Midway Arcade Treasures 2 Xbox Review

Who could forget the games you grew up with and what started the gaming industry on to the path of what it is today? Many people have kept the games going with various emulators which in terms of the legal side of things is still a very grey area, however this can be avoided to some degree because of Midway Arcade Treasures 2. This compilation of arcade games from Midway will bring back many memories of pumping coins into machines just to keep going when the home consoles just didn't cut it, or just didn't plain exist. Due to the nature of the game we will do this review in a different format giving comments about each game in the title and then an overall score and comment.



Rampage World Tour:



Rampage World Tour is a classic arcade game that you may have seen on the earlier home consoles at one point or another. You choose a large animal to go on a wrecking destruction and have a time limit to completely level the city before moving on. The thing that is different about the World Tour edition is that you go all over the world rather than just all over America and the levels are different depending on where you are in terms of graphics. It's a fun game to play but does become repetitive and boring fairly quickly. In terms of the games extras it only really has the advertising pamphlet for the arcade machine.



SpyHunter II:



Remade into a game earlier last year, SpyHunter II is a fairly basic arcade game where you chase criminals and have to avoid objects. It is very much like the recent console game but obviously with much less complex mission objectives and graphics. In terms of extras this game features only the arcade pamphlet.



Timber:



This is one of the games on the disc that we had never heard of. Timber is a fun little game, best enjoyed with friends. Basically the aim of the game is to chop the trees down in a set timelimit. There are a few things to avoid though such as the way the trees fall, and bees. The funny thing about this game is it was released in 1984, around the time of Super Mario Brothers and the two characters not only have red and green clothing but look quite a bit like Mario and Luigi. In terms of extras this game has again only the arcade pamphlet.



Total Carnage:



This game is fantastic and many may remember it being released on the Super Nintendo many years ago. In total carnage you are two buff US soldiers sent in to rid the levels of alien scum and basically run around shooting anything that moves, rescuing people and picking up powerups. The game is one of the lengthiest in the title and no doubt sucked a few quarters from people during its hay day. In terms of bonus material the game again only has the promotional pamphlet





Wacko:



Wacko is one of the oldest games on the disc but also one of the more interesting, coming off a bit like a very early tetris or puyo pop style game. Enemies appear on screen and you have to shoot two of the same kind in a row to destroy them. A very basic little title but definitely one that is worth playing. Bonus content is only the pamphlet.



Wizard of Wor:



In Wizard of Wor you take the role of a number of space marines sent in to eradicate an alien threat. In a very pac man style game you move through taking out the enemies before moving on to the next dungeon. The game is set in space with a space backdrop so the use of the word dungeon seems a bit out of place but it is a fun little game that can fill a bit of time and offers quite a challenge. In terms of bonus material you will find the pamphlet but also some instructions which were included on the cabinet.



Xenophobe:



Xenophobe is about the removal of aliens from a space station and is a side scrolling shooter. You move to the right shooting aliens continuously before moving onto the next room but there is some depth to the game such as limited ammunition and other problems such as tougher aliens. Bonus material is only the arcade pamphlet.





Xybots:



Xybots is a very early third person shooter and has quite a bit of depth to it. You are placed in a maze and have to destroy all the aliens and reach a particular area of the maze. You can move in a full 360 degree movement with the triggers and even buy powerups in a shop between levels. This is one of the better games on the disc for sure. In terms of bonus it only has the pamphlet.



APB:



In APB you take the role of a highway patrolman who needs to fill a quota of tickets in a certain time limit. It is a top down racing title where you try to arrest people by pulling them over after they break the law. This game has quite a bit of depth with various characters to arrest as boss characters to fill the quota. The game also has some funny areas with time replenished by driving in a donut shop. This game has quite a number of bonus features including the arcade pamphlet and video interviews about things such as the development cycle and hardware. One of the better bonus features on the disc.



Arch Rivals:



The prequel to NBA Jam certainly was a great game and went even further away from basketball then Jam did. The aim, win the match by knocking your opponent out and taking the ball. It is a great game but doesnt have the over the top dunks that Jam has but there is definitely areas that carried across to NBA Jam. Bonus material consists of the pamphlet



Championship Sprint:



Championship sprint is a top down racer and there has been many games like it since. The great thing about the game is that you can see the entire track at any one time and there is a decent number of tracks to choose from. The gameplay is a fairly typical racing game but the bonus material consists of three video interviews with the development team.



Cyberball 2072



So where did NFL Blitz come from? There is a good chance that Cyberball 2072 was the very first version of Blitz. The NFL with robots is basically what the game consists of but it features everything you would expect in a NFL game such as the playbooks and rules. The bonus material for this game is only the pamphlet.



Gauntlet II:



Gauntlet II is not a true sequel to the original gauntlet and was only sold as an upgrade kit with one hundred new levels. Gauntlet has of course returned in recent years without as much success but the older games still are a great RPG. You select a character before progressing through dungeons taking on enemies and levelling up your character. The bonus material for this game is quite extensive with video interviews with the development team and the pamphlet.



Hard Drivin'



This game is fairly good and perhaps the first Gran Turismo style game. The focus was very much on realism as much as doing tricks and is one of the hardest games to play on the disc. According to the disc it was the first game to feature a clutch and gear shifter and used four processors to calculate the actions in the game. The bonus material only consists of the pamphlet.



Kozmik Krooz'r



This game is very much like Wacko and even has the same main character according to the disc. It is a very early shooting game where you fly around the screen shooting the various enemies that appear. Wacko is probably a better game due to the depth featured by two creatures needing to be shot for them to disappear. The bonus material is the arcade pamphlet.



Mortal Kombat II and III:



If you want to see where the latest games came from then this is a good place to start. Mortal Kombat was released when Street Fighter II was dominating the fighting genre and put up a good showing, so much so it has continued to new games today where Street Fighter seems to have died off, whether this is a decision by Capcom or lack of sales who knows but these two games are fairly decent fighting games. The bonus material offers some truly interesting stuff such as the promotional video used to sell the machine to arcade parlour owners.



NARC:



Narc is a game where play two mercenaries on a mission to rid the city of drugs. It is a side scrolling shooter where you can either shoot or arrest people. Vehicles also become part of the game with cars available later in the game. The bonus material consists of the pamphlet and video interviews.



Pit Fighter:



Probably one of the worst games on the disc but thats only because there is far better games in the same style on the same disc. Pit Fighter was the game before Mortal Kombat and it shows. Slow animations, photo realistic graphics (which in those days meant superimposing a picture into a game engine) and generally just a poor fighter. The bonus features included is only the promotional material.



Primal Rage:



Pit Fighter with dinosaurs but not as bad. Primal Rage pits various types of dinosaurs against each other in a fight to the bloody end. The disc admits that this game was only released to cash in on the violent fighting genre which had popularity at the time and was basically Mortal Kombat with dinosaurs. The bonus material includes the arcade pamphlet and a gameplay video.



Overall



Whether you like all the games on the disc or not, chances are you will find something that you have played in the past and really liked or even find something you've wanted and just could not get the name. The game offers something for every gamer, from those who remember the games on the disc at the arcade, to those who just want to see what their parents may have played.