Reviewed: October 21, 2005
Reviewed by: John Paige
Publisher
Midway
Developer
Digital Eclipse
Released: September 26, 2005
Genre: Racing
Players: 1-4
ESRB: Everyone
7
7
6
6
6.5
Supported Features:
Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)
I’ve always been a bit torn by “treasury” titles that feature many games collected on a single disc. On the one hand they have an easy and undeniable appeal: they resurrect old classics from the bygone eras of gaming and put ‘em together in a no-frills anthropology without the hassle of changing hardware. In Midway Arcade Treasures 3 long lost time-killers like “S.T.U.N Runner” live again alongside more contemporary titles like “Hydro Thunder” and you can flip from one game to the next as easily as pages in a book.
On the other hand treasuries like this are really nothing more than putting old wine in new bottles, and playing these games after so long only reminds me just why their eras are bygone. Sometimes “classic” collections make me smile even as they leave me scratching my head, wondering why I’m using a PS2 to play a game I haven’t seen since I was wearing headgear and anticipating the new season of “Alf”.
For you gamers out there who still enjoy the good ‘uns from the good ol’ days, this may warrant a spot on your shelf. But look carefully before you decide. This latest compilation has assembled high-octane racers from the 80’s to the turn of the millennium, indulging those with a need for some seriously nostalgic speed.
With 8 games to choose from, this treasury presents a pretty well-rounded cross section of Midway racing titles from the last two decades. “S.T.U.N Runner” is kinetic, colorful, and frantic, requiring tremendous hand-eye coordination as you race futuristic sleds over zingy sci-fi tracks, blasting enemies and obstacles. “Race Drivin’” plays almost like a sim (i.e. start the car, shift the car into gear, etc.) taking you along benign tree-dotted courses with the occasional loop-the-loop or ramp jump thrown in for good measure. History-minded gamers might want to play these first since they make the complexity of the remaining six games astounding by comparison.
Your journey through time will next take you “Super Off Road”, an institution in arcades and pizza parlors in the late 80’s. Most gamers will remember this one: bird’s-eye view, mud-splattered trucks, nitro boosters, and 8-bit bikini babes hanging on your arm after a job well done. I remember thinking how much harder this game was many years ago, but then that was when my 25 cents was at stake. “Badlands” is almost exactly like “Super Off Road” – four cars weaving through debris-strewn tracks – but this one adds landmines and heat-seeking missiles to the mix. Both these titles have the standard reward/purchase system in which you can elect to upgrade your car after earning money from good finishes.
The remaining 4 games are all fairly recent and thus more complex, allowing racers to choose from a bigger list of more elaborate courses and customize their ride for color, accessories, and performance. The “Rush” series enjoys lopsided representation with two titles: “San Francisco Rush: Rock Alcatraz” and “Rush 2049”, which is so superior in every way to “Alcatraz” one wonders why Midway bothered including both on the collection. Rounding out the disc is the messy Mac truck brawl-fest “Off Road Thunder” and the water racer “Hydro Thunder”, a nice change of pace from the landlubbing car games and probably the best title all around. Your goal is the same no matter which game you choose: be first across the finish line.
One of the best features of this package is that the controls have been streamlined, meaning that gas, brake, steering, and bonus moves like the nitro boost are the same buttons in each game. Unfortunately staying in your lane, or even on the course, can be problematic since the PS2 analog controller is often WAY too sensitive for these antique titles. “Super Off Road” and “Badlands”, both played with a steering wheel in the arcade, are difficult and “S.T.U.N Runner” borders on impossible without extensive practice. Expect a learning curve if, like me, you’re used to a feather-touch D-pad.
All your times, upgrades, and unlockables are saved in a single file on your memory card, allowing you to pick up where you left off in every game without the hassle of constant load-ups. But some of these racers play so quickly and so simply that you can blow through most of their content without saving at all. Obviously the save data is more important with the advanced titles like “Hydro Thunder” where first place finishes are needed to unlock the more advanced tracks and boats.
Graphics is where the head scratching starts for me. It took about ten seconds for me to look at these games, each at one time a feast for the eyes, and say to myself “How the hell did I ever find these visuals impressive?” Am I a snob? Maybe, but I’m an up-to-date snob. “S.T.U.N Runner” is one of those games that must have been breathtaking in its day. It’s vibrant and lightning quick, with well-rendered backgrounds and impressive effects considering what programmers had to work with at the time. “Race Drivin’” is clunky by comparison with visuals that seem to have come from a geometry graphing calculator.
