xenoranger's Full Review: Midway Arcade Treasures 2 for Xbox
I’ve been a classic gamer for years. People think it’s just about nostalgia or just make fun of me at times because I keep saying how older games are often more entertaining than the modern titles. Well, Midway has done the gaming community a favor by releasing the Midway Arcade Treasures (MAT) line of compilations. The problem is that the first one didn’t have many titles that were interesting. Despite that, Midway’s second release has more than made up for the first.
Because this is a compilation of games and not a single game, I can’t just give an overview and call it a day, so here’s the package as I see it.
A.P.B. - 2/5
Pretty much a worthless driving game. It makes fun of the police here and there, but didn’t hold my interest long enough to merit continued play.
Arch Rivals - 4/5
Before NBA Jam brought its unique flavor of court antics, Arch Rivals set the stage for beating your opponent to steal the ball. Although it feels dirtier and gritty, the game plays well. Oddly enough, this game only supports 2 players. I was expecting 4 because of NBA Jam, but then again, I’ve never seen a 4 player version in the arcades. Too bad the NES version of this game was so horribly dumbed down.
Championship Sprint - 2/5
Urgh, I’ve never played a more horrible racer. This game requires you to use left and right to steer the car. With out the arcade wheel, it just feels so out of place. The track doesn’t move, and you tend to slide all over the place if you have no clue what you’re doing. Plus, the trap doors offered in some tracks will frustrate the spit out of you. The game would be more fun if the control was a lot better, but for now, it’s just a low point.
Cyberball 2072 - 2/5
I recall a game a while back called “Basewars” where you used robots to play Baseball. This is very similar, except we’re playing football. With the single button interface, it feels too much like old Atari 2600 football. Honestly, I didn’t care for this as much.
Gauntlet 2 - 4/5
Oh, Gauntlet. My old friend, who consumed numerous quarters. This game punishes players for unnecessary movement. Basically, your life is a timer. Taking damage, moving, standing, attacking, picking up items, picking your nose, pondering the meaning of life, or existing costs health. As such, you had to plunk quarter after quarter into the game. Well, this time you get an “add life” button so you don’t have to. This game supports 4 players and is great when just chillin’ with your friends.
Hard Drivin’ - 3/5
A decent driving game. It looks like it was done in 3D and precedes SEGA’s Virtua Racer as the first 3D driver. I miss the force feedback of the arcade game working against you, but aside from that, it’s tried and true point to point racing. Not a main attraction, but a good game.
Kozmik Krooz'r - 2/5
What the heck? This game seems like space invaders or something. I’m not sure, but it wasn’t one that held my interest very long. Basically, you fly around and shoot things while supposedly traveling to your mother ship.
Mortal Kombat 2 - 6/5
Still argued to be the pinnacle of the series, Mortal Kombat 2 is just awesome. Play as 12 different warriors, each with 3 unique finishing moves. This game is not only a highlight, but THE REASON I purchased the collection. This was back in the day when Mortal Kombat was still accessible to the casual gamer. The only problem I noticed was that they don’t replicate the shadows as well as the original arcade machine did. Other than that, I have no complaints about MKII.
Mortal Kombat 3 - 4/5
This is where MK went wrong. They added a run button and tried to market the heck outta this game. What you essentially get is a game that forced players to learn more complex series of moves in order to stand a chance. In addition to this, all the characters have very specific locations they must stand in for them to execute their finishing moves. Because this game isn’t nearly as forgiving as MKII, you often find yourself jumping around like an idiot. After a stellar MKII, MK3 just failed to be a worth while follow up. Still, if you take the time to learn the move lists of a few characters, the game can be fun. This one also suffers from the same shadow rendering glitch that MKII does. I have verified that these glitches aren’t in the original arcade machines. It’s a picky little critique, but worth mentioning. The final complaint about MK3 is that the game allows you to unlock Smoke, but once you quit, you loose your progress and his being unlocked. It really sucks because I have yet to find a way to keep Smoke unlocked.
NARC - 5/5
Hard as heck, but fun. You’re a narcotics officer sent to bring down a drug cartel. Your weapons are the standard issue rocket launcher and machine gun. Although you get more points for arresting enemies, blowing them up to watch the entrails can be fun as well. Don’t forget the barbequed dog recipe, which consists of ducking and rocket launcher. I remember playing this on NES where you were forced to use 2 buttons to control the arcade’s 4 button requirement. Well, it’s back with 4 buttons and all the arcade goodness I loved at the local pizza joint when I was a kid.
Pit Fighter - 3/5
Before Mortal Kombat used a digitization process to make the characters, Pit Fighter did. Play using one of 3 fighting styles and earn money for beating down enemies. This game supports 3 player co-op, but then gets sadistic in bonus rounds where you must beat your friend for points. It can be difficult to control at points, but it’s entertaining enough to revisit once in a while.
Primal Rage - 3/5
Think of Mortal Kombat, but add dinosaurs instead. That’s Primal Rage in a nutshell. The game was fun, but required you to hold buttons to perform all the moves. As such, you’d be unable to attack or perform the basics of combat while attempting a special attack. The finishing moves are fun to watch. The game features gallons upon gallons of blood, so it may not be for younger viewers. And, you can eat people for health. The problem with this game was that once you dominate the world, you must fight all 7 dinosaurs once again. There was no real boss character or nothing. In the end, this game failed to do enough for single player to be lasting fun, but multiplayer is still good enough to get by.
