Midway Arcade Treasures 2 Review

If I was told, at a game store, that Midway Arcade Treasures 2 was a budget-priced $20, I would immediately turn to them and say, ‘what’s the total going to come to?’. I’m a compilation freak, as many of you might know from my review of last year’s Midway Arcade Treasures, Intellivision Lives!, Namco TV Games, Atari TV Games, and Ms. Pac-Man TV Games. All of them, coincidentally, are $20 compilations, with hours of fun, in five minute bursts.

Truth be told, I didn’t really care what games were on MAT2, I just wanted to play Mortal Kombat II and III again. The memories are still vivid in my mind of playing MKII on the Genesis. The Mortal Kombat series to this day is one of the most controversial in video game history, only to be outdone by Grand Theft Auto. The graphically violent game, with gruesome fatalities, such as sending opponents to a spiky death, led to complaints from parents, but glee for children, who couldn’t have enough of the action. Mortal Kombat is conceivably the best fighter developed by an American company.

MKII and III aren’t the only games on this compilation disc worth playing though. The full list of games includes, MK II and III, APB, Championship Sprint, Primal Rage, Wizard of Wor, Guantlet 2, Rampage World Tour, Hard Drivin’, Cyberball 2072, Total Carnage, Xybots, Kozmik Kroozr’, Xenophobe, Arch Rivals, NARC, Spy Hunter 2, Timber, Pit Fighter, and Wacko.

Total Carnage’s shoot first, ask questions later, gameplay is the envy of arcade gamers. This mindless fun, captured in Smash TV (which was on MAT), is also found in Total Carnage. The game, instead of a television show, has you on the search for a Hitler-looking bad guy. You’ll kill rows of enemies at a time, with different weapons to perform your holocaust. With a friend, it’s a 30 minute blast, with a few bonus missions to boot.

To round out the top-notch games, NARC is an arcade shooter. The fault I found in the game was not with the port from arcade to console, but was with the original game itself. Why can’t I walk one way and shooter another? It adds an unnecessary level of frustration to an otherwise excellent title. You’ll shoot enemies, collect cash, bust criminals, and beat bosses.

Among the games in this compilation, the ones that have aged the most are Primal Rage, Pit Fighter, and Timber. Out of these, I would only suggest playing Timber, as it is still a fun game. Primal Rage lacks the finesse that Mortal Kombat has. Otherwise, it’s a Mortal Kombat game with of all things, dinosaurs. Pit Fighter is a pixilated mess of a 2D fighter, where you’ll punch enemies with a team-mate by your side. The brawl isn’t the least bit entertaining; I suggest you pass on this one.

In conclusion, Midway Arcade Treasures 2 is a solid compilation, with enough classic titles to warrant a purchase. For those of you that don’t particularly care for 80’s and early 90’s arcade games, you could always give it a rent, for the Mortal Kombat games and Total Carnage. Otherwise, your best bet would be to go with the original Midway Arcade Treasures, which is still high on our list of quality compilations.