At the recent Classic Gaming Expo 2004, the good folks at Midway brought out their nearing-completion version of Midway Arcade Treasures 2 to show to the classic gaming faithful. In my opinion, the reaction of the crowd was overwhelmingly positive. Reaching beyond what has usually been the fodder for classic combinations, the arcade golden age of the early ‘80s, Midway has created a compilation of games that spans from the early ‘80s to the mid-‘90s. And the games include titles from the infamous to the obscure.

Hold on to your seats, boys and girls, here comes the list of games on this package: A.P.B., Arch Rivals, Championship Sprint, Cyberball 2072, Gauntlet II, Hard Drivin’, Kozmik Krooz’r. Mortal Kombat II, Mortal Kombat 3, Narc, Pitfighter, Primal Rage, Rampage World Tour, Spy Hunter 2, Timber, Total Carnage, Wacko, Wizard of Wor, Xenophobe and Xybots. It is a quite a list, and at about 20 bucks for the package, one hell of a play value.

For anyone who has been following this title with anticipation, you’ll notice that Midway has pulled the original Mortal Kombat and STUN Runner from the lineup and replaced them with Wacko and Kozmik Krooz’r. I got to talk to Sarah Moschea, Midway public relations coordinator, about the change. She said that the original Mortal Kombat will be released only with the special edition of Mortal Kombat Deception to give fans of that series something special. STUN Runner was proving difficult to emulate satisfactorily. Considering the speed of STUN Runner, I’m not surprised. Anyway, the replacement games are a couple of entertaining cult classics and I for one can live with it … if we see STUN Runner in a later compilation.

While I did not get to play every game on the compilation (bogarting games at a show is a social no-no), the ones I looked at seemed well on the way to perfect emulation. If anyone can pull it off, the folks at Backbone Entertainment (a.k.a. Digital Eclipse) can do it. Their history with emulation projects is long and illustrious.

In addition to the games, the package will also include historical information on the games and their designers. It’s just the thing for the student of video-gaming history. Judging from the quality of the archival information on the first Midway Arcade Treasures compilation, it should be a great addition to any collector’s store of knowledge.

Midway Arcade Treasures 2 appears on track for being a first-rate addition to the classic-gaming compilations that have become a staple of the industry. I’ll be waiting in October to see how well it finally turned out.



© 2004 GameShark.com