Midway Arcade Treasures 3

This is the third installment of Midway's classic arcade collection series. The first game alone offered up great gems like Defender, Gauntlet, Joust, Marble Madness, Rampage, Robotron 2084, Sinistar, Smash TV, Spyhunter, and more – a truly fantastic deal for twenty bones. The second in the series featured some sequels, like Gauntlet 2, Spyhunter 2, Rampage World Tour, and heavy-hitters Mortal Kombat 2 and 3 in addition to other lesser known games; not a bad collection, though less great than its predecessor.

The third collection is based entirely around Midway's racing games. Included here are San Francisco Rush 2049, Hydro Thunder, Badlands, Rush: The Rock, Offroad Thunder: Mud, Sweat, and Gears, Race Drivin', S.T.U.N. Runner, and Super Off Road.

The strange thing about the collection, aside from it being entirely racing based, is that some of these games really aren't all that old. Especially compared to the other collections, which hardly touch anything out of the 2D realm, Volume 3's biggest games are arguably its most recent: Rush 2049 and Hydro Thunder. And we were playing them not so long ago on the Dreamcast. Are they really classic-status already?

Nonetheless, several of the older games here are still very fun. Both Badlands and Super Off Road are very similar in the way they play: that is, they feature a birds-eye-view of the whole track, and somewhat reckless control schemes that often find you slamming into walls. But they're really fun and really refreshing. No one's made a game like this in years, and the dull Shockwave games on the Internet hardly compare.

The 1989 Badlands is somewhat more violence-driven than any other game here. It's eight courses feature tracks packed with hazards, from puddles to fire to spikes. You can deck out your car with missiles to attack with, upgrade your tires, turbo, and speed, or just focus on defense with better shielding. It's really held up well over the years and is still a lot of fun to play.

Super Off Road was also made in '89, and it feels like a sister game to Badlands in its basic essence. But where Badlands has violence, Super Off Road has – well – off-roadey things. The cars have considerably more airtime here as the courses are littered with jumps, trenches, and other sorts of terrain obstacles that can either help or hinder you depending on whether you use them properly or not. This is another really fun gem. This game also features additional tracks that were introduced later on.

S.T.U.N. Runner, in comparison, feels quite dated. It's a 1989 game as well, but where the other two were going for polished 2D visuals, this game attempted to dive into 3D. It doesn't look pretty, as a result: huge flat textures make up much of the graphics. But it just isn't that exciting; while it's essentially futuristic bobsledding with weaponry, the vehicles lack inertia – they're too light, and the whole game just feels off. But it's fast, and anyone with a craving for twitch-gaming will probably enjoy it. And, naturally, those feeling a little nostalgic will be glad it's here.

Race Drivin', in comparison, is hardly even racing – but it sure is driving. It also utilizes an early 3D engine, but the game is much slower than S.T.U.N. Runner. It hasn't held up particularly well and is probably best off ignored – or, if you're feeling adventurous, you might actually learn a thing or two about manual driving, as it's one of the few games to ever implement a clutch mechanic into gameplay. Ultimately, though, I don't see this one being a party favorite.

Offroad Thunder: Blood, Sweat, and Gears is a fairly docile game. While it's not horrible, it's nearly unremarkable, with fairly boring cars, tracks, and production values. It doesn't play very well, and it would have been nice to at least have seen a framerate incease with this version, as it could really benefit from a smoothing-over. Not really worth your time.

Rush: The Rock was, at the time, an impressive little racing game, with clever track design, goofy physics, and a good sense of speed. It's still fun, but it feels a little tired being next to the jazzier Rush 2049. Still, it's nice to have the big, detailed Alcatraz track here for completeness' sake. A fun, if not terribly deep, little game.

San Francisco Rush 2049 has, in fact, managed to hold on to its fun factor. Although it hasn't been terribly long since it was released (1999), its age does show – but in a gentle, kindly way, not a “Yuck, this looks horrible” way. The framerate is as smooth as silk and Rush's unique control scheme is here in full force- that is, difficult turning at high speeds, but lax turning on certain grades or with brakes applied properly. There's a ton to do in this game, as Midway wisely chose to include the Dreamcast version here, stacked with loads of courses (and mirrored alternates), tons of cars, and many modes, including the very cool stunt and battle modes. This one holds up strong; it's cool, it's fast and it's still quite fun.

Hydro Thunder is a bit hit or miss. On one hand, it is fun, straightforward boat racing, with lenient physics and lots of boosters. On the other hand, it's a little too straightforward, as memorizing the positions of the boosters basically ensures a win. You'll blaze through this pretty quickly. It's fun while it lasts, but it's not so great on second playthroughs. This is one game that really benefited from having a custom cabinet in the arcades.

The whole compilation is topped off with a far from great but decent interface. Pausing games usually brings up the Midway Arcade Treasures menu, where you can exit the game back to the main menu. It's a pretty easy system. My only real complaint is the horrible load times. While bearable, they are seriously annoying, as there are constant waits not just at the beginning of a game but during its menu transitions as well. One would think this would be able to be alleviated, but apparently, at least on the Playstation 2, load times are inevitable.

This is a reasonable collection for twenty bucks. While not perfect in design, all of these games are emulated just fine, and several of them are certainly still worth playing. Perhaps Midway should have distributed these racing games more evenly with the other collections; if you don't like racers, there's really no incentive to pick this up. But if you do like racing games – and you happen to like some of these – you're in for a real treat. Still, it's hard to call many of these games undisputed classics, so it's going to boil down to whether or not you enjoy these particular titles.

Gameplay: 7.0
The fun factor varies from game to game, but all in all there's something above average here.

Graphics: 8.0
They're emulated just fine. Hydro Thunder looks a little bit messy, which is strange for it being so recent, though. S.T.U.N. Runner and Race Drivin' don't look particularly good nowadays. But you can't really fault Midway for not changing the original games.

Sound: 7.0
Some of these games have pretty groovy music, while others are less than exciting. It varies.

Difficulty: Medium
The difficulty level varies from game to game, of course, but there aren't any that are particularly easy or frustratingly hard.

Concept: 5.0
There's nothing particularly new here, but at least Midway had the good sense to not go and “update” the games or any nonsense like that.

Multiplayer: 8.0
Racing games have stood the test of time as quality multiplayer games and these are no exception. Be it Rush or Badlands, you'll have a good time playing these games with a friend.

Overall: 7.0
Midway Arcade Treasures 3 boils down to this: if you like Midways racing games, you're going to really enjoy this. If you're not a big fan of racing games or Midway, this probably isn't even going to grab your attention. There are enough good games here to justify a $20 purchase, so if you're interested, it's well worth the price of admission.