Premise
Midway put together 24 of their classic arcade games onto one disk. They are games that came out in the 80’s and I have fond memories of most of these games. It was really cool to play these again without shelling out quarters.

Game Play
The game play for each game is different and usually unique. These are the best games produced by Midway at the time. For each game you can change the number of lives, the difficulty, and the number of players.

Sound
Sound is very basic. In other words it sucks. That’s because sound cards sucked back then. With that in mind, the sound appears to be replicated perfectly.

Graphics
This is pretty much that same as sound. It sucks. And if you own a big screen then you really see the pixels and poor graphics. With that in mind, the graphics appear to be duplicated perfectly.

Games included, brief summary, and translation problems from the arcade.
Spy Hunter- You drive a car with machine guns and auxiliary weapons. You try to stay alive by avoiding and killing gangsters. Later in the game you get a boat. The arcade had a cool steering wheel that made the game more fun. The Gamecube controller just doesn’t match up.

Defender- You fly a ship and blast alien ships why trying to protect the civilians on the ground. One of the first real ground breaking game. I personally have no problem with the control scheme.

Defender II- Same as Defender, just improved.

Gauntlet- You play a medieval character that fires a weapon (elf fires a bow, valkyrie fires a sword.) You wander around a maze destroying monsters and looking for the exit. The control scheme is fine, it just loses it fun factor because you are no longer worried about your life or additional credits. My friend and I got bored fairly quickly.

Joust- You play as a jousting knight on top of a flying ostrich. Weird hua. You try to fall on top of your foes that ride vultures. Once you do they turn into an egg that you collect before it hatches. Oh ya, there is also phoenix that will try to kill you too. The control system is fine and the game translates perfectly on a console.

Joust 2- Same as Joust, just different level designs.

Paperboy- You are a paperboy that tries to deliver newspapers to it’s customers. Along the way you can break windows, sculptures, and animals. A lot of fun. The arcade has a bicycle handle controller and the Gamecube controller just doesn’t cut it.

Rampage- You play as a giant monster the destroys buildings while trying to avoid getting killed by the army. The control scheme is fine, but just like Gauntlet it loses it fun factor when you don’t have to worry about extra credits.

Robotron 2004- You blast enemies with your laser while trying to avoid them. The control scheme is fine because of the dual analog sticks.

Smash TV- A fun game to play through once. You play as a game show contestant with an automatic weapon that destroys zombies and other combatants. Once you are touched, you are dead. You go through 3 levels with about 12 rounds per level. The translation is fine because of the dual analog sticks.

Bubbles- You try to collect blue things on a sink while avoiding bugs. Control is a little awkward.

RoadBlasters- Similar to spy hunter. You drive a car the destroy any other car that gets in your way. The controller sucks because you really need a steering wheel.

Blaster- A first person flight simulation, arcade style. Controller is fine.

Rampart- The precursor to Tetris…sort of. You have cannons in a castle and for a set amount of time you destroy ships that are firing back at you. During your rebuilding stage you get random blocks to rebuild your castle walls. This game is IMPOSSIBLE to play without a track ball or mouse. Go play this on the pc.

Sinistar- You fly a space ship trying to avoid getting killed while killing your enemies. I have no problem with the control scheme.

Super Sprint- You drive a race car around a track with 3 other cars. Over the course of several races you get power ups that you can spend on better accessories. The translation sucks because once again you need a steering wheel.

Marble Madness- You roll a marble down a maze while avoiding getting killed by your enemies. The arcade had a track ball that is essential to play this game. But for the record, I did defeat this game using a cross key control pad.

720- The original skateboarding game. You get to skate on various tracks to earn money and spend on better equipment. I had no problem with the controller but I was never into this game anyways.

Toobin- You float in an inner tube down a river while avoid various hazards. I also had no problem with the controller.

Klax- Fun puzzle game, this is worth the price of admission alone if you’re into this type of thing. You need to align various colored blocks to complete levels. A little more complicated that just deleting 10 lines in tetris. The controller is fine.

SPLAT!- You control a character and fight by throwing things at each other.

Satan’s Hollow- Midway’s galaxian clone. Control is fine.

Vindicators- You control a tank and try to kill your enemies. The controls are hard to get used to, but they function on the Gamecube

Root Beer Tapper- You pour beer for customers that come towards you on several different bars. Once they reach you then you lose a life. The controller is fine.


Overall Length
This depends on how bored you are. I expect that you will play 2 hours by yourself and another 3 hours with friends, then get bored and dream about Halo 2.

Replay Value
Little to none, except for Klax.

Extras
The extras are quite limited. They provide history of the games, some developer interviews, and some additional documents. Nothing overwhelming.

In game codes
None. But you can change the number of lives and difficulty before you enter the emulation.

Action replay
No codes available.

Who is the game designed for?
This series of games are designed for adults that grew up in the 80’s. The only real value to it is nostalgia and a few hours of fun with your friends. I recommend this game disk only for people that want to try to relive their childhood.
If never played these games and you want to know what you missed, just rent it for a Saturday afternoon. You will realize you didn’t miss much.


Summary:
For 20 dollars retail, it’s a great value. But if you are not into nostalgia or do not want to play old games, then this is not for you.



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Recommended: No