Midway Arcade Treasures 2 – PS2 – Review

Midway Arcade Treasures 2
brings some of the most beloved arcade games of all time, including Mortal
Kombat 2 and 3, NARC, Rampage World Tour, Hard Drivin’ and more. In all there
are 20 classic arcade titles included on the Playstation 2 disc.

Every game featured in
Midway Arcade Treasures 2 is a perfect emulation of its arcade self. The
graphics are as good (or bad) as you remember, and all the games play real
smooth with no real slowdown. Many even have a button assigned to insert a
credit. The games included are: APB, Arch Rivals, Championship Sprint, Cyberball
2072, Gauntlet II, Hard Drivin’, Kozmik Krooz’r, Mortal Kombat II, Mortal Kombat
3, NARC, Pit Fighter, Primal Rage, Rampage World Tour, Spy Hunter II, Timber,
Total Carnage, Wacko, Wizard of Wor, Xenophobe and Xybots.

The layout is nothing
special; the game titles are listed alphabetically on sort of a helix track with
the currently selected game facing the player. A demo video plays to the right
of the selected game as well, and from here players can press X to play the
game, square to access the game’s options or circle to look at bonus material
specific to that game.

The options for each game
are fairly deep, with choices like difficulty level, number of continues, player
lives, etc. You can also set up two custom controller layouts per game aside
from the default, which can be quickly accessed during gameplay via the pause
menu. There is also an Extra area in the options that features trailers for some
of Midway’s newer games, like Mortal Kombat Deception, Area 51, and NARC.

The bonus content for
each game is mostly a novelty, showing off some of their old promo posters,
history of the game, detailed game information, and some even have movies of
interviews with the creators.

The biggest downside to
this collection is its lack of difficulty. Not to say that some of these games
aren’t hard, because a few of them are, but having the ability to drop virtual
quarter after virtual quarter into the game gives you the power to beat it in
one sitting. And since there’s no way to save your progress, that’s how you’d
have to do it. Especially for games like Gauntlet II, where a quarter meant
feeding your warrior, the magic of the arcade is essentially gone.

This is definitely one of
my favorite collections of old games. Midway was able to compile a list of games
that were must-haves back when they first came out. If the list of games just
weren’t enough, the $20 price tag should make it worth having in your
collection.

Reviewer’s Scoring Details

Gameplay: 7.0
It really depends
on the game you’re playing, but most of the arcade titles of that time weren’t
terribly sophisticated. Many of these titles are of the button-mashing variety.

Graphics: 7.0
Again, the
graphics weren’t so great either. They still look ok, and have been emulated
perfectly if not been slightly improved.

Sound: 8.0
The usual arcade
sounds you can expect, including some memorable sound effects. To this day
“Toasty” is still one of the most rewarding sounds in any game.

Difficulty: Easy to Hard
The overall
collection is easy, since you can continue as many times as you need to complete
a game. There is also the option of changing the difficulty in the options. Some
of these games, though, are insanely tough.

Concept: 8.0
I don’t know
about the rest of the world, but I’m still not getting sick of these classic
game collections. I’m hoping that eventually they collect all the games I loved
as a kid.

Multiplayer: 8.5
For games like
this, multiplayer can do wonders. Some games are better off playing solo, but a
lot of these games are made for multiplayer. Good examples include Gauntlet II,
Xenophobe, Rampage World Tour, both Mortal Kombats and Total Carnage. If you
have a multitap Pit Fighter, Rampage and Xenophobe can support three players,
and Gauntlet II can support up to four.

Overall: 8.5
Midway Arcade
Treasures 2 is a great collection for all gamers – to have all those classic
arcade games within reach for free is a nice feeling. Many people will tell you
that Mortal Kombat II and 3 alone are worth the $20, and when you notice how
many other great arcade games are gathered here it becomes obvious that it’s
well worth its price.