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While I had the first two Midway Arcade Collections for the PS2 the price of this made it worth getting as well since I actually haven't played on my PS2 for awhile. There's really not much to say about this collection other then it's a nice nostalgic collection of 80 and some early 90 games for those who grew up playing these either at the arcade or on consoles. Obviously the graphics aren't going to match up to today standards as most are 8bit or slightly higher but it's sometimes nice to play these longtime classics that bring back fond memories of those times for many of us. The collection is pretty decent about 30 games as the collection is similar to the http://www.amazon.com/Sonic-Ultimate-Genesis-Collection-Playstation-3/dp/B001G33V8S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365461273&sr=8-1&keywords=sega+collection which is another great collection to have for the older generation gamers. Regardless for those of us who remember these games fondly then rejoice as this collection helps bring back those memories of yesteryear this time on the PS3.
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I was very thrilled to get Midway's Arcade Origins for the Playstation and overall I was very impressed with it.I'm hoping the Midway,Namco,or even Data-East collections make their way to the PS3 consoles...I felt burned when I found out my copies of the PS2 couldn't be played on the PS3.On that note it was very refreshing for this Midway collection at a reasonable price.Our current 'most helped reviewer' has a pretty negative outlook and strays from logic such as the following....Controller Functions:
Yes the trackball from Marble Madness had interesting reaction to the slightest touch,but the smooth action on the joystick knobs has pretty smooth response too.Same can be said for Defender or Super Off Road which used a steering wheel,as a substitute the playstation's controller and button assignments are well laid out.The reviewer isn't thinking like an adult 'I want a trackball blah,blah,blah' like a whining child.Technology has progressed (and will continue to) allowing these games to be comfortably played on a flexible controller.If you expect the controller styles to be 100% accurate then buy the original arcade game,actually a product like what the reviewer mentioned probably wouldn't be as heavy-duty or would be very limited to range of use.
The Games:
As far as the games some of these I had from the previous Midway Arcade Treasures collections and I felt the library was perfectly consolidated.Root Beer Tapper?it's a very straight forward game but requires speed and serious hand/eye coordination to keep up.Xybots isn't really in league with Wolfenstein 3D or Doom but it's a decent third person person shooter.Smash TV and Total Carnage were decent shooters of the early 1990's but they ate quarters since you got killed so quick by enemies in mass quantities...but the bosses were awesome!Rampage was alot of fun-who wouldn't want to be a ruthless monster destroying buildings and eating while destroying cars,tanks,and anything that can hurt you.I've never been much of a sports game fan but I liked the basketball game Arch-Rivals which allowed you punch another player to get your ball back...playing by street rules.Gauntlet/Gauntlet II was a quarter burner just like Smash TV and though it doesn't hold a candle to the souped up action games today Gauntlet was a tasty delight just as well as Wizards of Wor.Pit Fighter may not have gained as much popularity as Mortal Kombat due to advanced moves and fatalities.But you could move around more and pick up weapons(shurikens,pool cues,knives,and even a motorcycle) and at certain times there are two opponents at once to fight.Watch out for the occassional character who pops out from the crowd and tries to knife you...you can attack them back.Pit-Fighter came out several years before MK and despite the lack of eye candy gave I really liked Pit-Fighter.Galaga was created by Namco and I believe Space Invaders was as well,or maybe Atari...either way Midway/WB doesn't own the rights to these titles so that explains why they aren't included.Every game on this collection has varying fun factors depending on the player and I like this approach of these vintage collections,it really brings something special to the table.
Presentation:
It was pretty cool to see the old original cabinets of these classic games on the game selection screen,it really takes you back seeing them after all these years and the unique character behind these games.For thirty dollars rather than the typical fifty to sixty dollar price for a PS3 game just released?pretty good value.The ability to choose free play settings such as difficulty,number of lives,score bonus does lend flexibility to the settings.
Final Thoughts:
Not that I'm against the video games of today(as a matter of fact my modern game collection consists of first person shooters),but alot are missing something special behind all that high resolution...to be honest I think the newer/hi-tech games have gotten easy to beat.These retro games were more streamlined back then-some were just fun in general to play and some were flat out challenging.Although this isn't an included game PAC-MAN was a great example of a basic retro game..it required very quick hand and eye coordination to survive.The beauty of these arcade collections is they get re-released in higher resolution without sacrificing the natural low-res graphics and even better...no more quarters to burn through!As I mentioned earlier I had the Gottlieb and Williams Pinball Hall of Fame Collections,Midway Arcade Treasures Vol.1-3,Namco Museum Collection and the Intellivision Collection(it was okay but accurately captured).Altogether I spent alot more time playing these collections than the newer games because they prove to have a focused level of enjoyment.Just like the Sonic's Ultimate Sega Genesis Collection-It doesn't quite shine me on like the arcade collections do,but I do miss those my old Sega Genesis at times.Anyways,the Midway Arcade Origins is great and I highly recommend it...5-stars!This is a great mix of games. I love Defender, Stargate, Smash TV, Sinistar, Wizard of Wor.
The sound effects are my favorite part. If you have an HDTV and sound bar than this is heaven.
I have read complaints about how it is a re release of last generation's but you can't forget that Midway went under and WB owns it now. The games are presented in HD 16:9 so it offers something the other Midway/Williams compilations don't.
Turn off the lights and escape into the wonderful world of the 80's arcade experience!
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I would have paid the price just for Robotron 2084. Honestly there are only about 10 games in the collection that I play constantly. But IMO if we are honest, we remember that when we went to the arcade, there were only a handful of games that we pumped our money into anyway. Sure, it was fun to have our friends around, 80's tunes on the jukebox, the click clack, of the air hockey tables, and the demo sounds of all the surrounding games all clamoring together... But at the end of it all it was just the favorites that we put our hard earned quarters into. This collection of games is no different. Find your favorites and play them until the controller breaks... Buy a new controller and start again!Want Midway Arcade Origins Discount?
Nothing gimmicky like 80s music or extra minigames in this package just a solid collection of some of the most addictive titles from our arcade past. The HD conversion process actually makes some of these games more playable as well as the dual stick controls for games like Smash TV and Robotron. If you have an arcade stick games like Defender really hold up well and can be hard to stop. These games are almost all classics in one respect or another you can't go wrong with this bundle.
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