Ah, the compilation title. Is there any cheaper venture in the world of videogame publishing? Take a handful of games way past their dime-earning prime, hire a programmer and designer for an afternoon, pay sufficient royalties to the original creators (ha!), and boom! You’ve got yourself an instant profit-turner. Thankfully, companies have learned a few things about compilation packages. Firstly, it’s about quality- check out the Zelda Bonus Disk for the Gamecube as an example. When that fails, use sheer quantity to fool ‘em. Gone are the days of the Namco Museum PSOne compilations that housed a paltry six games. Also, the days of price gouging gamers for compilations seem to have passed, as compilation games seem to be firmly entrenched in the 20-30 dollar price point category. At the outset, Midway Arcade Treasures 2 seems to borrow heartily from every compilation staple. It’s got a lot of games- twenty, to be exact. There are also a lot of classics on this baby- Mortal Komat 2, 3, and Narc, among others. Finally, it’s really cheap. Twenty bucks cheap.

As a compilation, Midway Arcade Treasures 2 follows all the rules, but is it the total package? Well, scientists say that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, but they obviously were not referring to videogame compilations. With that said, in the spirit of Halloween (or for those of you reading after that day, the candy that remains for months afterward), I present fun-sized reviews for each of MAT2’s twenty titles, presented in a random order that just happened to be alphabetical... weird, huh? Enjoy!

APB-

APB is an ambitious game, though perhaps a bit too much so for it’s own good. You control a police car, and you must fill your daily quota of arrests, all while keeping an eye on your gas tank, the time, your demerits list, criminals, and roadside attractions like the donut shop and police station. The demerit system is terribly frustrating, as you get points off for hitting a vehicle with your siren off. The problem? No one commits any crimes while your siren is on! It’s also incredibly difficult to read the text bubbles coming from the cars on any modestly sized TV screen. Not a bad game at all, and definitely an influential game. This one definitely planted the seeds that GTA would later sow.

Arch Rivals-

This is another influential title. Before NBA Jam captured the nation’s attention, there was Arch Rivals. There are some similarities, sure- two on two basketball with no fear of fouls (do they call fouls for drooping the opposing team in the NBA?), but this game is just bland. A drive to the hoop will get you two points every time, and playing more than one quarter can cure insomnia. I’ve met NBA Jam, played NBA Jam, and you Arch Rivals, are no NBA Jam.

Championship Sprint-

Aren’t sequels supposed to be better? Although the choice to go from three to two players (from Super Sprint) may have made financial sense for Midway (a smaller cabinet led to greater profits), but it makes for a less enjoyable game in the end. Some of the less popular tracks were expunged, but there really isn’t much of a change in track number between this and Super Sprint. The gameplay is basically the same as Super Sprint (available on the first MAT, BTW), and as a result, this one is actually a step down.

Cyberball-

It’s football, with robots. It’s not nearly as fun as you think it would be. There’s not really much of a play list, and the players control like, well, like robots. I expected a much more “extreme” football experience, a la NFL Blitz with this one, but it played like every other run of the mill, sub-par football title.

Gauntlet II-

There were some improvements between this title and the original Gauntlet (available on the first MAT), such as the ability to choose two of the same character, and the addition of more levels, but the game feels just like the first if you’re playing one player, especially since there’s little graphical improvement here.