Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Midway Collection 2

Joust 2 is an interesting, rarely-seen sequel to the classic game, but although it offers more sophisticated graphics and gameplay, it falls short in the fun department. Splat and Blaster are two previously unreleased games, but they're mildly entertaining at best.

Stuk voor Stuk games uit de digitale steentijd, die absoluut het spelen waard zijn. Ze zijn onder andere bedoeld voor de oudere gamer die even een traantje wil wegpinken uit jeugdsentiment of aan zijn jongere game-kameraad wil laten zien dat 'vroeger alles beter was'.

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.

The Midway Collection 2 contains picture-perfect replications of seven videogames from the "golden age": Joust 2, Splat!, Burger Time, Spy Hunter, Root Beer Tapper, Blaster and Moon Patrol. It also comes with trivia questions, videos of the inventors of the games, and numerous other things retro-gamers will enjoy.

Retro-gaming isn't for everyone. But for those of us who spent all our weekends and free times in darkly lit pizza joints and arcades, collections like this are worth their weight in gold.

Aber, nur weil ein Spiel alt ist, wird es dadurch nicht automatisch zum schützenswerten Klassiker. Unter den glorreichen Sieben stecken auch ein paar gurkige Mumien. Burger Time, Tapper, Moon Patrol und meinetwegen auch Spy Hunter spiele ich immer wieder mal gerne. Splat, Blaster und das enttäuschende Joust 2 kann man hingegen getrost als Ausschuß verbuchen.

So if you're willing to overlook the graphical shortcomings of our forefathers in favor of some good old-fashioned playability, this collection of arcade emulations will provide solid retro fun. It's got a great combination of exciting gameplay (Joust 2) and pure what-were-they-thinking weirdness (Root Beer Tapper). This volume features some of the more innovative game design of the '80s and doesn't suffer too much from translation problems in the interface department.

Perhaps it's my old age (at 24). Perhaps I used to be a better game. These games seem a bit more difficult than they used to be when I was a child! Part of that is due to the controls (no roller balls for Centipede and Missile Command, no paddles for Tempest and Breakout). That aside, this compilation is a required addition to any retro-gaming fanatic's library. After all, there are the classics of the classics. I would find it hard, however, to recommend this disc to anyone else. None of these games really excite me, and I doubt there are going to excite you. But it wouldn't hurt to pick this title up, as these games are hard to find.

Für Nostalgiker ist die Sammlung (Blaster, Rocket Beer Tapper, BurgerTime, Spy Hunter, Moon Patrol, Joust 2, Splat) kurze Zeit unterhaltsam, weil die Vorbilder 1:1 umgesetzt wurden und einer gewissen Komik nicht entbehren. Ob alleine der Kultcharakter für eine Kaufentscheidung reicht, muß jeder selbst entscheiden.