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Review: Midway Arcade Treasures
by Jolex Del Pilar

Friday, January 16, 2004

Midway's release of 20 classics will evoke nostalgia from most gamers.

Title: Midway Arcade Treasures

Platform: PS2

Publisher: Midway

Developer: Midway

# of Players: 1 - 2

Genre: Arcade

Origin: United States

Expected Release: November 2003

Grapevine: "At $20, Midway's classics compilation provides great value, especially for older gamers who have played these games during their youth."

In recent years, numerous companies who have gaming roots within the old order of arcade gaming have begun rereleasing classic titles from within their archives of licenses. Namco, and Sega, both companies with deep arcade roots have previously released arcade compilation disc, and now Midway has as well.

Midway's latest compilation, Midway Arcade Treasures, combines 20 games onto one hassle free DVD. The complete list of 20 games includes classics such as Smash TV, Rampage, and the original Spy Hunter.

The recreation of these games on the Playstation 2, a machine over a thousand times more powerful than the original hardware these games appeared on, is flawless. While the low-res, pixally nature of the games shows that some things just can't age gracefully, these games look and play exactly like the originals.

A cool extra that is included with the DVD is the ability to view interviews with the game creators and developers. The insight into the the way these games was developed really sets home the feeling of the era that these titles were developed, and how far the industry has progressed since then. For video game enthusiast, this is a priceless addition to the $20 disc.

While the games included are perfect renditions of the originals from years ago, I'd like to see companies release compilation disc with upgraded content and graphics to breath new life into these, sometimes, 20 year old games. Square-Enix did a compilation disc of older Final Fantasy games entitled Final Fantasy Origins that featured new cinematic movies, new opening theme songs, updates of the original event sequences, enhanced graphics and a lot more. To see that with other classic licenses would be a welcome trend in the industry.

While the content here isn't going to be new or upgraded in anyway, it is a fairly good selection of games from an era that may soon be forgotten. At $20, the disc won't put too bad a ding in your wallet, and will probably entertain for those days when you get tired of glitzy 3D graphics and all the technological glamour that comes with it.

--- Jolex Del Pilar

	Gameplay: [8.0] 20 classic games from the golden age of arcade gaming. No upgraded features or content however.
	Graphics: [7.5] Well they are exact reproductions of the original games. That could be a good or bad thing depending on your perspective.
	Sound: [8.0] The midi tunes bring back memories of when bleeps and boops equaled epic.
	Presentation: [8.0] The flashy menu, and DVD content can't hide the fact that many of these games will be older than the people playing them.
	Replay Value: [8.0] A virtual archive of games that may soon be lost unless you have a classic NES, Amiga, or Atari 2600 laying around in working condition.
	Global Score: [7.9] Midway's Arcade Treasures is a great collection of classic games that older gamers will appreciate, although there may not be enough for younger players.

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