By the time you get to “Super Off Road” the larger color palates and greater detail seem like real progress. The cars actually kick up dust! Whoa! The biggest disappointments were from the newer titles “Off Road Thunder” and “Rock Alcatraz”. Having seen what Midway was capable of back in the 80’s it’s only natural to hold them to a high standard a decade later, but both these racers seem like half-hearted efforts. The courses are bland, the environments lack detail, the pixels are big and sometimes even grainy, and the cars/trucks often don’t seem to race so much as they chug along glumly.
Without a doubt “Hydro Thunder” and “Rush 2049” blow the competition away. “2049” renders San Francisco into a dazzling future metropolis complete with a ramp jump over Castro Street and an ever-present Golden Gate Bridge lit up like a 24/7 New Years celebration. It probably looks a lot better at 180mph than it does standing still but it’s gawk-worthy nonetheless. “Thunder” is as fun to look at as it is to play. Each course is loaded with clever details and awesome effects that still hold up. Race through the Artic course and watch killer whales leap through your wake, or compete on the Greek Isles and dive between massive stone gods to reach the finish line. Ever raced on Lake Powell? Now you can, and vault over a police helicopter while you’re there.
The designers went for sheer over-the-top ecstasy with this one and they did it well, and the enormous sudden drops and spectacular crashes are still good enough to make this jaded gamer’s adrenaline rise. Like gameplay, the key to enjoying the graphics in these titles is to remember when each was made and judge it appropriately. This is why something like “S.T.U.N Runner” can stand side-by-side with “Rush 2049” as genuinely impressive achievements, and why you can’t help but feel disappointed by some of the other titles.
Like the graphics, I’m just telling you what you already know. Every synthesized plink, screech, honk, and bloop has been recreated, no exceptions, no substitutions. Remember the “final lap” horn on “Super Off Road” that sounded like a dying cow? That’s still there. What was startling was hearing it, and the other ancient sounds and simplistic background tunes, on modern high-def speakers that can rattle coffee cups in the next room – games have evolved, but so has the hardware we’re using to see and hear them.
In the case of Atari and Nintendo era games I can understand that the soundboards are going to be awfully small and the music, if any, very basic. But for the more modern games there is no excuse. Of the 4 racers from the late 90’s not one of them has a decent soundtrack or even a large selection of effects, and any racing fan knows that taking a mountain pass at Mach 2 demands some rockin’ tunes and a few bone-jarring splatters.
Unfortunately all of the newer games disappoint in this department: the splatters are muted, the tunes non-existent. “Hydro Thunder” does get credit for the convincing roar of the hemi-powered speedboats and the ridiculously loud announcer who screams “Choose your course!” the same way he might scream “My head is on fire!”
With 8 games to choose from, plus a bonus “Super Off Road Track Pak” – the expansion set of its day – it’s fair to say that Midway Arcade Treasures 3 has a decent replay factor, and the easy interface and convenient save data function combined with the plain simplicity of the games makes this anthology good for some fast, brainless play. But after sampling each racer once or twice it quickly becomes apparent that not all 8 are worth your time.
“Race Drivin’”, for example, seems like a cool little novelty at first, but it’s a dog compared to the faster and infinitely more impressive “S.T.U.N Runner”. Why play both? “Super Off Road” and “Badlands” are entertaining but so similar they flirt with being completely redundant. Why play both? Once is more than enough with “San Francisco Rush: Rock Alcatraz”, which pales in comparison to its shiny brother “Rush 2049”, and “Off Road Thunder” is forgettable after you play it through twice. In the end you’re left with, at the most, 4 games worthy of any real effort. “Hydro Thunder” and “Rush 2049” are truly excellent and almost but not quite enough to make the entire package worth owning.
Good as they are, is it really worth the extra baggage? The deciding factor for a game like this is, of course, the nostalgia factor. If you’re the Kevin Arnold – Wonder Years type who makes frequent trips down Memory Lane, you’d be far more inclined to see the value of this title than someone always looking for the next and the new. In the final analysis, I’d prefer either a larger selection of games or a cheaper version of this collection containing only the really elite titles.
They say nostalgia is overrated and they’re probably right…whoever "they" are. Perusing old racers was often enjoyable and occasionally exciting but in the end I was left with the same feeling I get when I listen to a “Greatest Hits” album: I’m not being offered anything new but I’m being asked to buy it anyway, largely because the material has been repackaged There are highlights, of course, but they’re framed by mediocre efforts that turn out to be better in hindsight.
Chances are if you buy this collection you’re the type who already has other “classic” compilations on your shelf. For you, the retro gamer aching for yet more oldies, this is a fairly decent package. But for rest of us the awful truth is that there ain’t no goin’ back, and most of these games, like headgear and “Alf”, are best left in the rose-colored folds of our memories.