Midway Arcade Treasures 2

Written by Ryan Genno  on November 19, 2004

Review: Now that we have these games on one disc УI want all my quarters back!Ф

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Total Carnage
Just imagine the game Smash TV in a scrolling war zone and you got Total Carnage. Even some of the sound effects and weapons look the same. Total Carnage could have a great action title like an Ikari Warriors or Contra but with its countless enemies and insanely difficult bosses, the game was just way too hard.

Wizards of Wor
Since Wizard of Wor came out in 1980; it is the oldest game in MAT2. This game started out as a fun Pac Man clone but the game play is way too quick and you can't even see some of the enemies all the time. УIf you want to make a good video game, it should not have invisible enemies!Ф

Wacko
Wacko appears to be a sequel to Kozmik Krooz'r but instead of saving the series from mediocrity, this game just added the final nail to the coffin. You still control a little alien that has to shoot down monsters but now you have to shoot same the creature type to kill them off for good. Wacko ends up feeling more like work then a game.

Xenophobe
This game here was suppose to capitalize on those popular alien survivor movies but this up to three player game is very tough to control in the heat of battle. Using a button to duck just isn't right! The tiny split screen just ruins the action. The bottom line is that I hate this game!

Xybots
This third person action game takes place in 3D mazes where killer robots are running loose. The game play was on the slow side and it was annoying that you can only fire in a fixed direction (first person shooters like Halo spoil us) but it was cool idea and even the two player game was fun.

OK, some of these games are pretty bad here but I'm still very impressed of what we got overall. Sadly, if you remember the previews for MAT2 this wasn't the list we were originally promised. Although it's cool that we got Mortal Kombat II and MK3 here, I wish the original Mortal Kombat was also included so that it would complete the trilogy. S.T.U.N Runner didn't make the cut either. I used to play that 3D shooting game all the time back in the 90's and the only home version I can think in for the Atari Lynx. I bet half of you don't even know what an Atari Lynx is? The polygonal flight sim Steel Talons also got the axe.

Even though it was a shame that Midway didn't give me all the games I wanted at least there are a good list of DVD extras available. Games like APB and MK3 have special behind the scenes and developers retrospectives on their respective titles. Unfortunately, most of these videos have terrible sound quality and it can be hard to make out what the group is saying half the time. Not all the games have video biographies either but all have brief history and pictures of the original arcade cabinet.