{"id":276,"date":"2015-01-25T19:03:27","date_gmt":"2015-01-25T19:03:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gaminginsurrection.com\/stories\/?p=276"},"modified":"2022-07-17T18:34:11","modified_gmt":"2022-07-17T22:34:11","slug":"midway-arcade-treasures-2-1q2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gaminginsurrection.com\/reviews\/index.php\/2015\/01\/25\/midway-arcade-treasures-2-1q2015\/","title":{"rendered":"Midway Arcade Treasures 2 \u2014 1Q2015<\/span> issue"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A most\u00adly for\u00adget\u00adtable trea\u00adsure trove<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019re going to use the term trea\u00adsure trove loose\u00adly when I refer to Mid\u00adway Arcade Trea\u00adsures 2. Sure, there are some dia\u00admonds in the mine that was once Mid\u00adway and its arcade hits. But some\u00adtimes, as demon\u00adstrat\u00aded ably in this pack\u00adage, Mid\u00adway dug just a lit\u00adtle too deep to find things that I would\u00adn\u2019t trade for a seashell and some glass beads.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mid\u00adway Arcade Trea\u00adsures 2 fol\u00adlows in the vein of the pre\u00advi\u00adous title, min\u00ading for hits out of the ver\u00adi\u00adta\u00adble Taj Mahal that is Mid\u00adway\u2019s cat\u00ada\u00adlog of arcade favorites. The sec\u00adond go-round imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly catch\u00ades the eye \u2014 and wal\u00adlet \u2014 for ver\u00adsions of Mor\u00adtal Kom\u00adbat II<\/span> and Mor\u00adtal Kom\u00adbat 3, arguably the cen\u00adter\u00adpiece in the entire show. Fol\u00adlow\u00ading up those pieces are less\u00ader hits such as Pri\u00admal Rage, APB<\/span> and Ram\u00adpage World Tour. The entire com\u00adpi\u00adla\u00adtion is made up of 20 titles, which is a bar\u00adgain for the amount of games you\u2019re get\u00adting. Whether you want to play all 20 titles or not is the ques\u00adtion and it\u2019s eas\u00adi\u00adly answered quick\u00adly: No.<\/span><\/p>\n

A few of the titles includ\u00aded imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly dredge up hor\u00adri\u00adble mem\u00ado\u00adries. These drecks of mod\u00adern gam\u00ading soci\u00adety have been res\u00adur\u00adrect\u00aded, and I\u2019m not exact\u00adly sure for whose ben\u00ade\u00adfit. Hard Dri\u00advin\u2019, men\u00adtioned and dis\u00adsect\u00aded in GI\u2019s hor\u00adri\u00adble games pod\u00adcast of yes\u00adter\u00adyear, is the worst offend\u00ader of the bunch. I have no earth\u00adly idea who thought this was an arcade clas\u00adsic and why it need\u00aded to be thrust upon the mass\u00ades again. It was a hor\u00adri\u00adble game to begin with and deserves no fur\u00adther dis\u00adcus\u00adsion or inclu\u00adsion to rean\u00adi\u00admate it from the depths of hell where it belongs (Edi\u00adtor\u2019s Note: Fun fac\u00adtoid \u2014 Hard Dri\u00advin\u2019 pro\u00advid\u00aded the basis for GI\u2019s Tor\u00adture of the Quar\u00adter col\u00adumn)<\/em>. N.A.R.C. also war\u00adrants a men\u00adtion as a title to avoid, as well as Pri\u00admal Rage. Let\u2019s face it, Pri\u00admal Rage was tout\u00aded as com\u00adpe\u00adti\u00adtion for the likes of Mor\u00adtal Kom\u00adbat, Street Fight\u00ader and Killer Instinct back in the day, but no one with any sense ever took it seri\u00adous\u00adly. The game does\u00adn\u2019t inspire any new feel\u00adings of doing so after 20 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

With the inclu\u00adsion of hideous titles, there will be some con\u00adtrol issues. The good news is that most titles play like they did when first released. The bad news is that some \u201cimprove\u00adments\u201d have done just the oppo\u00adsite of their inten\u00adtion. Let\u2019s take, for exam\u00adple, Mor\u00adtal Kom\u00adbat II<\/span>. Because of \u201cnew-and-improved\u201d con\u00adtrol map\u00adping, it is impos\u00adsi\u00adble to fight hid\u00adden char\u00adac\u00adter Smoke in all ver\u00adsions except the PC<\/span> ver\u00adsion, and it takes a patch to fix that. That drags the over\u00adall expe\u00adri\u00adence down con\u00adsid\u00ader\u00adably. Con\u00adtin\u00adu\u00ading with the Mor\u00adtal Kom\u00adbat exam\u00adple, Mor\u00adtal Kom\u00adbat 3 runs just like the arcade. Except, the arcade ver\u00adsion of MK<\/span> 3 was ter\u00adri\u00adble, with a lot of bugs and glitch\u00ades that neces\u00adsi\u00adtat\u00aded the much-bet\u00adter Ulti\u00admate MK3<\/span>. It\u2019s a mixed bag: On the one hand you\u2019re get\u00adting improved con\u00adtrols and mod\u00adern advance\u00adments, but on the oth\u00ader hand, these changes aren\u2019t exact\u00adly welcome.<\/span>
\n What is wel\u00adcome, how\u00adev\u00ader, is the inclu\u00adsion of the behind-the-scenes mate\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal. Doc\u00adu\u00admen\u00adtaries and mak\u00ading-of mate\u00adri\u00adals are includ\u00aded as bonus fea\u00adtures for a few games, most notably Mor\u00adtal Kom\u00adbat II<\/span> and Mor\u00adtal Kom\u00adbat 3. If you were an MK<\/span> fanat\u00adic, these are inter\u00adest\u00ading looks at the fran\u00adchise at the height of its ini\u00adtial pop\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adi\u00adty. If you\u2019re won\u00adder\u00ading what the hype was about, it\u2019s a great look at the ori\u00adgin of the series and where ideas and mythol\u00ado\u00adgy were cre\u00adat\u00aded. The bonus mate\u00adri\u00adals for all games includ\u00aded are worth buy\u00ading if you\u2019re into the arcade scene and its history.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether you deem this col\u00adlec\u00adtion worth your time depends on how ded\u00adi\u00adcat\u00aded you are to the preser\u00adva\u00adtion of the U.S. arcade scene. If you\u2019re a purist and you care about obscure games such as Wiz\u00adard of Wor and Xybots, by all means go out and search for the trea\u00adsure. Oth\u00ader\u00adwise, let this boo\u00adby-trapped box stay hidden.<\/span><\/p>\n