Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Midway Collection 2

UPC: 031719269709

Platform: PlayStation

Publisher: Midway Home Entertainment

Developer: Digital Eclipse Software, Inc.

Category: Compilation

Style(s): Multi-Genre Compilation

Synopsis: Collecting seven arcade games from the mid to late 1980s, the second edition of Midway's Arcade's Greatest Hits includes: Blaster, Joust 2, Splat!, BurgerTime, Spy Hunter, Rootbeer Tapper, and Moon Patrol. Blaster (1983) is a nineteen-level, first-person shooter that puts you at the helm of a spaceship, blasting and avoiding robots, vampire ships, saucers, and other alien enemies. For extra points you can rescue men that you'll find floating in space. As the name implies, Joust 2 (1986) is the sequel to Joust, a game in which you fly an ostrich around a world of lava pits, floating cliffs, pterodactyls, and buzzards. In both games you can defeat your enemies by colliding with them, as long as your lance is higher than your enemy's lance. Joust 2 adds to this concept by including more enemies and backgrounds and by giving you the ability to turn your ostrich turn into a pegasus. Splat! (1982) is a food-fighting game in which you try to keep your head attached to your shoulders while hurling food at your opponent and at onscreen enemies. Spy Hunter (1983) puts you behind the wheel of a G-6155 CIA Prototype interceptor, using its machine-gun cannons, anti-tailgating deterrents, smoke screens, and missiles to blow away wicked spies. A van you can use to replenish your armaments appears on the road from time to time. In BurgerTime (1982) you control Chef Peter Pepper, a chef who builds hamburgers by walking across patties, cheese, lettuce, and buns, dropping them vertically into stacks. While you are making burgers, Mr. Hot Dog, Mr. Egg, and Mr.Pickle chase after you. You can spray pepper on these culinary enemies, temporarily freezing them in their tracks, or you can kill them by flattening them with hamburger parts. Moon Patrol (1982) puts you on the moon, driving a Moon Buggy from left to right, across an obstacle course of craters, mines, boulders, rolling stones, and hungry space plants. You must also contend with low-flying spaceships and UFOs. Your Moon Buggy can shoot straight up and straight ahead; it can speed up and slow down; and it can jump. Based on the arcade game Tapper, Rootbeer Tapper puts you in the role of the last of the root beer servers. Here you must serve rootbeer to thirsty cowboys, athletes, aliens, and punk rockers before they reach the end of the counter. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

Package Contents: 28-page Instruction Manual

Controls: Joystick/Gamepad

The manual doesn't offer much information on the games. I had to play the trivia game (which is actually quite cool) on the disc to learn the advantages and disadvantages of turning into a Pegasus in Joust 2. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

Blaster and Joust 2 are kind of cool-looking, and BurgerTime is cute. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

Midway has done an excellent job of creating perfect simulations of arcade classics and obscurities. While not quite as strong as the first Midway collection, Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Midway Collection 2 features a nice mix of oddball and mainstream titles. BurgerTime, Moon Patrol, and Spy Hunter are the most well-known titles on this disc, but Root Beer Tapper, with its delightful animations, addictive gameplay, and slick controls, is perhaps the best game. BurgerTime has always been a favorite, but for some reason the controls in this PlayStation version are awful. The game looks and sounds great, but the hamburger chef often gets stuck. The Intellivision and ColecoVision versions of BurgerTime handle much better. Spy Hunter was hot in its day, but it has not aged well. The Henry Mancini score is cool, but the game is average at best. Moon Patrol is as challenging as ever and a lot of fun. The play mechanics involved in firing forward and straight up while jumping over (or shooting) obstacles and shooting flying ships keeps things fun. Blaster was one of the original first-person shooters. It's not quite a "blast," but it is fun and colorful. The robot level is blocky and hard to navigate because of a too-busy playing field, but the rest of the game works pretty well. Splat offers goofy entertainment, cute graphics, and a fun two-player mode. Probably the most interesting game in this collection is the rarely seen Joust 2. Joust 2 is more elaborate than Joust in terms of graphics, sound effects, and tasks to perform, but it's not as fun. Turning into a Pegasus is neat, but it doesn't add anything of substance to the game. Collectors will probably appreciate this title more than ordinary gamers, because this is the first time Joust 2 has ever been produced for a home system. Overall, this seven-game disc is a nice value for your entertainment dollar. Root Beer Tapper alone is worth the price of admission. The manual doesn't offer much information on the games. I had to play the trivia game (which is actually quite cool) on the disc to learn the advantages and disadvantages of turning into a Pegasus in Joust 2. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

If you're a sucker for the classics, you'll get a huge kick out of these games and play them again and again. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

Spy Hunter and Root Beer Tapper have excellent music. Joust 2 kicks in with some wild sound effects. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

This is a well-rounded and very interesting collection of games. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

the game requires Joystick/Gamepad.