Midway Arcade Treasures Review

Let’s face it, arcades are expensive places in our era. Some games cost you $1 a play, even $5, which makes playing arcade games not fun, but a hobby that once was. Back are the days of $.25 games, without the need for quarters and with the ability to play unlimited times. Midway, in which it has had two difficult financial years, releases a budget title, honoring old 80’s arcade games. Over the past weeks, I’ve been hammered with retro gaming titles. Lucky for me, Midway Arcade Treasures has some refreshing titles that I actually haven’t had the chance to play. By playing these games, I am taking part in video game history that is forever gone, but will forever live on in our hearts, minds, and disk drives, PS2, GCN, and Xbox disk drives, that is.

Before I go into game descriptions, as I have with all other compilations that I have received, I’ll give a quick overview of what you can expect. First, there are a total of twenty-four different classic titles, six of which I will highlight in this review. The opening title screen is a bit confusing, since it doesn’t actually show the game titles. Instead, it gives a small icon of what game it represents (i.e. I believe a car represented Spy Hunter, etc.). Midway was intelligent enough to include a Xbox Live feature, though not intelligent enough to include actual online-play; you are allowed to post your scores online and compare them with other gamers’. Here’s the list of the titles included within this compilation; KLAX, SPLAT!, Defender, Toobin’, SpyHunter, Rampage, Marble Madness, Gauntlet, 720, Joust, Joust 2, Root Beer Tapper, Super Sprint, Satan’s Hollow, Vindicators, Sinistar, Rampart, Blaster, RoadBlasters, Bubbles, Smash TV, Robotron 2084, Paperboy, and Stargate.

Rampage

In Rampage, you climb and destroy buildings throughout the United States and Canada. You play as a giant King Kong-like creature (along with the option to play as a lizard and wolf). Helicopters, tanks, and men with dynamite and guns are the only things between you and total United States metropolitan destruction.

Joust

In Joust, you play as an ostrich that must hit enemy knights in their heads. Joust was a risk to its creators, because it was the first to use a “flap button� (used with A) and like other games, controlled with a joystick (left thumb-stick). If you’ve ever played Balloon Fight (NES), then you will love this game, since they are closely related.

Paper Boy

Paperboy was a game in which you played as none other than a paper boy. Riding your bicycle, you must ride down different difficulty streets (three in all) and deliver news papers, while avoiding cars, bicycles, dogs, etc.

Marble Madness

Possibly the idea from which Sega’s Super Monkey Ball series and Crave’s Mojo! were inspired, Marble Madness is a maze-like game, in which you must direct your marble along a path with various obstacles along the way. Your objective is to reach the “goal� within a specified amount of time.

Smash TV

Even though this is the most violent of all of the games in Midway Arcade Treasures, it is the most enjoyable. I’m not exactly sure, but I believe you are playing on a television set, I’m guessing something like “American Gladiator�. Anyway, story aside, you basically go from room to room, killing gigantic swarms of enemies and bosses, while using different weapons (including a rocket launcher, pistol, shotgun, and grenade launcher-type weapon). If this hadn’t been included, the game would have been rated E, but the inclusion would make purchasing Midway Arcade Treasures a steal for $20. While Xbox Live play would have been nice, the vast amounts of high-quality 80’s titles make this worth purchasing, whether you are a classic gaming collector or are from the PlayStation generation.