SNK Playmore announced today a compilation of the popular fighting game series, World Heroes. World Heroes Anthology will debut next spring on Playstation 2.

“World Heroes Anthology is a complete compilation of the World Heroes series, one of SNK Playmore Corporation’s most popular 2D-fighting series,” the company said in a statement today. The title will include World Heroes, World Heroes 2, World Heroes 2 Jet and World Heroes Perfect.

In Anthology, players fight through time in a time machine-tournament including many of the franchise’s characters, who are based on historical figures. “World Heroes Anthology includes hand-to-hand combat as well as weapons-based fighting, and super-human abilities allow characters to perform powerful special attacks,” SNK said.

“World Heroes Anthology puts a twist on the tried-and-true 2D-fighter formula,” said Ben Herman, president of SNK. “The time-travel element allows for the inclusion of characters inspired by figures ranging from ancient philosophers to modern-day athletes.”

The game shows the continued viability of the Playstation 2 console and is one of many games already announced for PS2 in 2008.

King of Fighters XI and Neogeo Battle Coliseum for PlayStation 2 will hit the Playstation 2 this fall, SNY Playmore announced recently.

“The King of Fighters XI expands on the winning formula with new strategic options like Quick Shift and Saving Shift, which allow greater precision and control when switching out characters, the match-deciding Judgment Indicator and Dream Cancel, which wreaks even more havoc than the Super Cancels found in previous games,” SNK said in a statement. “In addition to all the 2D-fighting goodness found in the popular arcade version, (the new game) offers exclusive features including extra characters, bonus stages and brand-new music.”

Also coming soon, set in 2017, Neogeo Battle Coliseum puts you against a deranged enemy determined to conquer the world.

The game employs a two vs. two tag-team battle system allowing players to switch characters during play and perform team attacks on their opponents. The character roster has 40 characters represented by well-known faces from the likes of World Heroes, Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury, Samurai Showdown, Last Blade, Metal Slug and Kizuna Encounter.

“King of Fighters XI and Neogeo Battle Coliseum will give SNK fans everything they’ve come to expect plus great new features that put a twist on the classic game play,” said Ben Herman, president of SNK Playmore USA.

SNK is one of the original 2D fighting game pioneers, and these latest chapters not only show the continued viability of the Playstation 2 platform, but demonstrate SNK’s continued support of tradition — bringing its original characters and storylines well into the 21st century. Both titles will appeal to veteran gamers.

Both games are also really cheap. At $14.95 retail, you can get both games for under $30 and enjoy some solid hours of multiplayer fighting fury.