Here for go again, retro games are back with Midway Arcade Treasures 2. We have 20 games for less than ยฃ20 pounds. Some good old classics, some obscure but neat little games, and others are plain donkey poop. Problem with MAT2 compared to the first is most of these games fall into the last two categories. Here is a quick rundown of all the games.
APB: This is a birds eye driving game, similar to the 2d Grand Theft Auto games (driving only) you drive around the levels, catching small time criminals with your siren and ramming big shot criminals off the road. You have to collect gas, time bonuses, and can collect the odd extra points. This to me is a classic, I loved this game as a kid and it’s just as much fun now, it’s hard to explain but it really is a hell of a lot of fun.
Arch Rivals: The game that spawned the NBA Jam series, a no rules basketball game, 2v2. You can pass, shoot, jump and blockโฆoh and you can shove and punch too! This isn’t a bad game, but it’s easy for the game to run to one end of the court, score, the other do the same, and then you doโฆ repetitive you’ll admit, probably really good 2 player more so than sticking to the one player mode.
Champion Sprint: 1 or 2 player top down racer as 4 cars speed round a miniature track, great fun, easy to pick up and play, and a real party piece. Hidden jumps, oil patches litter some tracks, and if you win, you can buy the odd upgrade also. Great party racer, another one thatโs easy to pick up and play for a bit
Cyberball 2072: This is best explained as an American football played with robots. You pick from 8 formations (4 offence, 4 defence) as you try to score I touchdown or two. I know the basic rules for American Football, but to some this may take a while to adjust too. Plays well, but basic overall for a sports title, and very hard to beat the computer too
Gauntlet 2: Yet another classic gem of a game, up to 4 players run around the many various levels shooting and killing literally hundreds of monsters, ghosts and demons. Find keys to open doors, spells to act as smart bombs, another party game that would be great to play into the night too.
Hard Drivin’: This is one of the first 3d driving simulations, you control a car, and try out basic stunts, or races until ya time runs out. Good for a few short goes but not really all that fun in my opinion, had a fair few bugs show up too, I’d just explode for no reason, fall through the ground.
Kozmik Krooz’r: A strange little game this one, a huge mother ship floats at the top of the screen and at times it stops and you have to board it in your little nippy space ship. While your waiting as it spins you have to kill the other aliens out to get you, simple to understand, not great though. Basic in most ways.
Mortal Kombat 2: Well this is one main reason I think people will buy this pack to relive the old MK games. Just as I remember them, cheesy moves, rock hard fatalities and all the odd bits and bobs thrown in there ‘Toasty!’ Good game, lacks a decent combo system, novelty gaming at its best though. Make sure to find and print out all the moves, fatalities, etc though, no help given in game, manual nothing.
Mortal Kombat 3: Again other classic, although almost 10 years old now (don’t time fly?) This is one decent MK game, better combo’s more characters, more death moves, Animalities etc, and loads of how it was made extrasโฆ again with MK2, do yourself a favour and print out the special moves, finishers, friendships etc first though.
Narc: This plays like a side scrolling Smash TV, hundreds and enemies swan at you, and you have machine guns, and a rocket launcher to slaughter them all. They all drop cash etc, and it’s basically a hunt for as many point until you die, and you will, a lot, it’s just so much happening you get killed so quickly at times. Fun though, 2 player options also available.
Pit-fighter: This was an early beat ’em up, and it shows, pretty bad graphics trying to be clever by using photo realistic characters (yeah right) you can jump, punch and kickโฆ no real combos to speak of, 3 player though. You end up mashing the buttons, till one of your wins, there are weapons to pick up, crates and barrels to throw, but not a great game to want to play again and again to be honest.
