Midway Arcade Treasures 2

I never thought I'd see the day when I could play an arcade-perfect version of Mortal Kombat at home.  I envisioned a time when I'd buy a house, add a game room and stuff as many arcade machines into it as possible.  That's the closest I thought I'd get to bringing the true arcade experience home.

On this very day – this wonderful, happy day – I am proven wrong.  Just after finishing my review of Mortal Kombat: Deception, I'm told that a review is needed for Midway Arcade Treasures 2.  Twenty arcade games are included on the disc, but that didn't have much of an effect on me.  All I needed to see were six important letters: MK2 and MK3.

My arcade senses are tingling!

Expecting a port of the SNES versions (or at best, the PSone edition of MK3), I went into the game with nostalgia running low and my hopes not too high.  Then the first game loaded.  No lame title screen.  No jerky animations or dummied-down sound effects.  It looked and sounded just like the arcade version!

The battle began immediately after my warrior was selected.  Can this be true, no load times?  Fight after fight, fatality after fatality, Mortal Kombat streamed the whole time.  You won't have to wait more than a second for the screen to switch between rounds – it's just as fast as it was in the arcade!  The graphics are arcade-perfect.  The scope and size of the characters seems very accurate.  Dan Forden's soundtrack is just as memorable as it was a decade ago.  I am in awe of this conversion – the first arcade-perfect conversion these games have seen.  Midway Arcade Treasures 2 is a no-questions-asked must-have game for anyone who loves Mortal Kombat 2 or 3.

 
Sheeva, because you cherish your cat. 

For those lost souls out there who have never had the pleasure of dropping an arcade machine on top of Scorpion’s head, Midway Arcade Treasures 2 has 18 retro games to check out and kill time with.

·         Gauntlet II

·         Spy Hunter II

·         Xybots

·         NARC

·         APB

·         Cyberball 2072

·         Timber

·         Total Carnage

·         Pit Fighter

·         Wizard of Wor

·         Xenophobe

·         Primal Rage

·         Arch Rival

·         Rampage World Tour

·         Kozmik Krooz'r

·         Championship Sprint

·         Hard Drivin'

·         Wacko

Out of the 18 remaining games I remember seeing five of them in arcades.  The rest have triggered no memory whatsoever, which either means I somehow missed them (which is easy to do when your head is stuck in Mario's clouds), or that they weren't colossal hits like Mortal Kombat.

Primal Rage is my favorite next to MK2 and 3, but it isn't as exciting as it used to be.  It never could compare with Mortal Kombat – it was more of an in-between game for me and my friends.  Something we'd play while waiting for the next MK game to come out.  Now that I have it I couldn't possibly part with it.  I know I'll play it every once in a blue moon.  If I didn't have it every time the blue moon comes I'd be crushed. 

Spy Hunter II?  No, you must be mistaken… 

The other games are not too satisfying.  Back in the day they might have been, but mindless shooting and 8-bit graphics are no longer fun to look at.  A game needs to offer something else, something redeeming in order to last through the ages.

My comments come as someone who did not play most of these games when they were originally released.  I was there for MK, Primal Rage, Rampage World Tour, and the other popular games.  As I said before, the lesser-known titles slipped right by me.  Had I played them before, an attachment might have been made that would compel me to go back to them now.  Without such an attachment these games are dated, repetitive, and eventually become boring.

Will you feel the same way?  Take a look at the list again.  Mortal Kombat is my reason for loving this game, but yours might be Pit Fighter or Arch Rivals.

What I recommend is that you only buy this game if you've played and love at least one of the titles in the collection.  The risk is too great otherwise.  Most people are not going to love these games if this is the first time they've played 'em.  That's not who this collection was made for.  It's called Midway Arcade Treasures 2 for a reason.

Gameplay: 7
Mortal Kombat 2 + Mortal Kombat 3 = excellent collection.  MK2 fans hate MK3, and MK3 fans say MK2 is too slow!  No matter what you get the two most popular MK games, right here, right now, for the first time in arcade perfection.  No load times between battles or the character selection screen.  Seamless blood-gushing kombat awaits young warriors.  Go forth and fatality the day!

If you don't love MK, Midway Arcade Treasures 2 includes 18 retro games you might be interested in.  But only if you've played and enjoyed them in another life.

Graphics: 7
Arcade-perfect Mortal Kombat.  Right now there are hearts covering my eyes.  All I see is love.  The other games are arcade-perfect too, but they're 10+ years old!  Any score above 7.0 would be ludicrous.

Sound: 7.5
Mortal Kombat's music is still classic, but the sound effects are much more annoying than I remembered them being.  The fighters groan for every punch and kick!  It's hard to believe that wasn't annoying until now.

The other games are, well...they sound like their original versions, but that's not saying much.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Is it me or are these games not as challenging as we once thought?

Concept: 7
An arcade-perfect collection of MK2 and 3.  Additional games are included to justify the Midway Arcade Treasures title, but they weren't necessary.  Not for MK fans at least.

Multiplayer: 7.5
Once again it's all about Mortal Kombat.  Hours of fun can be had with these two games; few hours of fun can be had with the rest.

Overall: 7
How many ways is there to say it?  Mortal Kombat fans know what they like.  Midway Arcade Treasures 2 will give 'em that.  It might even cause you to shed a tear or too.  Some people cry at weddings 'cause they're happy, but gamers – we cry at games.  (This is such a beautiful day, someone get me a tissue!)

You know the rest.  If you're not tear-jerked over MK's greatness, it's doubtful that the other games will have you reaching for a handkerchief.