Sony PlayStation 2-Classic & Retro Games reviews

MIDWAY ARCADE TREASURES REVIEW

Midway Arcade Treasures
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Reviewed by UK Guest, 23rd Feb 2004.
Review Summary: Lazy arcade conversions
Overall Score: 2/5 Overall score - 2Overall score - 2
Review: I don't know how the 'gamer from Leeds' managed to be playing this collection about a month before it came out on sale and then write a review of it, nor do I know why s/he claimed that you get a bonus DVD, there is no bonus DVD.

What you do get is a lazy conversion job of a mixed bag of old games. One or two of them are pretty good, Gauntlet springs to mind, although Gauntlet has been made a touch too easy with the ability to keep topping up your health (like having unlimited credits) Defender looks and plays pretty much like it did back in the day in the arcades, and Sinistar is still rock hard.

On the other hand the rest of the bunch seem a little lacklustre at best, and downright stinking at worst. Super Sprint suffers really badly and is almost impossible to control with a joypad (you just keep crashing into the walls) which gets really annoying very quickly.

As for the 'bonus' stuff on the disk, a few interviews which are exactly the same footage, at exactly the same (poor quality) resolution as Midway's 'Arcade Party Pak' for the PS1, and some 'trivia' which is just kinda 'blah, why bother?' The worst sin here is that there isn't even an interview with the Gauntlet team, and Gauntlet was by far the 'biggest' game to be included on the disc, so you really are just going to be buying this for the games.

The egyptian pyramid theme that acts as an interface between the games is not exactly helpful either, makes the whole thing harder to navigate than it needs to be, and it looks pretty shabby too.

Now I know this is fairly cheap as PS2 discs go, but it really shouldn't be on sale for anything more than five pounds, anything more just makes it bad value for money (and yes I do feel a bit of a mug for buying it) When you compare it with the emulators that are available for the PC then it comes way down the list.

So why have I given it two stars and not one? Because even if it is a pretty lazy conversion job there are bound to be a few games on it that you will be able to play and enjoy, for a short while anyway. At least you will if you don't come at it with high expectations. Overall then, better to give it a miss unless you really have to have one of the games on here (and you better hope that the game you want has reasonable controls for the PS2!)

Ratings
Value For Money: 2
Review Score: 2
Recommended? No