Primal Rage: Another beat ’em up, this time dinosaurs against each other. Not a bad one this, special moves are a bit of a pain to pull off, not the usual street fighter, or even Mortal Kombat style, but holding certain buttons down (2 or 3) and then doing the movement, take a while to get used to. 7 Character, a few specials and even death moves each, but another button masher when you get close I’m afraid
Rampage World Tour: I hadn’t played this till I got MAT2, and it’s really not bad. Like the original you control one of three house sized monsters (or all 3 with mates) it’s basically your job to destroy buildings, eat the screaming people running around, and swat the helicopters and tanks who are out to kill you. This time around though you have punch and kick, both do different attacks to the buildings, including bouncing on a building till it falls, or kicking cars across the screen. The levels are now several screens wide, and the graphics are a lot better with a more 3d feel. 130 levels all across the globe (and further) I very good game overall, great fun.
Spy Hunter 2: Sequel obviously to the classic Spy Hunter, sadly this doesnโt match up to it, even though you can do two player co-op. You drive up screen (although in 3D it feels uphill) and you battle the baddies with machine guns, oil slicks etc, as you progress through the missions, it all gets a bit repetitive.
Timber: Simple yet Classic, one or two players walk about a small forest chopping trees down, you have to avoid bears and birds, and of course the trees as they fall down, as you try to get your daily quota of tree felling. Easy to understand, get fun trying to beat ya best scores too, humorous little animations as you go also.
Total Carnage: Now this is a mad game, think the old Rambo/Smash TV type top down scrolling shooter with thousands of enemies. You run around collecting weapons, saving hostages and spilling bad guy blood. (Just over 5,000 enemies on the first level alone!) Itโs just none stop mayhem. Fun alone or with a mate, just get ready for the bosses who take about 5 minutes and 10 lives alone to kill)
Wacko: A great little game this, you control a small flying saucer and you to shoot the different coloured alien monsters to clear the screen, and problem is you have to shoot them in pairs. So if you shoot a red alien, it’ll freeze until the shoot it’s ‘twin’. As you progress through the early levels, more and more pairs appear, and it gets very hard to dodge them all. Simple game to understand, pleasure to play.
Wizard of Wor: This game is awful, it doesnโt make sense either, run around a Pac-man style maze shooting badly drawn aliens?! But they seem to disappear and reappear, it says you have to be in line of sight to shoot an enemy, but it doesnโt seem to ring trueโฆ worst game on the disk sorry to say. The whole game doesnโt seem to make sense.
Xenophobe: up to 3 players run around an alien space ship shooting aliens, and collecting objects (some useful, some just for points) before the ship blows up in this multi-screen side scrolling shooter. Plays okay, but sadly badly designed controls let this game down, the duck buttons makes you duck, and you have to press the jump button to get back up?! It feels so unnatural, plus a huge amount of the early aliens you have to duck to kill, so the first level or so you just duck continually
Xybots: according to the data file this is the first 3rd person shooter, although they have come along way this is a great way to begin them. One or two players run around the maze like levels shooting the many robots/aliens. it’s such a simple design game but works fantastically well, think of it as a 3D Gauntlet (as it was designed to be in fact.)
Every game comes with the option to change your controls, some background information, some have video interviews for more in-depth info too, and almost all give you the option to upload your scores via Xbox Live (you have to have default difficulty, lives etc, to make it fair) These games as a whole collection arenโt as good as Midway Arcade Treasures, and I would only recommended buying this in there at least a few games you REALLY like, for me itโs APB, Xybots, the new (for me) Rampage, Gauntlet 2, and the two Mortal Kombatsโฆ thatโs 6 games out of 20 Iโll be playing regularโฆonly 6โฆ
These are a collection of pretty good arcade games, not a lot are great sadly. No saves, no cheats, no real guides etc. What do you expect though? quick games made to make the odd 50p, give them ‘credit’ some are still fresh to play today.
Midway Arcade Treasures 2
Pros
- Diverse Game Selection
- Nostalgic Appeal
- Additional Features
Cons
- Inconsistent Game Quality
- Limited Replay Value
- Control Issues
