''Midway Arcade Treasures 2'' is the second collection of classic

arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily game of skill, games of skill and in ...

s published by Midway for the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...

(not compatible with

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

), and

GameCube The is a PowerPC-based home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, in Europe on May 3, 2002, and in Australia on May 17, 2002. It is the suc ...

. This compilation includes 20 games that were not in the 2003 release of '' Midway Arcade Treasures''. Unlike the previous game, it was rated M for Mature instead of T for Teen by the ESRB. The game plays similar on all three consoles, though the Xbox version has the exclusive ability to upload scores to an online scoreboard to

Xbox Live The Xbox network, formerly known and commonly referred to as Xbox Live, is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Gaming for the Xbox brand. It was first made available to the origina ...

. In line with other online-enabled games on the

, online support was available to players until April 15, 2010. ''Midway Arcade Treasures 2'' is now supported online again on the replacement Xbox Live servers called

Insignia An insignia () is a sign or mark distinguishing a group, grade, rank, or function. It can be a symbol of personal power or that of an official group or governing body. An insignia, which is typically made of metal or fabric, is a standalone sy ...

. The Xbox version is not compatible with the

. The special features on each version of the game are the same. These include game histories, developer interviews, and other documents.

Games

The collection consists of the following 20 arcade games: This collection is the only arcade classics compilation title on sixth-generation consoles to be rated M by the ESRB, largely because of ''Mortal Kombat II'' and ''3'', and ''NARC''. With all the other games, the compilation would have received a rating of a T (for teen) or lower. ''Primal Rage'' was rated T by the ESRB when it was previously ported onto fourth- and fifth-generation consoles. ''Rampage World Tour'' is also featured as a bonus game in ''Rampage Total Destruction'' on GameCube and Wii, which is rated E10+ by the ESRB. The compilation was planned to include all three titles, '' S.T.U.N. Runner'', '' Steel Talons'' and the original ''

Mortal Kombat ''Mortal Kombat'' is an American media franchise centered on a series of fighting game, fighting video games originally developed by Midway Games in 1992. The original ''Mortal Kombat (1992 video game), Mortal Kombat'' arcade game spawned Lis ...

''. ''Mortal Kombat'' was instead 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. ''Kozmik Krooz'r'' and ''Wacko'' were added instead. The first ''Mortal Kombat'' later appeared in other compilations from the ''Midway Arcade Treasures'' series: ''

Extended Play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

'' for the PSP, and '' Deluxe Edition'' for the PC; while ''S.T.U.N. Runner'' appeared in '' Midway Arcade Treasures 3''.

Reception

''Midway Arcade Treasures 2'' was given average to favorable reviews from game critics. On the review aggregator

GameRankings GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...

, the compilation has an average score of 73%, while the average score is 74 out of 100 on

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

. Criticisms are the weaker selection of titles when compared to the previous volume, minor and major emulation glitches, the omission of the original ''Mortal Kombat'' and for some of the interviews and documentaries for being grainy and unrestored.

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

also criticized the inclusion of the original ''Mortal Kombat 3'', as opposed to the superior '' Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3''. Due to button mapping issues with the start button, in ''Mortal Kombat II'' random character select (Up+Start) cannot be used and

Smoke Smoke is an aerosol (a suspension of airborne particulates and gases) emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwante ...

(Down+Start at the Portal stage while getting a Dan Forden shouting out the: "Toasty!" message) cannot be fought.

References

External links

* {{Midway Arcade 2004 video games Backbone Entertainment games GameCube games Midway video game compilations Multiplayer and single-player video games PlayStation 2 games Video games developed in the United States Xbox games