As the current console generation begins to wind down, we look back and see that many publishers have revisited their classics on the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube. We've seen collections from Capcom, Atari, Activision, and Midway, as well as old school titles from SNK brought back to life on the Xbox, with updated visuals and online play. This holiday season, as the Xbox 360 prepares to launch gamers into the next generation of gaming, Tecmo will be keeping you in check with its first blast from the past.

If you own Ninja Gaiden, you've already played three of Tecmo's best classics in the three Ninja Gaiden Nintendo titles that were included with the game. You can play the arcade version of Ninja Gaiden if you pick up Ninja Gaiden: Black, releasing next month. But if you want the best of Tecmo's classic arcade lineup, look no further than Tecmo Classic Arcade for the Xbox.

Tecmo Classic Arcade features 11 titles, including: Bomb Jack, Swimmer, Tecmo Cup, Star Force, Strato Fighter, Pinball Action (a bowling game), Solomon's Key, Pleiads, and Senjyo. If none of those titles grabbed your attention, the remaining two should do the trick. Both Rygar and Tecmo Bowl will be included in TCA, and will likely draw most of the old school gamers out of their shells.

After playing through all of the titles Tecmo Classic Arcade has to offer, we found ourselves coming back to Tecmo Bowl and Rygar more than any of the other games. While it may be our love of these two games on the original Nintendo Entertainment System, it's safe to say that most people who pick up TCA will be drawn to these two titles in a similar fashion.

Rygar was remade and updated for a PlayStation 2 release not too long ago, so the series should be relatively fresh for most gamers. While the original and the PS2 version do share many gameplay elements, you won't experience the complete package until you've gotten your hands on the original arcade title. Playing with an Xbox controller may take a little bit of getting used to, but the controls fit well, and Xbox owners should be swinging around that yo-yo weapon in no time.

Tecmo Bowl is one of the early football classics that will forever go down in the gaming hall of fame. Not only is the title still a blast to play with friends, it supports four-player action on the Xbox. Who needs Madden when you've got classics like this floating around? We got a few people together from around the office and had a ton of fun playing the old school pig skin title.

Taking the other nine titles in the collection for a spin, each one controlled relatively well with the Xbox controller. For the $19.99 Tecmo Classic Arcade will set you back, this collection offers more fun than most of the other classic compilations publishers have released in the past. Tecmo Bowl and Rygar alone should be worth the money to most gamers, so the additional games are all just a nice bonus. We'll have more on Tecmo Classic Arcade before its mid-September release.