Rampage World Tour - 4/5
George, Lizzie, and Ralph are at it again. This game seems like a remake of the super old “Rampage” released in the 1980’s. The difference is that the graphics are much improved and they have bonus rounds where you beat up your friends. The game is fun; but because it goes on forever, it can get very redundant.
Spy Hunter 2 - 2/5
Apparently there was a 2 player version of Spy Hunter a while back? Either way, I played the original Spy Hunter (which was a good title). Although I never saw Spy Hunter 2 in the arcades, it seems to be the lesser version of its brother. You basically get a modified vehicle that you can use to keep driving toward the top of the screen. You start with machine guns, but can get oil slicks, tire spites, and other modifications. The game wasn’t very impressive because the pacing seemed slower than the original Spy Hunter. All together, I wasn’t impressed.
Timber - 2/5
I think you’re supposed to be a lumber jack? I just know a crudely animated character wearing red and blue comes out of this log cabin and has to chop down trees. There’s also a log rolling contest where you have to stay on the log without falling in the water. It’s not very impressive. Must’ve been fun a long time ago.
Total Carnage - 5/5
It’s like a game show, only you get to kill things. Best equivalent I can give is the movie, The Running Man. Life or death situations while you shoot everything up for big money. Although there is no real ending to the game, it rocks. Loads of enemies on the screen as cannon fodder while you tend to some tricky bosses. This was a big hit in the arcades when I was a kid, although I never got to play it. Despite that, it’s a fun game and I wish I hadn’t missed out as a kid.
Wizards of Wor - 2/5
Think Pac Man. Now, think of Pac Man if he had a gun. Well, you get these mazes and you must kill all the creatures in the maze. The game is very rudimentary. After a time, you end up with the enemies shooting back. This is a co-op game for two players, but you can always shoot each other and kill one another, so you have to be careful. The most annoying part is this synthesized voice that keeps repeating “Wizards of Wor” as well as a few other phrases. Not a fun game, and a super annoying one to listen to.
Wacko - 1/5
I have no clue what I was doing. It looks like you have to zap the monsters on the screen to win, but the game eventually became a matching monsters shooter or something? Either way, it wasn’t worth my time.
Xenophobe - 4/5
I loved this game as a kid. First off, this title is a knock-off of Alien. At least it looks and feels that way if you forget the part about the duck as a main hero. You are charged with the mission of clearing out each space station of the xeno (alien) infestation. In some cases, this doesn’t mean kill them all, but rather to hit the station’s self destruct sequence. Although I’m not 100% sure what the conditions are for completing the missions, I just know that there were only 1 or 2 levels where clearing out all aliens actually progressed to the next level. With 3 players co-op, the game gets even more fun. Like Gauntlet II, they added the ability to add health. This helps, but since the game goes on forever, you may not want to add too much.
Xybots - 2/5
Reminds me of the old Contra levels where you had the follow view instead of the side scrolling. Basically, you shoot everything that moves. Not much here, and not interesting enough for me to really play too often.
The Total Package
The compilation contains all the aforementioned games. Beyond those, it gives bios about the programmers and tells the history of the games. There are even videos on some that tell about development and marketing. I found the MK videos to be the best, but only because they did more than just show a bunch of fossils sitting at a table while discussing what they did. They had some outtakes from the games. My favorite is the Primal Rage ones. Then there were a bunch of stills offered that display cabinet art or advertising propaganda. Overall, there isn’t anything here you’ll watch more than once.
Well, I’m a little disappointed that they included MKII and MK3, but failed to show MK1 or UMK3. Even MK4 could’ve been added. Other no shows include NBA Jam and NBA Jam TE. These were classics that really filled arcades, back in the day. Either way, what they have here is decent enough to make it a worth while collection. The obvious attractions are the MK games, Gauntlet II, and Total Carnage.
The selection interface is super easy to use. It’s like selecting your game from a demo disc. Just move up or down the list to find what you want. You can then choose to view the extras, adjust the games settings, or play. The extras are the videos and materials I mentioned earlier. The settings are actually quite nice. You can set the game to run normal, hardcore, or customized option settings. Hardcore makes the game geared more toward elite players. Usually, you only get 1 continue and the AI is pumped up as high as it’ll go. Normal is the default cabinet setting for the arcade games. It’s the customization that I enjoyed. My kids play games, so I let them play with me a lot. But, when it comes to the MK titles, I just can’t have them seeing the finishing moves performed. As such, they do allow the disabling of blood and violence from the MK games. Basically, you can disable the fatalities by altering these features. The exception is MKII’s the Dead Pool. There’s a glitch in the arcade that allows you to execute this fatality even if the finishing moves are turned off. This returns here as well.
I’m a little disappointed that this game is Xbox Live Aware (XBL-A). First off, why have it XBL-A? All that means is that other people can see that you’re playing the games. It allows you to receive invites to other titles as well as be notified if messages come in. I think to myself, “OK…. Why do I want others bugging me if I’d rather be playing this?” I honestly wish they would have taken the time to make these games able to be played online with a friend. Oh well, laziness on Midway’s behalf.
Bottom Line
With an average score of 3.1/5, this game may not be for everyone. There are some sound titles in here, but there are also quite a few fillers. If you figure in replay value (which a good chunk of these games have), the final score would be more like a 4/5, so I would RECOMMEND this title. It’s not just about nostalgia, but the best games here are much better than some of the best of modern gaming. Pick it up and find out for yourself.
Run Xybots through deadly mazes, wander with the Wizard of Wor and chop down trees in Timber Exciting battle action with Total Carnage, Spy Hunter II ...More at Amazon
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