique features, this is a rather standard shooter, with rather standard upgrades like twin guns and spray shots. So much like Side Arms, if you don’t have a certain nostalgic connection to this game, it might not be interesting for long.

You’re an 80’s badass with a sword and a shield. You’re cleaning up the streets, you’re saving the girl. Actually, wait a minute. You’re just a guy walking the streets with a sword and shield in this one. It really seems like more of a hobby than a mission for this guy, so I guess that bucks the trend a bit. Oh, sure there’s some big evil gang that he’s taking down along the way, but that just seems like a side bonus rather than a goal for this guy. I just get the feeling he is really into historical re-enactment or something similar.

This is probably the most interesting of the bunch as far as game mechanics. You are equipped with a sword and shield and you have to learn to switch back and forth between them effectively to get anywhere in this game. There’s also a wide variety of movement, with your character able to duck, stand, and also point his shield upward to deflect air attacks. In a world of games where the most common means of surviving is simply avoiding attacks, this is quite a change of pace. Of course, the shield isn’t effective against everything. Some enemies can knock away your sword and shield, and you’ll have to go retrieve your gear. So it does fall back into the classic game mechanic of quick moves and avoidance, but still with that added defensive twist. Trojan feels a little more pure in its game mechanics compared to the other two games here: there are no powerups, no help. It's all just sword, shield, and reflexes.

Side Arms and Legendary Wings are nice for being the simultaneous 2 player games of the pack, which always adds to the fun. Trojan is rather unique in its sword and shield game mechanics, so this can make it a fun game to learn. It is also something that makes it a very difficult game, but sometimes those go hand in hand.

I’d say just for the fact that you’ve got a couple of 2 player games in this pack, that’s a huge boost to its replayability right there. But Trojan was the only game that really struck me as a unique experience here. As a pack, it is entertaining. I still haven’t found a pack that absolutely pulls me in or makes me want to replay the games more than a couple times, but for overall fun, the 1986 pack is a strong one in the current lineup of the Capcom Arcade Cabinet.