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Midway Arcade Treasures

Platform: PS2, XBox, Gamecube

By Chris Ching
Warning: Old Fart-ism runs amok in this review. Proceed at your own nostalgic caution.

"WIZARD IS ABOUT TO DIE!"

"BEWARE I HUNGER!"

"SKATE OR DIE!"

If any of these lines (from Gauntlet, Sinistar, and 720° respectively) send ripples of mall arcade memories down your spine, you're clearly a card carrying child of the 80s. For those of you who came of age busting combos in Streetfighter or later, this fun collection of Midway classics will rate as much interest as a can of New Coke. But for us 80s kids, ...oh, to be young again with no responsibilities.

If you had told me back in 1984, I'd one day play all of these arcade titles on my TV screen in versions identical to the ones in the arcade (anyone remember the Atari 2600 Pac-man Disappointment?), I would have shouted "Raaaad!". And that's exactly what I did when I popped MAT in my PS2 and started playing.

For just under twenty bucks, Midway Arcade Treasures comes with 24 games. Not only is it nicely priced, it's a stellar mix of game types combining top quarter guzzlers like Spy Hunter, Gauntlet (4 player capability!) Joust, Rampage, and Marble Madness with lesser heralded fare like Rampart and SPLAT! Sure the graphics are cringe worthy by today's elevated standards, but so what? For the most part, the game play on most of these titles remains solid.

Still, the nostalgic pangs of emotion elicited from playing these games are the most important part of MAT. The demon head pursuing my little spaceship in Sinistar once again put fear in my soul, the sweat returned to my brow during Root Beer Tapper as I tried to serve my drinks without breaking glasses, and the female warrior in Gauntlet still is sexy in a funny pixelated sort of a way. Sure you could plays these games with an emulator on your PC, but MAT is more convenient and presents these classics in the best form possible.

Unfortunately, MAT does have a couple of negatives. Game control on a few of the games doesn't transition well from the arcade (Paperboy cries out for its bike handles and Marble Madness could use its track ball). And having a maximum of two measly continues is sacrilege.

You get some bonus material in the form of game designer interviews, histories, and prelim sketches, but they're hardly essential. Stick to the games, and go back to a time when actress Kerri Green from The Goonies was the "most coolest" girl in the world (or at least in my prepubescent fantasies).

Complete Game Selection: Spy Hunter, Defender, Defender II, Gauntlet, Joust, Joust 2, Paperboy, Rampage, Robotron 2084, Smash TV, Bubbles, Roadblasters, Blaster, Rampart, Sinistar, Super Sprint, Marble Madness, 720°, Toobin', Klax, SPLAT!, Satan's Hollow, Vindicators, Root Beer Tapper.

Rating: (3 out of 4 stars)