Would have been perfect, but they unfortunatly forgot the main points here: ARCADE, and RACING are in the title.
User Rating: 5.5 | Midway Arcade Treasures 3 PS2
I was looking forward to this edition of Midway Arcade Treasure's 3 mainly because I was a huge SF: Rush fan, and the Alcatraz edition has all the tracks in one pack. Hydro Thunder, wow I loved the arcade, it was addicting. The two main games in this package are: Hydro Thunder and Rush 2049. The headliners of the pack, I was looking forward to those two, plus Rush the Rock. The game itself isnt nearly as well presented as MAT2, there is only 8 games to choose from, and thats fine, quality, not quantity. The quality doesnt deliver like the arcade did. First of all, I'd like to note to hardcore arcade fans, Hydro Thunder, and Rush 2049, the MAIN titles here, are both just Dreamcast code copies, with slight touch ups. Very disappointing. You lose so much of the arcade feel when the demo mode wont run on its own, when you've got to back out of the console extras just to let it run like an arcade machine. I dont know what they were thinking when they did this. I read it was because these systems just cant give the games the power the arcades need. Which is fine, but dont take an exact Dreamcast copy and put it in as an "Arcade" classic. The other problems this pack suffers are the fact that SF: Rush the Rock, which is a "true" arcade copy, has load times like crazy, (when I say like crazy, I mean between every demo mode screen, and between track and vehicle selections. Thats not a huge problem, but when packed with the other problems, its just annoying. The actual SF: Rush game has the original music and sound effects taken out, for some reason. Now we get, some extremely cheesy MIDI sounding music, and the announcer is just annoying. The tires sound like a whipering dog, and its about 2 seconds of looping. Along with that, the sound is grainy, has "holes" in it. I've got it hooked through some Harmon/Kardon PC speakers (2.1) that normally sound great, they sound BAD on this game. Something that completely baffles me about this compilation, the gas button, is R1. You may be thinking "Why is that a problem?". Its not, if you plan to use a regular PS2 controller, if you want to use a Steering wheel and pedals you can throw the pedals away now. The steeringis fine, but you've got to use a button on your wheel as "gas". Lame. Completely un-arcade like. This applies for ALL games in this compilation. Midway really must not have been thinking there. I'd say, if you're a big Arcade racing game fan, this is, or isnt for you. Dont plan on having some big arcade set up, wheels, pedals, specially ready for an arcade experience (like i did, unfortunatly). Just sit down, with your regular old PS2 controller, and maybe you wont notice the bugs. Hydro Thunder has one major problem in my opinion. When playing the "Ship Graveyard" level, you'll get to the point were choppy seas make your boat fly everywhere, and lighting strikes all around, but your frame rate with drop so dramatically you'll be able to watch the milliseconds (the far right on the time counter, the"fast ones") count slower than you've ever seen. Ever. Also, since that game is a Dreamcast copy, expect to play it like one, you'll have to unlock EVERYTHING, beyond the "easy" tracks and boats. Unless you check out the Dreamcast Hydro Thunder page on here, you'll find a cheat, and not to anyones surprise, it will work. While the game must seem horrid to you all now, its not all bad. The games all play pretty nicely, its better than having to spend thousands on real arcade games, that are out of date and hard to find. Next arcade treasures wish list: Killer Instinct (Wont happen, most likely) Killer Instinct 2 (:-/) Mortal Kombat 4 NBA Jam NFL Blitz Revolution X
