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Mixed

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 14 / 15
Date: December 15, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Although Midway Arcade Treasures contains a pretty comprehensive listing of great games from the 80's, some are good while others are terrible. Smash TV has major bugs, too. Graphically and sound effects-wise, they are virtually identical to the originals. The maker of Midway Arcade Treasures claims that these are the original games run over a software emulator. That's apparently true in at least most cases, although I Spy Hunter and Smash TV seem a tad different than I remember them. One other gripe is that these games have to played from the CD - aside from being annoying, CDs eventually get dinged up and unusable. Anyway, here's a short list of reviews:

Rampage is just like the original. This is one you can play for hours! Score one for Midway Arcade Treasures.

Paperboy is a decent rendition, although there is a major lag in the controls. They are not at all responsive. This makes it nearly unplayable in higher levels. I don't recall this in the original arcade version, which had a huge, giant bicycle handlebar as the main control - although that thing was so big the game wasn't too responsive anyway. Well, it's still fun!

Smash TV is also just like the quarter-eating original. Unfortunately, this version randomly quits in the middle of games with not so much as an error message. It is the only one of the games that is so unstable, but, unfortunately, it was one of the best games. Too bad.

Spy Hunter is hte only game that can be considered unplayable. I used to be able to play this endlessly in the arcade, so I don't know whether I'm just losing my skills or the game is just junk, but even at the most generous settings it is virtually unplayable.

Robotron, Joust, Defender, Stargate (Defender II) and Sinistar are just like the William's originals. These have actually been available since 1996 (which I've had and played reguarly since almost the day they came out!), but it was nice that Midway included these. The customization controls are much easier for the Midway version than they were for the version I had. If you loved any of these classics, you will be pleased with the Midway editions!

I never really played much of the other 15 or so games included with this, so I cannot comment on their authenticity, but most seem true to the originals.

Awesome trip down memory lane, some limitations

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: June 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I found these games to be faithful to the originals, and a lot of fun to play. If you've never seen these arcade games before I'm not sure how much you'd enjoy them, but for those of us who first played them years ago in the arcades it's a lot of fun to try these again. I'd give it five stars, if it weren't for two nagging problems that detract from the enjoyment. (EDIT: Okay, just one nagging problem -- the other was caused by my laptop, and a configuration change fixed it.)

CONTROLLERS

The games look like they were adapted for the PC at different times. Some will recognize a dual-joystick gamepad (I'm using the Logitech Rumblepad) and let you use both joysticks if appropriate (SmashTV is a great example). Others don't have as many configuration options for the joystick, and don't see both controlers on a dual-joystick gamepad (Robotron 2084 is an example of this, which severely limits this particular game).

All the games allow keyboard play, and many support mouse play as well. Again, I was frustrated to find that some which should work well with a mouse (Marble Madness, for example) don't, while others (Bubbles) work fine. It's rather hit or miss.

CONCLUSION

An inexpensive way to relive the fun of old games -- I easily spent more than this plunking quarters into the arcade machines years ago (though back then, one quarter was all it took to play, not like the $1-2 games today!). Unlike nearly everyone who uses MAME to play games like this, you'll be playing a legal copy of the games. The down side is that the controller setup isn't perfect -- but then, with some of these games that's true in MAME as well.

Wizard... is about to die!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: January 26, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Oh, do these words take me back. I used to play Gauntlet & Paperboy when I was in college after a hard day's work and they were just what the doctor ordered for relieving stress and tension... over the years I had tried various versions of each game and found that nothing matched up to the originals. Thankfully this collection came out and I can waste time again!

I originally bought this game because it had Paperboy on it - to my surprise it also has Gauntlet (yay!), Rampage, Spy Hunter, Defender and Root Beer Tapper included. It also has Toobin', one of the most underrated games of all time. So for selection, this can't be beat.

On the bad side, I will agree with the other reviewer - sometimes the graphics and music lag and the controls can be a pain. Make sure you have enough RAM (more than 128mb) and make sure you have a joystick. Using the keyboard is pretty tough at times and forget it if you play the games on a laptop without a keypad. If I had a joystick I know I could get past level 15 on Gauntlet - as it is with the keyboard, that's all I can do right now.

If you've got the system and you've been hankerin' for some good old fashioned arcade fun, this is the software to get. Just make sure your hardware is up to snuff.

And remember to save potions for later use...

Don't Bother

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: August 22, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game because I had run through everything I currently had and was looking for something cheap that might give me a little nostalgic enjoyment for a while. I have played most of these games in the arcade in their original forms a lot. I was a manager at an arcade and could play as much as I wanted. I will say that these games are reproduced pretty much true to their original form, this is both good and bad. The graphics are awful. The gameplay is extremely close to the original. If you sucked at marble madness in the 80's, you will still suck at it today. Except that very little attention seems to have been put into converting the controls to something you can play on your PC. I was really good at Spy Hunter 20 years ago. This version is pretty much unplayable because the controls are just too awkward. Any game on this disc that required specialized controls, Paperboy, Defender, Spy Hunter, etc, is just too awkward to play easily. I suppose you could take a lot of time and finally develop some kind of proficiency but that's more dedication than I'm willing to put into something that just looks this crappy and plays this klunky. I'm sorry I wasted my money on this mishmash.

If you have a laptop, this won't work!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 13, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Paperboy was always one of my fave games growing up, so when I saw that this PC arcade game had it on there, I couldn't wait to get it! However, when I did get it, all that I got was a screen that would freeze when I tried to play. It does work on my childrens' desktop computers, but not laptops.

Its full of bugs unless you run it on Windows 98/ME

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User

These games lag, because the original programming of the games were designed for operating systems before Windows XP and 2000 and have various compatability issues that did not seem to be ironed out. The most notable issues are in driving games where the steering wheen acts as if the steering wheel is stuck all the way to the left spinning in circles. Sometimes the games do not exit properly, or there may be a delay before you can pause and exit.... Its very promising for $[...] but I wish the quality of this game would have been that of what Midway Arcade Treasures Deluxe was......... No direct Console port from the XBOX, PS2 or Gamecube here. Just pure sloppiness.

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