Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection is one of the most impressive retro collections ever released. However, it is far from the first retro compilation put together by Konami, who have done the same for franchises like Castlevania. The addition of the classic arcade games in addition to the TMNT console games and the care developer Digital Eclipse took with the extras and quality of life improvements, make it a complete package.

Other franchises would be great candidates for a similarly comprehensive collection. Foremost among them is one from comic books that inspired TMNT's creation in the '80s, the X-Men. Like the Turtles, the X-Men transitioned from being a phenomenon in comics to pop culture in general thanks to an iconic animated series. The games that sprung from that transition would be perfect for The Cowabunga Collection treatment.

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Like TMNT, a comprehensive history of the X-Men's video game history would begin with an infamous Nintendo Entertainment System game. This is not because of its absurd difficulty but because it's notoriously terrible. The NES X-Men game would be worth including both for completeness and to serve as a contrast to the centerpiece of the collection. Like The Cowabunga Collection, a Konami arcade game would probably be the best-loved game in an X-Men retro collection.

The 1992 arcade game has been ported to home consoles before as a downloadable title for box 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2010, but it hasn't been available since 2013. Like Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game, a re-release of X-Men: The Arcade Game would work as a stand-alone game. However, it would be nice to see where it fits in the context of X-Men games. An X-Men collection would also have more value than just the arcade game being released by itself.

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X-Men: The Arcade Game wouldn't be the only arcade game that could be part of an X-Men retro collection. Following The Cowabunga Collection's early '90s timeline which mirrors the X-Men's heyday, 1-on-1 fighting game X-Men: Children of the Atom would make the cut. The beginning of a series of collaborations that led to the Marvel vs. Capcom series, Children of the Atom is a prime slice of '90s X-Men media, down to its storyline being based on the "Fatal Attractions" crossover. Beyond still being one of the best dedicated X-Men games, Children of the Atom being part of a collection would be exciting because there's never been an arcade version of the game on consoles.

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Capcom's X-Men games weren't limited to arcade fighters. The Super Nintendo Entertainment System game, X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse, a side-scrolling beat 'em up, was also released in 1994. While not as advanced as its arcade counterpart, Mutant Apocalypse is one of the best-received X-Men games of the era. With 5 playable characters taken from Jim Lee's X-Men roster, Mutant Apocalypse retains a nostalgic appeal in addition to its rock-solid gameplay. It's a title worth revisiting, and one that isn't likely to be re-released by itself, making it a good candidate for a collection.

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While Mutant Apocalypse is a stand-out '90s X-Men game, Sega consoles played home to more of the franchise's games than the SNES. Between the Genesis and the Game Gear portable, five X-Men games were published by Sega. The best of those four games is 1995's X-Men 2: Clone Wars, which featured Magneto as a playable character for the first time. Following The Cowabunga Collection's lead, the Game Gear installments should also be included, making them accessible commercially to players who don't want to deal with the handheld's onerous battery life.

A retro collection of X-Men games would give players as much bang for their buck as The Cowabunga Collection. Unfortunately, it's unlikely to happen due to how the X-Men games were developed. Whereas the TMNT games were all developed and published by Konami, the X-Men games were split between different publishers. The best case scenario would likely be for Sega and Capcom to release separate collections. If there's another Sega Genesis Mini, the games would be a good addition to it. Capcom could potentially release their Marvel games as part of another Capcom Fighting Collection. Unfortunately, having all the classic '90s X-Men titles in one package will likely remain a dream for fans of Marvel's mutants.