A mostly forgettable treasure trove
We’re going to use the term treasure trove loosely when I refer to Midway Arcade Treasures 2. Sure, there are some diamonds in the mine that was once Midway and its arcade hits. But sometimes, as demonstrated ably in this package, Midway dug just a little too deep to find things that I wouldn’t trade for a seashell and some glass beads.
Midway Arcade Treasures 2 follows in the vein of the previous title, mining for hits out of the veritable Taj Mahal that is Midway’s catalog of arcade favorites. The second go-round immediately catches the eye — and wallet — for versions of Mortal Kombat II and Mortal Kombat 3, arguably the centerpiece in the entire show. Following up those pieces are lesser hits such as Primal Rage, APB and Rampage World Tour. The entire compilation is made up of 20 titles, which is a bargain for the amount of games you’re getting. Whether you want to play all 20 titles or not is the question and it’s easily answered quickly: No.
A few of the titles included immediately dredge up horrible memories. These drecks of modern gaming society have been resurrected, and I’m not exactly sure for whose benefit. Hard Drivin’, mentioned and dissected in GI’s horrible games podcast of yesteryear, is the worst offender of the bunch. I have no earthly idea who thought this was an arcade classic and why it needed to be thrust upon the masses again. It was a horrible game to begin with and deserves no further discussion or inclusion to reanimate it from the depths of hell where it belongs (Editor’s Note: Fun factoid — Hard Drivin’ provided the basis for GI’s Torture of the Quarter column). N.A.R.C. also warrants a mention as a title to avoid, as well as Primal Rage. Let’s face it, Primal Rage was touted as competition for the likes of Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter and Killer Instinct back in the day, but no one with any sense ever took it seriously. The game doesn’t inspire any new feelings of doing so after 20 years.
With the inclusion of hideous titles, there will be some control 
issues. The good news is that most titles play like they did when first released. The bad news is that some “improvements” have done just the opposite of their intention. Let’s take, for example, Mortal Kombat II. Because of “new-and-improved” control mapping, it is impossible to fight hidden character Smoke in all versions except the PC version, and it takes a patch to fix that. That drags the overall experience down considerably. Continuing with the Mortal Kombat example, Mortal Kombat 3 runs just like the arcade. Except, the arcade version of MK 3 was terrible, with a lot of bugs and glitches that necessitated the much-better Ultimate MK3. It’s a mixed bag: On the one hand you’re getting improved controls and modern advancements, but on the other hand, these changes aren’t exactly welcome.
What is welcome, however, is the inclusion of the behind-the-scenes material. Documentaries and making-of materials are included as bonus features for a few games, most notably Mortal Kombat II and Mortal Kombat 3. If you were an MK fanatic, these are interesting looks at the franchise at the height of its initial popularity. If you’re wondering what the hype was about, it’s a great look at the origin of the series and where ideas and mythology were created. The bonus materials for all games included are worth buying if you’re into the arcade scene and its history.
Whether you deem this collection worth your time depends on how dedicated you are to the preservation of the U.S. arcade scene. If you’re a purist and you care about obscure games such as Wizard of Wor and Xybots, by all means go out and search for the treasure. Otherwise, let this booby-trapped box stay hidden.
