Excellent compilation of multi-player games
Midway Arcade Treasures 2 is the second in Midway's retro gaming series. For those of us who frequented arcades in the 1980s, this is nostalgia in a package.
The menu is divided into the 20 or so games Midway ported for this anthology, allowing you to play the game of your choice. Also, an options screen allows you to make the game easier or more difficult. Too bad they didn't do that for arcade machines like Sinistar back in '88.
Even better is the archive feature. The archive holds historical information about the old arcade games themselves. It tells you a lot of really interesting things about video game development 20 years ago.
GRAPHICS: 9 out of 10. I'm not really sure how to grade graphics from the 1980's, so what I'll do is simply compare them to my photographic memory. Does everything hold up? You bet it does.
I sometimes laugh at these guys who complain about ported games, but short of shipping a complete arcade cabinet, processor etc. with the PS2, there's not much that can be done. Having played almost all of these games myself in the arcades in the Eighties, I have to say they look great. Especially Wizard of Wor, the Greatest Video Game of All Time.
PLAYABILITY: 5 out of 10. The reason I rank this so low is the programmers often have some really goofy control schemes they want you to use (see SpyHunter from MAT 1). It doesn't reflect on the games themselves, but rather some of the translating. To me, it seems the programmers didn't just sit down and say, "Now what is the easiest way for someone to play this game on the PS2?" I guess a common sense approach just confuses some people. Otherwise, I find the games to be very true to their arcade roots.
STORY: 9 out of 10. This game, along with Namco Museum, MAT 1, Atari Anthology, etc., has a subtle story that may not jump out at you. Collections like this tell the story of video game history. Some of the games on this compilation were popular, some weren't. All of it contributes to the story of video games, and how they've become such a huge part of the global entertainment industry. All of us are part of the story, or else we wouldn't even be looking at a website like GameFaqs.com.
REPLAY: A few weeks ago, some buddies and I were playing MAT 2. We spent all night messing around with Gauntlet II, Rampage II, Wizard of Wor, Pit Fighter, Narc etc. Maybe for those of us who played the games in the arcade, the attraction is still there to play these games over and over again, always trying to attain the ever-elusive high score. This game will be a permanent addition to my collection.
OVERALL: 9 out of 10. I liked MAT 1 better because it had a larger, more diverse selection of games. But how can you possibly complain about Mortal Kombat 2? A.P.B.? Gauntlet II? Especially considering the price for a brand new copy, there is a lot of fun in MAT 2.