Midway Arcade Treasures 2
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| Midway Arcade Treasures 2 | |
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| Developer(s) | Digital Eclipse/Backbone Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) | Midway |
| Release date(s) | October 11, 2004 |
| Genre(s) | Compilation |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Mature (M) OFLC: M15+ |
| Platform(s) | PS2, Xbox, GameCube |
Midway Arcade Treasures 2 is the second collection of classic arcade games published by Midway for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. This compilation includes 20 games that were not in the 2003 release of Midway Arcade Treasures or the 2005 release of Midway Arcade Treasures 3.
In April 2006 the Midway Arcade: Trilogy Pack was released for the PlayStation 2 containing all three of the Arcade Treasures releases.
The game plays similar on all three consoles however the Xbox version has the exclusive ability to upload scores to an online scoreboard. The special features on each version of game are the same. These include game histories, developer interviews, and other documents.
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[edit] Games
The collection consists of the following 20 arcade games:
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Note: This collection was given an "M"-rating largely because of Mortal Kombat's II & 3,Primal Rage,and NARC. With all the other games, the compilation would have received a rating of a "T" (for teen) or lower. Rampage World Tour is also featured as a bonus game in "Rampage Total Destruction" on Gamecube and Wii, which is rated "E10+" .
This collection was planned to include all three Mortal Kombat titles plus Steel Talons and STUN Runner. The first Mortal Kombat game was moved to the extras disc in the limited edition version of Mortal Kombat: Deception, while the other two games were omitted entirely because of developmental problems. The first Mortal Kombat later appeared in Midway Arcade Treasures Deluxe Edition for the PC and on the 2nd disc of the collector's edition of Mortal Kombat: Deception for Playstation 2 , and STUN Runner appeared in Midway Arcade Treasures 3.
[edit] Criticisms
[edit] Emulation Problems
Many of the games featured in this collection are emulated versions of the arcade games and not actually ports. It can be extremely difficult to emulate certain games and get them 100% accurate. As a result, some of the games (Mortal Kombat II, Mortal Kombat 3, Pit-Fighter and NARC in particular) have some obvious sound and graphical glitches.
There are also certain other emulation issues in the PS2 and GameCube versions of the collection. The PS2 version contains a slower running Hard Drivin', a muffled sounding Mortal Kombat 3, and a faster running Pit Fighter. These emulation problems are not present in the GameCube version. However, the GameCube version contains a few emulation issues in the Wizard of Wor game (which is the oldest game in the collection): every sound effect plays at the wrong times (for example the original shooting sound effect has become the original "enemy defeated" sound effect, and vice versa), and the game has a very inconsistent framerate, slowing down at almost all times. The Xbox version is often considered by critics to be the best version, as it has the fewest emulation problems.
[edit] The Start Button Issue
The "start button" in this game has 2 functions: Starting a game or pausing a game. So unless the player has to start or continue a game, the "start button" will work as a "pause button". This is where the problems come in for the Mortal Kombat games:
- Mortal Kombat II and Mortal Kombat 3 utilized the "start button" to perform "random select" by pressing Up+Start at the character select screen. As a result, "random select" cannot be used.
- In Mortal Kombat II, in order to fight the hidden character Smoke, you had to press Down+Start in the Portal while getting a "Toasty!" message. As a result, Smoke cannot be fought.
[edit] Preferential Treatment?
Of all the games in this collection, the Mortal Kombat's have the most extensive extras, and have the most thorough introductions, whereas most other games only have a couple of sell sheets, but no developer interviews (with the exception of games like APB or NARC).
That being said, Mortal Kombat is Midway's biggest selling franchise.
[edit] Product Tie-in?
Because of its seemingly greater focus on the Mortal Kombat games, this collection may possibly have been designed as a tie-in or publicity stunt for the (at the time) upcoming Mortal Kombat: Deception (which features the original game on the extras disc).
